Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been playing around with three DTV converter boxes over the past three months (Magnavox DTV Digital to Analog Converter, TR-40 CRA by Dish Network, and this Zinwell), and none of them stands out above the rest. They all do about the same thing, providing excellent picture quality over their analog equivalents, and I can get 27/28 channels with a rooftop antenna in the Baltimore-Washington area. This Zinwell is the latest, and after about 2 months of testing it, here are my observations: Pros: - It has a power button and channel buttons on the front of the box in case you misplace the remote - It displays signal intensity/quality meters each time you change the channel so you can adjust your antenna for best reception - Internal firmware is upgradeable for future updates - Built-in timer changes channels for extending the life of analog VCRs - Great picture quality - Analog pass-through (kind of) - Volume control from this remote (based on TV's current max volume) - Parental controls Cons: - Remote control is pretty flimsy - Power cord is only 3' long so you may need an extension cord to reach a wall jack - Analog pass-through signal is not as clear as without the box - Picks up one less channel than the Magnavox on the same antenna - Built in time clock slips a few minutes over a period of weeks; annoying if you're using it to provide programming to an analog VCR - red LED to tell you it's "off" is an unnecessary waste of energy Having spoken to others using various DTV boxes/setups, it seems like the deciding factor on how many channels you'll receive is what kind of antenna you're using. Those with rabbit ears inside the house get as few as 4-6 channels; my 18-year old stationary roof-top antenna gets 27-28 as of today. Aug. 2011 UPDATE: It's been 3 years since I first wrote my review, and Amazon has now changed the product photo to one that looks nothing like the model I purchased in 2009. I don't understand why they wouldn't have given it a new model number if it totally changed; you may need to do some research.