Best Non-DBS OTA DTV STB?

[Carl B]

So what is currently the best STB, non-DBS, for OTA digital broadcast reception?

I've been following this market for a year and a half and I don't think I seen any new offerings in the past year. Where is the next generation of ATSC tuners? Has this market died? I hope not given that national conversion from analog to DTV somewhat depends on it.

 

[mini1]

LG, without question makes the best on the market.

 

[charper1]

Yep, I would agree that for a stand alone STB the LG LST-3100A is the unit to have.

3410A adds a PVR

3510A adds a DVD

3200A adds D*

 

[Carl B]

Hasn't the LG LST-3100 been replaced by the LST-4200? Is the 4200 an improvement?

 

[RLuyster]

Hasn't the LG LST-3100 been replaced by the LST-4200? Is the 4200 an improvement?

I would like to have some comments on this also as I'm thinking of buying an
LST-4200, Can't seem to find much comment on its performance. Also was surprised to find so few places that sell it. Anyone out there know more about it and where it can be obtained for a reasonable price?

 

[charper1]

Hasn't the LG LST-3100 been replaced by the LST-4200? Is the 4200 an improvement?

I don't see the LST-4200 on the LG STB catalog but I have seen a few online on closeout http://www.valueelectronics.com/LG STBs.htm

 

[SatelliteGAL]

I have the LG LST 3510 which is the HD receiver/upconverting DVD player. The OTA comes in better than it did on my 811 and is more stable. Of course the DVDs look great too.

 

[Carl B]

You can find the LG LST-4200A on the LG's USA web site.

LG USA

My question is, why are these things so hard to find? I Googled for half an hour to find an on-line vendor selling them for $279. What's up with that?

 

[DRGingras]

My question is, why are these things so hard to find? I Googled for half an hour to find an on-line vendor selling them for $279. What's up with that?

All you had to do was click on the blue box at the top of the page

I got mine from Valueelectronics (along with a nice Satelliteguys discount - thanks, Robert). I find it to be a very good box - using it for both OTA and in-the-clear QAM from my local cable co. However, my only comparison is to the 6000 and an old DTC-100.

Word is that LG is discontinuing the 4200A this summer and will be earmarking their next generation OTA chips for integrated receivers only. You can find a fair ammount of information about this stuff over at AVSforum, in both the HDTV programming and hardware threads.

Dave

 

[Carl B]

Those boxes weren't at the top of the page when I first Googled it. Must have added more links.

 

[DTV TiVo Dealer]

Unquestionably, LG makes the best OTA/QAM STB's. We sell a very high volume of these boxes and everyone who gets one is very happy.

-Robert

 

[Carl B]

Assuming they are still available in August, I can probably get the wife to go for an LG LST-4200A for my birthday. However, I did see a post on AVS Forum to the affect that a user thought the HD picture out of the LG was grainy compared to the el cheap USDigital unit at Walmart. Comments?

 

[Carl B]

Rumor has it that the LG LST-4200A STB has become more scarce than cheap gasoline. None of the authorized brick-n-mortar stores in metro-Denver have any. On line, ValueElectronics appears to have sold out. Since they aren't making these gems anymore, tis a sad thing. ...and my wife just gave me the go ahead to make one my birthday present. Bummer! (yea I'm an old 60's/70's guy)

 

[Carl B]

Got my LG LST-4200A today. Nice unit with lots of features. Two major and one minor, initial observations.

First, the PQ through DVI is far superior to that attainable with the Dish 811. Maybe an 811 w/ pre-P269 software would come close, but with the current software, the washed-out Dish 811 DVI PQ really looks sad when switching back and forth w/ the LG. I haven't yet compared them via component video.

Second, the LG doesn't seem to lock digital channels any better than the Dish 811. using the same antenna feed, the LG basically got the same results. Same locked channels, same low signal - no lock channels. Oddly, the signal on the no lock channels on the LG was actually stronger than the signal seen on the 811. However, on the locked channels, the reverse was true. The LG didn't rate any of my signals better than about half strength, while the 811 reports two of my signals at 90.

Finally, the LG has a very good NTSC turner. Much better than the 811's and better than the two tuners in my JVC DVD-R. About equal to the one built into my Sammy DLP, which is excellent.