Maybe instead of renting you can purchase an FTA receiver and trade it in for a different model, and pay a restocking fee.
You want to figure out what Receiver is best for you.
Maybe you can make a post in the classified section and see if someone is willing to Swap a STB for a month, as long as nobody updates firmware, that would give others with curiosity the chance to try a different unit out.
I don't think there will ever be a Perfect STB. I think the Coolsat 5000 comes close ( I love my Coolsat ).
Now the reviews here are good, and with that said I've still purchased cheap STB not reviewed, and they don't measure up to my Coolsat.
For instance , Megasat came out with their own FTA Receiver called Comanche, overhyped on the official website as being the closest thing to HD ( not even close ) ,I picked it up for $50 including shipping , and if you never heard of it, it was probably because it had no support for hacking, and the reason I picked it up cheap.
It lacked blind scan and could not control the motor I have, I'm not upset with the purchase because It's perfect for a stationary setup, and I had hoped to review it but it just didn't measure up to Pansat , Fortec , or Coolsat .
The last thing you look forward to is reading a review on a new Inferior FTA Receiver , except to point out the obvious flaws , and help forum members in deciding what NOT to purchase. Yeah maybe if I have time some day I'll review it.
just wish I could export the channel lists to my dreambox, as dreambox has no blindscan I have to allways update the tp list manually 
