Philips PHDTV1 Silver Sensor UHF/HDTV Digital Indoor TV Antenna
by Philips Accessories
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Philips PHDTV1 Silver Sensor UHF/HDTV Digital Indoor TV Antenna
Customer Review: Cheap and works great
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the Philips PHDTV1 to replace a Terk TV1 rabbit ears and so far so good. With the Terk I could not finish watching a half an hour show without the signal dropping out (insanely annoying). Most of time I could not even get a decent signal on Channel 4, 5, 9 and 11. The Philips has solved all the headaches with receiving OTA broadcasts for me. I am now able to leave the antenna at a set position and receive all HDTV channels and even a few extra analog ones. As with all antennas you will have to mess around with the positioning. Oddly enough when it was on top of my 6ft entertainment center I was still getting a few dropouts. Now it is 3ft from the ground on the lower shelf, facing south and I am catching all the HDTV signals. On most channels I am getting a 65% or more out of 100 on the antenna meter, more importantly there are no dropouts. On channels 2 and 7 I am getting a whopping 98%. Depending on where you live you might get different results, I live in the lower east side of Manhattan. If I can get such great reception with so many skyscrapers and buildings around Im guessing it will work fine in other areas. Lastly the antenna does feel a bit cheap but its not a big deal. Set it and forget it, as long as it gets the job done. For the $20 it is definitely worth a try.Customer Review: Nothing Else Worked!
Summary: 4 Stars
My sister lives in an apartment on the 2nd floor of her building. She purchased a new digital tv but does not have cable. We needed to find her an antenna that would bring in the digital signals. We tried at least 6 others (she was getting tired of returning them!). I did some research online and decided to try this one. First I tried it at my own home in our family room. I was disappointed. It didn't do very well---could not pull the stations in like our RCA 525 does. I thought she would be returning this one also. BUT---when I hooked it up to her tv in her apartment--wow. All the channels came in clearly. I was very surprised. Once in awhile she has to move the antenna's position a little. Otherwise it is great for her. She is quite possibly closer to the signal strength of the stations that we are. We live in another town.
One of the negative things about this antenna is how topheavy/lightweight it is. You have to be careful of that. She puts a weighted stuffed cat on it to help hold it down.
My opinion on great "digital" antennas (no such thing by the way---you can try any antenna--don't let advertising fool you)is this: keep trying them until you find one that works in your location--there are no guarantees!
Customer Review: A Good Antenna If You Need It
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, you don't necessarily need a special antenna just for receiving HDTV broadcasts. Try your old rabbit ears and you might be pleasantly surprised.
In our case, our old antenna worked pretty well, but we had to adjust it differently for different channels, and it was just on the borderline where it would occasionally skip out, so we tried this antenna instead.
The important thing about this antenna is that it is highly directional—you have to point it toward the broadcast tower. In most areas this isn't an issue, as they are usually all on the highest mountain around and you can't miss the red blinking lights at night. In the United States, you can also look up the latitude and longitude of transmitters at http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/tvq.html, which I would recommend doing before buying this antenna if you don't want to continually turn your antenna when you change channels, and aren't sure if all the transmitters are in the same place or not.
If those conditions work for you, this antenna is a great value for the money. Once we got it pointed correctly, we just left it there and don't give it another thought while it delivers a perfect digital signal.
Customer Review: Good antenna when it worked...
Summary: 2 Stars
I live in a brick building on the north side of Chicago. I got this antenna first so that I could watch Lost in HD.
On first impression the antenna is very cheaply made. It uses plastic and you can even see the paint bubbles.
To actually get a signal, I had to position the antenna in all types of directions which would take me anywhere from 1-15minutes to get the perfect direction. If moved the signal would drop anywhere from 1-3 seconds.
I know antennas are location/situation specific but this antenna did not work at all for me.
I was finally fed up with its poor performance so I bought the Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified High-Definition Antenna for Off-Air HDTV Reception. I no longer have to change the direction of the antenna and I get better reception than ever.
When it worked, the antenna did work fairly well, however everything leading up to that was too unbearable to put up with.
With my new antenna I can know that I will be able to watch the Olympics in clear HD without worrying about the direction of my antenna.
Customer Review: Just what I needed
Summary: 5 Stars
I had been trying to get satellite television in my new apartment for over a month, and the new seasons of my favorite local shows were starting. A co-worker mentioned he plugged some rabbit ears into his TV that was in a room that didn't have a cable connection and got HD free over the air. It was then I remembered my boyfriend's TV had a built in digital tuner. I did a little research (antennaweb.org) and found I needed a medium directional antenna with pre-amp to get all the channels I wanted. I search for that here on Amazon, and this is what came up. For only $25, what a deal. With my Amazon Prime trial and discounted 1 day shipping, it came just in time for the beginning of the new season of shows. It works beautifully. The digital picture is amazing, I can't believe it's free. The channels we don't get are simply not being broadcast in digital yet. Totally worth the $25, even if you're using it as a temporary fix while waiting for a more permanent TV solution like me... though this will make you think twice about paying for cable. Make sure to do your research to make sure this type of antenna will work for you, your location and your TV.