Samsung SIR-T451 High Definition Terrestrial Tuner
Great Hardware with Poor Software
The Samsung SIR-T451 is a very nice piece of hardware running poorly written software.  If you can forgive a tedious setup through a poor interface, you'll be very pleased with the video, audio and reception quality.<br /><br />Hightlights:<br /><br />- Stylish, light-weight, and relatively small (13.5\\"x9\\"x2.5\\")<br /><br />- lots of video output options (composite, component, DVI, DTV, s-video)<br /><br />- lots of audio output options (rca stereo, digital coaxial, digital optical)<br /><br />- supports all current resolutions (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i)<br /><br />- has both antenna in and out coaxial connectors, making it easy to switch your tv between analog and digital reception (for those times when the channel you want to watch isn't broadcast digitally, UPN for example)<br /><br />- comes with component video cables instead of the crappy composite ones that usually come with video devices<br /><br />- video output quality is spectacular with widescreen HD broadcasts (for a good test, watch the Tonight Show in HD on 1080i or an ABC sports presentation in 720p)<br /><br />-digital audio quality is also spectacular (for a good test watch CSI:Miami in Dolby Digital 5.1 with the tuner connected to your surround sound capable receiver)<br /><br />Minor flaws:<br /><br />- No 1080p option which makes no difference right now because no one broadcasts in this resolution yet (could hold you back in the future though)<br /><br />- No HDMI out port (only a problem if you're a true video quality snob)<br /><br />- Remote control could be more responsive<br /><br />- Doesn't come with an antenna, so be sure to buy one separately (I get great reception with my Terk Indoor HD antenna)<br /><br />- Channel changing is a bit slow (1-2 second delay)<br /><br />- The mini program guide loads instantly and is fairly useless.  The full program guide is useful but can take a long time to load (30 seconds to 2 minutes).<br /><br />- No digital audio cables are supplied (most people want to choose their own anyway)<br /><br />More Serious Flaws:<br /><br />- Automatic channel search and memorization tool was completely useless and didn't find any of the dozen strong signals in my area.  Save yourself some time and go to [...] to find your available local stations to manually program into the tuner.  Once I did that, reception was perfect.<br /><br />- The interface for adding and deleting channels is clunky and slow.  I spent 5 minutes deleting 10 channels only to have them come back automatically the next time I turned the tuner on.<br /><br />The bottom line here is that if you don't insist on HDMI output and you have the patience to endure a flawed user interface, you'll be happy with the quality of the hardware, the input/output options, and the audio/video output quality.  You can probably do better, but you'll probably spend a lot more money.igital audio cables are supplied (most people want to choose their own anyway) <br /> <br /> <br />More Serious Flaws: <br /> <br />- Automatic channel search and memorization tool was completely useless and didn't find any of the dozen strong signals in my area.  Save yourself some time and go to [...] to find your available local stations to manually program into the tuner.  Once I did that, reception was perfect. <br /> <br />- The interface for adding and deleting channels is clunky and slow.  I spent 5 minutes deleting 10 channels only to have them come back automatically the next time I turned the tuner on. <br /> <br /> <br />The bottom line here is that if you don't insist on HDMI output and you have the patience to endure a flawed user interface, you'll be happy with the quality of the hardware, the input/output options, and the audio/video output quality.  You can probably do better, but you'll probably spend a lot more money.