Samsung DTB-H260F HDTV Tuner

Great alternative Tuner, Better than my Sony's built-in one

Strengths: Gets good reception from low power signals. On-screen Guide reacts very fast. Good color scheme, compact size.

Weaknesses: Slow startup, Some buttons on Remote seem misplaced.

Summary: This tuner works much better than the tuner on my other TV, the Sony kdf-xs955kds. That TV's tuner has a serious lag just switching from one channel to the next. And I can't scroll through the guide without actually changing channels while doing so. I got this Samsung for an older TV that didn't have a built-in tuner and it (the Samsung) works very well.

This tuner is compact and can fit anywhere. I've connected it using component video so I cannot attest to the quality of any analog connections. The colors come out bright and clea on the TV. The sounds is also excellent.

This tuner is pretty sensitive so that even using a low amplification rabbit ears antenna I am still able to receive all of the major HD network channels. The antenna you use is very important, and cannot necessarily be selected by dB amplification. I tried 3 different ones before coming across one that had a lower amplification rating than the others but was able to pick up more channels.

My favorite feature of the Samsung is the onscreen guide. You can see the programming and scroll through it before selecting the channel to tune to. This may not seem remarkable to those who use it all the time with a cable box or satellite box but it is a very nice feature to have when watching OTA programs. Also, it doesn't tune to different channels as you're scrolling through the list like my Sony does. When using the Sony, there's almost no point in using the onscreen guide because it takes so long to scroll through, as the TV tunes to a new channel every time. Also, the Samsung has very little lag when switching to a new channel.

People have complained about the startup time. While it does take a bit longer than one is used to to get turned on and ready it takes the same amount of time for my TV's lamp to warm up and the image come onscreen, so I'd never even noticed it before.

The main drawback I've experienced is with the remote control. Its buttons could have been better placed, and the most used buttons should have been the largets ones. It's a good size, and has enough features. But illumination? The remote doesn't light up but then again, I haven't come across one that does that isn't LCD based. I've never found myself needing illumination to use this remote.

I've you're unfortunate enough to have a HDTV without a built-in tuner this Samsung model makes it all better. It's also a good purchase to use if you have a smaller LCD that you may use with your computer. This is a good sized box that you can use as the TV tuner and watch HD programming on your 19-inch or 22-inch computer monitor. If it wasn't so expensive I'd actually buy a second one to replace the built-in one in my Sony.

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Replacement for cable TV

Strengths: Good price/value, intuitive controls

Weaknesses: Slow channel changing, touchy on some weak signals

Summary: We bought this tuner to replace a Scientific Atlanta cable box (we also got rid of our HD cable service) because we were tired of paying monthly fees. Most of the channels we were watching were local HD channels anyway. The picture quality is noticeable better over the air vs cable HD at 1080i. We get at least 10 channels at perfect quality in a major metropolitan area. The on-screen guide is very useful. I'd highly recommend it.

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Excellent OTA and Cable DTV Tuner!

Strengths: Can tune in ASTC over-the-air HDTV and can get QAM tuned channels!

Weaknesses: the on-screen menus are only able to be seen on HDMI or component (DTV-type) outputs. Analog outputs are basically "blind".

Summary: Good box for over the air channels. Resolution up to 1080i! One can get some channels from basic cable on this box, too! The only problem is that the component outputs are for a digital TV only. I have an analogue TV with component (RGB) inputs, and I get a persistent pink hue on the picture. If I connect it to an HDTV, the problem is gone. Oh, and you can only see the on-screen menus in digital outputs (HDMI and component). Any other output, and you're flipping channels blind!

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Samsung DTB-H260F HDTV Tuner

Strengths: Good picture quality, can decode clear QAM cable DTV signal too

Weaknesses: Price

Summary: This product does what is supposed to do pretty well with a many connection options. But due to lack of competition in this area, the product is way overpriced, especially considering the current price range on LCD and plasma TVs with built-in HD tuners.

If you mainly want to use it to receive free cable DTV channels, one thing I don’t like about it is the Auto Scan function. It gets all the clear channels plus all the encrypted channels too in the scan, in my case, it is about 350+ channels totally. So when you use the CH + / CH – buttons to browse through the programs, it stops at all the encrypted channels, but of course, you cannot see anything. And because of this problem, very often, you have to press the channel changing button more than 10 times before you can reach the next viewable channel, and this is very annoying. There is a Channel Manager function for deleting those unwanted channels, but there is no single button that can let you quickly delete the channel, instead, you have to press the buttons several times to go through the menu options to do so, and with 350+ channels, it is no fun to do this type of tasks.

The bottom line is, due to lack of choices on the market today, I guess if you want such function now, you’ll have to live with the high price and the shortcomings of the unit.

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Samsung H260F HDTV Tuner

Strengths: 5th gen chip, great reception. ATSC & QAM.

Weaknesses: OSD doesn't work with analog connectors. Slow startup

Summary: Feature wise, it is quite standard: has all the connectors: HDMI, Component, Optical, S-Video and Composite. Digital connectors support 1080i/720p/480p. The box is very small, about 2/3 of a regular DVD player. Excellent build quality. Remote fits comfortable in the hand but I wish buttons were illuminated.

Pros: It uses the lastest 5th gen chip and the difference between this and my old Radio Shack tuner is like day and night. I live about 11 miles from transmitters and there are lots of buildings and trees in the path. With my old tuner, I have to point my indoor antenna in the right direction and place it in the right spot to get reliable signals. With this tuner, no matter where I point my antenna to, it always gets good signals. It can also pick up most stations from another city 32 miles away with an indoor antenna.

Besides OTA (over the air), it handles clear QAM as well. Most of the cable companies carry unscrambled local broadcasting channels even with basic service, no cable box needed. It found about 200 or so digital channels on my $15 Comcast Basic Service, although most of them are digital music channels.

Cons: It is not a problem for folks with digital TVs, but OSD (On Screen Display) doesn't work with analog connectors (S-Video/Composite). That means you will not get any menu/guide information and there is no way to make menu changes. You could try to connect one of the component connector to composite, but that's a temporary solution to get it set up and you will only get a B/W picture.

Unit takes about 12 secs to startup - from you press the power button to picture shows up on TV - kind of long.

It does both ATSC and QAM, but there is only one coaxial input. So if you often switch between these two signal sources, you'd better get an A/B switch from Radio Shack.

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Samsung DTB-H260F HDTV Tuner

Strengths: QAM Tuner, HDMI & Optical Audio Outputs, RF pass through, Great Signal Booster!

Weaknesses: Low remote control signal output, need to point remote right at box to get it to work good. Channel Menu won't delete unviewable channels after scan have to do it manually.

Summary: This Digital box is great most noticeable when using the RF pass-through to the VCR to watch standard cable TV the signal is boosted and helps project a much better standard cable picture thought not bought for this reason it's great to revitalize the standard cable signal. I have found that using the QAM tuner is much easier than trying to play with an antenna, no luck in the trees and hills. I tried a few times with a Antenna to no avail. This box is great for picking up Local Digital & HD broadcasts, depends on what is being aired on the channel your watching. The QAM side for the tuner has been far better than using it with OTA over the air HD antenna. The only -negative I have is after scanning for new channels you have to manually remove the encrypted channels and other channels that don't tune in. This can be a pain when using the remote that comes with the box I highly recommend programing to another remote for use with this box it makes removing the unwanted channels much easier and way faster. Watching the local news channels in Digital and HD with 5.1 Optical audio is GREAT! You never know what you will find when scanning for channels almost evertime I do a scan there is some channel gone or a new one to watch!

It's exciting.... I would recommend this product to digital TV owners with HDMI or Component Inputs!

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Great HDTV tuner and good price.

Strengths: High sensitivity. Nice on-screen menu. Signal strength meter included. Blue LED display. Small footprint.

Weaknesses: Remote is only fair. Takes 15-30 seconds to boot-up when you turn it on. Wish some of then display features were available on the remote rather than navigating menus.

Summary: I am currently using the tuner with a rabbit ear indoor antenna on the first floor of a multi-story house. I am successfully picking up 15 HDTV channels from stations that are 15-30 miles away. Tuner seems to be very sensitive. Planning to install an attic antenna soon to improve number and strength of stations. The tuner has a nice channel listing feature similar to TV guide.

I recommend this unit completely and will likely buy another one over the next few months.

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Sleek Compact Thus Working Well

Strengths: - Sleek Compact Like A Cable Box - Responsive Firmware & Interface - All Needed Ports: Digital & Analog - Pictures & Sounds Output are Stunning

Weaknesses: Front Display Does Not Show Anything But One Blue LED

Summary: I bought this SAMSUNG DTB-H260F just hoped to get some local HDTV signals off the air, but the good thing was I did not need the HDTV Antenna. My Cox High Speed Line already has HDTV feed. Sleek Compact Thus Working Really Well. All digital & analog ports for all your needs including HDMI, component, analog RGB, dts & CATV out. I only wish the front display show some info about the channel it is on. I did try Phillips indoor antenna but did not get any signals. Unless you are a few miles away from broadcasting tower, indoor antennas never work for me. Much more affordable compared with early models. Would recommend for everyone using cable internet.

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Excellent Product, Great Addition to LCD TV

Strengths: Multiple digital outputs (HDMI/Component), S-Video out, QAM tuner, useful remote, up to 1080i through component output

Weaknesses: On Screen Guide not very useful

Summary: I purchased a LCD TV and found out it only had a ATSC digital tuner. I could not return the TV, but I wanted a QAM tuner to pick up some the digital channels from Comcast without having to pay their outrageous digital cable rates.

This unit did this and more. The multiple outputs are great because I can run component into my TV for full 1080i on some channels (depending on what Comcast is sending). and use the S-Video out to feed my DVR for better than analog cable recordings. I could not do this if the QAM tuner was integrated with my TV.

I could also hook up an HDTV antenna to try and pick up some additional channels, but I have not tried this yet because I live behind a mountain and I am 20+ miles from the broadcast towers in my area.

I hope to find a good universal remote that will that will work with this box, but for now the standard remote has the important volume and mute features. The favorites button is also useful to avoid having to scan through all the channels each time and was relatively easy to setup.

I would recommend this unit to anyone looking for a QAM capable tuner with multiple outputs. Also has digital audio outs, but I don't have a digital receiver yet.

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Samsung DTB-H260F HDTV Tuner

Strengths: small size, easy setup

Weaknesses: mediocre ATSC performance, no menu display for composite/s-video outputs, virtually no user controls on the unit, low analog audio output

Summary: I live in a fringe-reception area with considerable amounts of multipath interference. After reading so many positive reviews about the DTB-H260F's reception abilty, I decided to buy one. I was disappointed with the results. My four-year-old LG LST-3510A and Hughes HTL-HD tuners perform just as well as the DTB-H260F. In fact, the two older STBs provide more reliable reception of my more troublesome signals.

Also, I can't imagine why Samsung didn't make the menu display available on the composite video and s-video outputs.

The very low analog audio output level may also be a problem for some users. I'm using the digital optical output which works fine.

Since the only front panel control is the ON/OFF switch, the unit is virtually useless without the remote. So make sure you don't lose or abuse the remote.

I do like the DTB-H260F's small footprint. It is the smallest STB I've seen. I also like the menu GUI and easy setup.

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