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| Date Reviewed: 03/27/2007 |
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 Philips Silver Sensor PHDTV1 Strengths: Picks up channels very well, but only at the position you point it at
Weaknesses: Have to move it around if broadcasting stations in your area come from different directions, easily breakable
Summary: This is the same exact thing as the Zenith Silver Sensor ZHDTV1, which they apparently have discontinued. It will pick up stations very well at the direction you point it at, but if you have stations that is coming from a completely different direction deviating from the others, you would probably have to reorient the antenna to that direction each time you wish to pick up that channel.
For my particular situation, I can pick up stations 90 miles away, though it requires a signal booster to yield a consistent signal for the weaker stations. However, with these highly directional antennas, it is common for people to have to occasionally move the antenna around a little bit (even if the signal strength you typically get in that direction is strong) because the dependability of the signal is sometimes inconsistent, even though it may be strong.
IMPORTANT: This antenna's construction is relatively cheap - if it falls anything more than 3ft, the force will break off the coax output knob from the internal wires of the antenna, thus rendering it useless; this has happened twice for me. Durability should be an important factor of a product (because it ensures that you do not have to fork over more and more money to buy another one), which is why it has received a rating of 3 as opposed to anything better.
BOTTOM LINE - Works great in the direction you point it at, but have to move it around every once in a while to keep the strong signal. It has a cheap construction, however, so it will break easily....so buy only if you are extremely careful about handling it, otherwise you are better off throwing your money into the ocean.
 100% of People (7/7) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 10/08/2007 |
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Strengths: Small Footprint; Self-Powered; Amazing Signal
Weaknesses: Light Base
Summary: I bought this because of the great reviews that its brethren received (from what I understand, Zenith and another company have re-badged this model). The antenna itself is very powerful, and does not need to be plugged into an electrical outlet--all you need to do is connect the included coax cable. I receive all the local HD channels with amazing signal strength. I only wish that the base of the antenna was a little heavier, so that the unit would not move if it was bumped.
100% of People (1/1) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 05/31/2007 |
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Philips Silver Sensor Indoor HDTV Antenna
Strengths: Easy Install/Setup. Small in size. Works great when using Outdoors in nice weather & in high & open areas.
Weaknesses: Very small signal gain indoor. Much better outside not near trees or hills. Weighted base not very heavy.
Summary: I got this antenna to use with a HDTV USB Stick it made very little difference when used indoors compaired to the little retractable antenna that came with the HDTV USB tuner, Even when placed close to a window and in the direction of the stations antenna it still only getting 1 channel, Thought it was a stronger signal on the 1 channel, The antenna was not strong enuf to pick up any others while indoors. Indoors it works better hooked up to be an AM antenna on my stereo! I have had much better success using this while mobile than indoors! I would recommend this for use in the open where you know there are no trees or hills in the way of the signal!
83% of People (5/6) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 02/17/2007 |
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Strengths: Small footprint and directional function.
Weaknesses: None
Summary: I live about 8 miles from my local tv station antennas and this little antenna picks up all the HD towers perfectly. I have to rotate the antenna to so it points at each tower (there are multiple towers around me) which is a little bit of a pain though with non directional antenna I got no signal at all so I will live with this. I tries numerous RCA antennas and higher end Phillips non directional antennas with amps and all the bells and whistles though this one does the best for HD signal. I have not tried this antenna on Non HD signals.
83% of People (5/6) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 03/17/2007 |
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 Few channels available Strengths: Small in size, easy to install
Weaknesses: My lcd tv is hdtv ready, samsung with magic tuner. I don't know but out of the few channels available, only 3 are in reasonable quality. I'm in SoCal area.
Summary: I've tried using the antenna in different areas and directions in my room but only 3 channels are reasonable quality. Fox11, KCAL9 and several mexican channels that i dont care about.
67% of People (2/3) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 06/20/2007 |
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Decent Antenna
Strengths: Easy to install. Low Price.
Weaknesses: Not strong signal indoor. Prefer longer cable.
Summary: I brought this indoor antenna after reading several positive reviews. Overall, this is a decent antenna with the price I paid for it. When I placed this antenna a little bit further away from the window, my signal got weaker. I had to move it right by the window to receive the stronger signal. But the problem was that the cable that came with the antenna was not that long for me so I had to use another cable. But once I was watching, the picture quality was excellent.
50% of People (1/2) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 01/02/2008 |
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Strengths: Great picture.
Weaknesses: Connector cable short.
Summary: Good value piece for the price. I like the design and it stands well without any supports. Easy hook up. I wish the connector cable was longer but no big deal.
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| Date Reviewed: 01/01/2008 |
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Works ok
Strengths: cheap
small
Weaknesses: no FM antenna
not as sensitive as some
construction not great
Summary: Looks ok and doesn't take much room, but you're better off with a phdtv3 if you don't mind its looks. the lack of an active RF amplifier hurts the performance. Also, this won't help your FM reception, if you care about that.
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| Date Reviewed: 07/26/2007 |
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Strengths: Pretty good reception.
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: All I do is to put it next to my tv then I can get a lot of channels for free. I figured that if I put it outdoor I'd get even more channels. This comes very handy when you don't have cable or dish network, but you'd like to watch some tv programs to kill time. This is the one you should get.
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| Date Reviewed: 07/09/2007 |
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Strengths: pretty
Weaknesses: none
Summary: I get a plenty of channels, might be even better if I put it outside.
The picture quality is good. The antenna itself is not big at all so it doesn't take too much space. The price is very reasonable for such a robust product.
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| Date Reviewed: 06/30/2007 |
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Strengths: HDTV on the cheap!!! Seems to pick up the channels well.
Weaknesses: I am not aware of any weaknesses, but then again I am new to HDTV and don't really have much to compare to.
Summary: I am using this to get HDTV on my PC. I have a Hauppauge HVR-950 usb hdtv tuner that came with a portable antenna. I was having problems picking up reception with it but this works much better and I can get a good picture with it. I haven't figured out a good way to hide it somewhere though, so it is sitting on my desk right now...
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| Date Reviewed: 06/26/2007 |
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Strengths: Receive lots of channel
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: I got about 25 channels which is not bad considering the antenna is inside the house. I can watch free over-the air hdtv with this product. Not bad at all!
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| Date Reviewed: 06/03/2007 |
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Strengths: - Great Reception
- Price
Weaknesses: - Is big in size, need a find a location to place it.
Summary: Don't buy those expensive HDTV antennas, if you dont want to make a home made or buy a cheap $10 one, this is the one to get.
I bought three antennas and compared them, this is the one I kept. Another antenna from the Philips line I tried is the PHDTV3, don't buy that one, since reception is not great.
Signal from my location from the towers (< 10 miles), was 80-100% with the PHDTV1 vs. 50-100% with the PHDTV3. The only advantage of the PHDTV3 is it's easy to place.
Note, the PHDTV1 is great to place in the attic if you run it there.
For the price I highly recommend the Philips PHDTV1 for the price. Great Value
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| Date Reviewed: 06/01/2007 |
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Strengths: Picks up over-the-air stations flawlessly. Low price.
Weaknesses: The shape is kind of awkward, causing it to take up more space than its footprint might indicate.
Summary: If you're looking for an indoor HDTV antenna, this is the one to get. Don't believe the hype (and corresponding high prices) of the amplified antennas. Most people with experience with OTA antennas will tell you that a Silver Sensor antenna is the BEST indoor antenna option. This is especially significant, since it's so much cheaper than the amplified antennas.
I have three of these antennas. One is in the basement, and it sometimes will not pick up the strongest signal. The other two are on upper floors of the house and are aimed at opposite directions of the house, and both receive near 100% signals on all available OTA stations. I'm not willing to go through the trouble of installing a huge antenna in the attic, so these antennas are certainly my best option.
The bottom line--don't expect magic out of these antennas. If you plan to install it in a basement, don't expect optimum performance. In any other case, this antenna should be your first option.
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| Date Reviewed: 05/15/2007 |
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Strengths: very good strong reception
Weaknesses: none
Summary: This was very simple to set up and works really great. No hassle with outdoor antenna and long cables. This is very easy to do and works great. And the price is right too!
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