iView 3500STB: An HD Tuner / DTA Converter Box / DVR / Media Player for about $50?

UPDATE: until iview fixes the problems in its firmware, I am no longer recommending the  iView 3500STB.  I am recommending the HomeWorx HW-150PVR. 

A lot of people have asked me about digital converter boxes, HD TV tuners, and DVRs, and where to get them for cheap.

How about a device that does all that, and costs under $50?
What if you could also play videos from USB devices, too?

The iView 3500STB does all that! 

How To Get OTA Program Guide Info After The End of TVGOS TV Guide On Screen

 Breaking News:

If you have a TV or device that uses TVGOS (TV Guide On Screen) you are about to lose your program guide. ROVI, the creator of TVGOS, has announced the end of the service.This is a post from AVS forum on the subject:

Originally Posted by RobMeyer1  

I received a reply from KNME:
"Mr. Meyer,
We were instructed by the distributor for TV Guide to disconnect the
equipment which distributes the TV Guide information last week. For more
information, you may contact them as follows:
Call Gemstar/Rovicorp Consumer Electronics Product Support at 800-386-7380.
Email can be sent to ce_customer_support@rovicorp.com.
Thank you for writing and thank you for watching New Mexico PBS."
Looks like most of New Mexico will no longer get TV Guide.

I called the above phone #. The engineer I talked to confirmed that TV Guide is being discontinued. Approximately 20% of markets have been terminated as of Nov. 1st and the rest will be discontinued over the next 6 months!

Note that TV Guide itself is not being terminated, just the ROVI provided TVGOS.

Now, what are you going to do if you have a TVGOS device? Too bad a lot of channels don't use their PSIP, or under-use it. PSIP (Program and System Information Protocol ) is the program data transmitted by the TV stations themselves, using a small bit of their bandwidth to provide program listings for free. Some channels populate their guide out several days and include program details (PBS stations usually do it best), but most only go out about 12 hours with no description. The worst stations are the minor players, like LP stations. You're lucky if they display the station name / network, let alone program info.

Funny thing is, most cheap converter boxes have a better program guide than even the most expensive TV sets. (That's why my DTVpal converter is hooked up to my 52" HDTV!) Now, if $50 converter boxes can have a guide, then why not a $1000+ HDTV? It would only add about a dollar or two to the price of a new TV.

A couple work-arounds for no program guide:

Announcing The Free TV Store.

    After answering hundreds of questions about "what antenna should I buy" and "Where can I buy a..." I have hand selected some of my favorite antennas, tools, supplies, and electronics from Amazon.com at The Free TV Store.


    Many of you are aware that I manufacture and install my own antennas, but they are only available for pickup here in Cache valley, UT, or if I install them in Northern  Utah or Southern Idaho, due to the high shipping costs. These are some of the best antennas available, but for those of you who live further away, I have selected several of the best rated commercial antennas for different locations and I will soon add cabling, grounding, and mounting supplies.  I'll be adding converter boxes, remote controls, and items like DVRs, media computers, and internet connected devices for streaming internet TV soon.

Everything you need to CUT THE CABLE!

Does OTA TV have a Program Guide Like Cable? ( YES, it does! )

DTVpal converter box program guide. A number of former pay TV users have lamented the lack of a program guide when they switched to free OTA TV. The problem doesn't lie so much with OTA Digital TV as much as it does with the manufacturers of televisions and converter boxes. You see, the Digital TV standards provide for a rich set of features, including an EPG - an electronic program guide. Most TV stations broadcast their EPG info, which is embedded in the DTV signal. The information they provide includes the time, program name and a description. Some stations are very good at providing EPG info, while others fail miserably. Some stations will provide several days of EPG with detailed descriptions, while others provide only a few hours of program names or nothing at all. The worst offenders are LPT - Low Power Television - and independent TV stations. PBS stations generally do the best job with their EPGs.