Great DSS receiver
Written: Nov 17 '99
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Pros: Surf guide, dolby digital out
Cons: one of the more expensive units
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| lemson's Full Review: RCA DS5451RB DIRECTV System |
I compared the 5451 against the 3rd generation Sony model that was out at the time, and brought along my friend who owns a Sony. The killer differentiator for the 5451 was its Dolby Digital out, as it was the first with the feature. Then we compared its channel guides and the RCA's "Surf Guide", where it puts a translucent channel guide on the screen, made me really love it.
My friend, who had a Sony, had tried to aim it himself and eventually gave up, with the silly LED display on the Sony. He paid $50 for the DIY kit, ran all the wires himself, then $100 to have someone come out and aim it. When the installer came out, he had a small signal strength meter that he put inline with the coax so he could see the strength by himself, OUTSIDE. When we were at Good Guys! buying the unit, we asked the salesman about it. At first we had asked the salesman about how hard it was to aim. He said that he does them all the time for his friends and family, no problem. Then we asked about the signal strength meter... he said, "sure, we sell those" and showed it to us for $50. I opted not to buy it, saying I'd come back if I had trouble. He took my address and found out that I live about 3 blocks from him (I guess I don't live in as good a neighborhood as I thought :-) and said that if I wanted, I could borrow HIS meter. Aha! The secret: he owns one of these $50 meters, and that's how he does it so easily. I took his number.
I got up on the roof and put the thing up. No problems running the wires, and I eventually (months later) bought a set of diplexers from Radio Shack and put up a $50 RS "real" (7') antenna near the dish, on the chimney. Now I have broadcast and DSS on the same coax running into the house. An aside: I would avoid the plastic-cased amplified "stick" antennas. I bought one and a) it was impossible to mount and aim... unless you live right next door to the antenna you won't be able to aim it right and b) it was expensive. I returned it in favor of a "traditional" antenna with elements. That one is easy to aim and provides a much better picture with no amplifier necessary.
As far as aiming, I had my wife downstairs on the cordless phone base speakerphone reading the number out to me on the roof, holding the cordless phone. We got it aimed to almost perfect signal strength in about 5 minutes. So if you want to do this by yourself, buy the meter, but in my experience, the RCA readout makes this easy to do with two people who can communicate from the TV to the antenna.
Ownership-wise, I am very happy with this unit. It has been reliable and high-quality. I am very happy with the onscreen guide modes and there isn't too much I would change about it (maybe I just haven't seen the feature out there that is better though). I eventually used the coax that was running around the house for cable to feed DSS output upstairs to the bedroom (fed the RF output of the DSS into the system, then hooked TVs into that). The RF remote of the 5451 really came in handy here, as I moved the RF remote upstairs so we can change channels in bed. I have a universal remote that uses IR in the same room as the 5451 (of course, using S-video out there!)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 400
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Epinions.com ID:
lemson
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Member: David Lemson
Location: Redmond, WA
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 8 members
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