Channel Master CM-7004 Converter Box Digital to Analog and HD Antenna Tuner with Grid Channel Guide and More

I recently rescanned for digital TV signals because I lost a couple of OTA stations that I had. after scanning I ended up with thirteen channels including ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. Nice! the problem was that CBS and Fox signals were kind of iffy. They worked well after sunset as long as the weather was clear. Sometimes they went in and out and sometimes there was no signal at all. I bought the Channel Master CM-7004 because I wanted to have a guide. It's nice to know what's on next/later. I expected to get the same reception but now with a channel guide. I set up the box using the HDMI output and somehow ended up with the guide and a much better picture on every channel with not a bit of interference of any kind. I haven't used the recording feature yet. I have a portable one TB hard drive but I can't find the transformer that goes with it. Anyway I'm very happy with this product. Eventually I intend to end my cable TV subscription. This is a good first step.

This initially looked like it was going to be perfect for my needs. All I needed was a good quality digital OTA tuner for my home theater projector. I didn't need the DVR function so I ignored most of the negative reviews since they were primarily regarding the DVR function. Set up went smoothly and the program guide populated and all looked good. But after initial set up it never worked right again. The first time I turned it back on it said I had no signal on any channels so I had to do a rescan. After that I was watching TV and switched channels only to get the same no signal problem again. This time I solved it by unplugging the unit and plugging it back in again. Then on only the second day of use I turned it on and tried to change channels only to find it skip over a number of channels including the one I wanted. For example I am on 2.1 and hit the channel button to go up to 5.1 but instead it skips over 5.1,5.2,5.3,7.1,7.2 and 9.1 and jumps to 9.3. All the channels show in the program guide and I can get there by selecting the channel in the program guide but not by using the channel button. I have decided that the unit is just to buggy so I decided to return it only to find out that I cannot return to Amazon but I must deal directly with Channel Master and pay for the return shipping. Must be nice when a company can sell you a defective product and then you have to pay to return it. This is the last time I will buy anything from a third party seller on Amazon.

Prepare to be an alpha tester. It seems like the unit was never field tested, and it has an array of bugs and ridiculous limitations. Shame one Channel Master for not even doing basic testing. Cons: If you schedule recordings from more than one channel, the channel switch often leads to problems, usually resulting in a corrupt file that cannot be played. I suspect a hardware problem that does not properly account for different signal strengths of of the channels, perhaps resulting in a spike. The guide does not populate correctly. It gets 90% of the schedule, but leaves some 2-hour holes of "unknown event". It can be hours before the holes are filled in. Another brand DVR running simultaneously finds the missing events without issue. Could be the tuner moving through the channels too fast. (The guide does populate very quickly.) Could be some software bug. There is a blank area at the bottom of the guide. Intuitively, this would be for a description of the highlighted program. I have not found a way to get a program description while viewing the guide. With Info, you can get the description of the current program in normal mode but not from within the guide. Names of scheduled and recorded programs are wrong. The name of the previous show is often repeated for several recordings. If you schedule a program 1 min. early, you may get the name of the previous show, or you may get something else. Pot luck. DVR is limited to 10 scheduled programs. Was this software lifted from an ancient DVD recorder or something? DVR seems to be limited to 30 recorded programs. Pathetic. If you try to schedule an 11th program, the system will let you go through the motions without warning. No recording will actually be scheduled. I have not found a way to block or hide channels. That means that much of the guide is cluttered with channels I would never want to record from. I block about 3/4 of the channels on my TV. There does not seem to be a way to skip a scheduled program (i.e. advance the date of the next recording). You have to delete the program, and schedule a new one. It uses a standard FAT format for the USB drive, HOWEVER, it overlays what appears to be a very archaic storage structure. Files are broken apart and stored into chunks of about 7 min. apiece, with a .TS extension, and labeled B1.TS, B2.TS, etc. in a DAT directory. A separate directory (in some kind of binary format) links names and (apparently) number of chunks. Therefore, you cannot copy files to your computer (e.g. to a large hard drive). If you have a player that will handle .TS files, and manage to piece together a complete show, you cannot remove the .TS files without corrupting the entire drive. Doing a Factory Reset results in an initial date of 2000, which seems about right. This seems to be similar to how a DVD recorder of that era would organize the DVD. 2-1/2 times the cost of similar boxes. Pay more. Get less. Pros: Remote is nice. Audio and video stay in sync. during playback, even after FF and RW. Maximum FF is very fast (64x?). If you need to FF an hour into a movie, you don't have to wait 5 min. When scheduling a program, there are convenient options to start the recording a little early or run a little late. You can repeat for up to 5 episodes (i.e. for a miniseries) as well as indefinitely. You can schedule to record: Once, Weekly, Mon-Fri, Mon-Sat, or Daily. I Suppose It Could Be a Pro: Power LED is white and very bright. Handy if you need a night light. Have some window tint film handy if you don't think this is such a good thing.

This is a very good DVR for the money. But there are 3 main problems I have with it. 1 The pause, rewind, and Playback can be jumpy. I suspect this is due to signals being weak but it is hard to tell. 2 It dose not pick up all of the channels, it does not show / will not find, all the channels that the TV finds on its own search. This limits the programming you have access to. 3 the remote's power and volume buttons cannot be programmed to the TV like a typical cable box remote.

After trying many channel converters to attach to my Vizio P-65-C1 Monitor (which didn't come with a built-in tuner) -- and not liking any of them -- I purchased this Channel Master box. It has a DVD feature, which I was never able to use, as it had problems formatting the 128 gig USB stick. I also found that my Pronto Pro universal remote control could not learn the discrete power OFF and ON commands. I found the Channel Box clunky to use and really no better than the previous ones I tried. I ultimately decided to return it. I'm still looking for an excellent Converter Box.

We cut the cord to go with an antenna but missed the recording feature. The Channel Master provided us with better reception and the recording ability. Great value and easy to use.