Product Rating: 1.0
There have been reports of some people have problems with reception and not picking up all channels with this and other converter boxes. You should expect to have to purchase a good digital TV antenna to operate in tandem with converter boxes in order to get all channels. Without and antenna you should expect a sub par experience with any box on the market.
This converter box has been upgraded to the Digital Stream DTX9950.
This converter box has been upgraded to the Digital Stream DTX9950.
Product Details: When comparing the Digital Stream DTX9900 to other digital converter boxes it rated fairly low for picture quality. The picture quality was still better than most analog broadcast but was just not as good as that of other TV converter boxes. When watching SD content there was a slight, yet obvious, blurring and stretching of the picture. When watching HDTV the picture quality is excellent. Its picture quality is quite comparable to the Digital Stream DSP7500T and is still better than that of analog TV. This converter box provides sound quality that is similar to the best converter boxes on the market. This converter box can be purchased for $60-$65 and as of now is only available new from a couple online retailers.
Features: The Digital Stream DTX9900 has a programming guide that displays the shows title, total run time, and a summary of it and shows for the next few hours. This digital converter allows its users to individually tune channels or use the auto scan function. It also comes with an on screen signal strength meter to help with the tuning of channels individually. It also comes with a universal remote that works for almost all functions of the TV and converter box. This converter box does not come with analog pass-through.The DTX9900 is a fairly good converter box but we simply cannot recommend it because there are better boxes out there that include analog pass-through that also sell for a cheaper price.
Update February 2014
Real User Reviews: As you can see in the user submitted notes below, this converter box has clear issues with overheating and eventual failure. Due to a faulty capacitor it seems that almost every single one is destined to failure in a years time or less. Looks elsewhere
Alice Said...
"Mine bit the dust after 18 months. It does the blinking yellow light thing and nothing else. I expect that heat was the culprit since I don't have an air conditioner in the room where it was being used and the temp had been hovering around the low 90's when it started to fail. It acted cranky at first and wouldn't find a signal when the green light came on, only a black screen with a channel number. I had to turn it on and off repeatedly, more and more often, in order to get the picture to come in.
I finally reset the sleeper function thinking if the box stayed on all this nonsense would stop. It did, but not for the better. I checked the box the next morning and it was blinking. I guess the best thing to do to help keep it working is to keep the little bugger cool and turn it off when not in use. It may last longer, but don't count on it. The six month warranty is long since expired and since it is junk I may just peek inside, not plugged in of course, for a quick autopsy.
I guess I've got to find a new box now since I'm not the only one with this problem. I don't plan to spending anymore money on Digital Stream products. Granted, it worked great while it lasted. Meanwhile, I will manage without my TV this summer or borrow a box when I need one. We still have a couple spares - another Digital Stream (different model) and a Magnavox."Joel Said...
"Following an earlier poster's lead, I just opened one of our DTX9900 units bought during the digital conversion. After 2 years of less than an hour per month use, the green lamp started blinking last week. Then the unit wouldn't come on at all.
Sure enough, as per the poster's commentary, the 330UF capacitor has a distended top. I do some soldering, but circuit boards are tricky. Not sure if I can get two pins to melt at once, plus not overheat the proximal board, so may hunt for an electronics shop that will do the replacement for a few bucks - shouldn't take long (2 mins. for a pro?) given I have it all apart already, and can reassemble it easily myself. I think the 25v capacitor version sounds more heat tolerant, but not being an expert I'll get the repairman's opinion. There may be better quality 16v units available now.
Though I like this model's EPG (electronic program guide) as a TV Guide substitute, I think the Dish Network brand converter boxes we bought later that year provide a better overall experience, and after this Digital Stream failure and my experience at that company's website (the DTX9900 manual isn't searchable there), I'll not ever buy again nor recommend Digital Stream."Specs
V-Chip Lock Parental Control Setting
Configurable Closed Captioning
Electronic Program Guide
On Screen Signal Strength Meter
Energy Star Compliant
English, French, and Spanish Language Support
What Is Included With Your Purchase?
Digital Stream DTX9900 Converter Box
Universal Remote Control
Power Cord
DTX9900
ReplyDeleteI purchased 4 units a year ago from Radio Shack. One unit died last month, and anther 3 days ago. Has anyone had issues related to their durability?
Thanks
I bought 2- First one quit working after 14 months (I was out of town 6 of those months)- Light blinks but it won't turn on - warranty only 6 months so no help there. Second box won't allow me to program the TV to turn on and off - otherwise it still works.
ReplyDeleteProduct worked well when it worked, but I wouldn't recomment any of the Digital Stream junk
I have one that kicks off and we have to turn the power off and back on. It is only a few months old. I will tell you what I am going to do--I am going to send messages to Radio Shack and Digital Stream. If I don't get any satisfaction I will boycott Radio Shack along with Wal-Mart. If everyone did this we would not get ripped off as much.
ReplyDeletewe purchased the digital stream over 2 years ago and i am very happy with it. we also purchased another brand [ph---o] at the same time and find the digital stream to be far superior. it is very easy to check channel strength and all other features that the other doesn't have. it is still working fine, i'll keep my fingers crossed. GRANT
ReplyDeleteAfter about a year mine no longer receives a signal. I found that turning it off an on rapidly worked for a few weeks. Sometimes unplugging it helped. Now it is toast --- "Weak signal, no program." BS. These things are far too expensive to die inexplicably.
ReplyDeleteI will not be buying another converter box from Radio Shack, nor will I purchase anything manufactured by Digital Stream.
My digital stream converter box, died last night (11/16/2010) with the same symptoms written other post. Analog TV's worked for years and at best I got two years out of the converter box.
ReplyDeleteI had 2 boxes and one broke (my fault) and the second one had the same problem you are having - flashing green light. I saved the broken one and decided to open them both up. I could see that the one with the flashing green light had a component that was burnt out so I replaced it with the same component from the first box and it worked...for about 6 months. I am now finding out that the component piece is an electrolytic capacitor and costs about $2. It's pretty easy to replace, so I'm going to buy another capacitor. You shouldn't have to do this every 6 months. I would definitely go with a different next time.
ReplyDeleteAll the DTX9900's have the same marginal power supply. So does many of the early DTX9950's.
ReplyDeleteThe originally installed capacitor #29 on the power supply board "explodes" due to long term heat damage. The top of the capacitor is scored, so that the explosion is directed upwards.
The individual in the January 19, 2011 post stated that he took the capacitor from one power supply and put in in the other.
Apparently the subcontractor for Digital Stream used a batch of defective capacitors for the entire run of these power supplies.
The long term solution would be replacement of the 330uf 16v 105 degrees capacitor with one made by another manufacturer. Better yet, one with a 25v rating would be even better.
Digital Stream secretly redesinged the power supply for the 9950 when they used up all of the older power supplies.
Other than the power supply problem the Digital Stream models have a lott of good features.
Odds are, the reason the converter boxes are failing is do to cheap Chinese electrolytic capacitors. If you're handy, you can replace them using better quality cheap Chinese capacitors found at your local Radio Shack store. Be sure to install them in the 'right direction' (polarity) and be careful so you don't overheat the component or the circuit board with your soldering iron. If you don't know what I mean, let someone else do the job for you.
ReplyDeleteWhat's killing these boxes early is a simple problem....HEAT. It gets incredibly hot and cooks the logic board. I fixed the problem by drilling out more vent holes, half of which were decorative and weren't open. Drill out as many holes as you can and you will alleviate the heat issues.
ReplyDeleteThe other main problem with the Digital Stream DTX9900/9950 series is their tuner sensitivity is terrible. Unless you can provide an extremely strong signal you will get dropouts, and you may not even get some channels at all.
This product is junk. They stopped production, and replaced it with a similar pice of junk. Mine just flashes yellow. Never happy with the signal strength or picture quality. Radio shack sure got one over on us. They found the cheapest China junk, so they could take full advantage of the governments coupon.
ReplyDeleteSomeone sold this to me for $15 because I was on hard times and had to cancel my cable. It lasted a few months before the capacitor died. I've just been marginalized. How do you ppl sleep? Selling low quality products to low income citizens. I'll tell all my friends my experience and what I've read here. btw, I'm on the radio and have a lot of friends. If you want to reach out to me like you have done for no one else here plz hit me up at fisterwilson@gmail.com I'd love to get your side of the story before I go to air.
ReplyDelete-jammer