Samsung TS160 Directv/HD receiver

[sp44again]

I've been reading a thread over at avsforums about this unit. Anybody here have one and have no problems with it? It's getting bombarded over there with people having problems.

[Todd Wiedemann]

Rees ??

[borghe]

sp44again - take the complaints at AVSForum with a grain of salt. Not just on this box but with almost any hardware. Just like most Internet forums, unhappy users on that forum always seem to shout louder than the happy ones, even though the unhappy users are in the vast minority.

I don't know about that box in particular, but I know if you read through threads there on my Hughes box (or the mits or tosh that are based on it) you would think it is the biggest flaming pile of crap in the world.. Yet aside from my first one that died on me 28 days after purchase, the unit has performed wonderfully for me.

Hopefully someone here will be able to provide you with a more objective review of the box, unlike the generally mob-like mentallity that seems to go on over there sometimes.

[jlegge]

Keep in mind, you are more apt to hear about all the bad stuff vs. hearing about the good stuff.

Very few people post just to say how much they like something, however you'll definitely hear something from the bad experiences....

[sp44again]

You guys are right but I don't see too many 65 page thread where people just bash a product. That's a lot of posts!

[borghe]

don't count the number of posts in the thread, count the number of participants... it is my belief that most threads that get to be insanely large are generally just the same people going back and forth over a long period of time.

Also remember that if the thread has been around for a while, there is a good chance that many complaints have since been fixed by firmware downloads. That was the case with my Hughes.

[ReesR]

I guess I should say a few words about this.

I started that thread on the avsforum.  I was able to interface with Samsung development and they were extremely responsive to the issues I brought to their attention.  For example, within one week they sent a software engineer directly from Korea to my house.  That was a fantastic experience.  He was able to discover the major software problem in a few hours which threatened to kill that satellite receiver.  However, it took 2 months for Directv to distribute that fix because of quality control issues.

If you go to the very first post in that thread you will see below my signature a rather large pool of links which are the important issues regarding the box and their solutions etc.  Clicking on them will give you a big picture view of the major issues and how they were delt with.

I have been thinking that we will need to take that thread and move it away from the top of the forum because it has become way too big and difficult for people to gain much out of it anymore.  But it certainly has been an interesting experience along the way.

The TS-160 is not perfect.  However, Samsung has done everything it could to keep people happy.  I personally have never seen as much support for a product as this one.  Bottom line is this Directv box is the only one which will out put high definition and standard definition at the same time.  That is a master piece of engineering currently.   This means you can watch in high def while still being able to record on your current vcr or TiVo unit.

Hope that gives you the information you were looking for.

[sp44again]

I went to Flanners to pick one up and they don't have any in stock. :mad:  I hope they get some in soon. 549 professionally installed is a good price I think.

[sp44again]

I just called American and you would think since they advertise HDTV all the time that they would have more than 2 boxes! One Samsung OTA and the other is the Hughes E-86. Pathetic.

[sp44again]

Must be a popular unit cause nobody has this thing in stock! Either that or Samsung is behind in producing them.

[pontiac94]

I have a 160 and think it is a rather nice piece of equipment.  The picture is good, and the processing power to change the channels and bring up the guide are exceptional.  Just my two cents.