Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

9/24/17 update. Had a power surge elsewhere in the house. It apparently toasted the unit. I just ordered a similar PVR box for about $5 less. The ViewTV did its job. I figure these boxes are mostly similar, so I'm trying something new. 3/22/16 UPDATE: It's been one month, and I'm still discovering little things. Quite by accident, while viewing a live channel, I pressed the pause button, which froze the picture. On hitting play, the show started from the very beginning, and I noticed "Time Shifting" appear on the screen. I haven't duplicated this, but I believe this is how you may start a live show from the beginning, should you tune in a bit late. Slight glitch: My preset times to record the news sometimes gets lost, when I turn the box off, and I have to reprogram. I guess I could leave the box on all the time, but I don't see the point. Timer to turn box on and off. You can set a time so the box turns itself on, and off. Somewhere in the menu, you can find this setting. I've disabled this feature, but thought I'd point it out. Workaround in viewing another channel, while recording another channel. I discovered, at times when I'm recording one channel, I can't change to another, live channel. I found that if I change my video source on my tv to "TV", I can change the channel on the box, and that channel appears on my TV. You must have your TV set to channel 3 for this to work. I now have an external hard drive plugged into the usb port to record shows. There's no lag for the HD to "spin up" as I've read other PVR's do. I have other video content on the HD in varying formats: .mp4, .avi both play back through Viewtv receiver. Oh, .VOB (a DVD file format) plays back as well, which is a really cool feature for those that rip their DVDs to archive them. Since a DVD can have numerous .VOB files, this can be problematic in viewing a DVD in the proper order. I keep my .mp4 videos in one folder, and when video finishes, it automatically starts playing the next. I assume this is true for any video files in one folder, but can't say I'm sure. But having the option to play compressed video files (I play mostly youtube vids I've saved) is a nice feature. All in all, I'm still very happy with this box. I'm new to the cord cutting revolution, and figured I needed a PVR to round out my collection of relatively cheap options, to enhance my viewing experience. After reading many reviews on Amazon, I opted for this model, since this model is considered older: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGVPKKC/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=RBSV75GOFFE9&coliid=I11SC2VRL5KZ88&psc=1 I figured, this model is newer, and the options of viewing various video formats via the usb stick was a plus (as you can through the older model). Since this is my first PVR, I really have nothing to compare it to, but the favorable reviews the AT-163 received, and the price, I figured I couldn't do too badly. Setup was a breeze, and I didn't even look at the instructions. I already had an external antenna, so I connected that to the RF "in" connector on the box. I also had an HDMI cable already, plugged that into my tv, then into the box, and then I plugged the power cable. "Boot up" appeared on the lcd screen, and I was immediately brought to the setup menu. I chose my language, I then navigated to the channel scan area, let the box do its thing, and boom, I had a very crisp OTA (over the air) channel being broadcast. I wanted to test the recording ability, so I found a handy usb flash drive, plugged that into the port in the front of the box, and pressed record (it was an old episode of Seinfeld. I stopped the recording by pressing "exit" (if I recall correctly), pressed "usb" on the remote, and navigated to the file on the flash drive, and pressed the OK button. A small preview of the show appeared on the bottom right, and to view it full screen, I had to press the "hold" button. The picture was kind of snowy, but that's how that channel appeared (also, it was a very old episode). I then navigated to a channel with a good picture, pressed record, recorded for a few minutes, stopped, and previewed. It was a crisp recording. The box records in "mts" format. Curious, I unplugged the flash drive, plugged it into my Win 10 laptop, and I was able to play the video using VLC player, a free multimedia player that plays many audio, and video formats. So I think this would answer any questions as to whether you can use the flash drive on different boxes, or your computer. Anyone looking for a PVR box should make sure it plays numerous file formats. I had an .mp4 video file on my flash drive, and was able to play that through the box, to my tv in living color. You can record one channel, while watching another, AS LONG AS YOU SET THE "MODULATION MODE" TO "LOOP THROUGH." This becomes clear as you go through the setup menu (sorry, it's late, and I don't want to go through a step by step tutorial now). I believe you can pull in a better picture quality due to the box being powered, but, I'm not sure. All I know is, the picture quality is better than when I had a simple antenna connected to my flatscreen's coaxial connection. The remote is rather bizarre, and every inch is covered with a button of some type. So far, the "OK" and "Exit" and "Menu" buttons are the ones I've used the most to navigate, aside from the channel buttons. THIS DOESN'T HAVE TRIPLE A BATTERIES INCLUDED, SO BE PREPARED. There was a nice feature I discovered for recorded programs, that I saw was a complaint with other boxes. You can rename recorded files. When your are in the recorded videos area, at the lower right, is the option to rename. I was concerned I would have to write down every recorded program. I consider this a huge plus. I will update when possible, but I literally received the box this evening. So far, so good. Be realistic. This is a $40 box. I will answer any questions as they come up, but I really need time to learn the ins and outs of this box. With Amazon Prime video, and Netflix, there's really no reason for me to pay the obscene amounts of money carriers are asking for. This little, affordable box is a great addition. I'll mostly be recording the news, so I'm sure this will suit those needs, and the random network show I may want to record. Cord cutters unite!