GE 24775 Quantum HDTV Antenna by GE
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Digital camera reviews of GE 24775 Quantum HDTV Antenna
Digital camera Review: Marginally better than rabbit ears
Summary: 2 Stars
BKX's review hits it right on the head for me: this antenna was barely better than my good ol' rabbit ears on my 10+ year old analog tv. Contrary to what the packaging says, I found that you *do* have to reposition both parts of the antenna (the "wings" and the regular telescoping rod) to get better reception and one position did not fit all. I didn't gain any new stations with this antenna than I already had with rabbit ears; I actually lost some!
The only reason I said that this antenna was barely better than rabbit ears is because the signal did come in slightly better with this one (we're talking 40% versus 30% signal strength) and when you do have to adjust the antenna (which is often) this one is easier to adjust than traditional rabbit ears.
In summary, I will be returning this antenna and purchasing the Philips Indoor Outdoor UHF antenna, which is getting phenomenal reviews for both inside and outside use. Check it out for yourself!Philips MANT940 UHF Digital and Analog Indoor/Outdoor Antenna Oh and good luck for all of you trying to wade through this antenna-converter box-HD-DTV-HDTV conversion mess...makes your head hurt, doesn't it? ;)
Digital camera Review: Nice reception and easy to use
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great antenna for a very reasonable price. Easy to set up and move around for reception.Digital camera Review: Not bad at all
Summary: 4 Stars
I ordered this antenna because, after I'd seen how great the new DTV channels are, it seemed worthwhile to get a converter box and antenna for my old TV set (that was being used only for DVD videos, before). When the antenna arrived I was surprised and pleased by how small it is. It's less than 7 inches tall. (I have overhead clearance problems, so small is good.) Note, however, that the photos at Amazon don't show the single rabbit ear that extends upward from inside/behind the triangular shell. I had to open up the triangle and extend that "ear" off to one side.
Initially, I thought the UHF reception was not good. I couldn't pull in ANY of the many analog UHF channels in my metropolitan area. But then I hooked up the DTV converter. Now I am getting every channel I knew about, and a few more I'd never heard of. When they say this antenna is specially designed for DTV, they aren't lying.
A few of the UHF channels are a bit weak, and one of the major local VHF channels is also weak. So some people might need a rooftop antenna depending on location and expectations. But I am generally pleased with the reception I'm getting. Not bad for the price.
Digital camera Review: Not the greatest indoor antenna
Summary: 3 Stars
I spent a lot of time testing different indoor antennas, and here are my findings. As others have noted, please use this as a guideline, as your mileage is likely to vary significantly based on your location, distance to TV tower(s) and other conditions. (I am in the SF bay area, in Los Gatos, close to the mountains so reception is a challenge, though antennaweb.org classified me as being in the "yellow" area - btw, if you read the antennaweb descriptions by clicking on it surprise, surprise, yellow seems to be the best, better than green!).
1. Rabbit ear antenna (from radio shack) - didn't work very well at all. I have tried rabbit ear antennas in the past (but that was before DTV broadcasts) and they didn't work well for me, so I didn't bother to try other rabbit antennas such as ones from RCA.
2. GE 24775 Quantum Indoor HDTV Antenna - I would rate this as ok, and not very good. It was highly sensitive to direction pointed to and it also seemed that the best direction to point the antenna kept changing. It seemed to pick up vhf though, which was a big plus for me, since my local nbc is vhf, and abc is also moving to vhf after dtv transition (according to antennaweb). Also, it needs to be powered and unless you turn it off when not in use, it is sucking power.
3. Terk Low-Profile Indoor Antenna (TV5) - was also ok but not very good, though it seemed better than Quantum above (however is bigger too!). It is also always on sucking power .
4. Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified High-Definition Antenna for Off-Air HDTV Reception - quite good. It got all uhf channels when directed appropriately (thank god my tv has a signal strength meter!). HD clarity was awesome! For those of you in the SF bay area, just point towards sutro tower in SF - I found that it didn't quite match with the direction that antennaweb gave me, though it was exactly 180 deg off, so I guess the "direction pointing to" may be subject to interpretation. The big negative for me was that it didn't seem to get my local nbc, which is vhf, though the antenna claims it is both vhf and uhf. It ia also always on, sucking power (but you can probably put it on a power strip and turn if off when not in use). I took the amplifier out and connected directly and it didn't work (the manual does explicitly warn that it won't work). It has an amplifier switch and so I turned it off, to simulate an unpowered unamplified version. With the amplifier turned off, it still seemed to work fine, so if that simulates the Terk Technology HDTVi VHF/UHF HDTV Indoor Antenna model which is unpowered, the latter might be worth considering.
By the way, as I was going through my antenna search, one of the most helpful review for me was SHEiK124's review (http://www.amazon.com/review/R3CNHE86U355I4/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm)
Next step for me is to try other antennas including some outdoor ones, especially the highly rated Antennas Direct DB2 Multi Directional HDTV Antenna which is supposed to be multi directional and doesn't require power (it doesn't have vhf though so that's a big negative for me) and some of the winegard ones, including the Winegard SS-3000 Amplified Indoor UHF/VHF Antenna which is supposed to have vhf reception.
In any case, as others have noted, the move to digital with HD channels is awesome since I plan to stop paying the outrageous rates for cable! Good luck with your search for a good antenna!
Digital camera Review: OK, but there are better, cheaper ones.
Summary: 3 Stars
I used this antenna for reception from about 35 miles from the source. It worked, but did require repositioning. Then I bought an non-powered Artec AN1 for use with a laptop (with a TV card) and decided to try it on my TV out of curiosity. It outperformed the GE hands-down. It pulled in more stations and required much less repositioning. The Artec uses no power and looks a bit like a plastic fly swatter. Check one out before you buy this unit. It is less money, smaller, and worked better for me.