Forget the IR remotes. Go UHF, I'd rather put up with the cross-talk than I would have to get the doggone IR aimed just right to change channels or what-not on my main living room receiver. After experimenting with a lot of STBs with IR only, I really can tell you that it is a pain in the backside because they aren't very reliable. Some systems don't respond if I point the remote directly at the receiver. I have to bounce the signal off a wall or the ceiling. Even then the response is not always great.
I would love to have a box that doesn't make you get up out of your chair and stand in a certain location to change channels. Heck, might as well do away with the remote and go back to the rotary channel switch like an old B&W sylvania from 1969!
I chuckle!
Seriously, if you want to make an excellent product, make it right! Period. I would pay MORE for a custom engineered STB if it did all the things I expected and desired before I would pay for a box that "just works nice". Any STB or other piece of electronic equipment that you do not have to struggle with and that is totally user friendly gets my vote and my $!
If I were an engineer and I was going to build a STB for my own use, I would do a LOT of things different than what the current companies are doing today.
That statement may trigger a lot of people to say that I am looking at a "pipe-dream" STB. But, I don't think so. Just design the absolute "top-of-the-line" STB all around with all the stuff that "WE" want and we will buy it.
You Tube feature? I don't need my STB for that, that's what I bought my PC for.
Web Browser? Same thing.
How about BLIND SCAN, dual tuners, editors, PVR options that work in all formats, fast channel changes, easy to read menus, simple setup, easy edits, multiple USB ports, ethernet and WiFi compatibilties..... I could think about this and come up with a LOT more to add. The front panel display is the least of the worries here. But, some sort of indication of what is going on is important. Just keep it simple.
I don't know what a person or designer would do in the case of an AZBox. You need the VFD display to set up your resolution menu in a friendly way. Otherwise you are blind because the menus won't display on the TV screen. You have to utilize the front panel display to set your video parameters properly. Oh sure, you could roll out another cable to a different TV to set it up, but that is a pain.
I bet that most others will agree with me on the subject. The current mfgs don't seem to want to do these things because it costs money. Well, take out the items, the bells and whistles that we don't want, and spend the money on the things we DO want and we will buy the receiver from them more readily.
Personally, I think that they just don't get it (the major STB mfgs that is). They want to put all these bells and whistles into the design that, frankly, I never use. Those little perks up the cost and I don't want them! I don't use them! I want a satellite receiver (STB) that blind scans quick, channels can be edited quick and easily, it can pick up all signals and it works with all my other devices and it has PVR and HDMI cabilities and you can DUMP everything else!
I guess I am really laying this out like a demand, but that is not my intention. What I am trying to say is KISS... Keep It Simple and Straight forward.
Look at what all the members here complain about their STB's, then work backwards to engineer a new STB to elliminate those errors. The errors that other Mfgs are neglecting to address. Learn from their bad examples and create a STB that does what it should for FTA. Forget all the fancy perks like you tube and what nots.
If your STB is made right for these sepcifications, you might have a winner. Maybe a big one at that.
What do you all think? Am I right? Or at least a little bit right?
RADAR
These past units have been strong in features and support for North American users, function correctly, are supported with editors, frequent updates and upgrades. I would expect this model to be be following in their footsteps!
) must not be scrimped on! 
But isn't the current trend to be understated and simple? Isn't simplicity the NEW Bling? Apple products and any other product with an i attached are a perfect examples.
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