"Shipping:
I purchased iTV Viet Internet TV Box - 1080 HD on 7/13, and the next day it arrived at my home, though I expect it could take up to one week, per S/H details. This was very nice.
Product Info:
The product was slim and light, yet well built, packaged, and shipped.
The main reasons for me to replace my Google TV 2.0 (Sony Google TV) with this iTV Viet Internet TV Box - 1080 HD: this unit contains many international programs from many countries around the world.
As a bonus it also has everything that my Sony Google TV has, but offers more: the ability to install Android applications, including NetFlix, Pandora, Youtube, etc...
Installation:
Installation was a walk in the park: I removed my Sony Google TV by unplugging the Ethernet cable, the HDMI cable, and the power cable. I then plugged back the Ethernet cable, the HDMI cable, and its power cable into the iTV Viet Internet TV Box.
Voila! Everything just worked with simple one time set up.
First impressions:
The small and light remote control enables to do everything. It has a mouse that can be moved only vertical and horizontal. At first, it was cumbersome, but after some getting used to, the experience got better by combining the use of this mouse and the 4 arrow buttons.
Navigation is fairly simple and straightforward. It’s somewhat similar to how you navigate YouTube on a smart TV. If anything worth noting is that you may find it time consuming due to the depth of channel selections. I guess I can’t complain on that ;-)
A little deeper poke:
Due to this unit's extensive capabilities, so far I had spent about 3 good sessions to get to know what I can really enjoy from it. All described features are actually verified. There are so many channel selections that I have to use the Favorites to have instant access to what I watch frequently.
Using the Favorite bookmarks is AN ABSOLUTE MUST, since the selection inventory is HUGE (not a downside), and just to remember how to get to your favorite channels/streams is an impossible task.
Important Notes:
I wanted to point out one important feature (to me) is its support for ARC (Audio Return Channel). Our home theater system consists of an 80" SHARP AQUOS, a Comcast DVR, an LG Bluray, and this iTV Viet Internet TV Box. All 3 HDMI sources are connected to the SHARP TV. There is only one HDMI connects from the TV and the Onkyo HT-R990 Receiver.
With this ARC connection model, it simplifies the switching among various sources: using the TV, not the Receiver. Btw, this is the recommended connection model when I spoke to SHARP Tech Sup.
Technical Supports:
I had difficulties in getting the ARC working properly on my system. I worked with both SHARP and Onkyo TS to confirm the ARC was properly configured on these 2 units.
I spoke to Luke from TinkerandHack.com, and it was fairly easy to configure this unit to support ARC. Luke was very knowledgeable and extremely helpful. Luke took the time to answer all my questions and more.
It was my first interaction with TinkerandHack.com, and I’m extremely happy about both the product I purchased, as well as the supports from it."