I
have used all
three
plus boxes, and here's what I think. All three
boxes are very good and very similar. Only minor
features and cosmetics set them apart.
The
Mitsubishi
is definitely the best looking of the three. It has
a big mail led light on the front that can be seen
well from a distance. It
comes with a small, easy to use remote. The only
thing I didn't like about the Mits is the cheap IR
blaster that sticks to the front of the cable box,
instead
of underneath or above like Sony & PM.
I
chose
the Sony. It is a good looking, sturdy, well built
box. The reason I chose it is because I had the Sony
classic box for over a year with no problems. It
also has the most comfortable and easiest to use
remote out of the three. It is the same as the
classic remote with one button added. All of the
keyboards are interchangeable, but the remotes are
not. The Sony does
not have a microphone jack like the others do.
Perhaps so they can sell us an adapter at a later
date!
Even though the PM box looks cheaplier
made
than the others, there are a few more features. PM,
perhaps knowing that their box was the ugliest of
the bunch, included something called a webeye. This
lets you hide the box behind the tv or somewhere out
of sight and still be able to control it. This would
work great for a tv in another room, but as of yet
there is no extension for it. Also, the PM has
extra
buttons on the remote, like explore, favorites,
reload, and mail. However I found this remote to be
very uncomfortable to use.
Also, one thing I
noticed after hooking up the Sony, is that I
couldn't switch between inputs from cable tv to
webtv with the box still on. Those of us with two
tv's hooked up to our box know how important this
is. Had to usa a splitter to split signal from
cable box to web box and tv to do this. PM was no
problem. This may not even matter, depending on your
setup.
It may be me just going blind, but
screen resolution on my classic seemed a little
better than that of the plus boxes, which is still
good by the way.
I hope this helps someone in
making a decision! ...Roger