After my earlier posts, I ended up today with a Strong SRT5023X and a TEAC SDB452.

Both are working superbly after about 6 or 8 hours. Performance and onscreen-display/menus interface is almost identical on the two boxes.

However, the TEAC remote has an Aspect Ratio toggle button on the remote, and the Strong doesn't.

Does anyone with a newer-model Strong STB have a work-around for this? I've read about using "page up" or "page down" on older posts, but that doesn't work on this unit.

Sure, it can be done by calling up the main menu, covering the TV picture, and after 8-10 button presses, the aspect ratio is changed. However, the instant toggling between aspect ratios on the TEAC is much more convenient. I'd frankly rate an "aspect" button on the remote of a SD STB as a far higher priority than "games" or even "zoom". But I guess that's being practical rather than imaginative.

Thanks

Am I missing something?

Don't you just set the aspect ratio once and then leave it alone. Why would you need to constantly change AR???

I agree that most of the time, it should be left alone. On the 4:3 CRT TV's that my parents have, most of the time, 4:3 PS seems the suitable aspect ratio. However, at times, on-screen text is getting chopped off at the far left or far right of the screen. (ABC News is a major culprit) For those times, it would be good to switch to 16:9 (albeit letterboxed on the 4:3 screen) - however leaving it at 16:9 most of the time was making other stuff (esp sports) hard to watch as the height of picture is now 20-30% less than when using 4:3 PS.

I must not be the only one who feels this way, as the TEAC remote includes an "aspect" button on the remote, and others who have reviewed different STB's on this forum rate the presence of an "aspect" button on the remote as a key feature.