digital converter boxes

It's now official...both of our TVs are plugged into their soon to be required digital converter boxes. We did the tiny tv in our bedroom a long time ago. We suddenly had double the stations, but the reception was delayed about 2-3 seconds. We discovered that when Bobby would have the tv on in the living room, then would move to the bedroom to start getting things ready for the next day. Being the sweet man that he is, he'd leave the tv on for me while I finished up in the living room or kitchen. If I'd go to the laundry room, I could hear both tvs at the same time, and they were NOT in sync.
I like having more stations to choose from, though we're puzzled how to figure out what comes on when. I also like the increased clarity that usually comes with the picture. What I don't like about the boxes is that it's not uncommon for the signal to come in distorted and we get pixel boxes instead of a picture. Another disappointment is the volume. It's not uncommon for the volume to become blaringly loud when a commercial comes on, and then the second commercial is extremely soft. When the program returns, it's at the volume we originally set. Strange.
One very cool feature of the boxes, is that the channels program themselves into the remote during setup. Once I turn the tv and the box on, I can use the box remote to switch stations, though we have to use the tv remote to handle volume. The box remote does have a volume control, but the changes are so minute it's not worth fooling with. But I do think it beats paying for cable or satellite, especially as we don't watch a huge amount of tv.