$40.00 Coupon Towards TV Converter Boxes

There is third choice Phoenix.

Actually four. A person can get a digital set, or use the analong set for a plant holder!

I wonder why the converter boxes are so expensive - you got them here for less than $30 when we changed frpm analogue to digital two years ago.

Walter- Don't you know that we do everything ***BIGGER***, ***BETTER***, and more expensively in the U.S.? :wink:

Certainly. (But it might be that our Digital Video Broadcast - terrestrial - system is just cheaper ... and firms have the converters in stock since 2003 or so.)

it is only expensive because it is america.
In america everything is over priced and low quality.


why is everything going digital?

The cost they mention in the article is an "expected" cost and is probably a "Suggested retail price". Once they actually get on the market I suspect they'll cost right at $40 - so that everyone can use their $40 coup-on and it will be no cost for the user.

Because analog is a waste of bandwidth.

Acording to what I just heard on the radio the cost of a converter will be about $70 and congress has bugeted 1 BILLION $ to fund the $40 coupons.

Government subsidized because television is such a great big necessity.

Does anyone actually own analog sets any more? 90% of sets sold in the last four years have digital (often HD) decoders built in. All you have to do is hook up your existing antenna and do a channel scan - TADA!

I have three HD sets and a couple analogs that are relegated to kid game duty. While DirecTV provides local network channels in HD, I have inexpensive antennas hooked up to each SAT receiver (ANT IN) so I can get the broadcast digital signals that are MUCH BETTER than satellite. All three sets have HD receivers built in so I could get rid of DirecTV completely if I wanted to, and still get about 10+ digital stations from local towers.

Whatever you do, don't get fooled by that BITCH that Comcast uses in their ads who threatens older set owners telling them their set won't work after 2009. It simply isn't true -as noted earlier in this thread. The FCC should come down hard on Comcast for those ads.

I still have analog but, it is hooked up through cable. People told me I wouldn't be able to use my TV anymore. From reading the FCC site, it seems like I will be able to since I have cable. Anyone know?

Of course you can. You just have to make sure your cable or other converter box is capable of receiving digital signals and converting them to the analog input type on the back of your TV (usually coaxial or RCA (red-white-yellow) jacks).

Better to just buy a new TV though. It's time...

I like my TV and it still works fine (I am pouting). Everyone I know has a big flat screen with surround sound.
Thank for the info though

Up until around a few months ago, I had a 19" Zenith in my den, that dated from 1987. It worked perfectly. It had a great picture. I never had a bit of trouble with it.

The only reason that I gave it up, was because I figured that I deserved to get myself an HD. It was a pure luxury decision on my part. There was no practical reason to get rid of that set. I am sure that there are many other people who have perfectly good analog sets, and are not that concerned with HD.

I am also confident that there are people, for financial reasons, who won't stretch themselves financially just to be on the cutting edge.

How long do you keep a car?

TV's aren't designed to last longer than 10 years. That's about twice as long as the design life for most cars.

Years ago, I would keep a car, bought new, until the repairs made it not worthwhile to keep it. I have had cars from 7-10 years. In the last few years, I have been keeping cars for only a few years. Right now I have a 2005 Honda Accord. It does not have a lot of mileage on it, I like it very much, and it works well, so I don't expect to buy a new car in the near future.

Just tellin ya.

Here's another option. Go on eBay and look for old Sony (and others) HD200 or HD300 DirecTV (D*) early model HD receivers. They are very good at receiving HD signals from an antenna AND they still work with D* (sorta). These have coax, RCA, S-video, and component out jacks so they will work with just about any TV sold in the last 20 years.

Here's another option. Go on eBay and look for old Sony (and others) HD200 or HD300 DirecTV (D*) early model HD receivers. They are very good at receiving HD signals from an antenna AND they still work with D* (sorta). These have coax, RCA, S-video, and component out jacks so they will work with just about any TV sold in the last 20 years.

Wouldn't this require satellite service? Even with a UHF/VHF cable plugged in, the satellite receiver would not allow scrolling of channels and would be stuck on a menu screen because the satellite signal allows you to proceed beyond the menu screen. Or am I wrong about this and you can use an old satellite receiver as a converter, even without subscription satellite service?