Go to Windows 7 Insider Guide
Home audio & video: Poll: Will you be getting a digital TV converter box?
- 5/9/08 12:26 PM
No
by C_519 - 5/9/08 7:06 PM In reply to: Poll: Will you be getting a digital TV converter box? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I don't need to get a digital converter box because all of the TV's in my house are already getting digital cable through Brighthouse.
Have one already
by I_W - 5/9/08 7:18 PM In reply to: Poll: Will you be getting a digital TV converter box? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I got an inexpensive RCA converter box using one of my two $40 cards. I got the last RCA brand one at a Walmart store and had to search the shelf to find it.
I do not at present get over-the-air TV but still have a fringe area UHF yagi that, with a built in preamp used to let us get a UHF channel on Saturday mornings (cartoons for our then 6 year old daughter) from about 60 miles away over a mountainous path towards the south away from San Francisco. I figured that I might put it up again and see what things look like.
I did stick the converter when I got home on a second TV that we rarely use and stuck about 10" of wire into the antenna connector low down in the room. I was surprised to find 7 or 8 very viewable channels including a message that HD signals would be on from 7 PM to midnight which appeared on 2 PBS channels. NO, I don't expect to get HD TV with the box! Without the converter all I could see on the short length of wire was a few very snowy UHF channels. The digital signal was much, much better quality sound and picture.
Of course being able to understand Spanish or Japanese or Chinese would be an advantage for most of the channels were NOT broadcasting English language programs.
At least the test shows the possibility of getting the over-the-air digital signals with a good quality picture and sound in the future if the stations don't degrade the signals when they make the switch.
Before we got Cable TV even with a deep fringe antenna at 30 feet above the roof and with a rotator it was hard to get signals on VHF and UHF from San Francisco 50 miles away due to the shadowing of the edge of a mountain between us and San Francisco. Another 8 or 10 blocks further away and we'd have had very good signals with minimal antenna once we could "see" around the ridge.
I also see the possibility of signals from Sacramento which is at least 100 miles away because we had very acceptable TV from there when we had the antenna before cable hit this area.
It would be fun to see how the distant digital signas come in like the Christmas time when I watched TV from Denver, Canada and the upper Midwest on Channels ranging from 2 to 6 on lo band TV with very acceptable signals for periods of 15 minutes to a couple of hours at a time! Admittedly that was an unusual bit of propagation but I did hear the ringing between distant channels and local ones several other times but not as high as Channel 6.
For the $14 I had to pay to add to the $40 card it's worth having the converter to play with. I may look for a better quality and fuller featured box to get with my second $40 card which I can wait to use since I put in for each spaced by a couple of months. Our daughter's family may want to have off-the-air TV on a kitchen set that is now using rabbit ears in a more rural town a couple of hundred miles away from where we live.
I got Chinese channels too
by tbenton - 1/12/09 6:07 AM In reply to: Have one already by I_WWe have digital cable but have good rabbit ears on bedroom tv with an A/B splitter/switch so in rare cases my husband can watch network golf,etc when I am watching cable downstairs. Took a picture of our config to Ckt City when I bought the DTV box and hooked up the box using the splitter per their instructions. I followed all the on- screen instructions to scan,etc and got three channels but they were all in Chinese and were 'labeled' MHZ1,etc . Looked like their version of CNN,etc. We have those on digital cable but I expected to see CBS, NBC and ABC. I fooled with it a long time and then disconnected the darn box and went back to the normal config. I wonder what will happen in Feb and will NOT try this again until then.
Already have HDTV with digital tuner
by msecour - 5/9/08 7:22 PM In reply to: Poll: Will you be getting a digital TV converter box? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Just got our first HDTV with a built-in digital tuner a couple of months ago so we're ready, even if we end up dumping our satellite.
Will you be getting a digital TV converter box?
by deltoncbaker - 5/9/08 7:35 PM In reply to: Poll: Will you be getting a digital TV converter box? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have the Dish HD Network, so in effect I already have my digital TV converter box. I also, live over ninety miles from any broadcasting cities. The UHF repeater Stations near by have no plans in place to upgrade, so I am assuming they will just stop transmitting.
No
by mrkillerman - 5/9/08 8:04 PM In reply to: Poll: Will you be getting a digital TV converter box? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I don't watch enough T.v and if I do watch it maybe long enough to watch some of my favorate shows. Other wise I'm playing my games or working.
Another HUGE Industry Scam
by houndhill - 5/10/08 3:58 AM In reply to: No by mrkillermanI hate everything I have seen about Digital TV. It's like cell phones. They are throwing technology at us that hasn't been developed yet hoping the 'fools' will buy it. The picture quality of much of the equipment I have seen makes people look like cartoon characters, the video skips and I frankly hate the concept.
It reminds me of that Silverlight crap that Microsoft has foisted on Major League Baseball; there's a step in the wrong direction. Pure unadulterated crap that hasn't been developed, and they expect us to buy into it.
But no one is speaking out. This generation is just complacent little lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
They'll laugh at themselves someday for being so naive...
We only watch about 5 shows a week - I'd rather fight than switch. Turn on the radio and read a book...
digital converter box
by lkm210 - 5/9/08 8:11 PM In reply to: Poll: Will you be getting a digital TV converter box? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Yes, I will be getting one for our RV. Let's don't forget these.
Yes but a PVR is better
by Zouch - 5/9/08 8:36 PM In reply to: Poll: Will you be getting a digital TV converter box? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi,
here in the UK we are a bit ahead of our American cousins in moving to digital. I have a Phillips Digibox, cost about £30 (USD 60) to receive our free to air digital channels. Works just fine.
However, I also have a PVR, bought as a bare bones unit for £9 (USD 18). Just needed a hard disk added - I had a spare 120 GB drive which gives me 85 hours recording time. Fully assembled units here cost £70 (USD 140). Mine has a twin tuner, so I can record one channel and watch another - the single tuner models only allow you to record what you are watching - go figure! Single touch recording on the PVR from the 7 day electronic programme guide is great.
Regards.
converter box
by lkm210 - 5/9/08 8:51 PM In reply to: Yes but a PVR is better by ZouchThanks, I will check it out.
Will you be getting a digital TV converter box?
by lewwarren - 5/9/08 8:48 PM In reply to: Poll: Will you be getting a digital TV converter box? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Yes. Two. Yes.
convertor boxes
by bbwellness - 5/9/08 9:05 PM In reply to: Poll: Will you be getting a digital TV converter box? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
1 I have a conversion van with a 20in. HDTV in it. Will I need a conversion box for it. If so which one runs on 12volt.
2 I have 7 Tv's in my house and I am waiting for FIOS to give me some info. As of now they say I need a box for each TV and if I don't get them the TV without the box won't work. I got in touch with the coupon program and I can only get 2 coupons. Which box do you recommend.
At this time I am on Cablevision and they say no box is needed for now. Should I trust them. Or should I go to FIOS and buy my own boxes. Fios charges 3.99 each, for the first 4 boxes and 5.99 for all boxes after that. I only watch 5 stations
(NT) get one converter and watch it for free
by goodguy222 - 5/9/08 9:08 PM In reply to: convertor boxes by bbwellnessWill you be getting a digital TV converter box?
by rreeves5 - 5/9/08 9:21 PM In reply to: Poll: Will you be getting a digital TV converter box? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Well my answer would be no. I already have 2 HDTV's one a plasma, and the other a LCD. And I have a digital cable box on a tv in one bedroom. I the kids room, well its just hooked to cable witch will be ok. Now, I heard today that Charlotte NC/ will be going to switch over in September of this year as a test market. And I also herd that in 2010, even the cable company would only be transmitting in digital.
If any Brighthouse Tech's or Customer Support forks read this, please comment on this and send me an email if true. You can get me at rreeves5@tampabay.rr.com
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
