Zenith's ATSC Digital to Analog Converter Box gets priced
[Thanks, JGarcia]
[Thanks, JGarcia]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
venk @ Jan 3rd 2008 9:22PM
A question about the coupon rules regarding these things. I thought I read on here a while ago you can't use these coupons on HDTV STBs, but wouldn't this essentially be the same thing since ATSC is ATSC. Do the rules essentially say you couldn't use the coupon on this thing if it came with a set of component or HDMI outputs?
Daryll Strauss @ Jan 3rd 2008 9:25PM
Of course, by next Feb the thing should be half the price and the coupon should get you the converter box for free.
T-bone @ Jan 3rd 2008 9:38PM
The qualifying boxes will only output SD, it will have s-video and composite, no Component, DVI or HDMI. So ATSC is ATSC, but the HDTV signal you receive will be downconverted to 480i/p. Much like the current DVD recorders with ATSC tuners that are out now.
As far as by next Feb the boxes being 1/2 the price, that may be true, but the coupons expire 90 days from the time they are mailed so you must use them quickly.
Redeye @ Jan 3rd 2008 10:21PM
I hate to be the pooper at the party, but why shouldn't I just be responsible for my own TV needs and buy my HDTV solution on my own dime instead of getting some lame government subsidy? It's not like anyone is going to die if they can't tune in and catch their favorite soap-opera. I call on the unwashed masses to choose personal responsibility over government dependence! Ok, it's not as big a deal as that, but you see my point?
EQC @ Jan 3rd 2008 11:08PM
Why do so many commenters fail to recognize what this program is about? To speak to Redeye's comments, and preempt some of the other comments I've seen before: This isn't some hand-out. This isn't funded by tax payers. This has nothing to do with welfare.
This is about the government taking an action (shutting off analog broadcasts) that makes things many people own (analog TV's) suddenly much less useful. Meanwhile, the government is *making money* from the shut-off by selling off the freed up airwave spectrum. The $40 coupons are funded by a *small fraction* of the money the government will be taking in.
Perhaps many commenters don't also realize: it was less than 2 years ago that the government mandated that all new TV's must have digital tuners. I've only seen televised warnings about the digital changeover for the last few months. Sure, I've known about the change for several years, but not everybody reads internet tech sites. Many people see TV's as *expensive* items that should last over 10 years. I can remember having regularly-used black-and-white TV's at my house around 1990...and my parents sold them at a garage sale sometime after that -- even those 25-30? year old TV's still had value.
So, maybe you think paying for cable/satellite (cough, $300 to $1000 dollars every year, cough*) or buying a new TV every few years ("analog" sets might only be 2 years old, as I said above) is normal/easy/the thing to do, but not everybody does. Some people prefer to get their TV for free, OTA. Some people would also prefer that perfectly good analog/CRT TV's not just be dumped into the landfill because they suddenly become significantly less useful for many people.
When the government TAKES AWAY FUNCTIONALITY FROM SOMETHING PEOPLE OWN, AND MAKES MONEY IN THE PROCESS, it is natural to compensate the people who are hurt by it.
Finally, this has nothing to do with "personal responsibility." Buying new technology because "the government says so" or "everybody else is doing it" has nothing to do with being responsible. Anybody who suggests people should be expected "be responsible" by throwing away money for a new TV or cable/satellite service haven't really thought out the "financial responsibility" thing very far.
To go a step further, would you call it "personal responsibility" if the government said tomorrow that every car on the road in a year must be electric? Would you feel good about having to foot the bill for some electric-conversion kit or for a new car (whilst not being able to sell your 2-year old but now-useless gas car)? What if, while you were footing that bill, I told you the government was making 10's of billions of dollars by forcing you to switch to electric cars? Sure, electric cars are the way of the future and they're likely better for the environment, etc... but why should that mean you're out $10,000 in the value of your car and the government is raking in money?
lalo @ Jan 24th 2008 12:17PM
It's not like anyone is going to die if they can't tune in and catch their favorite soap-opera.
THEY MAY DIE IF THEY CAN'T CATCH ANY WEATHER ALERT -SAY, A TORNADO WARNING OR WATCH!- WHILE WATCHING THEIR FAVORITE SOAP-OPERA.
I call on the unwashed masses to choose personal responsibility over government dependence!
GOVERMENT DEPENDENCE??? OUR GOVERMENT DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY SOCIAL BENEFITS (SUCH AS FREE HEALTHCARE IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES) AS TO BE ABLE TO SAY WE HAVE GOVERMENT DEPENDENCE. GOT IT?
Ok, it's not as big a deal as that, but you see my point? I WAS TEMPTED TO OFFER A REWARD TO ANYONE WHO FOUND YOUR POINT... BECAUSE I WASN'T ABLE TO DO SO. ;-)
camerique @ Jan 28th 2008 8:19PM
Yeah, that looks like something I'd like to haul around with me, to the patio or beach. Not. I like my portable 5" Magnavox. Why can't they come out with a pocket-size ATSC receiver that can feed an RF signal to my existing t.v.?
Charles @ Jan 31st 2008 1:30PM
I applaud the government authorities for managing the available airwave spectrum efficiently. And I think that the right thing is being done with the coupon program for converters.
I personally refuse to pay for TV programming that includes advertising and thus I rely on free OTA programming and free-to-air satellite programming. That is just my personal feeling. The popular networks have grown wealthy providing free programming funded by advertising and I see no reason to pay more (as in paying for cable or satellite service). Additionally, I think that these most popular media have wielded too much influence on society and politics.
With that in mind, I hope that this move (considering that digital works with a more narrow bandwidth than analog) will free up space on the airwaves for possibly more free OTA channels. The original "big three" and others like them that have followed have long carried too much influence and I think it is time for more sources of information.
Jerry @ Feb 16th 2008 9:07AM
Well I have a Samsung Box (H260F) that I bought last year. Let me tell you, 480i is amazing, when compared to what you get "over the air" on regular TV. I have an antena in my attic, and the reception is amazing, (DVD quality). I thinka few million people are goig to see that they dont need an HDTV, this box will give them 80% of the gain.
dale @ Feb 19th 2008 12:45PM
I just bought a 32" HDTV, and after adding a dedicated UHF antenna I'm blown away that this OTA programming is out there for the receiving. I won't pay for cable (it's just not that important to me and a years worth of cable fees basically paid for the HDTV anyway). The only thing that ticks me off about the whole transition is that you can go into just about any supermarket/department store and still buy a cheap battery powered portable TV/radio/flashlight combo thingy for anywhere from $20 to $100 that only receives analog signals. There are people not in the know who will be buying these for camping, emergency use or to take to the jobsite and they are getting screwed. I personally have two such TVs, a color Casio and a 25 year old B&W Sony Watchman that I sometimes carry around when I travel (they came in handy during the big Northeast blackout!) and these will be junk. The government should have put some kind of stop on the importation of these things a long time ago.
By the by, I can't find any comparisons on Thomsen RCA vs. Magnavox vs. Zenith/LG set top boxes...anyone know which is better?
Rick Franke @ Feb 23rd 2008 10:39AM
I applaud EQC for his/her comments. They were very appropriate. Some of the comments by people here remind me of a recent comment by a young BestBuy
salesman when I enquired about a cassette answering machine for recording sensitive business conversations. He told me I need to go shop at one of the 'old people's' stores like Radio shack.
dale @ Mar 20th 2008 8:27AM
Just got the Zenith unit with my govt. "gift card." I went to Walmart first to look at the cheaper units, and cheap is a good description. They only had a Magnavox unit in store. Plastic housing, which you would expect, but the only button on it was a big ugly plastic rocker switch on the side. I assume that was the on/off switch. I went over to Circuit City and picked up the more expensive Zenith unit at $59.99. I was happy I did when I opened it up: a metal housing, quality feel and weight, a remote that you can program to turn most TV sets on and off so you really only need the original TV remote to adjust color. I did the RF throughput through my VCR/DVD player too, so I didn't have to monkey around with the RCA cables (I'm not watching analog on the set, so I didn't use any combiner). It comes with the RCA cables and a 3 ft length of coax. The setup menu and interface is really nice. The onscreen program information is detailed. I didn't realize that date and time are broadcast with the off-air signals, but I was pleasantly surprised! I have a temporary antenna setup, the old Radio Shack UHF bowtie and only get about 6 stations. When the weather gets nice I'll run the cable from my rooftop UHF yagi down to my first floor. My advice? Get this unit. Skip the Walmart plastic boxes. Radio Shack uses the Zenith unit in their circulars, but when I went there they had a unit by Digital Stream. Looked like quality, but I never heard of it so I went Zenith/LG. Only thing I don't like is that even though this is supposed to be Energy Star rated, it has a red light on when the unit is off (turns blue when unit is on). Why not just have the unit go dark when you shut it off?
By the way, if you have to do a return, the stores will only give you an exchange. If you want cash back, you DO NOT get the $40 back.