Poll: Have you had trouble locating a DTV converter box?

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 14th 2008 at 12:00PM

Given yesterday's post about the use (or non-use, as it were) of government-issued digital TV vouchers, we began to wonder if our own readers were having difficulties tracking a box down before their coupons expired. We already asked if you were aiming to get one, and if you stated yes, has finding one been a lesson in futility / simplicity? Let us know below!

Filed under: Polls, Regulatory, Set-top boxes, Tuners, OTA

Tags: 2009, analog shutoff, AnalogShutoff, converter box, ConverterBox, cutover, digital tv, digital tv transition, DigitalTv, DigitalTvTransition, dtv, poll, polls, switchover

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

William C Bonner @ Jun 14th 2008 12:53PM

My biggest issue was finding the price, and weighing it against the cost of gas and driving around. Describing what I was looking for on the phone wasn't useful.

Neutral

Patrick @ Jun 14th 2008 1:17PM

i don't need one so i haven't gone looking for one, but i have ran into one on numerous occasions. if not for reading reports stating otherwise on the internet, i would not have know that they are hard to find.

Neutral

Jon @ Jun 14th 2008 1:28PM

I can believe someone reading Engadget HD would even need one , Very confused !

Highest Ranked

Joshua @ Jun 14th 2008 2:06PM

Where is the option for "I can find them everywhere"?

Highest Ranked

Slappy Wag @ Jun 14th 2008 8:52PM

Better yet, why can't Engadget's staff EVER place a simple "NO" option on their polls?

Neutral

Chad @ Jun 16th 2008 8:10AM

I agree.

Neutral

Galley @ Jun 14th 2008 2:16PM

I don't need one, but I saw a bunch of them at Target.

Neutral

T-bone @ Jun 14th 2008 3:00PM

...why would we need one...well maybe we are cheap and don't have cable and don't want to upgrade to a $500+ TV in the bedroom when the 19" CRT that is used 40 minutes a day works just fine :)

Neutral

pdiscala @ Jun 14th 2008 6:19PM

I just got my coupons to get the dtvpal now this happened:

http://www.freedtvshop.com/fdtv/converters/dtvpal.php

Neutral

TVGenius @ Jun 14th 2008 7:35PM

Yeah, but at least you can still get it. My parents' and grandparents' coupons expire before the end of the month (thanks to my expedience in requesting them so soon for them). They got the email from them this morning about it. Now we're off to CC to grab some Zeniths...

Neutral

TimB @ Jun 15th 2008 10:00AM

I had trouble finding one with anything better than composite video out. All of my older TVs have S-Video and I wanted to take advantage of that. I finally found a model with S-Video out, but was unable to locate stock until after my coupons expired. Hopefully the feds will extend a grace period for people like me.

Neutral

Brian @ Jun 15th 2008 11:04AM

What's so hard about people ordering one from any retailer regardless if they have stock. As long as you order/pay for it before the coupon expires, it doesn't matter if the store won't get any for a month or two.

Neutral

JoN @ Jun 15th 2008 1:26PM

really bad work engadget - these things are at my best buy in bulk every day for months - never sold out -

Neutral

jrlance @ Jun 16th 2008 6:28PM

I'm confused by this as well. Only grannys, and cheapos need the stupid converter boxes. Pay the extra (under$10) a month from cabel company and get a damn box, and get the channels you been paying for already but couldn't without a box, and get access to VOD and little more $ for DVR.

BB in Boston area has tons of them everytime I work. ( I work PT). The Insignia ones (without pass through) are always available, and this July they will be carring another cheapo band (name I forgot), and end of July the "NEW" Insignia ones will have pass through.

Seriously though I agree with other, anyone reading this site and needs a box needs more then a box to help them.

Neutral

dave @ Jun 18th 2008 9:55PM

>I'm confused by this as well. Only grannys, and cheapos need the stupid converter boxes.

No, I choose not to waste money on cable or satellite TV when I can get it for free off the air, I don't watch enough TV to justify the expense anyway. And no I am not throwing out my perfectly functional analog TV's as long as they are still working. So even though I am the uber-geek, I still need the damn boxes.

Neutral

Jim Coppinger @ Aug 16th 2008 3:39PM

I NOW have both analog and digital TVs. I see NO advantage to digital ( that "better" stuff is just crap being put out by our government people who screwed us and knew they were). It takes a LARGER digital TV to get the same size picture we got on a smaller analog. Digital TV Broadcasting is not as dependable, nor have as much range as analog. The new digital televisions won't fit into our old cabinets and entertainment centers. The list goes on and on and on AGAINST DTV. Why isn't someone being made to pay for this "mandated by the government but paid for over and over and over by the citizens of this country.

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