Digital Signal Converter Boxes

[bluechicken]

I am looking for reviews and recommendations on the converter boxes. If you have one: 1. what is the picture like? 2. How does it seem to be holding up? 3. Would you recommend it to anyone? why? why not?

Also, as we all like to get stuff for as little oop as possible , have you found one that costs $40 or less? Online with free shipping? Under $40 and online with free shipping?

Thanks. I look forward to hearing what you all have found.

[bluechicken]

Ohios Discount Antenna Parts Supplier www.WatchDigitalTV.com Digital to Analog Converter's

Here is a review of at least one box, which is why I started this thread to see if any of you had any of the problems they mentioned.

Here is another link (http://site.dtvboxanswers.com/reviews) with reviews.

[bluechicken]

Bump. Anyone have an opinion? Or is it that I'm the only one still using an antenna?

[pennywatcher]

We have the Zenith DTT901. My parents have the DTT900. I don't have anything to which to compare it. We get several more channels than we did with just the antenna and they come in clear. Our analog signal was pretty rotten, though. Set up was easy enough. The converter's remote will control the TV and the converter. I like that there is a mute button on the remote. Our universal remote is old enough that it can not control the converter box so I will be hunting a new universal remote at some point.

[CQintraining]

Magnavox TB100MW9 from Walmart 49.99. Easy set up, picture is good, did not include a digital remote. I tried a Magnavox universal remote from Target and I could not find a code to control the box. Digital volume is way lower than analog so watch it if you are switching between the TV and a vcr/dvd. I would recomend finding a unit that includes a universal remote so you do not have to find one that will control the digital box.

[Lmnde]

CQintraining - was the $49.99 before or after the $40 coupon? I'm assuming you'll need one for each individual TV in the house, correct? Curious as to what other ppl will say - we will need to get some too for ours here.

[SchwoomsMom]

Rite Aid sent me an email mentioning the converter box, it sounded like they had a rebate on them or something... I don't need one, but I was surprised none the less. I think the closer it comes to the "date" that you'll find more and more deals on them, as the retailers are going to be vying for people's business and those converter cards.

[Andra]

We had trouble finding the one we wanted before the cards expired (they were sold out everywhere) so we ended up with an RCA model from Walmart for $49.99. The most important feature we wanted was "analog pass-through" (not sure if that's how you spell it, my DH is the tech person in our house) and the RCA one had it. It allows you to switch from digital tv to using the VCR or DVD player without unplugging cords (at least that what DH explained to me I might be completely wrong). The picture is as clear as cable tv, we didn't need to zoom and there are no black bars. I have noticed some commercials have wording cut off on the side, but we have a small tv. We went from 4 channels to 27 channels and our signal strength is only 22%. The only downside is we've noticed other electronics interfer with the signal. We can't have the computer on at the same time as the tv or we lose the signal on most channels. DH wants to get a digital antenna now to see if we pick up more channels.

[pennywatcher]

Originally Posted by Andra The most important feature we wanted was "analog pass-through" (not sure if that's how you spell it, my DH is the tech person in our house) and the RCA one had it. It allows you to switch from digital tv to using the VCR or DVD player without unplugging cords (at least that what DH explained to me I might be completely wrong).

The Zenith DTT901 has pass-through while the DTT900 does not. I do not think it affects the VCR or DVD player. My understanding is that analog pass-through allows you to receive analog signals without disconnecting the converter box. Some low-power stations will continue to broadcast in analog after the February conversion date. If you have a box with pass-through and the box is OFF, your antenna will pick up those analog broadcast signals and they will pass through the box to the TV. If you have a box that does NOT have pass-through, then to get the analog signals, you'd have to physically unplug the converter box.

[Andra]

Thanks Pennywatcher, that makes sense. I knew it was something about not having to unplug anything, lol. Guess I made the VCR thing up because DH was talking a foreign language to me.