Digital TV converter boxes are available at Wal Mart

[FightingIrish]

I just got one of Best Buy's Insignia brand boxes today. Surprisingly, it has an RF output -- I guess for older TVs -- and composite video output, but not S-video or component output. Considering the target market and $59.99 price, that would probably be overkill. It works great for basic OTA viewing; even the low-power digital-only TV station in town comes in great with the cheapest rabbit ears I could buy.

Of the boxes I've looked at on retailer sites, the Insignia one, surprisingly, looked like the best one.

[Ken]

Check out Circuit City and Best Buy. They have two real good ones both are $59.99
The one at Best Buy is made by Insignia and the one at Circuit City is made by Zenith. I think Im going to get the Zenith one as I have a Zenith DVD Player and they are a good brand.

Here are the links:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Zenith-Digital-to-Analog-TV-Tuner-DTT900/sem/rpsm/oid/204154/catOid/-12889/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8624081&type=product&id=1199495190393

[alg2468]

Kmart is one of the stores authorized to carry the Digital TV Converter boxes, so I just called my local KMart in Attleboro, Ma and spoke to as associate in the Electronics department.  He had no idea what the boxes were, and thought that everyone would have to get cable Tv when the transition occurs.  Obviously there's little store training here. Anyone call their local retailer (like Radio Shack or Target) and had the same know nothing response?  If this is an example of when store associates know, then it's not going to be a smooth transition.

[FightingIrish]

Kmart is one of the stores authorized to carry the Digital TV Converter boxes, so I just called my local KMart in Attleboro, Ma and spoke to as associate in the Electronics department.  He had no idea what the boxes were, and thought that everyone would have to get cable Tv when the transition occurs.  Obviously there's little store training here. Anyone call their local retailer (like Radio Shack or Target) and had the same know nothing response?  If this is an example of when store associates know, then it's not going to be a smooth transition.

I wouldn't even trust the so-called 'electronics' people at Kmart to know anything about DTV. The folks at Radio Shack probably aren't much better, but know more than the Kmart people (I remember how uninformed they were about HD Radio when I was poking around at one of their units, which was broken BTW). As for Kmart, all they know in electronics are cheap TVs (barely), video games and cell phones. Not much else.

Supposedly, there's supposed to be training and POS displays forthcoming. Though, I get the feeling they won't learn anything about DTV boxes until people start arriving with their little $40 cards.

I would suggest checking into Wal-Mart if nothing else is around, if there's one in the area. They're somewhat technologically ignorant as well, but you'll stand a better chance. I'm sure there's at least a Best Buy or Circuit City in the Providence area. And I'm willing to bet there's a ton of Radio Shacks around. But don't ever trust anyone at Kmart to know anything about this. To reference a quote from "Rain Man," Kmart sucks.

[MotoMuzak]

What really surprises me is the people at our local Sears store seem to know *far more* about electronics than the local K-Mart. Surprising considering they are the same company!

One dude at Sears even explained to me how he prefers clear QAM and free to air DVB-S over pay cable and DBS/DSS. He even informed me about how Pansat receivers, in a number of ways, even trump Fortecs (which I have even discovered myself.)

I'd even shop at Sears before I shop at Worst Buy. Just for kicks I asked some dude at the local BB about "H-D Radio" about a month ago, and he thought I was talking about a widescreen TV set with a radio tuner. He stated he didn't think anyone makes "HD Radios" yet. Obviously he hasn't been to Radio Shnack in the last year or so.......

[Whale]

Although there are certain "standards" that have to be met (performance), and certain restrictions (no HD output...."It's supposed to only replace the existing TV functionality"), the boxes DO all have various features and limitations.

Some have better EPGs, some have more functions in Closed-Captioning, some work with "SmartAntennas", some are more "user-friendly".

What exactly is a "SmartAntenna"?   I saw this on RCA's converter box.

Also, it appears none of them offer cable card slots, which is something I saw Freeview boxes in Europe have.   It would be a good way of offering pay-per-view OTA, but I guess the cable and sat companies wouldn't like the competition.

[WPPCProductions]

I just got back from my local Wal-mart. They have the Funai [Magnavox] converter in stock for $49.99.  7 boxes on the shelf with no desplay model to show.Oh the  most of the help at any electronics dept  or electronics store. Including the Cell Shack [Radio Shack] Circus City and Wrong Buy are uneducated in the field of electronics.
once in a blue moon I will get a sharpie, but not lately. Ok, here again I'm feeling sorry for grandma when she goes down to Wal-mart or any other stores with her $40 dollar coupon, and the stupid sales clerk talked her into a new DTV TV instead of giving her the $49.99 box  and subtracting $40.00 will end up at 9.99 plus tax.she will be happy to keep her beautiful polished wood 1961  25"  color tv  console she received as a wedding gift from her loving late husband.Ok I will get mine in a couple of months.

[KML-224]

The Magnavox model we have at our Wal-Mart only has the 75 ohm coaxial and the tradtional red/white/yellow RCA compostie inputs. What should you expect for $49? BTW, we do have this model on display, but not hooked to any TVs, since we don't have cable on them to begin with, only whatever the service is on channel 14-1.

[Whale]

Check out Circuit City and Best Buy. They have two real good ones both are $59.99
The one at Best Buy is made by Insignia and the one at Circuit City is made by Zenith. I think Im going to get the Zenith one as I have a Zenith DVD Player and they are a good brand.

Here are the links:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Zenith-Digital-to-Analog-TV-Tuner-DTT900/sem/rpsm/oid/204154/catOid/-12889/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8624081&type=product&id=1199495190393

Just so you know, both of those boxes (also carried at Radio Shack) are identical (except for the different brand name painted on).   Both are made by LG.

[w9wi]

The Magnavox model we have at our Wal-Mart only has the 75 ohm coaxial and the tradtional red/white/yellow RCA compostie inputs. What should you expect for $49? BTW, we do have this model on display, but not hooked to any TVs, since we don't have cable on them to begin with, only whatever the service is on channel 14-1.

The coupon program only allows for standard-definition outputs - that would include RF and composite.  I think S-video would be OK too.

Quote from: kenglish on Yesterday at 07:27:51 am

What exactly is a "SmartAntenna"?   I saw this on RCA's converter box.

A "SmartAntenna" is one that automatically rotates on command from the receiver to deliver the best signal.  It looks like, rather than physically rotating with a motor, available SmartAntennas use varying phase relationships between physically-fixed elements to rotate their reception pattern.  Kinda like the way an AM station changes its pattern by changing the amplitude & phase of the RF sent to the towers.  (rather than by actually moving the towers)

Also, it appears none of them offer cable card slots, which is something I saw Freeview boxes in Europe have.   It would be a good way of offering pay-per-view OTA, but I guess the cable and sat companies wouldn't like the competition.

OTA pay TV failed pretty miserably back in the 1970s - once cable was available to most of the audience, OTA pay vanished. 

I think one problem was that for the money they had to charge just to cover the cost of billing, the single-channel service was a pretty bad value compared to cable. 

The other problem was rampant use of unauthorized decoder boxes.  I would imagine that by the end, most OTA pay systems had more unauthorized (and non-paying) viewers than paying customers.

In any case I don't think that's an authorized feature for a coupon-eligible box.