In canceling our cable TV, I see we need a converter box and an amplified antennae. Are all digital converter boxes the same? Any issues I should know about?
By ANNETTE from Cocoa Beach, FL
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All converter boxes should be the same. I also have old analog TV sets and would like to dump cable. So I bought a converter and rabbit ears,hooked them up and got about 8 TV stations. But I didn't get some of the stations I wanted that available over theair. So I returned the items. Now I think I will break down and buy a new TV, rabbit ears and try it again. A new TV will have the requirements to recieve a TV signal without a converter box.
You should be able to find a slightly used one cheap. Many were purchased when the government had the rebate program during the change over. Now persons have new TV that don't require the box. Only older analog sets need the box.
They all do the same thing, just that like anything else there are different features between them.
Ask around am sure someone you know has one.
No, they are not all the same. There are two basic kinds. One, the kind the government gave out free coupons for - will work for any analog TV. It "dumbs" down the signal. The second is for TV's like mine which were sold as "HD Read" meaning they can display HD images but were not equiped with an HD tuner. These boxes were not eligable for the government coupon and were more expensive to begin with. The vast majority of boxes out there are the first kind. Again, they should work with any TV, even those that were sold as "HD ready". But, the ones specifically designed for "HD ready" tv's will not work on other tv's. Ask your friends/family if they have any extra boxes around. They may have gotten a new TV but not thrown out their old box!
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What is the best digital converter box to buy?
By Janet from Cleveland, OH
We went to Radio Shack and bought one, it works very well. I had a voucher and we only paid about $10, otherwise it was about $40. It's worth the peace of mind when the weather gets crazy here in Ohio. (08/12/2010)
By Beth
Pay attention to details and get what you need. I absolutely hate mine because there is no way to set them up to automatically switch channels, so I can't record any of my favorite shows anymore unless I put it on the needed channel before I leave. So, if I want to record something back to back on 2 different channels, I'm out of luck! (08/12/2010)
