View Full Version : Please explain...
I am shopping for a STB. I am not currently a DirecTV customer, but I might want to be in the future.
1. Is there a STB that I can get that will receive BOTH DirecTV and OTA local HTDV broadcasts?
2. If there is, could I use that STB for only OTA local HDTV broadcasts? This way I would be able to subscribe to DirecTV later if I choose without having to spend more $$$ at that time.
Thanks for the resonses guys.:D
Ratman
09-30-2002, 10:12 AM
Just about all of HD DirecTV receivers will do OTA also. There are quite a few to choose: Hughes, Toshiba, Zenith, RCA, etc.
You do not need to activate satellite subscription to get OTA. But... be aware that most retailer require you to subscribe for one year at purchase time! Or... you wind up paying extra. STB's can be had without this commitment. It just takes some hunting and sweet talking (or lying). Just tell them your only going to use it for OTA, may work!
Thanks Ratman.
However, can I purchase a DirecTV box and use it for OTA reception without a DirecTV subscription? I was told they need to insert a card to set up the box for use...?
zarlor
09-30-2002, 11:15 AM
Are DirecTV STBs not coming with cards these days? My RCA DTC-100 had a card, so that wasn't a problem and it did not require a subscription to get OTA. The Dish 6000, on the other hand, didn't have a card, but once it has a card it will also get OTA without a subscription... BUT (and a pretty big one), the receiver does need to have a satellite dish pointed at any of the Dish Network satellites for it to work. I don't believe any of the DirecTV STBs require the satellite.
I'd just check to see if you can get a DirecTV box with a card. Maybe through eBay or an internet store.
Nice, thanks zarlor. Best Buy was feeding me a lot of BS I think. Not suprising.
I find it very odd that the DirecTV HDTV/OTA STB's are the same price (if not less) than the OTA only STB's. Who wouldn't buy the DirecTV compatible one???
Ratman
09-30-2002, 11:44 AM
Originally posted by Jake
Nice, thanks zarlor. Best Buy was feeding me a lot of BS I think. Not suprising.
I find it very odd that the DirecTV HDTV/OTA STB's are the same price (if not less) than the OTA only STB's. Who wouldn't buy the DirecTV compatible one???
Again... they want to sell the DirecTV sub with the receiver. All new receivers come with a card. BB and CC will be insistant with the sub and will try to charge an additional $200 if you don't sub. That's why they seem cheaper.
So... if they want to take the card if you don't sub, fine! When you're ready to do the DirecTV thing, they'll send you a new card for $20.
zarlor
09-30-2002, 01:12 PM
It probably depends on features. The DTC-100 is fairly bare-bones. The Samsung OTA-only recievers are usually a little bit cheaper, but I'm not sure what kind of features are available on them. There are other DirecTV receivers out there that easily run over $1,000 with all kinds of fancy menus and stuff, but none of that really appeals to me. Maybe if they had a PVR in them, but otherwise...
So, you're right, the only reason to get an OTA only reciever might be to save $50 over a cheap DirecTV receiver or becasue the OTA-only recievers have some kind of better features. Oh, and I guess I should mention, though, that the OTA-only recievers are of a later generation than the DTC-100, for example, so they deal better with pulling in weaker signals and handling multi-path problems, so a slightly cheaper receiver that might handle the signals better could well be worth it, especially if you could care less about DirecTV. (Dish Network only has one receiver, I belive... well one completely out of circulation, the Echostar 5000, and the current Echostar 6000. And either will probably cost your around $600 WITHOUT the OTA tuner, which is an add-on module you can buy. Now that's no bargain, if you ask me, but if you really want Dish Network in HD you're kind of limited in that way.)
kevinw
09-30-2002, 02:55 PM
With the limited amount of FREE HD available on satelite and OTA being free for HD is what made me go for a OTA only tuner.
Outside of Nickelodeon,ABC Family, ESPN and The Food Channel we are lucky if we watch any other channel.
You can bet fill in stations like shopping, public interest-Cspan etc. are just a waste for our house.
Ratman
09-30-2002, 04:16 PM
OUt of the 60+ analog channels that our cable system offers, we probably watch a dozen.
For a little bit less (and no locals) I could get satellite with the same programming. Basically a wash.
For HD via cable... it would cost me $20 more a month for PBS, ABC, and NBC (maybe Comcast Sports by 2003) in HD. And get an additional 20 or so stations that I'll NEVER watch! Nope, don't like it!
OTA I get NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS today and UPN, WB soon! For free!
I can live with that!
"OTA! OTA! It is free and I won't pay!!"
Everybody now... join in!! "OTA! OTA! It is free and I won't pay!!"
Shouldn't the previous two posts be over in the "Antenna or Cable" discussion that Kevin started?
By the way - nothing is free. You're "paying" by watching the ads and also by paying for those ads whenever you buy anything.
kevinw
09-30-2002, 04:47 PM
Listen MR. Post Police:D
Both have digressed to being about the same. It boils down to FREE OTA vs paying additional fee for cable/satelite and it's limited Hd.
If you watch a lot of the channels (unlike Ratman and me who have very little use for the other 99) then a Direct/Dish connected STB is better or like 57u (aka Post Police:D) you get evreything by cable including all your local HD then no need for
a STB.
Ratman
10-01-2002, 06:58 AM
Originally posted by 57U
Shouldn't the previous two posts be over in the "Antenna or Cable" discussion that Kevin started?
No...
By the way - nothing is free. You're "paying" by watching the ads
Excuse me, but do you not get ads via satellite or cable?
Therefore those subscribers are actually paying twice for the privilege to watch those ads!
I don't pay for OTA or those ads by receiving a TV signal. You could apply that logic to newspapers and magazines though! You PAY of those rags AND have to look at the ads!
and also by paying for those ads whenever you buy anything.
That's just business. Always has been charged back to the consumer, way before TV's were being sold.
