Mike71
10-15-2003, 10:10 AM
What is a good affordable STB ??? I really don't want to fork over the $$ to upgrade my receiver to HD and still not get locals, so I am just going to get a STB and get all the channels for free!
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View Full Version : Good affordable STB ??
kevinw
10-15-2003, 10:38 AM
Who is your provider?
Mike71
10-15-2003, 10:53 AM
I have Direct TV. Cant decide what to do, I can switch to Comcast and get HD for $5 extra and no equipment to buy.
Or buy a STB and get all the locals here.
Or buy a STB and get all the locals here.
Mike71
10-15-2003, 11:01 AM
I just saw a special from DTV, $399 for receiver and dish installed. Then all I will need is a OTA antenna. :D
Paul Mohr
10-16-2003, 04:18 PM
I just bought one, and most stores in my area are carrying the zeniths and samsungs. They both go for 399 and change. Some places you can bargain them down a little I got a place down to 365 on a zenith, but found an open box unit at best buy for $320 and snagged it up. I don't really want the box any way, just more crap to throw away later. I found them online for as cheap as $260-295, and if you check e-bay you can snag one for under 200 usually. You could also get a real good price on one for your Direct tv set up, that seems to be the most popular choice for HDTV recievers from what I could tell. At least that is what the shops are pushing in my area.
Make sure you can get the signals before you waste the money though. Do some research on your local stations first. See what kind of signals they are broadcasting in your area. Not all areas have digital signals yet, and some that do are not sending out High definition programming on them. Some also may have very weak transmitters.
Most of the shops in my area new very little about HDTV and how it would be broadcast over the air. Basically they know very little about what they sell. You would think if that was your job you would at least subscribe to Home Theater magizine or something. I knew more about it than they did from reading stuff one the internet. So, I didn't get many questions answered from them. So I called a local tv station that is broadcasting HDTV and talked to one of the technitions about it. He was very nice, helpfull and honest. He dispelled alot of myths and halve trueths about the whole HDTV transition thing.
First of all he said that they are not being asked to switch to HDTV, the are switching to Digital TV. Much like what you get on your satilite system, but over the air. High def is just a perc, but he let me know that it is not a requirement. They can do what ever they want with the extra bandwidth. So you may get a station that has a digital signal, but is not broadcasting in 1080i or 720p, even if the show is shot that way by the network.
There is also no requirement for how long or how much of the daily programming they have to show, as of yet. Like in my area, CBS(11) only broadcasts in the after noon, like noon til midnight or something like that. So you may find a station or two that only has a signal in the evening for primetime or when a high def show is airing, but I am sure that will change, it will have to eventually.
There is also nothing that says how much power the transmitter has to have. So you may get a regular station pretty well where you live, because they have a strong signal, like 50,000 watts or something. When you try to get the digital signal if you live far away, you might not get a signal, because they only have like 10,000 watts for digital. I can get Detroit stations fairly well in Adrian, but can't get any digital signal at all from them. And I have a big attena 30 ft in the air and live in the country. I live close enough to Toledo that can get thier stations though.
This will eventually change too. As they phase out the anolog signals they will get new transmitters, or use the old ones for digital. The down side to that is most high def is on uhf channels right now, a fews years down the road when they quit using analog, they may go back to the old vhf frequency. This sucks for someone like me that installed a uhf only attena in my attic just for digital tv.
The good thing is that even if you have a station that is not broadcasting hi def, it will still look better than regular over the air signals. It will rival that of your dvd player and will either look great or won't come in.
Paul
Make sure you can get the signals before you waste the money though. Do some research on your local stations first. See what kind of signals they are broadcasting in your area. Not all areas have digital signals yet, and some that do are not sending out High definition programming on them. Some also may have very weak transmitters.
Most of the shops in my area new very little about HDTV and how it would be broadcast over the air. Basically they know very little about what they sell. You would think if that was your job you would at least subscribe to Home Theater magizine or something. I knew more about it than they did from reading stuff one the internet. So, I didn't get many questions answered from them. So I called a local tv station that is broadcasting HDTV and talked to one of the technitions about it. He was very nice, helpfull and honest. He dispelled alot of myths and halve trueths about the whole HDTV transition thing.
First of all he said that they are not being asked to switch to HDTV, the are switching to Digital TV. Much like what you get on your satilite system, but over the air. High def is just a perc, but he let me know that it is not a requirement. They can do what ever they want with the extra bandwidth. So you may get a station that has a digital signal, but is not broadcasting in 1080i or 720p, even if the show is shot that way by the network.
There is also no requirement for how long or how much of the daily programming they have to show, as of yet. Like in my area, CBS(11) only broadcasts in the after noon, like noon til midnight or something like that. So you may find a station or two that only has a signal in the evening for primetime or when a high def show is airing, but I am sure that will change, it will have to eventually.
There is also nothing that says how much power the transmitter has to have. So you may get a regular station pretty well where you live, because they have a strong signal, like 50,000 watts or something. When you try to get the digital signal if you live far away, you might not get a signal, because they only have like 10,000 watts for digital. I can get Detroit stations fairly well in Adrian, but can't get any digital signal at all from them. And I have a big attena 30 ft in the air and live in the country. I live close enough to Toledo that can get thier stations though.
This will eventually change too. As they phase out the anolog signals they will get new transmitters, or use the old ones for digital. The down side to that is most high def is on uhf channels right now, a fews years down the road when they quit using analog, they may go back to the old vhf frequency. This sucks for someone like me that installed a uhf only attena in my attic just for digital tv.
The good thing is that even if you have a station that is not broadcasting hi def, it will still look better than regular over the air signals. It will rival that of your dvd player and will either look great or won't come in.
Paul
Mike71
10-17-2003, 04:28 AM
Thanks for the info Paul. Did you notice if either one of those receivers had a DVI plug on the back??? I live 20 miles south of Atlanta and all the locals are broadcast in HD (ABC, CBS, NBC, UPN, TBS, Fox)
Paul Mohr
10-17-2003, 03:24 PM
The samsung does not, that is the one I bought. I don't know about the zenith or the DSS ones. I was looking for one that didn't have it, since my tv only has component inputs.
Paul
Paul
kevinw
10-17-2003, 03:57 PM
Mike have you visted the Atlanta Yahoo forum? Members often have ideas for equipment.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ahdtv/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ahdtv/
Mike71
10-17-2003, 05:06 PM
Originally posted by kevinw
Mike have you visted the Atlanta Yahoo forum? Members often have ideas for equipment.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ahdtv/
No I have not, but I will go join now. Thanks. :)
Mike have you visted the Atlanta Yahoo forum? Members often have ideas for equipment.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ahdtv/
No I have not, but I will go join now. Thanks. :)
