VOOM/off-air antennas

[TimBoston]

Does anyone actually have VOOM yet? I can't wait to hear
reviews from people who actually have it. It's very tempting for sure. Even made more tempting by rumors I've heard that if you join before 2/29/04 (I've also heard 12/31/03) that your pricing structure will be grandfathered in. Meaning their offer of all regular programing and one "plus pack" for $40, will hold true for charter members as long as you remain a subscriber in good standing. All others will have to pay the $40 minimum, and $15 more for the plus pack.
Can anyone recommend a good off-air antenna for getting local
HDTV broadcasts? Do they work good enough to get a nice crisp HD picture? I was thinking of trying that before taking the leap to VOOM. Is anyone in Boston using one that can comment specifically on the best ones for the area I am in, the quality, and the stations available. I read somewhere that there are 7 stations being broadcast in HD in Boston. I am wondering what they are, and how ther look.

[klen]

"Can anyone recommend a good off-air antenna for getting local
HDTV broadcasts? Do they work good enough to get a nice crisp HD picture? I was thinking of trying that before taking the leap to VOOM."

According to the VOOM site, their (seemingly pricy) startup fee includes the dish AND an off-air antenna. (and installation of both)

Since I currently don't have an off-air antenna, it looks tempting to me- just to avoid installing one myself. I don't know if they have different ones that they use, depending on the customers' needs, but I live about 40 miles outside of Chicago, so I would need a decent antenna.

I did notice that, outside of HDTV offereings, their channel lineup is pretty small compared to dishnetwork.

I would say that my biggest concern is plunking down the money, then having the company go belly up-sticking me with expensive hardware that I can't use.

I may give them a call tomorrow........

[keving]

39 HD channels... that's pretty tempting. Even if the only real HD content came in primetime, I still think it'd be well worth it once the start-up fees came down (I think I'd go for it at 50% of current start-up).