Digital TV

[Bobl]

Looking for recommendations for digital tv converter box brands/models. Which works best locally?

[Fidel]

My goodness Bobi nothing like waiting till the last minute. Magnavox makes a nice little box sold at K-marts or Target, hopefully you have a coupon, but I've bought two of those and they work great.

[wash_man]

I handled this for my parent's house. I did some research and came to the conclusion to avoid Apex brand from Best Buy. I bought them Insignia from Best Buy and they work great with only rabbit ears and they live just north of the Macomb County border! I bought two Zenith boxes for my house up north. Great reception there also. I get 8 stations there where I used to get 1. BTW the Zenith and Insignia look identical except for the logo. If I remember correctly, they are both made by LG. One thing is for sure: make sure you get analog pass through if you want to watch Ch. 9 from Windsor.

[Angry Dad]

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-tv-converter/

There's plenty of pages out there that have tested these.

Analog pass through is a great feature. Another feature to look for is a learning remote so you only need one remote control to operate the TV.

[Bobl]

Thanks, good people. Fidel, waiting for the last minute is the story of my life! Actually, I will be discontinuing cable soon, unless a good job is found.

[Prodigal_Son]

If you're a Wings fan, get one with the capacity to get non-digital signal. I didn't, so I can't get games that are only on CBC [[or cable).

[punky1]

Is anyone having a volume issue with the digital boxes? When on channel 7-2, Retro TV, the volume is so low [[sometimes it is ok then all of a sudden you can barely hear it), yet if I back up to 7-1, the volume is fine. Is it the signal being sent or the digital box that is the problem?

[wash_man]

If you're a Wings fan, get one with the capacity to get non-digital signal. I didn't, so I can't get games that are only on CBC [[or cable).

This is analog pass through. I don't think any of the converter boxes get "non-digital" signals. Most pass the analog through to the TV and you have to use the old TV tuner [[Ch. 9, I assume in your case). My friend kept telling me he couldn't get Ch. 9 with his box and that's why he bought that model. I reminded him he has to turn the TV tuner to 9, not the converter box. Maybe this is what is happening to you Prodigal_Son.

[Prodigal_Son]

Thanks, wash_man. The problem is that I only have one connector to the TV and one antenna. I can disconnect the antenna and connect it direct to the TV to get CBC, but that is a hassle.

In sum, I'm just lazy.

[Gannon]

Yeah, you could split the signal into both, then use an external RF switcher, but there would likely be enough signal loss to make it moot.

That analog pass-through is a must in Detroit.

[ronaldj]

I need a clue. Analog pass through. I am watching the Redwings on N\BC. Would rather have Don Cherry.

Also having problems with pixilated video at times. Any suggestions?

[Gannon]

Pixelated video is the new snow.

Often it is simply the smaller dancing dots, but occasionally when the signal is really weak you will see disturbing larger squares as the error-correction attempts to replace missing data.

Another great feature to look for on these tuners is a signal strength meter...something easily accessible for antenna-aiming aid. These will be a button push or two away usually...I'd expect the LG to be the easiest to find, since all of their other tuners have actually had a meter button.

I'm not surprised another brand shares their appearance, they've been OEM'ing for others for years now. Since they bought Zenith, they now own the largest portion of the legacy engineering of HDTV, although RCA would love to claim that...

[alsodave]

I need a clue. Analog pass through. I am watching the Redwings on N\BC. Would rather have Don Cherry.

Also having problems with pixilated video at times. Any suggestions?

Ronaldj, try moving your antenna away from your TV and extend the rabbit ears. That might help a bit--hopefully...