I wanna know people's thoughts on this transition. Are you in favor of it? Or not?

I also have a question.
1. I subscribe to cable, (there are reports that UHF and VHF stations are moving), are those channels actually going to move even though I subscribe to cable? VHF- 2-13 UHF- 14-78

I wanna make a prediction that cable service providers may raise the price of cable because they will use the excuse that there is better quality and thats why they are raising it.

Probably some cable subscribers may shut off cable and go to free over the air with the converter box since more channels will be provided with that box.

What about people that either can't afford basic cable or have no desire to subscribe to it?

Comcast has been removing channels from their basic lineup for almost two years. Have our rates gone down at all? No! In fact, they've increased :mad:

Same with Cox.......removing channels and upping the price

Is there a way to find out if the flat screen TV I bought 2 years ago is digital?

Is there a way to find out if the flat screen TV I bought 2 years ago is digital?

And that's another thing. Where are all these non-digitial TV's going to end up, in the landfills?

Not to mention all these 5" b/w tv's with radios they always hawk for emergency use--we bought two of them three years ago after Katrina and before Rita......now thanks to the gov't they will be useless as TV's (and we have enough radios) and I'm not buying converters for these things.

We already changed to digital last year.

I am seriously thinking of dumping cable. I have Cox. We had cable and Cox kept taking away channels and didn't lower the price. We gave in and got Cox digital cable. 200 channels of mostly crap. I did buy a converter box for when I get rid of cable.

Here is a link to TV Fool. If you put in your address it'll show you all the stations you can get with just an antenna.
http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29

After you do this you'll see Post-transition
(after 2/17/09) Select this
All channels (save image)
Then select Only Digital (save image)
Only Analog (save image)

Everything in Green quite strong signal's
With a good outside antenna you should be able to get quite a few channels. There are so many sub stations being added all the time.
Get a good HDTV antenna, Antenna Rotator and a digital reciever. All OTA (over the air) stations are Free.

The thing with digital is that it's all or nothing. You'll either get a good picture or nothing. The Antenna Rotator can help pick up in different directions.

Many tech geeks say that the local channels available from over-the-air HD signals are superior to what cable and satellite companies can offer because some compress the signal, which may degrade picture quality.

And the best part? Over-the-air HD is free.

Many people aren’t aware that they can get HD over the airwaves. The estimates are 10 million households with HDTVs and that less than 2 million of them use antennas. Overall, out of the 110 million households in the United States, 15 million use antennas. The numbers of people going back to antenna's are growing in huge numbers.

I was wondering on Feburary 17, 2008 will we lose our standed channel's

If you have cable or a Dish you'll be fine. If you don't have an HDTV you just need to get a converter box. The government is issuing coupons which cover most of the cost. I think they offer 2 coupons per household.
Here is a link to get the coupons and they also tell you where you can buy a converter.
https://www.dtv2009.gov/VendorSearch.aspx

NO im not!!! We should have the right to use whichever system we like, i cant afford a bunch of converter boxes!

You need a digital TV, not an HDTV......people are confusing the two and they are not the same.

Sorry, ohno: I word things wrong sometimes but digital is what I meant. I think it comes with age. I'm sure I have grandchildren as old as some of the members here. Again, I'm sorry.

And that's another thing. Where are all these non-digitial TV's going to end up, in the landfills?

exactly what i was thinking....just terrible!!

If you have a Antalog TV it'll still work after Feb. 2009 with a converter OR if you have a cable or Dish Network/Direct TV.
The government will give you a coupon that almost pays for it. I think my neighbor had to pay about 20.00 after using his coupon. Coupon-----> https://www.dtv2009.gov/

http://hometheater.about.com/cs/beforeyoubuy/a/aahdtvfaqs2a.htm

For us, no analoge TV works anymore. It all disappeared last spring.

It doesn't bother me that much, but I wish that the expanded basic cable came with more stations. I think there should be a way to pay individually for stations that you want (in addition to the basic cable ones). For instance, I would LOVE to have Turner Classic Movies, but I don't want to spend the money on Digital Cable, if the Digital TV is coming next year.

Andrea

I have one of those converter boxes, and only a few stations come in. Not all the stations come in.

Any advice or should I wait until 2009?