HD TVs, February 2009, and Comcast

Fardreamer · 09-17-2008, 10:16 AM

Until recently, we owned two analog TVs which were hooked up to Comcast without one of those boxes that are required if you want cable channels such as Pay Per View and In Demand along with their Basic Cable packages. We are subscribers to Comcast, of course, but we're on a tight budget and need to avoid extra fees and as long as we can receive non-scrambled channels that we pay for, we're happy without the darned boxes, which cost an additional $3.00 a month.

My question is this: When the switch to digital-only broadcasting begins, owners of LCD or Plasma TVs don't need to worry about having to get boxes, right?

leighdu · 09-17-2008, 04:28 PM

For people with satellite or cable, then no, you don't have to worry about that. But you have an analog tv and use an antennae, then you will need to worry

.

dreamr802 · 09-18-2008, 06:14 PM

Yeah you just need a tv that is able to receive digital....My boyfriend and I have a nice tv in the family room, but right now we do have an analog tv in the bedroom and we are looking to invest in a newer tv for that room so then we don't have to worry about getting one of those boxes.

Fardreamer · 09-19-2008, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leighdu

For people with satellite or cable, then no, you don't have to worry about that. But you have an analog tv and use an antennae, then you will need to worry

.

From what I've been told, people with satelllite and CATV who still have analog TVs won't need to worry much either, especially since most TVs made from the late 1990s on (analog ones, I mean) have some kind of digital tuner. Not an HD one, but a digital one.

Pity those souls who will need to get the boxes...:-(

datadee · 11-09-2008, 01:42 PM

You will not need a converter box in February. They are only for TVs that work off an antenna.

kaye · 11-15-2008, 11:20 PM

Most of the newer televisions have digital capability.If you have satelite or cable you won't have to worry about buying a box.I have an 6 year old tv which as long as I have cable I do not have to buy a boy. That is why they are doing it,to force us to sign up with cable or satelite.....grr

datadee · 11-16-2008, 08:36 AM

My philosophy is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Some people just can't afford cable or satellite, so why should they be forced to get one or the other? If they want to watch television with an antennae, then let them. Why is the government forcing us to go digital?

Byte24 · 11-16-2008, 09:58 PM

Fardreamer, if you've got Cox, you'll stay be just fine after the DTV transition.

jedlinde · 06-16-2009, 04:57 PM

I just got off the phone with Comcast, and I'm somewhat frustrated: I have two analog TVs, have the conversion boxes (provided by Comcast for free) installed, they work fine and I get a whole host of stations, that I cannot get on my digital TV and digital VCR/DVD. Comcast (in CA) informs me that I will have to use one of their boxes on my digital devices...why? They would not give me an answer, the tele-service-guy just kept repeating that their box must used. Sadly, if true, you can only record on the channel that the box is on (and you cannot watch any other channel). Any info out there?

O-O · 06-16-2009, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jedlinde

I just got off the phone with Comcast, and I'm somewhat frustrated: I have two analog TVs, have the conversion boxes (provided by Comcast for free) installed, they work fine and I get a whole host of stations, that I cannot get on my digital TV and digital VCR/DVD. Comcast (in CA) informs me that I will have to use one of their boxes on my digital devices...why? They would not give me an answer, the tele-service-guy just kept repeating that their box must used. Sadly, if true, you can only record on the channel that the box is on (and you cannot watch any other channel). Any info out there?

That's the tricky part of the so-called QAM tuners built into some TVs. Sure they'll let your TV pick up some local stations in HD from your cable provider, but to view any digital services from your cable company, you need to rent a box from them. Otherwise your just watching an analog signal on basic cable. The only REAL thing a digital TV or HDTV tuner does, is receive over-the-air signals from broadcast towers. Other than that, you could have basically bought a "digital ready" HDTV with an analog tuner and just used the cable company's converter to watch HD programming.


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