wewallin

Searched for hours on the internet for any seller of Zenith dtt901 or 900 that accepts the government coupon. Unable to discover any eBay BuyItNow sellers that would take coupon. Can't even find a Florida retailer that carries the unit anymore. (Apparently Insignia NX-DSA1 is the same unit). Help, please.

Aaron62

Weird, can't find any sellers online for the Zenith DTT901. Wonder if Zenith is going to quit selling them.

Eureka

According to another forum the Zenith is out of production. Converter boxes had a limited market (for old TVs) that has quickly dimished, now that most people who needed converter boxes have bought them.

wewallin

Thanks for your feedback. Understand that both units mentioned (Zenith & Insignia) made by LG; LG make any others, I wonder? Regarding "Zenith" quitting production: reading of all of the frequent/rapid failure of any/all brands, it seems there should be an active aftermarket for replacement units. Wonder if Zenith/LG missing the boat stopping production; Zenith seems to have about the best reputation for cool long-running. I really just wanted a converter to use in event of a hurricane (could knock out my satellite dish).

Piggie

Exactly Eureka. Either no one was following it (most likely) or history has a short memory.

Back leading up to the previous (not original) transition date of Feb 17, 2009, the converter box manufacturer because of the last minute sudden extension of the transition date and coupon program, had to go back into production.

There was a time around late Feb through a lot of March, certain models were not available. They had stopped making them in Dec or Jan, and the last CECBs were headed to America on container ships.

Thought little was talked about on this new transition date, I am sure sometime in early June, production stopped.

If there is a box you want, you best head to ebay and just buy one. Not only is the coupon program over they won't be making anymore of them.

While it would be nice if just one company like Insignia or DTVPal Plus were continued or stocked for the next year as replacements, it's not going to happen. The big box stores clear the isles for much bigger sellers to put in seasonal or just new items.

Probably the saving grace is they will be traded on Ebay for a year or so to come, as people upgrade and others have ones that die and need replacing.

Eureka

Converter boxes work fine, if the converter box is the only thing connected to an old TV. But throw in a VCR, DVD player and/or satellite box, and the old clunker TV quickly becomes overwhelmed with too many boxes, remotes, and not enough inputs. People often find the clutter, complication and multiple remotes just too frustrating.

I also know more than one person who has had a converter box fail and gave up on their analog sets They just went out and bought new TVs with a DTV tuner built in and plenty of inputs.

So, there's probably not a very large market for "replacement" STBs.

Piggie

For a manufacturing market, no way there is enough demand. Just like there wasn't a demand for them 3 to 4 years ago when people COULD HAVE SWITCHED! But to me was a failure of the system. No profit margin, no deal. Those that differ in opinion from me say there wasn't a demand. Heck, no one knew about digital TV until a year ago or so. How could there have been a demand. To me this is where market driven capitalism fails and fails big.

What happened to people wanting the latest and greatest thing? Didn't anyone think that had the box been available in 2005 (maybe earlier) that people would have started using them if the were $30 to $35 ? I might have eliminated the need for the coupon program altogether.

Or was it all delayed so the ink would be dry on the 700 MHz auction checks and contracts before people realized we needed at least 51-59 ?

Something to think about, or probably someone will argue about it. What ever.

Oh, back on topic, I think there will be a market for about a year for replacement boxes on ebay. But not in stores. Those days are already gone........

Eureka

I use the "walmart" rule: When walmart stops carrying an electronics item, it's pretty much a given that it will quickly become a niche market item.