Digital tv converters?

[Octoberbride03]

Thinking of dropping cable and just going over the air. I work at Target so in know how much they cost, what I don't know is just how well they work Our tv is old but shows no signs of dying anytime soon. so if we were to drop cable we'd need the converter, and an antenna.

I have really considered this week what shows/channels I would miss and I gotta say I can live without almost all of them. I will miss the 2nd half of the NASCAR season, which hit my withdrawal buttons sooner as most of those races are on ESPN and just a few on ABC.

Already looked at Roku and Hulu and for our viewing habits I think they'd be a waste of money for us.

So if you have a converter please let me know if its worth the price or just better to get a new tv instead.

 

[disneychrista]

It is really going to depend on where you live. In my area, I can get abc, cbs, nbc, and fox but not much else. I don't even need the converter, just a powered antenna.

 

[Octoberbride03]

Seems to be a moot question at this point anyway. Because trying to talk Dh into cancelling the cable is not going well, despite the fact that he watches less tv than i do And since his name is on the bill he's the 1 who has to cancel

 

[torinsmom]

I went and turned in my digital cable boxes a few weeks ago, and am saving around $130/month. Funny thing is, haven't come and physically disconnected the cable, so I still have the basic channels. I had gotten Hulu Plus and we already had Netflix, so I had planned on just watching those with my Roku(and I still do since I no longer have a DVR) I did get a converter and an antenna, but I only get a few channels with that. I mostly got it for local news and weather.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Follow this Clark Howard inspired approach................

Call the cable company and tell them you are on a tight budget. You have seen ads for other companies (u-verse/ dish tv) and that you are considering dropping cable. They may transfer you over to their "retention division" and offer you a lower monthy rate. it does not hurt to ask!

It has worked for us!

 

[ssawka]

Do you have a TV antenna in the house already? If you want to try it, you can probably find people giving away converters on Craig's lists as people have been upgrading their TVs.

 

[torinsmom]

Follow this Clark Howard inspired approach................

Call the cable company and tell them you are on a tight budget. You have seen ads for other companies (u-verse/ dish tv) and that you are considering dropping cable. They may transfer you over to their "retention division" and offer you a lower monthy rate. it does not hurt to ask!

It has worked for us!

Did this before I dropped cable and saved $30/month, so it definitely works!

 

[fall08CP]

I dropped mine last year and didn't miss it. I had about 21 free channels. The converter + antenna were $70 combined I believe. I bought a "better" antenna because I lived pretty far from the transmitter. The picture was very clear.

 

[vacationer1954]

Follow this Clark Howard inspired approach................

Call the cable company and tell them you are on a tight budget. You have seen ads for other companies (u-verse/ dish tv) and that you are considering dropping cable. They may transfer you over to their "retention division" and offer you a lower monthy rate. it does not hurt to ask!

It has worked for us!

We tried this a few times. The first couple of times it worked. The next time they made us upgrade our service to get a good discount. They wouldn't budge. The time after that we wanted to downgrade and they wouldn't budget to give us a discount again. So we switched cable companies and started again.

 

[ssawka]

I dropped cable many years ago and I built an HTPC to get Internet content (via Boxee and Netflix) and installed an OTA antenna. This worked for awhile, but DW (who is a bit technically challenged) could never get the hang of switching between the different apps to watch the various TV content. So, when NetFlix increased their prices and Boxee stopped supporting their software as a standalone download, I went back to cable. We already had FIOS internet, so FIOS TV only added an extra $15 to my bill. In order to get all the FIOS channels though, I purchased and installed a CableCard tuner. Since that time, I lost the new subscriber incentive from Verizon, so my price increased a bit. Still, I only pay about $25 more a month then I was paying just for Internet. Are there cheaper options sure, but not much and the fact that DW isn't asking me every two seconds how to watch a show makes it worth it in my opinion. In addition to FIOS TV, we are also using Amazon VOD since it is included with my Student Prime account.

 

[seashoreCM]

After you stop subscribing to cable TV, do not hook up the cable. If the cable is still live, the company can tell if you are using it.

Converter boxes can be gotten for as little as $50. but models that cheap will downconvert the HD programs to standard definition. This is not really a problem since the box will at least let you watch any show on any TV set, but several years ago they did make some HDTV sets that need a converter box now. I think it was 2006 when all TV sets sold in the US had to pick up today's standard (digital) broadcasts without a converter box.

As a rough rule, you need a "better" antenna than you did in the past to receive the same local stations because today's digital broadcasts don't reach as far as yesteryear's analog broadcasts before reception problems become objectionable.

 

[eatatmidnight]

So, do you need one of the great big antennas that goes outside or is there a smaller indoor version?

 

[vacationer1954]

It depends on where you live.

 

[D&DDisney]

Been cable free here for years and saved a ton of money.

Converter boxes run around $50-60 and work fine.

We do have an antena we bought at Radio Shack for $40. Looks like something out of Star Trek (shaped like the ship). It sits on a shelf above the TV and is probably 6 inches square at the base and 10 inches in height. We plug it in and have a remote to adjust if shows are out of range. We live in the middle of nowhere and still get about 50 channels due to the strength of the antena.

We're big Nascar fans and miss getting the races the 2nd half of the season. We have been able to watch most of those races online. Race Buddy on Nascar.com shows the race most weeks. Not quite as good as broadcast races but we do get to see it.