Digital Converter Boxes

nalani

Well-Known Member
Anyone got one yet? I have to hustle - Hawai'i will be going digital first in the Nation - January 15th and yes, I am still using rabbit ears LOL. I've been reading a lot of reviews on several different kinds of boxes and am not impressed just yet .. does anyone have recommendations? My $40 coupons expire on December 31st (which is a governmental crock-o-shit because they said they're good for 6 months and I requested them in September GRRR).
 

kuulani

New Member
Anyone got one yet? I have to hustle - Hawai'i will be going digital first in the Nation - January 15th and yes, I am still using rabbit ears LOL. I've been reading a lot of reviews on several different kinds of boxes and am not impressed just yet .. does anyone have recommendations? My $40 coupons expire on December 31st (which is a governmental crock-o-shit because they said they're good for 6 months and I requested them in September GRRR).

I just requested mine - too late though, it's scheduled to arrive on Jan 16th :lol2:

And here's the little blurb I got after I requested the coupon - Note that coupons do not expire until 90 days after they have been mailed.
 

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
2/3 of our TVs have digital (QAM) tuners & they're all on FiOS boxes. In the event we no longer pay for TV, the third will make a wonderful planter.

Since the converter boxes do nothing but convert digital to analog, there shouldn't be much differnce between them.
 

nalani

Well-Known Member
I just requested mine - too late though, it's scheduled to arrive on Jan 16th :lol2:

And here's the little blurb I got after I requested the coupon - Note that coupons do not expire until 90 days after they have been mailed.

I'm only gonna buy one right now so you can have the other one .. and when yours come in, you can give me one then and I can get another :) .. You requested two, right?
 

nalani

Well-Known Member
Well, it seems we are settling on the Philco TB100HH9 Digital Converter box .. for two reasons:

one, it's only $9.97 with my coupon at the local PX
two, that's all the local PX has and everything else out there is $20+ with the coupon.

:D

The reviews haven't been awful .. most of the bad reviews I've read have counterparts - you know, they plugged it in wrong or something .. so I'm hopeful *crosses fingers*
 

Inkara1

Well-Known Member
Hopefully you're still within the signal range when they go all-digital. Some stations are moving the broadcast towers... also, the range will be shorter. People on the fringe of the analog range get a slightly fuzzy picture. People living 10 feet outside the digital range get nothing at all.
 

kuulani

New Member
I'm only gonna buy one right now so you can have the other one .. and when yours come in, you can give me one then and I can get another :) .. You requested two, right?

We only have one tv so I only requested one ... should I have requested two? :banghead:
 

pc_builder

New Member
I got two DigitalStream boxes from Radioshack. My mom got two Apex boxes from Best Buy. She didn't like the Apex ones, so she traded one to me for one of my DigitalStream boxes. We like the DigitalStreams. The Apex box didn't get half the channels in her apartment, but the DigitalStream one gets them all. I shouldn't have any trouble with the Apex box because I have a rooftop antenna at my house. The DigitalStream box gets around 90% signal strength with my rooftop antenna.
 

Mirlyn

Well-Known Member
how do you like it? Is the quality good? Not sure it's available here ..

They're sitting here in boxes as we are still on canceled cable.

I've heard good reviews of them, though. I'll see if I can hook one up to our aerial and try it soon. I bought one TR-40 (the $40 basic one) and one DTVPal Plus (the $60 one). One of our TVs has a tuner in it and has no trouble picking things up OTA.
 

nalani

Well-Known Member
I got two DigitalStream boxes from Radioshack. My mom got two Apex boxes from Best Buy. She didn't like the Apex ones, so she traded one to me for one of my DigitalStream boxes. We like the DigitalStreams. The Apex box didn't get half the channels in her apartment, but the DigitalStream one gets them all. I shouldn't have any trouble with the Apex box because I have a rooftop antenna at my house. The DigitalStream box gets around 90% signal strength with my rooftop antenna.

We're so limited to what we have available out here. To order online would be lame because the shipping would cost upwards of $40 .. maybe I should have asked some friends to check for me at Circuit City on O'ahu but the clock is now a ticking ...
 

nalani

Well-Known Member
They're sitting here in boxes as we are still on canceled cable.

I've heard good reviews of them, though. I'll see if I can hook one up to our aerial and try it soon. I bought one TR-40 (the $40 basic one) and one DTVPal Plus (the $60 one). One of our TVs has a tuner in it and has no trouble picking things up OTA.

I read a few reviews too .. I wish they were available here :(
 

Mirlyn

Well-Known Member
I read a few reviews too .. I wish they were available here :(

Really? The shipping field has HI as a state option....does it stop you when you try to order them? :( I did have to pay shipping after the "free" box ($18ish for both, I think); dunno how much more it is to the islands.
 

nalani

Well-Known Member
Really? The shipping field has HI as a state option....does it stop you when you try to order them? :( I did have to pay shipping after the "free" box ($18ish for both, I think); dunno how much more it is to the islands.

I meant I wished it was available in the stores here. We can order it but it costs $35 to ship it here .. so kinda defeats the purpose of having the coupon LOL.

I picked up our converter box yesterday and got it all plugged in and *nothing* .. but then I realized, we're not going digital til the 15th of January .. so attempts to test the box are futile LOL. I did get a partial signal from NBC which is a channel I never go before .. so it should be interesting to see what happens.
 

kuulani

New Member
Oh crap ... I don't want to face the New Year shopping madness. That's okay, you can have my coupon when it comes in and we'll just do what we do now and just watch DVDs (the only time real tv is on in my house is the morning news as background noise) :D
 

nalani

Well-Known Member
naw, don't worry about it .. Chris will order new coupons too. Plus, he's talking about putting in basic cable at my house so that when he's there with the babies he can watch sports :D
 
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