$40 coupons for digital/analog converters

Cass Lewart wrote:

I would like to hear from somebody who got the coupon and
purchased a converter. Price, model and how good was it?

I di'nt get the coupon, but I purchased a Magnavox TB100MW9.
It gets all the local channels well with a $9 RCA indoor antenna.
I'm in a little valley, but only 6.4 miles from the broadcast antennae.
The main complaint I have with it is that it is not easy to switch
between letterbox, stretch, and "full" modes.

In article 1QTyj.3394$H%[email protected],
"Fishface" ? wrote:

I di'nt get the coupon, but I purchased a Magnavox TB100MW9.
It gets all the local channels well with a $9 RCA indoor antenna.
I'm in a little valley, but only 6.4 miles from the broadcast antennae.
The main complaint I have with it is that it is not easy to switch
between letterbox, stretch, and "full" modes.

That is the reason that I'm still using a 2nd-generation Panasonic
tuner. It has both an aspect and a resolution button on the remote.
While I rarely use the resolution button (I have a 4:3 CRT and the mode
switch to widescreen HD is annoying, so I leave it in 480i mode and let
my set up-convert to 480p), I often use the aspect button for
non-prime-time programming.

Seriously, it's completely stupid to put the "zoom" setting into a menu.

I purchased http://kowatec.com/prod/cis/products.php?i=cs102 antenna
and connected to my
hdtv. This high passive gain antenna is sooo good. I am very happy to
watch free HD tv. The images are so clear!

wrote:
I purchased http://kowatec.com/prod/cis/products.php?i=cs102 antenna
and connected to my
hdtv. This high passive gain antenna is sooo good. I am very happy to
watch free HD tv. The images are so clear!



This is the fourth time you've invaded a working thread with your crummy
shill for some cheap-ass Chinese POS. I don't need your crap to see
this clearly.

--
jer
email reply - I am not a 'ten'

Michel Oui wrote in news:[email protected]:

wrote:
On Feb 23, 10:34 pm, Alan F wrote:
Mark E. Bye wrote:
On 23 Feb 2008 22:11:54 GMT, (Cass Lewart)
wrote:
I would like to hear from somebody who got the coupon and purchased
a converter. Price, model and how good was it?
Cass
I'd like to hear from anyone who has actually received their coupons.
I ordered mine on January 1 and haven't heard anything from them yet.
Will be needing the converter for my TV in the camper!
I have not seen posts from anyone on avsforum.com who has gotten a
coupon yet. They were supposed to start shipping this week, so you may
get one soon.

Alan F

I hope so. My local Walmart has had two different $49.99 boxes for
over a week and I want two of them very badly. I have a sweet SVHS
vcr and some high quality blanks I'm itching to use to augment my ATSC-
tuner containing DVD recorder.

-beaumon

I received my two coupons in the mail yesterday. They are actually
gift cards rather than paper coupons, good for $40 each and expire
on 5/27/2008.


I also got my vouchers yeaterday,applied the first day.
Bought a Magnavox TB100MW9 from WalMart,cost was $13 after taxes.
The remote is funky.I may get a universal remote.

It works great,I only lost Ch.2(NBC).,but I get Ch.15 PBS from Daytona
Beach!
(Orlando area,lousy analog reception,apartment,old Gemini amplified rabbit
ears)

Compared to reception I was getting in analog,it's like having free cable.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Jer wrote:

This is the fourth time you've invaded a working thread with your crummy
shill for some cheap-ass Chinese POS. I don't need your crap to see
this clearly.

....and when some of the broadcasters switch their digital broadcasts back to
VHF, that UHF only antenna is going to make a lousy paperweight!

Cass Lewart wrote:

I would like to hear from somebody who got the coupon and purchased
a converter. Price, model and how good was it?
Cass

First box, from Best Buy: an Insignia NS-DXA1. It seems to work pretty
well and handles marginal signals as well as my TV and Panasonic HDDVR.

Second box, from Wal-Mart: a Magnavox (I forget the model number). A
piece of junk. It wouldn't pick up half the stations that everything
else will.

Further bad news: You can't get a $40 credit back from Wal-Mart upon
returning the box. You get what you paid over $40, but they've got that
in their pocket. In hindsight, I think they knew that a lot of their
boxes would be coming back and they've got the store managers trained to
shine on everyone who returns them. For all I know, they could be
re-packaging and re-selling a couple of bad units and making a bundle on
the coupons.


--
Paul Hovnanian
------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't upset me! I'm running out of places to hide the bodies.

On Wed, 21 May 2008 18:29:03 -0700, "Paul Hovnanian P.E."
wrote:

Cass Lewart wrote:

I would like to hear from somebody who got the coupon and purchased
a converter. Price, model and how good was it?
Cass

First box, from Best Buy: an Insignia NS-DXA1. It seems to work pretty
well and handles marginal signals as well as my TV and Panasonic HDDVR.
1st Coupon:: Digitalstream bought at Radio Shack
A/V Connections used, cable NOT supplied

Bad
Touchy remote buttons.
Quirky surround audio (Sony A/V surround receiver), Spatial placement can get
weird. Heavy/Loud Center other times (Compared to Stereo and 5.1 DVD playback)
Sometimes a Blocky? (really low res blocks in the image, NOT drop outs)
KQED 9.3 (720x480i) in San Francisco Which appears as a slightly fuzzy
picture on my Sceptre 32" set
(Any one else in the Bay Area seeing this?)

Some stations appear window boxed with no Zoom to the (side) edge of the
screen

Good
Editable channel list,
Signal Quality display (allowed easy tweaking antenna direction to reduce
Multi path)



Second box, from Wal-Mart: a Magnavox (I forget the model number). A
piece of junk. It wouldn't pick up half the stations that everything
else will.
For my second coupon: I got the RCA box at Walmart, (A/V connections used.
cable NOT supplied)

What a poorly thought out and poor performing piece of junk for any one with a
brain.

good :
Extremely /simple/ and limited setup.
Simple remote wit a BIG channel UP and Down buttons (you will need them if you
don't do direct access channel changes)
Picture good (A/V connections,), Surprisingly (see signal level)

Bad:
Extremely /simple/ and limited setup: turn it on,pick language, scan
No channel list (Favorites?) edit. Scan or /Scan/ if you want to change
channels or need to rotate/switch the antenna
I don't speak anything besides English so I have no desire to step through
stations in other languages (and there are lots in the Bay Area). I like to
edit them out of my channel lineup.

Signal level (8 bay Roof top antenna) indicates less than 25% on the same lead
that indicates 75-95% on other HD devices.




Further bad news: You can't get a $40 credit back from Wal-Mart upon
returning the box. You get what you paid over $40, but they've got that
in their pocket. In hindsight, I think they knew that a lot of their
boxes would be coming back and they've got the store managers trained to
shine on everyone who returns them. For all I know, they could be
re-packaging and re-selling a couple of bad units and making a bundle on
the coupons.

On Wed, 21 May 2008 18:29:03 -0700 Paul Hovnanian P.E. wrote:
| Cass Lewart wrote:
|
| I would like to hear from somebody who got the coupon and purchased
| a converter. Price, model and how good was it?
| Cass
|
| First box, from Best Buy: an Insignia NS-DXA1. It seems to work pretty
| well and handles marginal signals as well as my TV and Panasonic HDDVR.
|
| Second box, from Wal-Mart: a Magnavox (I forget the model number). A
| piece of junk. It wouldn't pick up half the stations that everything
| else will.
|
| Further bad news: You can't get a $40 credit back from Wal-Mart upon
| returning the box. You get what you paid over $40, but they've got that
| in their pocket. In hindsight, I think they knew that a lot of their
| boxes would be coming back and they've got the store managers trained to
| shine on everyone who returns them. For all I know, they could be
| re-packaging and re-selling a couple of bad units and making a bundle on
| the coupons.

Yes. See the thread I started on this issue. There were mistakes made in
setting up the coupon program and many people will be very unhappy.

The law passed by Congress does not permit the return of CECB (couple eligible
converter box) for full price unless you paid full price for it. You can
exchange it for another CECB. But that does you no good when the retailer
only carries one junk brand.

I finally applied for 2 coupons a couple days ago. I should get them in
early June. I'm going for the Zenith DTT900, which is really from LG.

--
|WARNING: Due to extreme spam, googlegroups.com is blocked. Due to ignorance |
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On May 22, 7:25*am, Ant wrote:
On 5/22/2008 3:55 AM PT, typed:





On Wed, 21 May 2008 18:29:03 -0700 Paul Hovnanian P.E. wrote:
| Cass Lewart wrote:
|
| I would like to hear from somebody who got the coupon and purchased
| a converter. Price, model and how good was it?
| Cass
|
| First box, from Best Buy: an Insignia NS-DXA1. It seems to work pretty
| well and handles marginal signals as well as my TV and Panasonic HDDVR..
|
| Second box, from Wal-Mart: a Magnavox (I forget the model number). A
| piece of junk. It wouldn't pick up half the stations that everything
| else will.
|
| Further bad news: You can't get a $40 credit back from Wal-Mart upon
| returning the box. You get what you paid over $40, but they've got that
| in their pocket. In hindsight, I think they knew that a lot of their
| boxes would be coming back and they've got the store managers trained to
| shine on everyone who returns them. For all I know, they could be
| re-packaging and re-selling a couple of bad units and making a bundle on
| the coupons.

Yes. *See the thread I started on this issue. *There were mistakes made in
setting up the coupon program and many people will be very unhappy.

The law passed by Congress does not permit the return of CECB (couple eligible
converter box) for full price unless you paid full price for it. *You can
exchange it for another CECB. *But that does you no good when the retailer
only carries one junk brand.

I finally applied for 2 coupons a couple days ago. *I should get them in
early June. *I'm going for the Zenith DTT900, which is really from LG.

What about Insigna brand which is the same LG? I am getting one of them.
--
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queen." "Yeah the mamma. She is bad*ss, man. I mean big." "These things
ain't ants estupido." "I know that." --ALIENS movie
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- Show quoted text -

I picked up one of the Insignia boxes from Best Buy, as well as a
MicroGem from www.solidsignal.com . I tried both with Composite +
Audio cables. The MicroGem did not include AV cables. Both boxes
received all the stations that my other tuners received. Both were
pretty easy to set up. Both had useful signal quality meters. Both
were able to letterbox or zoom 16:9 material. The Insignia could do
an "anamorphic" vertical stretch on 16:9; I don't remember, but I
believe the MicroGem could as well. The zoom/letterbox settings seem
to be on a per channel basis with the Insignia. Both remotes had a
dedicated aspect ratio (zoom/letterbox/etc) button. Audio seemed fine
on both units. The remote controls were just O.K. as far as button
placement and size. Both could adjust audio volume, so my prefered
mode would be to set the TV input and volume once. After that, use
the tuner remote to do everything except turn on the TV. I didn't
check if the remotes had my TV code. I found things I both liked and
disliked about the menus of both boxes, though the gripes were minor.

Advantage Insignia: Included AV cables.
Advantage MicroGem: Tiny Size (about 2/3 of an ordinary paperback
book)

Dan (Woj...)