Wednesday, Nov 14th 2007 by James Allan Brady
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+14 [54 votes]
So just about everyone knows that next year they are switching to digital television signals, it’s the reason this whole 700MHz auction is such a big deal. Anyways, when they do, you more or less have 2 choices, buy a new TV or get a box much like this one.
The boxes are set-top boxes that convert the digital signal back to analog. Those of you resistant to change can get a $40 coupon to go towards one such box like these.
No word on price, but I assume they will be available on or before the switchover date. Chances are good someone, if not everyone, will be offering boxes as close to that $40 price as possible.
LG’s Zenith DTT900 Converter Competes with RCA for Grandma’s $40 Coupon [via gizmodo]
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Its great that the low cost boxes are out but no one is taking about the problems that people in low signal areas are facing. The DTV signals do not go as far as the analog and indoor antennas don’t work in most areas. Once the analog goes off everyone will be yelling about it.
This Zenith DTT900 converter box deserves kudos for its
quality picture and construction. It works great and costs
reasonable. ($60.00 - coupon)= $20.00. In spite of all that,
it has a few limitations. But I’ll get to the good things first.
Unlike many of its competitors, it has an attractive metal
case (not plastic) with excellent ventilation slots. All converter
boxes will get warm so don’t put it under or atop a DVD player
or VCR. The digital pictures are excellent and look equivalent to a DVD.
The remote control is easy to use and not overly large.
The box was able to pick up most of the HDTV stations in the
local market. You can test your own antenna first before buying
a special “HDTV” antenna. My old rabbit ears worked OK.
The only ‘weakness’ of this model is that the default screen
is the station screen. In other words, if the station is sending
letterbox or small pictures, that’s what you see. They have
an option called ‘cropped’ which means ‘fill the screen’ or show
it as if it were myold TV. But you have to go in the menu FOR
EACH STATION and change the aspect ratio or use the zoom button
to get the ‘fill the screen’ option. Since most people would prefer
‘fill the screen’ , you would think they would set that as the default.
It took some time to set all the stations.I can imagine some people
living with letterbox or small pictures missing the zoom button not noticing this
option and being disappointed before someone shows them how to change it.
Also, for very old TVs (the ones that need a screwdriver
to attach the antenna and don’t have RCA video inputs or
RF plug) you will need to buy a 75 Ohm to 300 Ohm Adapter
which cost about $2.00.
The only other warning is that the abilities of all converter
boxes are dependent on the signals sent by the local
over-the-air stations. If you are living in a fringe area
you may need an amplified antenna or external antenna.
Even then, all antennas behave differently depending on
where you live. There is NO iideal antenna.
Otherwise, this converter box is an excellent product
and does what it is supposed to at a reasonable price.
I have one problem with this convertor.
my TV power button is not working. anybody had any idea what’s wrong with this ??