Consumer Reports: "Don't repair this TV..."

I take it you're getting this with an antenna? I've heard most cable providers encrypt most or all of their HD channels, effectively blocking recording. This is one of the reasons I'm going to stick with analog cable as long as I possibly can.

I never recommend free estimates. A shop that only gives estimates is generally not satisfactory imho (excepting dealership repair of high price goods). An agreed price, ie a quote, is a basic of good business practice.

Dealerships charge unworkable prices most of the time, the nicer independants do as often than not, backstreeters are a lot more likely to get realistic IME. They have much lower overheads and need business, plus they have cheaper ways of doing things, such as using reclaimed parts.

It all depends where you are though, not everywhere's the same by any means.

As for ineffective repairs, its just basic business sense when dealing with unknowns, insist on seeing the item work before you pay.

NT

HD(1080i/720.

Both. Get all the OTA networks from the antena. Our NBC affiliate doesn't allow cable provider to use their digital output and CW must be considered out of the area so couldn't get them without the antenna. 2 of the PBS stations are out of my antennas "reach"(one is deep fringe for me). At the moment I'm getting Discover and TNT HD unencrypted, not the norm I know so that's a crap shoot.. They aren't allowed to encrypt the local affiliates feed. OTA and cable use different modulation so a tuner that can do QAM is required for cable. OTA modulation is 8VSB. Not using a box to get any of this and the PQ of even the SD is better than what I do get from the non-HD box.

It doesn't take much of an antenna to get OTA. I could get 4 of the 6 stations with the UHF equivalent of rabbit ears. Got the last 2 by putting a home made antenna(DB-4) in an upstairs window. The stations are 33 miles away.

From what I've heard, this is not enforced and it's kind of a crapshoot, too. I'm on the MythTV list and there's lots of complaints about cable companies arbitrarily turning encryption on on local feeds.

I've never had any luck receiving analog TV with an indoor antenna, so I'm guessing I'd have even less luck with HDTV.

Thanks for the info. I wish this wasn't all getting rammed down our throats in another couple years.

I monitor alt.tv.tech.hdtv and have not seen anything to indicate that happening. If anything the FCC is like the SS with Broadscasters, at least. avsforum.com has local threads. It'd be easy to find out what's going on. Sure doesn't here. "Chatttter" in my local avsforum indicate people regulary call/e-mail the broadcasters and cable providers. Kind of amusing, some think the cable provider is at fault and some think the NBC affilliate is for thier digital not being on the cable.

When I first connected the QAM tuner I didn't get several stations I knew were on it. After removing a couple of splitters, there they were. There are some channels that don't have anything on them most of the time. They are the TV On Demand channels. Nothing shows up as encrypted like it does on analog. My guess would be it's people that don't know what they are doing.

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Most of the digital channels now are UHF so require a smaller antenna. What you got before may be totally different than what you'll get now. In my area the stations are going to stay UHF but in some areas some stations will change again when analog goes away. Some are even going back to VHF-High. Some people use antenalocator.com or something like that( should be a link on hdtvprimer.com) to find out about stations and antenna required for their location. I use the FCC.gov site to find out about the stations in my area.

I think most will find digital worth while. Don't forget digital channels can have sub channels. Admittedly only PBS is making good use of it now. I really liked The Tube but it's gone.