Switching over to digital, well, officially

In reality I've had an ATSC (the US/Mexico/Canada digital broadcast standard) box for a couple of years. Radio Shack had a box on clearance back in October 2005 for about fifty bucks - original price had been like $300. The Rat Shack box has things that the "subsidized" boxes don't - indeed, can't! HDMI output, component video, etc.

The US government is subsidizing the switch to the tune of $80 per household - $40.00 per converter box. The $40 subsidy is not a "coupon" but a "debit card" type of form factor. It has an embossed number, expiration date, hologram for authentication and magnetic stripe on the back.

The converter boxes are pretty basic. The goal here was not for Uncle Scam to subsidize HD setups, just keep basic televisions working. But given that they will send the coupons to any household - I ordered mine a few months ago. I don't necessarily need them. With full subscriptions to DirecTV with all the HD stuff and a subscription to Sky Mexico... It's not like I need an over-the-air converter. I pay taxes so I'm not ashamed to ask for my share of the handout.

The installation experience was very straightforward. If you can connect a VCR to a TV, you can install one of these. It goes through an auto-scan procedure when you first turn it on and choose the default option: "Easy setup."

All that the converter does is output the digital broadcast signal as analog. That's it. Some of the boxes have video/audio outputs but they are still standard definition. Equipment that is specifically excluded has any kind of HDMI or digital audio port on it. The federal government is not going to subsidize your home theater, the focus of the program is to hook up people who don't/can't pay for cable or satellite.

I was a last-minute shopper. Best Buy was the first place that I looked. Their internal "Insignia" brand is really not so bad. They were completely out of stock. Makes sense - July 1st, 2008 would have been the last day any early-coupon-requester could have redeemed theirs.

Target was nearby, then Circuit city, then Wal-Mart. Fortunately Target had two choices of box. One box had no video-audio outputs, it just took in the digital signal and spat out analog on US channel 3 or 4. The other box had the individual video/audio outputs plus the ability to output on US channel 3 or 4. I bought the more expensive boxes, splashing out an extra $20 each on them. Since the dog was in the car waiting for me - and it was still about 100F degrees even though it was dark... I didn't bother looking at CC or Wal-Mart. Had Wal-Mart been my only option - it's quite possible my coupons would have gone unused.

So the boxes were bought at Target. Expect a bit of a hassle at the checkout counter. The cashier had to call one supervisor, then another. That supervisor did something to suspend the transaction and store it in Target's computer system, then had me go over to the service desk to complete the transaction. Each of the $40 cards was then processed as a credit card transaction. A signature was required for the first, but then none for the second. Of course, it's a coupon - so plan on paying sales tax on your federally-subsidized haul.

I haven't had a chance to figure out whether the Rat Shack box is better... the guide works faster on the new "subsidized" one but the picture is a little grainy.

Between February 17th and February 28th 2009, I'll probably try to sell these converter boxes. $35 will be the price, maybe $40. I live in a kind of ghetto apartment complex where people will likely not have noticed ads about the transition.

It'll be interesting to see what kind of publicity happens starting around 1st February 2009 because all of these recently bought boxes and TV's connected to antennas will have to be re-scanned as the actual broadcast channels change.

Religious broadcasters seem to be ca$hing in more than most. The local jesus-wheezing channel on analog is just 1 video/audio combo on analog - but on digital it's five. So yes, the manual that comes with the converter says you'll get more channels - but some of them are just CRAP.