Gizmodo: digital converter

Digital TV Converter Coupons From Uncle Sam Available Now, Old People Rejoice

matt buchanan — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:40:19 EST

Old people love coupons, especially ones worth 40 bucks, which buys a lot of Metamucil. They're also the people most likely to need digital converter boxes for analog sets to receive digital over-the-air broadcasts after Feb. 2009. So I'm happy to report that ~~your gramps~~ you can pick up his $40 coupon for the box here. Or you could just take him down to Best Buy to get a new TV and forego this silliness. [Detroit Free Press]

RCA DTA800 Digital Converter for Analog TVs Updated, Delayed

Matt Buchanan — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 21:40:57 EST

We kinda forgot all about this little box for old folks with old TVs that was announced way back at CES and promised by the end of this year. It's got a fresh paint job and later street date (January), dropping a little more than a year before analog broadcasts shutdown in 2009 in favor of all-digital broadcasts, which your TV can't pick up if it's not digital—unless you have this digital converter box or one like it. If you don't wanna roll down to Best Buy for a new TV, you can knock $40 off the DTA800 and keep on trucking with your grandma TV. More pictures:

[Keep My TV]

Uncle Sam Starts Subsidizing Antique TVs Jan. 1

Matt Buchanan — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:15:22 EDT

Uncle Sam is handing out up to $80 a household to go toward the signal conversion boxes your grandparents need to keep watching Heroes on their clunky analog TV after the move to all-digital broadcasting in Feb. 2009. Each coupon is worth $40, while the converters run about $50 a pop. If they have more than one TV (who doesn't) they can ask for two vouchers starting Jan. 1, as long as the initial $1 billion set aside doesn't go dry.

Granted, this only applies if you're still pulling TV signals from the air like magic with an antenna. If you're already part of the 21st century and have cable or satellite hookups, ignore this and go back to your TiVo. – Matt Buchanan

U.S. Sets Rules for Digital TV Payments [NYT]