This analog TV cut off sort of worries me.

[jras20]

For when a hurricane or something comes and takes out the power, how are people going to get the news? I still use a portable black and white TV sometimes to get the news if the power is off. I guess that will be trashed in 2009. I wish they will give you a choice to do what you want. I like the idea of having a radar sweep on DTV-2 channels, but it wont do no good if the power is off!

 

[captex]

from radio shack, they got accurian 5 inch color lcd anaolog-hd tv tuner tv's (combo tuners). estimate price around 150. or so.

 

[arnoldevns]

It's a problem, but there will be a lot of little hand-held portable DTVs coming out in the near future. The radio shack verion mentioned above is a really good little TV. (it gets both analog and digital) My hope would be that they'll actually make them high def. (that one isn't)

 

[jras20]

I'll need to run by radioshack and look at that sounds neat thanks.

 

[dhett]

For about $100, I got a DTV stick that plugs into a USB port on my laptop. I have portable digital TV.

 

[Slambang]

Leave it radio hack to actually put out something that works, ive also seen that DTV stick, really a neat little invention

 

[dhett]

You can find them a lot of places. I got mine at Best Buy. I've seen them at Circuit City too, and I think even Wal-Mart carries them.

 

[Markxxx]

Ah did you ever hear of a radio. Seriously I've been thru a few hurricanes and I always listened to the radio. Radio does even a better job of covering the actual storm. A TV station isn't going to go out before the actual storm hits.

Once the storm hits the TV station may lose it's transmitter, but a radio I will get you broadcasts from miles and even different markets during a storm.

 

[MikeShannon914]

But will there still be an analog Channel 3 or 4 on any of these new TVs in case I want to play my VCR, video games, etc that were made when digital was only a concept? I'm sure RCA jacks will be standard fare for that going forth, but I'm sure I'll still come across some need some day for a simple coax connection that needs to be made to a good 'ol analog TV. I know, pick out my best old TV and hang on to what I've got?

 

[jras20]

But will there still be an analog Channel 3 or 4 on any of these new TVs in case I want to play my VCR, video games, etc that were made when digital was only a concept? I'm sure RCA jacks will be standard fare for that going forth, but I'm sure I'll still come across some need some day for a simple coax connection that needs to be made to a good 'ol analog TV. I know, pick out my best old TV and hang on to what I've got?

I think they still do since LP TV stations are still able to broadcast past 2009. I'm not going to buy a new TV until this both of mine go out. I have a DVD recorder with DTV tuner in it and a DTV box out at my place in Lavaca county.

 

[oldjohnny]

For about $100, I got a DTV stick that plugs into a USB port on my laptop. I have portable digital TV.

Tried two different name brands and both had issues. The reception was great for both of them (Both NTSC and ATSC), but they are full of bugs. Sometimes, I would loose the video and only get audio. Then sometimes, it made my computer load for long times. It may be that I need a new computer, but these little USB tuners could slow any computer out there. But again, they are a nice innovation and I have found them to be as low as 49.99 at Fry's. You could also buy one on-line for cheap.

 

[daypart]

I'm going to miss listening to TV on a TV-band radio. I expect it will take years to produce a DTV radio receiver that is acceptably inexpensive.

 

[Scotpfv]

I'm going to miss listening to TV on a TV-band radio. I expect it will take years to produce a DTV radio receiver that is acceptably inexpensive.

Agreed, I often use my portable am/fm/sw/tv to listen to when working outside in the garden or just walking around. Like to hear the audio portion of newscasts. Hoping sometime soon there will be an affordable small reciever that can get DTV audio.

 

[dhett]

For about $100, I got a DTV stick that plugs into a USB port on my laptop. I have portable digital TV.

Tried two different name brands and both had issues. The reception was great for both of them (Both NTSC and ATSC), but they are full of bugs. Sometimes, I would loose the video and only get audio. Then sometimes, it made my computer load for long times. It may be that I need a new computer, but these little USB tuners could slow any computer out there. But again, they are a nice innovation and I have found them to be as low as 49.99 at Fry's. You could also buy one on-line for cheap.

The stick I have requires at least a 1.7 GHz processor for full HDTV functioality, so if your laptop is older, that could be the source of your problems.

 

[arnoldevns]

Looks like some in congress agree.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6601298.html?industryid=48696

 

[stevenNOLA]

I have a Pinnacle HD Pro stick USB tuner. Love it although it does use alot of system resources.

 

[Tom Wells]

Everything will be fine in February. There are no Hurricanes, tornadoes or electrical storms.

I can't wait for May or June, when the real howl will let loose.

The great midsection of America, very prone to electrical storms will be without OTA TV frequently.
If you think 10 sporadic seconds of reception per minute is OK reception, then everything is just fine.

I have some problems with accepting this as an improvement.

I am in the middle of fighting a digital failure this week in NH, where a system of distributed control on a printing press
turns OFF a major function in one to 10 places unexpectedly and shuts down the press or not.

The press mfr 'sold off' the responsibility for the machine to the company I work for, and neither company has maintained
parts or technical support. My laptop won't connect using the most modern software produced to connect to this
Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). The press is only 10 years old and almost unsupportable.

It is a poster child example of our digital future. This thing is always only a minor hiccup from disaster, and I'm
in the position of somehow isolating the problem and fixing it, while the original Mfr washed their hands of it, and my employer has
tried to pretend it doesn't exist. Neither company seems yet to be able to provide a new CPU card, or any working software
to access the control system to effectively diagnose the problem.

Our digital future holds many moments of utter helplessness.

I, for one, will say in advance, "I told you so."

And many people think radio needs to follow this folly.

Thank God my body is analog and not digital. We'd never make it past childhood if we were digitally based creatures.

 

[dhett]

I have a Pinnacle HD Pro stick USB tuner. Love it although it does use alot of system resources.

That's what I have also. Same sentiment.

 

[oldjohnny]

I have a Pinnacle HD Pro stick USB tuner. Love it although it does use alot of system resources.

That's what I have also. Same sentiment.

No, My laptop was a 2.4 Ghz. The computer was not the problem since I could run both the Pinnacle stick and Internet Explorer at the same time without a problem. The problem was their software. Everytime I used the TV, I prefered to use Windows Media Center as it would perform perfectly. The software was always unexectebly shutting down on me and would always have picture missing, audio delay, or the colors would be strange. It could have been my computer that had the problem, but I still wouldn't recommend this USB tv to anyone, unless their computer was new. Also, I could never figure out how to reach Digital channels through Cable. I know my cable provider has all the locals in Digital. My pinnacle stick just never picked them up (Probably the fault was on my or I just missed the feature)

The Hauppauge is another mess.

I guess I'll just stick with a small DTV converter for my TV.

 

[stevenNOLA]

The model I have does not receive QAM (digital cable) channels. Only analog cable, analog OTA, and digital OTA.

I'm running a 2-year old 1.66 Dual Core Dell notebook with 1GB ram.