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Walmart DTV Converters

In Chicago we only had Magnavox converters at Walmart. Now I tried to be a cheap ass and was waiting to see if I could find one for $40.00 and with the coupon it'd be free.

Today I went to Walmart and they again were out of converter boxes and and I asked when they'd get more in. The clerk said they've sold so many they don't expect any till after August. Of course my coupon expires in mid July.

I went online to look for the Walmart Magnavox Converter and it said there isn't a box within 100 miles of the my Chicago Zip code.

Has anyone else had trouble finding them at Walmart. I guess I'm gonna now have to go with a higher priced box before the coupon expries. Errrrr. Well see what happens when you try to be cheap :)
 
It's okay, I hear the Wal-Mart boxes are pretty bad anyway.

Just get the Zenith or Insignia boxes. $60, but you can't really argue with the best receiver available. =)

- Trip
 
The Magnavox boxes aren't great granted but they're pretty good at picking up stuff. I had a couple of Samsung DirecTV/HDTV tuner boxes and they were quite deaf - 3 digital channels is all I got at my house. I got the magnavox boxes purely because i signed up for the coupons and happened to pass by Wal-mart who just happened to have two of the boxes in stock. Rigged one up and instead of three channels got all but one of the main networks. That was the living room, which has cable. I needed a TV for my sons bedroom and rather lazily instead of running cable to it rigged up rabbits ears and a magnavox box to his TV set. That location pulls in all of the local channels and gets some extra ones from a neighbouring city too. So he gets UNC-TV Kids channel (PBS kids) and Qubo to choose from, they're 24/7 - he's missing out Noggin, Nick and Disney from not having cable in his bedroom and he can always come in the lounge and watch TV there if he wants.

Mark.
 
tripinva said:
It's okay, I hear the Wal-Mart boxes are pretty bad anyway. Just get the Zenith or Insignia boxes. $60, but you can't really argue with the best receiver available. =)

- Trip

Despite working for a Wal-Mart, that's exactly what I did. I bought one of those boxes from Best Buy. Basically it's a Zenith box with an Insignia name plate on it. So far, I'm glad to have it, despite it costing more than what I would've paid at work. It seems to handle WFSB-DT (CBS) digital channel 33 of Hartford a little better than my own HDTV tuner would. Yes, my TV is capable of digital and HDTV. I also bought it in case my grandmother needs one for next year (can always give it to her).
 
I've already got the Insignia box, and I have to say, it is quite good.

I need to use my second coupon by Monday, and am leaning toward the Digital Stream box from Radio Shack. Anyone have this one? I've heard some good things about it. I do like the fact that it has a full programming guide (so I've heard) and the newer ones supposedly have analog pass-through.
 
I have a Digital Stream converter - model DTX 990 - and it works quite well. On the plus side, it shares many of the same internal components ( and I believe the tuner) as the Zenith/Insignia models by LG, which are very sensitive for DTV signals. Also the Program Guide is a 12 hour guide, and the remote bottons are large. The only minor drawback is that the box is small and plastic. I have heard that the new model will feature analog pass through, but I don't know that it's available yet at Radio Shack stores.
 
Mark said:
In Chicago we only had Magnavox converters at Walmart. Now I tried to be a cheap ass and was waiting to see if I could find one for $40.00 and with the coupon it'd be free.

Today I went to Walmart and they again were out of converter boxes and and I asked when they'd get more in. The clerk said they've sold so many they don't expect any till after August. Of course my coupon expires in mid July.

I went online to look for the Walmart Magnavox Converter and it said there isn't a box within 100 miles of the my Chicago Zip code.

Has anyone else had trouble finding them at Walmart. I guess I'm gonna now have to go with a higher priced box before the coupon expries. Errrrr. Well see what happens when you try to be cheap :)

Are you able to use the coupon toward online purchases? I'd go that route if its possible.
 
I just watch Fox and ME-TV and it's sister channel ME-TOO which are old reruns.

Oh well I'll have to fork over another $10.00. See it doesn't pay to be a cheap ass.

Walmart's online says it's not available for online transactions. Though I'll look up some other sites.
 
Mark said:
Walmart's online says it's not available for online transactions. Though I'll look up some other sites.

Don't bother with Circuit City, they sell it in-store only. IF its in-stock!
 
I just used my first coupon yesterday at Radio Shack. They did not appear to have any in stock, so they're going to mail it to me, and it should be here by next week. However, I do have a second coupon that I plan to use. However, they both look alike, so how can one tell which coupon is which? And also, I hope the converters Radio Shack sells are good.
 
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