A $200 converter box? Yikes!
March 8th, 2007RCA’s digital converter box, designed to extend the life of your oh-so-last-century analog TV, will arrive on the market at the hefty price of $200 (a government coupon would reduce the consumer outlay to a still-steep $160). But the cost should ultimately fall to $50, according to the scoop from Doug Lung.
Other disappointing news in converterland: The box from Zenith (a unit of LG Electronics—I thought the box would carry the parent brand) gets LG’s fifth-generation chipset. I hoped the digital TV adapter would employ that manufacturer’s very latest innovations. But, Lung notes:
Although LG announced a sixth-generation ATSC chipset before CES, they weren’t talking about it in their booth.
Lung also reviews progress on mobile ATSC digital TV, including A-VSB’s performance (amazing) and bandwidth demands (pretty greedy).
• Link: TV Technology
Dan L says:
June 26th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
I saw a Phillips ATSC to NTSC converter box for $44.00 at Walmart yesterday.
Steven Sande says:
June 26th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
That certainly sounds like a find, Dan!
Did they look to be brand-new models? Or were they some kind of HD set-top box that was on closeout, perhaps?
Medgar Clark says:
June 30th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Once again where is the thought about the consumer in this entire mix. Seems as if the mandated government requirement ends up cost the senior citizens, the disabled (including the veterans) and families with
limited incomes. A $40 coupon/voucher helps only when the DTV convertor
box is mayb $50 NOT $200.
Medgar L. Clark
Detroit, MI
Crystal Clear DTV Convertor Boxes
Steven Sande says:
June 30th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
Some good news ths week on prices, Medgar:
RCA slashes price on DTV converter box
The $200 was a trial balloon, apparently, that sunk pretty fast.