Converter coupons, OTA DVR, and other questions

[Ed C.]

I've been looking into getting those digital "converter" coupons for my parents who live out in the country and only have OTA TV with a mast-mounted antenna, but are there any stores that carry the "approved" boxes yet? If not, when and where? I haven't requested the coupons yet because the damn things expire 90 days after they mail them, so I'd like to know when and which boxes will actually be available before I send off for them. OTOH, they say that there is only so many coupons available, so I don't what to wait too long either.

Also, even though DVRs are not covered by the coupons, my parents will eventually need to replace their VCR before the analog "doomsday" next year. I was never really wild about DVD recorders because they're kind of pricey for the 4 hours you'd get out of a disk, but I'm having problems finding ATSC DVRs. Other than the TiVo series 3s, what else is out there right now? Though I could build a media PC, I'd prefer the dumb simplicity of a DVR because my dad has enough trouble figuring out the VCR as it is.

[scgalena]

Solid Signal is listing an OTA converter for $50 plus shipping.

Sansonic ATSC Digital Coupon Eligible Converter Box FT-300RT (CECB)

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=FT-300RT

[Captain_Rob]

That page says "Pre-Orders Only"

Personally I'm telling people to wait until at least July to request their coupons. By then there should be serveral devices on the market. I also suspect by late fall the competion and overstocks will drive the price down to the $40 value of the Coupon.

[scgalena]

This EchoStar converter is supposed to be available this July. No price announced yet.

EchoStar TR-50 OTA DVR

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/echostar-tr-50

[rlw]

As to a "poor-man's" DVR - replacement for a video recorder, the Panasonic DMR-ES15 DVD recorder I bought from Sears has a "DVR-like" function. It can write to DVD-RAM disks and re-use them. It can use DVD+/-R/RW in addition to DVD-RAM. It doesn't write dual-layer discs, but it plays them. It also does music CDs, MP3s, CDROMS, Photo CDs, etc.

I paid around $75 for mine, as it had an NTSC tuner, and they're dumping them.

It has composite and S-Video inputs, and S-Video, composite, and component-out. I believe it also upconverts the output signal on the component out. Even though it's not HD, the quality is light-years ahead of tape. Even the 8 hour mode is better than tape.

I've mostly used it as a way to archive shows I've recorded on the DVR (HR20-700S). I've recorded a number of HD shows with it (it can handle 16:9 format), and the picture is pretty good on my 55" Mitsubishi RPTV. I'm pretty happy with it, and for the price, it was a steal.

I doubt if Sears has any more of them, but you might be able to find one cheap on one of the surplus sales websites.

RLW

[Ed C.]

As to a "poor-man's" DVR - replacement for a video recorder, the Panasonic DMR-ES15 DVD recorder I bought from Sears has a "DVR-like" function...
Well, no ATSC tuner and I doubt that even 8 hours would get my mom through a week. I'll pass.

[Ed C.]

I just found an interesting discussion over at the AVS Forum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=980052)
Some more intel on available converter boxes at EZ Digital TV (http://www.ezdigitaltv.com/Converter_Box.html)
and some known coupon eligible converter box specs (http://octopus.freeyellow.com/CECB_list_wip.xls) (Excel spreadsheet)

I'm going to wade through thoses further when I get the chance and report back if anyone's interested.