As if the first dose wasn't enough to send your mind on a vacation from which it may never return, I have come again to share my wisdom, or lack there of on Digital digitalness.
So here's an update,
It just happened one day I turned on my tv and it was there.
I have a free program schedule built in to my tv now.
I am imagining that each station has decided for some reason that it is now time to broadcast their full information.
What show you are watching, what it's about, and why you might wanna skip it. (a rating)
But suddenly the button that did nothing. now brings up a schedule.
I haven't explored too much, but I know I get at least a six hour window.
And while I do think that this is being done by the stations, I can't guarentee that all boxes will have the capability to display it (i.e.; the box may get the signal but if there's no button on the remote, then you might have to click through every station to see what it's showing.
granted you may not think that this is nearly as cool as I do, but it kept me entranced for hours.
So how many coupons are there?
about 34 million.
How will they be distributed?
well this is where is get complicated.
The first 22 mil. are available to anyone.
No holds barred. Get one, get two they really don't care,
the last 12 mil. will only go to people without a pay service of any kind.
Are there advantages to waiting?
yes.
Are there disadvantages?
yep on that one too.
Once the coupons are gone, they're gone.
Technically you could get one until about February 2009, but I could see them running out before then.
And then there's that other thing applicatoins will be processed in the order that they are received,
And they will be processed, and/or mailed in batches.
If I had to guess I'd say they'll send out an average of 3 million per month, maybe every month maybe every quarter,
but they won't all come at once. (so the stores won't get a windfall, but they won't run out so fast either).
I ordered mine in January, and I imagine that many other people did too.
My coupons got here In April and will be good through the middle of June
(which means it actually got sent towards the end of March)
I think, now that the first batches of coupons have been spotted in the wild, a lot more people will be hopping on board.
this could be good or bad.
If you wait too long, then the people giving out theses puppies, may make you wait a little longer,
or horror of horrors, they may run out,
but I guess I doubt thats gonna happen just yet,
but if you do wait you may get better stuff at a better price,
I personally think now is a good time to order. It's a is a nice compromise, between waiting to
get a better value, but not missing the boat (or not running to catch it).
Like I mentioned before the coupons are good for three months (they have the date that it's mailed printed on the back) but the coupons, are not a cheap piece of paper (they're a cheap piece of plastic, and they probably have their expiration date coded in to them too).
As I said before I think june is the pivotal month (better and cheaper technology).
but if you wait too long...
I honestly think that the coupons could all get used,
but that may not happen until people start to panic,
necessity can be a great motivator. ΓΌ
So that's that, but what can I expect when I get my box?
Well actually to my surprise the boxes vary quite a bit more than I had thought.
yes even the picture quality from different model varies.
Some boxes have better antennas
so they receive a signal where others might not,
The main differences between the basic boxes
are latency, and picture quality.
Since the boxes are reconstructing an image from a digital signal,
it takes a bit longer to get a picture,
but usually when you do, the picture is crisp.
(though if you have interference, you might see some jaggies, during a storm for instance)
For now this is where NTSC pass through comes in handy,
(if I can't get a signal, I just switch to Analog)
Some boxes will load channels very quickly,
while others, my take a bit longer.
I highly recommend the Echostar box.
but until it comes out the king of DTV is RCA.
(which ironically is the box I saw at the W-mart the other day)
I check CNET for latest ratings and info
so Digital TV part two.
That's the scoop,
one more time.
TTFN
2 comments:
THe vcr/dvd player we bought in February supposedly has that built in. But right now we get free cable, which it works with. Before we moved here, we just used the antenae, which we might do again when we move, in which case I think we need another device to make the box in the vcr work. Or something.
If you bought a VCR in the past year it should work on it's own, but sometimes the reality is not as sweet as it should be.
Since you do have cable, I would recommend getting a coupon or two and getting them early.
(if you think you might not always have cable)
otherwise you would probably just need an antenna to get the channels.
(same with any new box you would get)
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