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Mar 26, 2008 11:00 pm US/Eastern
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3 On Your Side: Testing Converter Boxes
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
Confused about converting your TV to digital? For many people, the transition next February will be seamless. But some of you will need a converter box and retailers now have them in stock. But is one brand better than another? 3 On Your Side's Jim Donovan put 3 converters to the test.
If have an older TV and you watch it the old fashioned way, with an antenna, things are about to change.
"The first question we normally get is do we have to buy a brand new TV and the answer is no," said Cameron Radford with Best Buy.
But you will need a converter box. There are several on the market so we tried some out.
A Magnavox from Wal-Mart costs $50, an Insignia box at Best Buy sells for $60 and a Zenith brand available at Circuit City is also $60.
We enlisted the help of Dave Knowles, a CBS-3 engineer, to hook up the boxes and tell us what he thinks.
Set-up was a breeze.
"It is it literally almost one, two, three, antenna to box, box to TV, and you plug it in, that's it," Knowles said.
In fact, all three had easy-to-follow on-screen instructions. The Insignia and Zenith boxes appear exactly the same. The only difference is they have a different front label.
Technically, all three provided a good picture but Magnavox was Dave's favorite.
"The remote control is larger, the buttons are labeled a little better," he said.
So other than price, is there really a difference?
"They do exactly the same thing, you put them together the exact same way," Dave said.
No matter what box you get, the digital signal will be a big improvement.
In Dave's neighborhood, as with many areas, a current analog signal is fuzzy with rabbit ears.
But add the converter box and the picture is crystal clear.
"I think everybody it going to be surprised because it's a much higher quality image," Dave said.
Several other retailers do sell the converter boxes. Remember, if you use the coupons offered by the government, you can save $40.
RELATED LINKS:
TV Converter Box Coupon Program
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