How To Buy A Digital TV On The Cheap

Let's just clarify something right now. In the context of this article, we're talking about standard definition digital TV's rather than high-definition TV's. But hey, if you want to save money, there are always tradeoffs involved.

We've told you about your options when preparing for the DTV 2009 digital television switch come February 17, 2009 already, but for those who've already decided to purchase a new digital TV rather than go the converter box or cable/satellite service route, you don't have to spend an arm and leg on a brand new high-def television.

You can buy digital TV's that are standard definition or enhanced definition (EDTVs) and they cost a whole lot less than HDTV's while at the same time protected you from the analog shutoff. And while TV options are pretty diverse these days, you shouldn't have to worry about buying an analog set anymore anyways for two reasons. One, imports of analog sets into the US are kaputz and two, even though retailers can still sell their remaining analog TV stock, any set without a digital tuner needs to be labeled as follows:

Consumer Alert: This television receiver has only an analog broadcast tuner and will require a converter box after Feb. 17, 2009, to receive over-the-air broadcasts with an antenna because of the Nation's transition to digital broadcasting.

The important thing to know here is that retailers are supposed to prominently label analog TV's with this label buy may not. Wal-mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, Target and other were among major companies to be fined millions by the FCC just a couple of weeks back for a several infractions related to DTV2009, including the improper labeling of analog sets on their shelves.

If anything, make sure your new set has an ATSC tuner, which is a digital tuner. If you see only the acronym NTSC, the set only has an analog tuner. Don't buy it. If the set has both, its okay as well. It's important to know as well that labels such as "HD Ready" and "Digital Ready" don't necessarily mean the sets have digital tuners, though it could.

Not that we've gone through all the warnings and caveats included in buying a new digital TV (we hope you're still with us), you'll be happy to know that you should be able to find a 20-27 inch digital TV starting at about $150, so no you don't necessarily have to pay $1000-$3000 for an LCD or plasma. But all you'll get for $150 is 480i resolution, a far cry from the minimum 720p required to be considered HD. A quick search of the Best Buy website revealed 5 Dynex and 3 Samsung standard-def digital TV's starting at $150. Searches at other major retailers were slim and required some digging and Amazon actually resulted in no matches at all. But at least you now know the option is out there.

Of course, if you don't want to buy a digital television at all, there is always the $40 converter box coupon program.

Via MSNBC

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Posted by Justin Davey at April 20, 2008 1:54 PM