New Hd

[jf3233]

Hello in HD land! I am attempting to help a neighbor begin watching the wonderful world of HD. Unfortunately he is not as informed as most on this list and some of it speaks to the level of sevice from local retailers who will remain nameless. After he spent $3500 hung on a very nice Sony 50" LCD and brought it home he was quickly knocking on my door asking where is my HD. Keep in mind that he has only OTA service currently with no D*TV or TWC. The retailer as he describes assured him of the great HD picture this TV would show but failed to explain to him the difference between a TV that was HD ready Vs. integrated. Anyway I have explained all the options to him and he wants to go with a set top box for now. Here is where you guys come in. I told him I would inquire if anyone is looking to unload a STB as this site is a reliable place. Sorry for the rant but it still makes me angry that a retailer will take advantage of a less informed consumer just to make $$$$$$$$$.

[Mark Strube]

I find it unusual that the salesperson wouldn't try to sell them an HD box to pick up OTA signals. When I bought mine they asked if I have cable and I explained how I already have TWC's HD box.
Sounds like he just got a bad salesperson who doesn't know much about what he's selling.

[oz]

For a fast and wasy way to get HD content, have him order basic cable from TWC with a digital box for the local HD channels. It should be around $18/month total and he can cancel right away if he doesn't like it.

[Mark Strube]

Keep in mind TWC doesn't carry 18 or 24 in HD, which you can get over the air. And be sure to ask for an HDTV box... they even include the component cables which is nice.

[StarvingForHDTV]

For basic free OTA HD I went with a Samsung SIR-T151  They are available on eBay used:

http://search.ebay.com/sir-t151_W0QQsokeywordredirectZ1QQfromZR8QQsatitleZsir-t151

It does the job and has no known bugs that I am aware of.  Have him try the Radio Shack double bow tie first.  If that doesn't work, bump him up to the Channel Master 8 bay:

http://www.warrenelectronics.com/antennas/4228.htm

I ordered from them, and it worked out great.

Why pay TWC when you can get it for free?  Plus like someone mentioned the free route is the only way to get the WB in HD.....

My two cents,

Starving

[StarvingForHDTV]

My link for the eBay search doesn't work.  Just search for SIR-T151 at eBay.com