Don't Let TV Manufacturers Fool You
Erie-Meadville: (I will keep the names of both the retailer & the television manufacturer out of this article in order to protect the innocent.) On a recent shopping trip in the region, I happened to be near the electronics section of a certain department store. I just happened to overhear a conversation a gentleman was having on the phone with a famous television manufacturer. (Apparently, someone at the store dialed the number for him.) He was looking for a television with a built in digital tuner as he wanted to be ready for the transistion to digital in 2009. He was told by the call service that the TV he wanted DID have both a digital and analog tuner built in. I couldn't help but look at the box & find out the manufacturer was actually lying to the gentleman when I found the warning label on the box stating that "you will need a digital conversion box for this television." It only had an analog tuner built in, which is no good after 2009 unless you are using it for regular cable. I print this as a warning to be careful & make sure the new TV you want has a digital tuner built in, whether it's SDTV, EDTV or HDTV. It usually says on front of the TV which type of digital tuner it has. If there is a warning label on the TV stating that it only has an analog tuner, ask questions & look for the digital info on the TV or the box it comes in. Don't be blind, do your homework before making a purchase. If I hadn't stepped in, it would have cost a consumer $180.00 because of a manufacturer giving him misleading information. You can go to www.fcc.gov for more information on what to look for in a digital TV.Readers’ Forum
I thought the sale of analog-only TVs was banned after March 2007? Surpised that there are any left to sell?
Dave - December 19, 2007 at 07:06 am
I know that retailers like Wal Mart & Best Buy no longer carry analog only TV sets in their stores. I think that analog only TVs’ can be sold, but they must have a warning on the box or by the display stating that it’s analog only & will not work over the air after 2/17/09. The box did have a display, but it was not visible to the consumer because the box was turned around. I looked & found it so that the consumer wasn’t misled. But how can the manufacturer (or whatever call service they use) not be able to look up the information on their computer & just come out & say that it is an analog only TV. They just wanted to sell a TV, plain & simple (which is not good.) Consumers need to be educated and not blindly spend money on a major purchase like a TV, especially now.
Tom Lavery (URL) - December 19, 2007 at 08:12 am
The TV was probably a digital “monitor” but with only an analog tuner. Younger people only know TV being hooked up to a “cable” and most have no idea what an antenna is. I’m personally having a lot of fun showing off my HDTV and digital channels from Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Johnstown with it’s perfect picture and no cable. 90% of my visitors ask how can I do this for free as if I’m stealing the signal. I tell them I’m using the free wireless service. “Wow, I didn’t know there was a free wireless service.”
Jeff
Jeff N3EVN - December 19, 2007 at 12:26 pm
You are my hero. You stepped up to the plate and helped this customer to avoid being stuck with a useless set.
At Kmart, I see that these analog sets are relegated to the farthest corner of the electronics department, all by themselves, such lonely souls.
So far, I only see mass confusion concerning the millions of sets out there in viewers homes that aren’t connected to cable boxes or don’t have the converters.
Those money grabbing media companies think they have problems now with the writer’s strike, just wait until their demographics get swept out from under them for good, with the Gen Xers and Yers permanently abandoning network and cable broadcasting and being exclusively hooked on youtube and their Ipods and Iphones.
BT - December 19, 2007 at 1:20 pm