Are you ready for Digital?

Digital TV is coming. After February 17, 2009, to watch television you will need one of the following:
1) A Digital Converter Box for your analog television
2) A television with a digital tuner (required on all TVs made after March 2007)
3) Cable service
4) Satellite service
The National Association of Broadcasters estimates that 21 percent of television households in Texas — 1,715,980 out of 8,157,130 — rely only on broadcast TV, one of the highest percentages in the country.
In Tarrant County, 23 percent of households (139,570 out of 607,610) rely on broadcast TV, meaning they don’t have cable or satellite service. In Dallas County, it’s even higher at 29 percent of households (243,740 out of 820,670).
For more information on the digital TV transition, and a government coupon for $40 off your Digital Converter Box go to http://www.dtv.gov/.
Whether it’s getting a Digital Converter Box, installing it properly or making sure they don’t sign up for costly cable or satellite packages they really don’t need, senior citizens are expected to be one of the groups most affected when television stations switch their signals from analog to digital Feb. 17.
"On Feb. 18, there will be millions of Americans who will wake up and will not have service available," Wade Henderson, president and chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said at a news conference last week in Washington.. Nationally, officials warned that many television owners aren’t ready for the Feb. 17 switch.
Many people view the switch to digital as an excuse to buy a Big Screen HDTV. Thanks to continuing price cuts, you're going to see more TV for the money than last year. According to our favorite consumer 2009 Buying Guide, there are two standouts with excellent ratings. It depends on what size you're going for. The first is Samsung PN50A550 50-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV. The second is Panasonic Viera TC-37LZ85 37-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV. These models are both very reasonably priced and have 1080p picture quality, the best you can get. They rated Excellent in HD, DVD, and SD picture quality, as well as Sound quality. To view the specific models we researched, just click on there brand name. I've also provided a link to Digital Converter Boxes by clicking on the text. You can view over 1100 HDTV models by clicking the banner below.
I hope this makes the transition to digital as smooth as possible for you.