different boxes have different features and different reception characteristics. i tried a couple different ones at my house that i borrowed from friends. i don't recall teh brands, but i can tell you that 1 would pick up only 2 channels, while the other picked up 9 channels! and this was on the same connection. i hooked one up first, tried it, then diconnected and hooked up the other one. my antenna is on the roof, so no way i moved it or anything to affect recption.

also, you will need a convertor for EACH TV that you wish to receive over the air signals and have independant channel control. you can wire one convertor to feed multiple tvs, but they would all have to watch teh same thing.

as far as TV, if you purchase a new flat panel TV with a tuner, it will likely already be digital unless the TV is old stock.

Consumer Reports magazine had a brief report on a limited selection of converters in the November 2008 issue. Your public library may have the magazine. My internet research reveals that there is lots of junk out there and scammers selling them. I bought two Zenith DTT900 units in March 2008. Full warranty for only 90 days. One of mine has now failed, out of warranty. Apparently the Zenith is made by LG and is considered to be one of the better units. The DTT901 is an updated model.

Depends on if you are looking for a 'coupon eligible' converter box (CECB) - which has basic digital reception capabilities, or something supporting full high definition. The latter are not coupon eligible.

If your big TV has S-video inputs, the Channel Master CM-7000 CECB is highly recommended. The difference that you can see between composite and S-video will depend a lot on how good the comb filter is in your old set. If it says something like "3-d digital comb filter" (not likely in a 15 year old set - unless it is something like a Sony XBR) then you may not see any difference between S-video and composite. Anything less and the differences are very noticeable.

The DTT-901 CECBs that bus_driver mentions, get high ratings too - but do not support S-video. I don't own one, so can not comment directly on it. (I have one more coupon. So may get one just for fun - to contrast it to the CM-7000.)

Is it true that the converter box alone will not get you adequate reception? I heard recently, that WITH the converter box, you're going to need an EXTERIOR antenna (rabbit ears won't do the job).

Sounds like once again, the American public has been sold out. Our TV's were working fine. Now we have to spend piles and piles of money if we want to keep receiving TV signals.

If you are getting strong signals with your rabbit ears now, you should still get strong signals from the same stations. (Assuming your local TV stations are not changing transmitter sites in the process. And some are.)

One thing about digital TV though. You either get a picture or you don't. So if some station is weak, and you are getting a poor analog picture, you may not get anything with DTV. A better antenna would help.

Along these lines, in most areas the low-band VHF channels (2 through 6) will not be used anymore. The broadcasters who currently use those channels will be moving up to high-band VHF (7 though 13) and UHF (14 through 69.) So this can make antenna location/positioning a bit more important as well.

: Sounds like once again, the American public has been sold out. Our TV's were working fine. Now we have to spend piles and piles of money if we want to keep receiving TV signals.

The feds are giving out $40 coupons - up to two per household. And most 'coupon eligible' converter boxes cost about $40. So it should be a wash.