HD STB - To buy or not to buy? (1 Viewer)

[Andre Espinoza]

Hello All,

First time poster so please be easy -

I've been reading this forum (as well as others) every free moment I have for the last month and here is my question:

Would I be really stupid to buy a STB for my Pioneer SD532HD5?

I've had the Pioneer for 1 1/2 years and have not watched any HD on it (I know I'm an idiot).

With the new DVI/Firewire connections on the horizon should I just wait?

If I buy, which I really want to, is the best picture quality connection through the VGA/RGB? Do all STB's have this?

I will be purchasing the elliptical dish with the STB but will this be obsolete also when/if monitors have DVI/Firewire or will they still use this dish?

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to answer these questions.

 

[Jed M]

I have the Toshiba DST-3000 and I am really happy with it. I have not connected the dish yet but CBS Football was amazing and I cannot wait till the Final Four and The Masters. Its expensive, but I have to admit, HDTV is worth the price of admission. To answer your question, I believe they all use HDTV compatible outputs with the exception of the RCA DTC100, which you have to buy an adapter that sells for around 80-120 US Dollars. Now, the second part I could be way off on, but if you are waiting for DVI and Firewire it could be a bit longer, but like you said, you have already waited a year and a half. Most of us can barely wait till we finish putting the credit card back in our wallet before we are thinking of our next upgrade. As far as the dish goes, I wouldnt be as worried about the DVI/Firewire thing as I would the upcoming merger between Dish and Directv. One companies equipment will have to be replaced and probably alot of dishes realigned. So if your main concern is DVI/Firewire I would say go for it and don't look back. I also have a STB shoot out that I can Email to you if you are interested. Happy shopping.

 

[Andre Espinoza]

Thanks again for your words of wisdom and the stb shootout article. It helped me choose the Panny!