Samsung SIR T150 (1 Viewer)

[RossTerry]

Well, I found out that the OTA HD broadcasting in this area will be expanding next year (April/May 2002). I'm interested in the Samsung HD receiver since it will fit all of my needs based on info from this forum and others.

But my question is where would you recommend buying it from? Ive seen it online a few places and i would like to know where you purchased it or what site you would recommend.

thanks

 

[Andy L]

Not really a recommendation, but I saw that someone was selling refurb units on eBay for $349.

 

[Mike PM]

I've gotten 2 from Vann's:
http://www.vanns.com
$488.99 with free membership sign up less $100.00 Samsung rebate.
With shipping about $400. net.
Great service but I believe they are on backorder currently.
For NTSC OTA only...not satellite compatable.
They work great!

 

[Ron Schildt]

If you want to go locally, the Best Buy's in this area (Milwaukee) have them in stock for $499.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I purchased mine from Link Removed in August. They double-boxed the unit and were selling it for $514, including shipping. Then apply the $100 Samsung rebate for a final cost of $414.

 

[Mark Booth]

I printed the B&H Photo price and took it to Sears. They happily matched the $499 price. Less the $100 rebate equals a very nice deal.

BTW, the Samsung is a wonderful receiver/tuner. Highly recommended if you have NO interest in satellite.

Mark

 

[Dan Driscoll]

For NTSC OTA only...not satellite compatable.

That should be for ATSC OTA.
NTSC = standard definition , 480i
ATSC = high definition, 720p, 1080i, etc

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Dan is correct, the Samsung is an ATSC tuner. It does not contain an analog NTSC tuner, so you still need to receive those stations via the analog tuner built into your TV, cable box or VCR. It does make channel surfing a bit more difficult.

 

[Michael_Dal]

I have the Samsung SIR T150. It is perfect for my needs as I don't believe in paying for commercial television. I have read reviews that indicate that the Samsung has a more sensitive tuner than most HDTV recievers, wich makes sense since it is OTA only. I get all 6 Dtv channels in my area without a problem. Regular broadcast TV comes in fairly fuzzy where I live, but as you would expect the Dtv images from the Samsung are flawless.

Now if I they would only put more HD content on instead of the endless demo loops I would be all set.

 

[MarkJH]

So lets say I have a SIR-T150. It is hooked up to my HDTV, via the wideband connectors (Y, Pb, Pr) and using the NTSC connectors. If I want to change channels to a NTSC OTA channel, how? Do I turn off the Samsung unit altogether? Which remote would I use- the remote for the Sir-T150 or the TV remote?

I know the unit does not decode NTSC signal, yet according to Samsungs website "Outputs standard definition NTSC 480i via S-Video and RCA type outputs". How exactly does this help me, is it just passing on the raw signal so the TV can decode it? Then I would have to change channels with the Tv remote. But if the Samsung is sitting there feeding HDTV signal to the wideband connectors, then the TV will display that, right?

My head hurts.

 

[Mike PM]

My bad...of course I meant ATSC!
For MarkJH, go here for all the answers you need re. the SIR T150.
Link Removed
Excellent choice, go for it.

 

[Phil A]

The Samsung is an excellent value, especially with the $100 rebate until Jan. 31. For the low to mid $400 range after the rebate it is hard to go wrong. After watching in either digital or HD you won't want to go back to regular TV. It is not a hard task to have the Samsung on a TV input and cycle back to the regular TV if that is your worry. I am able to pick up both Washington, DC and Baltimore, Md. from Northern, VA and only UPN and WB have not as yet broadcast in digital but are expected to by May of next year. So I am able to get multiple PBS, ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX digitally and don't feel the need to watch std. TV.

 

[MarkJH]

Just picked up my Samsung at BestBuy. Forgive me, I had never been to one before, so I wanted to see what it was like.

I asked if they sold the SIR-T150, they said yes. I asked if they price matched (I was carrying a print out from Vanns.com as we were going to be shopping at Sears later). The guy said "Not to internet companies" but a supervisor of somekind overheard and said "We'll do it for $500". So after all that I had to pay $40 (tax) more than what it would have cost at Vanns.

So let me see the damage for the week:

1 x Panasonic PT-47WX49 $1699 with no tax, no payments 12 months

3 year warranty $99

Delivery $50

1 x Toshiba SD3750 $179

1 x Samsung SIR-T150 $540 less $100 rebate

1 x RS bowtie antenna $18

Damn, this is fun!

Mark