When will we see HDTV receivers drop in price? (1 Viewer)

[Brian Ralph]

I've had my 48" WS Mitsubishi TV for about a month now, and I'm getting the HDTV itch. Problem is at $500 - $800, I'm having trouble justifying the expense.

I do live in an area (Columbus) with seemingly good over-the-air HDTV signals. I also have a DirecTV/TIVO unit, so my ideal would be to get the HD version which should be released late this year. I'm not sure I can wait that long though, and I'm sure those units will be pretty darn expensive upon release. What are the chances the prices of the current HD/DirecTV receivers will drop to the $250 - $300 range relatively soon? Then I can TIVO regular broadcasts while enjoying HDTV broadcasts, which may also curb my "need" for the HD-TIVO unit later.

If the prices of new units aren't expected to drop any time soon, what's the best way to get a good refurbished unit?

 

[Patrick Sun]

I'm thinking demand is the only thing that will drive prices down, plus time (like 2-3 years as the FCC mandates for HDTV kick in).

Try local stores and their "returns" sections for deals.

Ebay would be another source to try for low price used gear, or post a WTB post in the Hardware For Sale area, you never know who's upgrading and wants to sell off their old HDTV tuner/receiver.

 

[jeff peterson]

Does your cable system offer HD signals? I have Time Warner, got their HD box (Scientific Atlanta 3100HD). It's great and no extra charge above digital service

 

[Brian Ralph]

I have DirecTV, not cable. That's what makes it even worse. Not only do they not yet provide much HD content, but their receivers are quite a bit more expensive than OTA-only. I hesitate to simply get an OTA receiver, because I'm hoping (expecting?) DirecTV to add ESPN-HD when it debuts.

 

[James Stierman]

Panasonic has a box coming out that is supposed to do OTA and direct-tv for 399.99. The Samsung OTA is also 399.99. The thing i would suggest is check out best buy for some out of box or returns, my friend got one there for a pretty good price.

 

[David Proud]

comcast is going to roll out HDTV boxes you can rent for 4.95$ a month. Now this is interesting to note. As more cable companies come on board, renting out boxes this will put more demand into HDTV receiver boxes and thus drive prices down. My advice is to rent an HDTV tuner box from the local cable company for another year or two and then look at the prices of an HDTV tuner box. should be under 200$ at that point.

 

[Dah-Dee]

comcast is going to roll out HDTV boxes you can rent for 4.95$ a month.

Does anyone know whether this will be a blanket event covering all Comcast markets (if so, what's the guesstimate on when), or will those jokers continue to add HDTV availability market by market at the current snail's pace?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

My advice is to rent an HDTV tuner box from the local cable company for another year or two and then look at the prices of an HDTV tuner box. should be under 200$ at that point.

Only problem w/ this is that cable companies tend to charge a lot more for the service than DirecTV and Dish and provide relatively poor STBs. At least in my case, it's still a tough call since I'm paying $20/month more w/ Time Warner than if I went w/ DirecTV. If DirecTivo HD receivers are available now, then it would actually be a no-brainer to go w/ DirecTV.

_Man_

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I bought a Tosh DST-3000 DirecTV box over a year ago--clone of the Hughes E-86 now available for $499 or so. At the time I bought it I paid $700 plus $125 for the oval dish.

I have 1 local OTA station (ABC) doing HD (of the 9 locals doing digital, only one has any HD) and the 4 off the dish. My local NBC and CBS stations probably won't be up until the end of the year.

If I had it to do over again and had known of the upcoming DirecTivo HD box, I would have waited and been perfectly happy with 480p dvd on my widescreen rptv in the meantime.

Assuming this DirecTivo HD box really does appear at the end of this year, I would certainly wait for it rather than get one of the current boxes.