TV Converter Box rebate from Feds
So, a little over a year from now we won't be able to watch TV using an antenna and standard analog TV without a converter box. Thankfully for those of us without cable or satellite, the feds hear our pain and are subsidizing the transition with a rebate on the necessary converter boxes. They will be about $60 but the feds are offering a $40 rebate. Even though they'll make our TVs more complicated to use, the reception via digital using an antenna is typically all-or-nothing, meaning no fuzzy images. Either it will be clear or completely unwatchable and usually the former. So go to http://www.dtv2009.org/ and submit for your rebate.
PC World - CES Preview: TV Converter Boxes Offer Escape From Analog TV Digital TV Revolution Starts Now The coupon program is administered by the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and funded by $1.5 billion appropriated by Congress. The intent of the program is to subsidize the nation's transition to digital television by allowing consumers to continue receiving free over-the-air television. The program is open to all American households, and was established in the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005. So how does it work? You can apply for up to two $40 coupons per household, either by visiting the official site launched on January 1, http://www.dtv2009.gov/, or calling 888-DTV-2009. Printed applications will also be available at post offices and at public libraries, in English, Spanish, and other languages. Starting February 18, 2008, the government will send coupons by U.S. mail in the form of a gift card that consumers can use at electronics retailers that sell the digital-to-analog converter boxes. You'll have approximately three months to redeem the coupon. So far, only Digital Stream, LG Electronics, and Philips have converter boxes that are approved by the NTIA, and only LG and Philips have announced actual products. The boxes are expected to cost between $59 and $69 dollars.
