I'm wanting to know if I can still record to my VCR after the transition to digital television with my new HDTV? I know that if I have a converter box the signal is changed into an analog one which will work on my VCR. But does my HDTV have the ability to convert the digital signal into an analog one for my VCR?
Doubtful you can use the TV. I don't know if you would want to anyway since the TV would have to be on. Just get the $40 off government coupons and buy a converter for $8-$20. You can get the DTV-PAL for free, you just pay the shipping, or the Zeinth from CC for $20 is a good choice.
If your TV has an Analog A/V output you can test it now if you're already receiving the digital broadcasts. But like David says, it doesn't really make sense unless you want to record something you're already watching.
The other alternate would be a DVD/VCR recorder that will have the ATSC tuner built in although it would be more expensive than a converter box. However I'm not certain if any of the conveter boxes featuer a timer for programmed recordings when you're not home.
The DTV-PAL has timers. There have been some people reporting problems with the timers, a firmware update may have fixed them by now though, I don't know on that one.