I am looking into buying an HDTV and was wondering if it is worth the extra money to get one with a tuner in it. I spoke to a rep at Best Buy and he said that he would not spend the extra money for the integrated tuner. Any thoughts?
Anonymous
Posted on
It depends on the area you live in and your plan for getting HD programming. If you live in a metro area with good local HD converage and do not plan to subscribe to HD cable or satellite right away, built-in HD tuner is a good thing to have. TV with HD turner built-in are generally about $100 more than their HD monitor counterpart. A good standalone HD turner would cost you about $300 and it takes up extra space. When your cable or STB goes down, it is good to have a backup using only the antenna.
hdtv fan
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Best Buy would rather you buy a sat. system to go with their hdtv because they receive extra on every system they sell. I bet he even tried to sell you on a dish. Comcast does not promote displays with CableCard slots and built in OTA tuners(receiving digital cable and hdtv with merely a card and no set top box is required!) because they make more money if you rent their box and use video on demand. Only you, the customer, benefits from buying a hdtv with built in tuner to receive FREE over the air hi def. Also, what if during a storm or other emergency your dish or cable goes out? Even if the power goes out, you hook up your UPS to your tv to tune in your local tv station. Without a backup over the air tuner you cannot pull in a single station.