real HD TV tuner not rebate analogs 1080i

[nota]

I have an older sony TV that will display 1080i HD
BUT HAS NO TUNER for HD in it

I googled some and found a few in the 100-to 200 $$$ range
and some DVD recorders with digital tuners in the 150 to 300 range

BTW the gov rebate digital to analog tuners willNOT output 1080i
so that is not what I need

so if you have a HD tuner or a DVD with a Digital tuner
are you happy with it
does it give a true clear 1080i picture

any deals on the older now dead HD-DVD players with tuners

any other ideas???

[gr8fl4porsche]

I use HD Tivo units for my tuner/DVR needs.

[TerryH]

Originally Posted by nota

I have an older sony TV that will display 1080i HD
BUT HAS NO TUNER for HD in it

I googled some and found a few in the 100-to 200 $$$ range
and some DVD recorders with digital tuners in the 150 to 300 range

BTW the gov rebate digital to analog tuners willNOT output 1080i
so that is not what I need

so if you have a HD tuner or a DVD with a Digital tuner
are you happy with it
does it give a true clear 1080i picture

any deals on the older now dead HD-DVD players with tuners

any other ideas???

Terrestrial or OTA (over the air) HD tuners have been around a long time already. Like any tuner, it's only as good as the source. If your signal is strong from local transmitters, the picture will be spectacular because of the lack of signal compression. A strong OTA HD signal provides the best HD viewing possible.

[Pazuzu]

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-DTBH260F-HDTV-Terrestrial-Receiver/dp/B000JV6TQY

Samsung HD tuner. It's small, works great (has the Gen 5 chip), and is pretty cheap. Basically, it's the only HD dedicated OTA tuner out there. Don't bother with the Tivo/DirectTv receiver that someone is tossing out, just get the new Samsung and be done with it.

I've had mine for 3 or 4 years now, and it's still going strong.

[rick-l]

I have a Samsung dtb-h260f
Seems to work well and it was the only one I could find at Best Buy

[TerryH]

Definitely don't buy someones used Directv or cable box that provides OTA reception. Those boxes almost always requires you to subscribe to that service to get ANY signals.

However, TIVO does provide a stand-alone OTA HD receiver. It does require the montly sub service for the guide updates, but it's designed for OTA timeshifting. I'm a TIVO/DVR junkie now, this is the route I would likely look into if I was going strickly OTA.

Even though I subscribe to Directv, there is a rather large antenna on my roof dedicated to local HD reception pointing at the transmitters I can see on Mt Wilson. All my local digital/HD channels come via this antenna.