Samsung SIR-T451 High Definition Terrestrial Tuner
The answer for those who like something great for free
I recently purchased the Samsung SIR-T451.  Although not advertised on this site, there is a $50 rebate from Samsung that makes this a very affordable unit indeed.  <br /> <br />But now for the really good news.  About two years ago I purchased a Mitsubishi widescreen \\"HDTV-Ready\\" TV.  DVDs looked great, but regular TV did not--if you preserved the 4:3 aspect ratio of over the air broadcasting, the vertical bands looked bad; if you expanded to fill the 16:9 format, the faces looked bloated, the legs like stumps, and the overall image looked muddy. My next step was to order cable with HD.  The HD channels looked great... but there are really a very limited number of them--just the basic networks, plus Discovery, a couple of cable-only channels that repeat a limited amount of content and a few (very few) HD things on ESPN.  At $45/month, not a good value. <br /> <br />And now:  the answer.  For the price of less than five months of cable, this unit works unbelievably well with almost no setup, straight out of the box.  Set up equals connecting your standard antenna (I have way substandard coax running for miles an old rooftop antenna) into the box, plug a set of component cables to your HDTV ready TV, and an audio cable to whatever you are using for audio (I am using a \\"home theater in a box\\").  The Samsung seeks out channels effortlessly, and an awful lot of them, and sets them. Presto allegro, in less than five minutes, you are watching some of the clearest, sharpest television you can imagine, much of it perfectly suited to your 16:9 format TV.  <br /> <br />But the best thing is this. Oddly--amazingly-you will receive, for free, over the air, a lot of stations broadcasting HD content.  In my case, more content that I actually watch than what is carried by cable! Imagine: on cable: no Super Bowl in HD (Fox is not one of the HD stations), but of course Fox is there for this happy owner of the Samsung!  And then there are the 6 channels of PBS content, much in true HD, all very child friendly... truly the family friendly answer. <br /> <br />And --best of all--it's all \\"free\\".  Why this isn't all the rage is beyond me. <br /> <br />PS:  the competition is a Motorola decoder that has a serious liability:  not only does it cost $100 more, but it has a very noisy, whining fan.  You do NOT want the Motorola if you are watching TV in a reasonably quiet room.