Reddit reviews Samsung DTBH260F HDTV Terrestrial Tuner
We found 7 Reddit comments about Samsung DTBH260F HDTV Terrestrial Tuner. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Parent controlHigh gloss, stylish designAll 18 ATSC formatsDigital terrestrial receiverHDMI, component, composite, S/PDIF (optical)Digital terrestrial receiverAll 18 ATSC formatsHDMI, component, composite, S/PDIF (optical)High gloss, stylish designParent control
You don't want a "converter box" but a "HDTV tuner" or "HD ATSC tuner" or "ATSC set top box". Samsung used to make a great one. It seems that Channel Master makes one currently.
Samsung used to make really high-quality ATSC or "OTA" tuners. You might look at the used market:
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-DTBH260F-HDTV-Terrestrial-Receiver/dp/B000JV6TQY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373578781&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+hdtv+tuner
Also, search e-bay for "samsung hdtv tuner". The SIR-T150, 151 and 165 are all great.
>I have a spare PC monitor lying around and wanted to connect it to a digital antenna. Any idea what equipment I need to do this? I'm guessing I need an external tv tuner (connect antenna and monitor to tuner) that also allows me to plug in a small set of speakers.
Something like http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-DTBH260F-HDTV-Terrestrial-Receiver/dp/B000JV6TQY/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header ?
Yeah. Browsing through Amazon it looks like the selection has gone down a lot since I got mine back around the DTV transition in 2009. It used to be the SD ones were around $20 and a decent HD one was $50 or so and there were tons of different ones.
These were the only nice ones I found:
http://www.amazon.com/Zenith-DTT901-Digital-Tuner-Converter/dp/B001BNT3FS/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1380637035&sr=1-3&keywords=dtv+tuner
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-DTBH260F-HDTV-Terrestrial-Receiver/dp/B000JV6TQY/ref=sr_1_22?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1380637035&sr=1-22&keywords=dtv+tuner
If you can find a Tivo for cheaper than that then go for it but I wouldn't consider the Tivo to be an exceptionally good tuner. It's decent but I live on the edge of where you can get OTA signals with a small indoor antenna and my Premiere actually had a harder time locking in on the channels than the tuner that's built-in to my TV.
Technically you can just buy this and some rabbit ears: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-DTBH260F-HDTV-Terrestrial-Receiver/dp/B000JV6TQY#productDetails
Remember that a "converter" box is meant to retrofit old SDTVs that don't have an ATSC (digital over-the-air) tuner in them. The put out standard def only, with stereo sound only. You have a HDTV, you don't want a "converter".
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-DTBH260F-HDTV-Terrestrial-Receiver/dp/B000JV6TQY/
You won't be disappointed with one of those.
edit: If you want a DVR this is your best non-Tivo bet for OTA:
http://www.amazon.com/Channel-Master-CM7400-Internet-Compatible/dp/B0065EQ45U/
Unfortunately I don't know of any streams for live 24/7 news. I get all my news from the internet and friends now. Essentially all I really have is a glorified DVD collection, and other than missing hockey that's good enough for me.
If you live in a large city, you may be able to pick up DVB-T signals for something like CP24 in Toronto. That would at least allow you to pick up a card to roll your own PVR, or just pick up a terrestrial receiver. If you're seriously paying $60 a month for just the news channel, you should look into that. It would pay for itself in 4-5 months.