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All the entries posted on December 11, 2007.
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Home > Plugged In > Archives > 2007 > December > 11
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Apply for DTV converter-box coupons starting Jan. 1
Anytime you can get the government to help pay for a tech gadget, you should go for it.
So starting Jan. 1, get your application in for a digital-TV converter box coupon. That’s if you use rabbit ears or an antenna to watch network television.
Under the program, each U.S. household can apply for two $40 coupons for the purchase of digital-TV converter boxes. You can apply by phone at 1-888-DTV-2009 or by mail at P.O. Box 2000, Portland, Ore., 97208. Or you can go to www.dtv2009.gov.
The coupon covers a large chunk of the cost. Meredith Baker, the acting administrator for the government agency that hands them out, said she’s seen boxes priced from $59.95 to $69.95.
The feds will begin mailing out the coupons on Feb. 17, a full year before the drop-dead deadline for broadcast networks to switch from analog-TV transmission to digital. Once the coupons are issued, you’ll have 90 days to use them.
And you have a choice of Best Buy, Circuit City, Kmart, RadioShack, Sears, Target, Walmart and Sam’s Club where you can redeem the coupon to buy a box. There’s a local independent store also approved, Cerebral Cortex in Lake Worth. There are at least five boxes approved by the government.
Seniors who are looking for more information can watch for a story in the AARP newsletter next month about the conversion.
One last thing. Post reader Steve Shapiro of Lake Worth reminded me today in an email that those old rabbit ears are even more valuable after the digital conversion than they are now. You can pick up high-definition digital programming all the way down to Miami, something you probably couldn’t do with analog transmissions.