I have never had any smoking problems with my Samsung tuner, but the channel changing slowness and the remote that only works at arm's length disqualifies it for next time.

Is your LG-3510A fast in channel-flipping? Does the remote have a normal range?

I have a Fusion HDTV PCI receiver card in my PC. I have the Zenith antenna in my attic. I'm about 35 miles N.W. of downtown Chicago. Most (all?) of the DTV transmitters are on the Sears tower, so I only have point this teensy-tiny antenna in one direction in an attempt to receive OTA signals. Inexplicably, I actually do receive several channels this far out (FOX, NBC, and WGN). (unbelievable for such a small antenna, in my attic, no less, which isn't supposed to work at such distances). The good thing is, with DTV, it's all or nothing. You either get the signal and full picture quality, or nothing...
I watched the World Series on FOX in HDTV on my 19" LCD monitor. Fabulous.
NASCAR on NBC, Fabulous!
(Yes, I watch things I wouldn't normally watch only BECAUSE they're in HDTV!)
To the poster who was underwhelmed by HDTV; I humbly submit you've never seen a decent HDTV source feed on a properly calibrated display device. Also, regular DTV (non HDTV) programming looks better than SD to me.
Once you see a good HDTV signal, you'll never go back!

Thanks for the link, Course. Great Q/A article/interview, and basically the same thing as what's been being purported all along. He did fail to mention other 1080p viewing sources though, such as HD-DVD and Playstation 3, Blu-Ray and the like, but a great read nonetheless.

Yes, when the new HD "DVD" formats appear it will be great. One can hope that the early 1080p sets will be up to it though...

I'm concerned that the plethora of less expensive 1080p sets in the stores today from many manufacturers were never even tested with the quality that would come from the new media.

May be good to stick with Sony for this until the rest get more experience.

Or wait to see what's at CES, it seems the progress is pretty quick right now. There could be lots of improvements right around the corner. Not to mention possible new content protection schemes that may put all existing HD sets, regardless of price, for sale on eBay with no reserve...

Coursedesign:

The LG remote works like a normal remote distance wise and as far as channel switching I am pretty sure it's faster but can't remember. It comes in two flavors, with or without DVD player. It does not switch as fast as analog channels however. It has a touch more sensitivity than the Samsung for weak signals. It was $399.99 at Circuit City about 8 months ago. I use the MY-HD 120 upstairs in the computer room which can make perfect recordings to the hardrive (tp file changed to m2t- or mpg or back. It also has 18 zoom combinations-yuk.

JJK

Well, PossibilityX, you seem to have attracted some derisive comments.

Perhaps it's one old guy to another, but nothing I've seen broadcast has compelled me to run right out and buy any HDTV. Certainly the hard-drive generated demos at Best buy are impressive, but real world transmission is not. (or maybe my friends buy cheap HDTVs).

While visiting a neighbor yesterday, the comment was made - "why are we watching this on the regular channel. let's watch the game on the Hi Def channel." The channel was located and the picture was pronounced "much better". I honestly believe it may have been one of those situations where it was indicated as HD but actually being broadcast in SD. I could see no difference. Maybe it's all us baby boomers+ that won't drop the $$$ because we can't see the difference that's holding back full acceptance.....

The experts keep telling us that 60% of the AV experience is audio. Maybe that's why some of us are not sufficiently moved by the present state of HD video to make the transition. (Damn, my hearing's going too....)

One thing is certain - if SD transmission is dropped Congress will be back-pedaling to excape hordes of angry constituents.

This should be interesting.....

Well, I have even seen good cable HDTV that makes you never want to watch NTSC again. And over the air it can be even more shockingly good.

Yes, it's early days so there are incompetent TV engineers and stations that just don't care. This will change quickly.

Time to check your glasses!

I remember watching the earliest big screen televisions, now that was awful!!!

I hear Sweden dropped analog TV entirely recently, and they are busy reusing the spectrum for other wortwhile things. Virtually nobody protested, as most are on cable or satellite anyway (just like, what, 85% here?).

Let's get this over with!

"better audio" is a doubtful claim.

Most people's LPs were full of clicks and pops (and a fair amount of hiss from dust, etc.) Better audio was the whole point.

I think the early complaints about CDs having worse sound quality than LPs were well founded though.

All because everybody was using the same A/D converter for making the CD masters for many years (from a manufacturer that shall remain nameless in this forum :O), and it sounded muffled at best.

CDs have come a long way since then. Astonishing how long they have lasted as a media format, really.