Hey guys, looking for some expert advice. We're fed up with Comcast and mainly watch the OTA channels anyway, so we're dumping the cable, but we love the flexibility of having a DVR. We have a NEC plasma (720p) but it does not have a tuner. I'm looking at the Philips to use as both our DVR and for the ASTC tuner. We have two young kids so most of the shows we watch and record for them are not HD anyway, nor do they need to be. (Our current DVR is full of Clifford, SuperWhy, and Curious George.)

However, I really like to watch my Vikings in the best picture possible, and in general if a show is available at a higher quality I want to watch it that way. I'm a little concerned that the Phillips downconverts everything to SD (480i), but should I be? The NEC has a pretty nice upconversion and the tv is only 720p anyway. Should I look at buying a separate ASTC tuner as well for those times we want to watch OTA HD programs? Are there any other solutions out there (with no monthly costs)?

When we decided to dump Comcast I was shocked that no one makes a HDD tuner + DVR combo for an OTA signal. I would think this would be popular now that the analog signal is going anyway.

One other thing, we currently run HDMI out of DVD player to our receiver (Panasonic SA-XR70) to pick up the audio, and then HDMI from there to the TV for the video. Very simple and works great. I'm assuming I can run the same connections with the Philips without problems?

We're also looking at supplementing the OTA channels with the Roku box from Netflix, which would also be SD for now, but hopefully HD later. At only $99 and only an extra $4 to upgrade to the $8.99 Netflix plan, it seems like a great deal, esp. if they add HD content (assuming Comcast doesn't limit our bandwidth!)

Thanks for your help and advice!

The Philips 3576 will do what you want in SD, but since you really want HD OTA, you should prob. check out the Echostar TR-50 in this thread. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=972197)

If still interested in the 3576, click my signature for lots of info.

What model TV do you have? I'm very surprised a 720P TV with HDMI wouldn't already have an ASTC tuner of it's own, unless it's more than a few years old. Are you sure your TV doesn't have an antenna input? If so, you don't need another tuner. Just watch your TV's tuner those times the Philips is busy.

The Philips 3576 will do what you want in SD, but since you really want HD OTA, you should prob. check out the Echostar TR-50 in this thread. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=972197)

If still interested in the 3576, click my signature for lots of info.

Thanks for the tip, I hadn't heard about that! Let's hope it actually gets released...

What model TV do you have? I'm very surprised a 720P TV with HDMI wouldn't already have an ASTC tuner of it's own, unless it's more than a few years old. Are you sure your TV doesn't have an antenna input? If so, you don't need another tuner. Just watch your TV's tuner those times the Philips is busy.

Nope, no tuners at all, it's just a monitor. NEC 42xr4. Saved some money by getting the commercial version a couple years ago figuring I would always have cable or satellite but times change I guess! Amazing what happens when you have a couple kids :)

Or you could get a Samsung DTB-H260F HD ATSC/QAM tuner and just hook it up to any kind of recorder if you want to record. The only thing is, setting recordings through it's guide is not all that dependable, and it doesn't have a manual timer setting option.

If you have a recorder of any kind already, I'd just use a $40.00 govt. coupon on the $59.99 DTVPal SD ATSC tuner that will be out next week and use that until the TR-50 is released. Recordings can be set on that either through the guide or with manual timers.

You could also try to find an inexpensive DVD recorder with an ATSC tuner to use in the interim, but it still won't be anywhere near as cheap as that last suggestion. But if you do go that route, then you'll at least have a recorder you can dump things to from the TR-50.