whats up wit this?

I hear ya. I'd ditch one of my dvr boxes and order a couple more cards tomorrow if all my tvs accepted them. Lack of cable card support is also my #1 reason for not joining AT&T U-Verse.

I think manufacturers are waiting to re-introduce card-ready tvs until momentum increases. Chicago and Denver were the first cities to get Tru2Way cable offerings (CableCard 2.0's previous name) but Panasonic was the only company making 2.0-ready sets.

Last I heard, all the big name manufacturers are on board so I wouldn't think it'd be too much longer before we start seeing some options.

Yep. CableCARD in TVs is as rare as a FireWire port in a TV set nowadays.

In my experience cable cards were a pain in the @ss. We were always swapping out cards till we finally just got a cable box. You give up a lot of menus and guides with cable cards, not to mention DVR functionality. I have a DVR on every display in my home. I cannot watch TV without one. I think most are at least heading in this direction, thus making cable cards obsolete without DVR functionality

I lean slightly pro Cablecard. Here's why...

You give up some menus with them but most card-ready tvs have the built-in TV Guide listings. Now getting the guide to work is another story!

My card-ready Sony DVR has been great. It only has one tuner but I don't watch that much tv. I use it mainly to supplement the 2-tuner DVR from my cable company.

I haven't had much of an issue swapping out cards. The biggest issue seems to be the cable guys trying to figure out how to set the darn things up. Sometimes we get lucky and it works right off the bat. Other times, three hours and four phone calls to Sharp Japan is needed. Kind of a mixed bag there.

The two things I like best about them...

4 out of 5 of my sets are wall mounted, and in a couple cases (kitchen, bedroom) a box is just an extra object that doesn't need to be there. If I'm only watching for half an hour or so, I just pick out something that's live... usually lots of choices. A box takes up space, extra wires, remotes, etc, and isn't neatly wall-mountable. My home theater setups have plenty of room so boxes there make sense.

The savings. Cost may not be an issue for some, but here in Toledo, Buckeye Cable charges $18/month per extra DVR. A Cablecard only runs $3.50 so that's almost $15/month per tv in savings.

It'll be nice once the Cablecard 2.0 sets are readily available to at least have the option.

The Tivo HD is a dual-tuner DVR with two cablecard slots, and capable of QAM tuning for cable signals. It is better to have a cablecard in a DVR than in a TV IMHO.

The Tivo HD is a dual-tuner DVR with two cablecard slots, and capable of QAM tuning for cable signals. It is better to have a cablecard in a DVR than in a TV IMHO.My Sony HD DVR has a cable card slot. I might be able to get a CC but I really don't know much about them.

Never seen a TV with a CC slot. What are the advantages of having a cable card?

Had a Panny several years ago and used a cable card for a while. Problem is you sacrifice to much not having a cablebox. NOT worth the savings.

My Sony HD DVR has a cable card slot. I might be able to get a CC but I really don't know much about them.

Never seen a TV with a CC slot. What are the advantages of having a cable card?
I have two Sharp's with cablecards and I used them both till about a year ago. The advantage is there design is to use them with the remote that came with the TV. But make sure you have the guide built in feature and download the guide the way its supposed too.

My problem wasn't they didn't work to pefection (worked flawlessly for 3 years) but my cable provider was more concerned about there system and aren't intrested in making cablecards work the way there supposed too. As they added more HD channels the sound started dropping out on some channels. They want there cable boxes to work with there system and cablecards aren't there concern.

Theres nothing wrong with cablecards with built in guide feature. Its up to your cable provider if they want to make them work like they should.

I have two Sharp's with cablecards and I used them both till about a year ago. The advantage is there design is to use them with the remote that came with the TV. But make sure you have the guide built in feature and download the guide the way its supposed too.

Theres nothing wrong with cablecards with built in guide feature. Its up to your cable provider if they want to make them work like they should.
Cband, I forgot that you had said that you had an early Sharp LCD that did have a CC and TVGOS built in.

I would like to see at least the TVGOS show up in more sets in the future, both my Sony HD DVRs have this feature and it is great. I am not sure if the addition of a CC would help in any way. My Cable Co seems to drop channels and change some channels at random about every 6-8 months. There is no rime or reason to it and there is never any advanced notice. Seems since I don't want to sign up for their digital service they just don't care.