So whats the best non PC ATSC (OTA HD) external Tuner for my HD-ready Tv. My budget is Upwards to $250-$300.

Samsung DTB-H260F is a great choice and it's below your budget.

Plenty to read about it here - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=728392

They carry it at many BB, CC and Fry's stores. If you get it from Circuit City, their website has it for $10.00 off, so if you ask them for that price (it's generally not marked down in the stores), after they double-check the site, they should give it to you.

Look on e-bay you may be able to pick up one the older d* boxes that are rendered obsolete by the newer boxes. The sony HD200 or 300 are excellent boxes that can be had for less than $150 and make excellent stand alone HD tuners.

Look on e-bay you may be able to pick up one the older d* boxes that are rendered obsolete by the newer boxes. The sony HD200 or 300 are excellent boxes that can be had for less than $150 and make excellent stand alone HD tuners.

If you are seriously going to consider a Sony HD300, then look at either a Hughes HTL-HD or an LG LSS 3200a, which have the same tuner as the Sony. Either can usually be found for around $40 or thereabouts on Ebay. I've gotten a couple of the Hughes units and they work pretty well. However, even though I don't have one, I've heard that the new Samsung has a much better tuner for weak or iffy reception areas and where multipath is an issue.

He specifically asked for the best, and the Samsung DTB-H260F IS the best standalone tuner that's out there right now. Anyone here who's compared it with other models will attest to that.

And it's well below his budget.

Other than the $10.00 off deal at CC, you can sometimes find it online for less than retail.

Something like the Coby talked about here in another thread may do the job for less, but even if it's performance is near-equal, it's not equal in features. For instance, it doesn't have HDMI out.

Does anyone know if the Samsung model is still available?

Based on Google shopping and the following 2 month old link it appears to be:

http://hometheater.about.com/b/2009/02/27/samsung-dtb-h260f-external-hdtv-tuner-product-of-the-week.htm

But there might be (should be) better models available now...

With all TV's being sold for the last 2 years having built in OTA ATSC tuners there is not much demand for a external unit anymore except for the CECB units for antenna use with old SD TVs. I suspect that this winter we will see some combination OTA ATSC/Tru2Way tuners/PVRs become available.

And of course front projectors still need external tuners. Front-projector users seem to be biggest group of people who want external OTA HD tuners nowadays. At least they seem to be the most common here.

You'd think FP makers would have started putting tuners into at least some of their models by now.

You'd think FP makers would have started putting tuners into at least some of their models by now.

Not really. In a HT setup, it's more convenient to run just the power and video cables to the front PJ. The other end of the video cable is a video source selector. If the tuner was integral to the PJ, then the RF coax is one more cable that has to be routed to the PJ. BTW I have a front PJ, although it's a CRT.

Also some people, especially in the high-end market (think of audiophiles), prefer modular components rather than all-in-one-box. This allows selection of "best of breed" and/or custom configurations.

Regards

I see your point. I suppose in the analog era, the usual solution for adding an NTSC tuner to a projector was to use a VCR or DVD recorder. Unfortunately HD recorders aren't as cheap as VCRs. The DTVPal DVR is $250 and the TivoHD is $300 or $600 depending on whether you pay a monthly fee or get a lifetime subscription. Part of that is probably because of the EPG license fee (I don't think I've ever heard of a SD VCR with an EPG), and part because these devices are still relatively new and not produced in high volume.

I don't think we're going to see many more standalone HD tuners that aren't also recorders.

(I don't think I've ever heard of a SD VCR with an EPG)There were some models years back that had Guide+ (an earlier version of TVGOS).

I'm pretty sure I saw a Sony VCR not too long ago at a pawn shop that had a TVGOS sticker on it's front. It looked pretty nice and was priced at something like $20:eek: Even at that it was around for at least a month, they can't hardly give away VCRs now days, I wonder what they actually pay for them:D
BTW my Panny combo VCR/DVDR(ES-30v) has guide +, I used a couple times but that's it. Really more hassle than it was worth, IMO

Sometimes when technology brings changes, the changes come without clear paths and standards. It can be pretty frustrating to be early adopters.

Sometimes when technology brings changes, the changes come without clear paths and standards. It can be pretty frustrating to be early adopters.

Most of the paths and standards are clear and known, but Digital TV & HDTV is more complicated than most people expect. That's why AVS is so popular.