I have a nice 36" Sony CRT. It's the last 36" XBR they made. It is "HD ready" and I used to have a Comcast HD DVR hooked up to it. Now it's in another room and I don't want to rent a Scientific Atlanta 3250HD for $8/month but I want the networks in HD (they are not encrypted).

I see that Sony now has two DVD recorders with a built-in HD QAM tuner. Does anyone make a standalone box with an HD QAM tuner to tune these channels in over cable?

Thanks.

Does Tivo count?

I don't need a recorder, just a simple tuner to get the 5 networks in HD. I doubt an HD Tivo is worth that! :)

Samsung DTB-H260F - QAM capability is not advertised, but it IS there.

Samsung DTB-H260F - QAM capability is not advertised, but it IS there.

Thanks a lot! That looks like the one.

I found the AVS thread on this box now so I'm off to do some research.

Thanks everyone.

Check this thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=728392 - you'll find some people doing exactly that. I'd recommend reading the last 5-6 pages so you're up to speed before asking any questions.

If you're buying new, the only consumer grade products I'm aware of are the Samsung DTB-H260F and the PrimeDTV PHD-205. Then there's the TiVo HD and TiVo Series 3 if you want a DVR. Otherwise, try eBay.

I got a used LG 3510A for $75, often the LG models are sold on EBAY.
It has an HD tuner that works with both OTA and cable(unencrypted QAM) and also has a built-in upconverting DVD player too. Has both DVI and component HD output and that was great for my older Toshiba HD-ready 34" CRT TV which doesn't have DVI/HDMI inputs, only two component inputs and this model allows me to get both an HD tuner and an upconvert DVD player using only one component video input.