RF or Composite?

Hello,

While going through Comcast's by-phone activation procedure for their digital cable equipment last Friday, I asked the Comcast rep if I should/could connect their DCT2000 set-top box to the TV via the RF coax or the red/white/yellow composite video-audio connectors. She was emphatic that I should use the composite video and NOT the "antenna/cable in" port on the TV.

This made me even more curious. So I disconnected the composite cables and hooked up an RF cable from the set-top box into the TV. I'm getting a signal anyway. The difference seems to be that the TV recognizes the signal as coming through the "main" input, whereas with the composite video option I had to choose "external device" to see and hear the channel.

Is there a downside to using the RF route rather than the composite route? All else being equal, I'd prefer the RF route since it leaves the composite ports free for a VCR.

Thanks for your insights.

--JorgeA

That sounds like it'll work, thanks!

Well, my wife has been using the DVR since Friday and is starting to like it -- so all of these contortions I've been going through to preserve her ability to tape may soon become moot anyway. High-def seems to trump all the other A/V cards.

But then there's the issue of paying the cable company almost $200 a year to rent the DVR. My newest DVD/VCR with digital tuner cost $279, and I get to keep it forever at no extra charge! And I do like still being able to archive shows or important breaking news without filling up the DVR's hard drive. (I have live 9/11 coverage in my tape library.) Eventually, no doubt, I'll be doing this on DVDs instead of tapes, but the idea's the same.

Thanks for helping this newbie out with these complicated issues!