I briefly owned a USDTV receiver last week that I bought on impulse at the Walmart a couple blocks away for $199. While it had some issues and I returned it I think it still performed as well as all my various PCHD cards. But was disappointing when compared to my expecations of it being a "fourth generation" chip. (NXT2004?) And like all the others it still couldn't get the WB in HD here in Jacksonville. But in any event, that $199 is not a sale price, is generally available, and has to be considered the new low end STB comparison price now. - Tom Manfredi, Albert E wrote: > Craig Birkmaier wrote: > > >>I have been saying for several years that the price delta will be at >>least $300 for years to come. > > > Then how come Mark writes: > > " - It might be worth noting that ATI's new HDTV Wonder > card, approximating the circuitry needed to add DTT reception > to a TV, retails for $199: > <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1619390,00.asp>" > > Clearly, if the separate PC card can be sold for under $200, a > built-in front end, without PCI backplane, should go for much > less. > > Also, if STBs came in at under $300 last Christmas, and a few > were as low as $200 at Circuit City (could be old remnants, but > still), it just makes no sense to keep insisting on $300 as > premium when the front end is built-in. Pure nonsense, yes? > > Also, I pointed out a two-chip front end that lists for $80 > not long ago. Even adding in royalties and markup, even this > year, it's hard to justify any $300. Let alone "for years to > come." > > >>Others were saying >>that the added cost delta would soon be $50... > > > "Others" would be Motorola. By 2007. Sounds pretty credible to > me. I've been guesstimating less than that, by 1/1/2007. > Assuming the FCC doesn't levy some new requirements, of course. > > >>that's barely enough to >>cover the cost of all the royalty payments. > > > I thought the royalty payments were less than $20 all told? > And they will run out, eventually. > > >>Am I surprised that the delta has now shrunk to only $300 on the >>cheapest models? > > > If the 1st generation RCA DTC 100 in its final stand-alone > version listed for about $459, the $300 premium for built-in front > ends today can *only* indicate that the prices are way inflated. I > don't understand how anything else could be concluded. And what > would be so strange about inflated prices the first year a CE > product category is on the market? > > Bert > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: > > - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at > FreeLists.org > > - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word > unsubscribe in the subject line. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.