Craig Birkmaier wrote: >>> What is the relative cost of adding a computer and DVD >>> drive to a display versus an ATSC/cable ready tuner? >> >> Something like 20:1. > > You've got to be kidding. Complete computers with LCD panel > displays are selling for less than $500 today. > > A Mac mini retails for $599, and will connect directly to > most HD displays via DVI (Apple is showed an HDMI connector > on the iTV prototype that will retail for about $300). Okay, so that $600 vs ~$30 for a built-in ATSC receiver, or 20:1 price ratio. > An HDTV capable iMAC (24" LCD panel) retails for $1,999, > and it includes: a Superdrive that is capable of burning > DVDs; a 250GB drive; 1 GB of memory; Wireless-G and > Bluetooth; and a remote to run Apple's Front Row "lean back" > interface. It has a 1920 x 1200 display resolution. Subtract, what, $500 for the small display, and you're left with $1500 for the electronics. Compared with a built-in ATSC tuner, that's 50:1 price ratio. Look at your question above. The answer is that all these admittedly more potent options are far more expensive than the built-in plug-and-play receiver. For the buck, the integrated TV gives you a lot more than adding a computer, if what you're after is HDTV. 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.