I thought it might just be the one I bought (Zenith) but mine is on all the time. Well actually, the power is on all the time. You shut it off and a red light comes on. It's a blue light on when the unit is active. I do not like that "feature" at all. Waste of electricity and no need for it.

Mine is a Zenith, too. So maybe it is just the one we bought. :-)

You can turn it off manually. Doesn't it have an RIF sensor eye? Didn't it come with a remote? You can use a universal remote to turn it on and off if it has RIF. You have to program the remote to do so.

Mine has a yellow light when "off", and green when "on".
However, that particular outlet is one connected to a wall switch that shuts off everything, so "phantom electricity" use isn't a big concern.

Yup, I can turn it off (to the red-light stage) manually, which is easy enough to do.

I just realized that although the picture is bright and clear, it's smaller than my TV screen. My kitchen TV is small to begin with (13"), so there's not a lot of room to spare. Sometimes the picture looks like a widescreen (I must be the only person in the world who isn't crazy about widescreen), and sometimes it just looks about an inch smaller all around.

Nope- that widescreen stuff makes me nuts! I can not stand it! I am still debating the converter box as I can only get one channel as it is. Not sure it is even worth it. Nothing ever on anyway....

Trish in SC

I know what you mean, Trish. I had no TV reception at all for years, and I was fine with that. Now that I have reception, though, I was glad to see the converter box gave me additional public TV channels. Their programming often interests me.

It might be that the converter box decision has already been determined. Here's an excerpt from an article I just read:

Anyone currently applying for the $40 converter coupon is being wait-listed since the federal government program is currently out of funding. Russo, whoÂs applied for coupons on behalf of his customers, says heÂs not been given a definitive date as to when coupons will be made available. "I guess they had more of a response than they anticipated when they funded the program ... YouÂd be surprised how many people still have roof antennas," Russo said.

According to an article by Leslie Cauley, USA Today, "The government's $1.34 billion coupon program for digital converter boxes ran out of money on Sunday." At the writing of that article, 103,000 people had already been wait-listed.>

Not if you turn it off! - though that might mean unplugging it. I don't have cable or satellite service, so I have two converter boxes. I plug both the TV and the box into a power strip which is also a surge protector. When I turn off the TV, I also turn off the power strip./protector. Then everything is off

OH, I should have said Alisande - play with the box controls a bit. If I hit the "display" button, and then the "zoom" button, I can select the image display from "cropped", "squeezed", "letter box", and "set by program". Cropped will usually give the image you're used to.

I hate wide screen too. I never did order a coupon...I'll just pay for the darned thing. Another question....the old man I look after needs a new tv, so I planned to just go ahead and get a HDTV for him. So, he won't need a converter box...but since he doesn't have cable or satellite...will he need an antennae with that tv?

You'll probably have to get an HD antenna to get the better, or best reception, even with an HDTV. It depends also on whether the TV is HD or HD ready. Most TVs are HD now though. The HD antennas vary in the quality, and some can be VERY expensive. Check around and ask lots of questions before buying one, to keep you from spending too much.

i purchased a converter box, hooked it up to two different televisions and it took away all my channels and replaced it with just 4. so i thought something was wrong with it and took it back as defective and exchanged it. get the new one home and same thing. then i'm told it won't work until the due date. i find that strange because other people say they already see the difference and get the additional channels.

i guess i nneed to find a better brand and a new antenna.

maryanne

"You can turn it off manually."
No, not on this one. There is no true "power" on/off and no you can't have the power off and use a universal remote since there'd be no power to turn it on with the remote! (Unless you're confused and thinking of the TV rather than the converter. The converter is the adapter box that converts the HD signal to use on an analog TV) I should have said that you actually CAN'T turn it off completely if it has a remote control, like any remote controlled device it needs power to sense the remote and power the remote functions. I just don't like the lights on all the time. I don't see a reason for having the two indicator lights. I could accept one for when the system is on, but I don't need a LIGHT to tell me when it's off! I'll have to see if I notice anything on the electric bill. So far I haven't so I leave it fully on all the time.

Today there was a radio interview with a NAB rep and he was saying that the demand for converter coupons was very low to start but in the past month it was about 7 million requests verses the expected 3-4 million so they did run out. However, there's a lot of unredeemed coupons so they'll recycle the money back into the system, hence the waiting list. Plus there's a pretty good chance that Congress will appropriate more funds for the program.

We have the Zenith DTT900 model. the remote control can be used to program the unit to go off automatically in different hour increments after the TV is off. I prefer the 1 hour setting, but it can be increased to 4 hours. My biggest aggravation with the converter box is no universal remote works at the moment, I hate having a remote for the DVD, TV, Converter Box, etc! Humph, I need to check to see if the remote control for my second box in the bedroom will work in the LR in case one goes belly up! Then again, not to worry, I seldom get to hold the remote control in my house, it's a man's thing!

Purchased two Magnavox boxes today and you can also choose when the set automatically turns off...sure wish I had gotten the zenith set though...this remote is clumbsy and clunky...