DTV converter coupons start to arrive, get pictured

Earlier this week, we posted up a poll to find out just how many of you were planning on utilizing those $40 government-issued vouchers just as soon as they arrived in your mailbox. Now, however, we're seeing the first reports of early appliers receiving their pair of coupons in all of their credit card-sized glory. Nothing too special here -- just a couple of wallet-friendly cards good for $40 off (most) DTV converter boxes out there. But being the geeks that we are, we're strangely satisfied with seeing images proving that these are actually real. Head on over to Engadget HD to check out the gallery!

[Thanks, Alec A.]

[krub @ Feb 28th 2008 6:06PM]

Zuh?

[DarkLightConnection Unbanned @ Feb 28th 2008 6:43PM]

"Donde usted puede utilizar sus cupon"

Google Language Tools FTW.

[Isaac @ Feb 28th 2008 6:44PM]

I don't really understand whats going on. Can someone explain to me what digital is and what is happening? I have cable... will this affect me?

[Curtis the Claw Game Master V2 @ Feb 28th 2008 6:49PM]

If you watch your TV and don't pay for it than your screwed. If you watch your TV and pay for it than your all good.

[DarkLightConnection Unbanned @ Feb 28th 2008 6:50PM]

No it won't affect you. It only affects OTA (On Teh Air).

(He wasn't being sarcastic, look at his other posts.. he needs a new TV :-P)

[johnj2803 @ Feb 28th 2008 6:45PM]

not all DTV boxes are available for the credit... just the cheap ones i think are included to be purchased with the coupon. I have mixed reviews about the accredited boxes... oh well :D

[Notos @ Feb 28th 2008 7:22PM]

At Wal-Mart all boxes all elligible, of course most all Wal-Marts have the craptastic Magnavox TB100MW9. Which as of right now is the only box available.

[Jordan @ Feb 28th 2008 6:54PM]

If I buy a tuner for my PC is it already a digital tuner? Or is it analog? Or does it vary? Thanks

[Urza @ Feb 28th 2008 6:59PM]

If you have cable, it doesn't matter anyways. If you have an antenna...well that's kinda sad, having an antenna connected to a TV tuner card.

[Jordan @ Feb 28th 2008 8:34PM]

Jesus, Urza, thanks for the help...

[alexmueller @ Feb 28th 2008 7:01PM]

yes, useless

[Jon Doe. @ Feb 28th 2008 7:27PM]

Umm how so is $80 of a box useless...a cheap one is better then the alternative...troll.

[alexmueller @ Feb 29th 2008 11:44AM]

as in useless I don't need one, and while I'm sure that a lot of people in the country do need them, the average engadget user wouldn't/shouldn't need them.

[Chris @ Feb 28th 2008 7:27PM]

I got mine today.

[Jon Doe. @ Feb 28th 2008 7:35PM]

Meh...from what I've seen the list is growing. Give it til mid year and a good selection should be available, put in the request then, get it within a few months and have an additional 90 days to spend it and the bugs should be worked out by then. The children on the boards are getting restless...they have nothing else to bitch about so they have to pick on free $80....You don't like it fine. Give me your damn money and I'll get a few extra receivers to sell to office mates in '09 when they are come screaming into the IT dept asking why their TV doesn't work. There WILL be at least two of them...guaranteed...oh look...I have a receiver here for $50..how fortunate....

[TVGenius @ Feb 28th 2008 11:16PM]

Hope so. Last word was coupon requests were four times what was expected, and there is a limit to how many they'll do.

[shalegac @ Feb 28th 2008 7:43PM]

Ha! Whoever got that coupon lives right by me. I shop at all those exact locations (except radio shack).

[chris @ Feb 28th 2008 9:18PM]

no one shops at radio shack

[shalegac @ Feb 29th 2008 8:35AM]

Yeah, it is dirty. Reminds me of a flea market.

[DarkLightConnection Unbanned @ Feb 28th 2008 11:28PM]

I do. They're still carry some parts and tools that you don't see everywhere.

I'm talking about the "electronic parts and tools" part of RatShack, of course.. the "consumer electronics" part really sucks...

And BTW, that's only because online isn't an option for me, outside the US, the shipping alone costs 10,000x the actual cost of the parts.. Lucky USAmericans, can get everything online...

[DarkLightConnection Unbanned @ Feb 28th 2008 11:29PM]

I do. They're still carry some parts and tools that you don't see everywhere.

I'm talking about the "electronic parts and tools" part of RatShack, of course.. the "consumer electronics" part really sucks...

And BTW, that's only because online isn't an option for me, outside the US, the shipping alone costs 10,000x the actual cost of the parts.. Lucky USAmericans, can get everything online...

[R0B3RT @ Feb 29th 2008 3:53AM]

i got mine today

[Mike @ Feb 29th 2008 8:17AM]

I haven't seen mine yet.


Mike

http://packratstudios.com

[Joseph Singer @ Feb 29th 2008 9:48AM]

Why would someone rush to get coupons now? The selection of DTV converters is pretty pathetic to none right now. Coupons are only valid for 90 days anyway.

[Bill M. @ Feb 29th 2008 12:19PM]

The list of converter boxes are growing. Available boxes are Artec T3A, COSHIP N9900T, Digital STREAM DTX9900 , Insignia NS-DXA1, Magnavox TB100MW9, Philco TB100HH9 and the Zenith DTT900.
Some are easier the find than others, like the Magnavox at Wal-Mart. But be careful, the Magnavox TB100MW9 being sold now does not have analog pass-through but the Magnavox TB-100MG9 does! If this is a feature that you might need, watch the model numbers. They have more information here http://www.ezdigitaltv.com/Converter_Box_Retailers.html

[DTV Enforcer @ Apr 25th 2008 10:47PM]

DTV Retailer caught using Scam 'Smoke and Mirrors' Tactics

Analog TV users must purchase a DTV converter box before broadcasts go digital in 2009, and the US Government is offering $40 coupons to support the transition. Coupons have a 90 day shelf life and lose their value after 90 days ... this has led to unscupulous tactics by one DTV coupon program retailer, namely, Mosquito Productions. The coupon program requires retailers to become certified by the NTIA (the Government body running the program) before processing orders for the boxes. Apparently the certification program is still a bit lax, as the frenzy to purchase DTV boxes using these coupons seems to have drawn unscrupulous fraud artists into the mix. Orchestrating the scam, Mosquito Productions, via its web site freedtvshop.com and its lack of legitimate hardware supplier relationships, apparently is selling backordered converter boxes to unsuspecting consumers and capturing consumers $40 coupon information at the same time. A majority of the products on their website indicate "On Backorder", yet they continue to use the pictures of the products as a means to convince customers to reveal the coupon data to the company on what appears to be an insecure databasing scam, locking in customer interest and keeping their victims 'on the hook' while they scramble to make things right. Thousands of coupons may have been improperly revealed to Mosquito Productions as the result of what some are calling a massive internet 'phishing' operation." Read on for details of the scam claimed by this anonymous reader.

Fact: Mosquito Productions and freedtvshop.com together are promoting and selling products that are not in stock or available for sale. This practice of selling 'backordered' products is against federal contractor regulations and has drawn public interest and even coverage by 3rd-parties. Investigators attempted to reach the company to no avail.

The scam website freedtvshop.com continues its practice to take pre-orders for the DTV converter boxes that are NOT in stock, and promises delivery in the future without any guarantee they can deliver the equipment. The company immediately collects the information from Government coupons (in violation of the program rules, which prohibit back-ordering) and charges customer credit cards with an authorization for future purchases. Early-adopting consumers were willing to overlook these practices, feeling they would eventually own a converter box on the market. The scam also pulled on the heartstrings of Americans by tying in a Support Our Troops message alongside each scam sale. Federal investigators may be notified to see where the money actually went and to what charities the donations, if any, ever made it to the troops. Further investigations are imminent and it is now known in certain circles that the Company may face the possible of heavy fines and may force bankruptcy. This would surely leave customers that do not take immediate action in the dark when their TV sets go blank forever come February 17, 2009.

As an example, several weeks ago, freedtvshop.com announced that they would not be shipping the Maxmedia MMDTVB03 at all. They were forced to take the product off their website when it became known that the supplier, Maxmedia had never agreed to supply them equipment in the first place. Investigators later learned the MMDTVB03 that appeared on the Mosquito website in fact, would never even make it to market and would be renamed and not available until June. It appears that Mosquito Productions, through its freedtvshop.com website posted converter boxes for sale to unsuspecting customers without actual supplier commitments or relationships and without known availability of shipments from the suppliers. Mosquito Productions now attempting to legitimize what began as a complete 'smoke and mirrors' operation. They seem to still be an approved NTIA retailer, however, it should be known that concerned customers should immediately call the NTIA if they believe there may be a victim of the 'smoke and mirror' tactics employed by Mosquito Productions through its www.freedtvshop.com web store.

Anita L. Wallgren
Program Director
TV Converter Box Coupon Program
Anita Wallgren [phone]

Consumers are outraged by Mosquito Productions 'smoke and mirrors' tactics but are having difficulty finding out what remedy is available to them when they decided to buy a converter box that may never be delivered. The Company, Mosquito Productions publishes no physical addresses on their website, only a PO Box. Consumers are now resorting to their own detective work to protect the coupons that may have been harvested by a Company that goes by the name, Mosquito.

As of April 24, 2008, the freedtvshop.com website is still accepting and processing orders for the "backordered" CECBs — in what appears to be in clear violation of the NTIA program rules, which only allows coupons to be applied to DTV boxes on its approved list that are in stock. Buyers Beware!