U.S. Digital TV Transition Rife with Confusion

A new study by Consumer Reports finds that almost three-quarters of American citizens have misconceptions about the impact of the transition to digital TV one year from now; while a third are completely unaware of it.

"Confusion about the digital television transition will cost consumers a lot of money for equipment they may not want or need," said Joel Kelsey, a policy analyst for Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports. "Based on these survey results, it is now clear that our government and every media company that profits from consumers watching television must do whatever it takes to help consumers keep getting broadcast TV, without paying a dime more than necessary."

I'd be surprised if this transition occurs without a hitch, and especially without a consumer having to pay "a dime more than necessary". The study discovered that 61% of those who would be affected think they won't be; while about 33% who won't be affected are ready to head out and purchase either a converter box or new TV even though they don't need one.

U.S. CE retailers really should expect a flood of consumers coming in last minute to purchase required equipment; and conversely, another flood arriving to return equipment that they realize they don't actually need. Will they change return policies during that time? Hmm....

Anyway, for the U.S. readers out there, here's the skinny on the transition:

1) You DO NOT need to shove your old analog TV in the dumpster. If you have an analog TV and are viewing free, over-the-air programming, you might just need to connect it to a digital converter box, or subscribe to a cable or satellite service provider.

2) Only analog sets that view free, over-the-air programming, will no longer be able to access programming as of February 2009 because all analog broadcasts will cease to exist. Therefore, if you have an analog set, but subscribe to digital cable or satellite service, you shoud be OK.

3) For those who will need to purchase a converter box, the U.S. government is offering a coupon to help offset its cost. The $40 coupon can be acquired by phone, web, or mail.

4) If you decide that you want to use the digital TV transition as an opportunity to upgrade to a digital TV "just because", make sure that you dispose of any old analog TVs safely, or donate it to someone who could use it. It's just common sense.

Consumer Reports adds that the U.S. government plans to spend about US$6.5 million in public education funding on the transition; while the U.K. has budgeted $450 million. One could argue that's a lot of money to allocate to consumer education on the subject; but on the flip side, will it help avoid a major outcry once the time comes? We've got one year to find out.

Black Friday LCD/Plasma Deals

I just received a note from Consumer Reports that helpfully compiled a list of where U.S. customers will be able to find the best Black Friday deals this weekend. Of course, us Canucks support our own homegrown retailers. Nevertheless, I thought it might be interesting to outline a few of the most jaw-dropping deals being offered south of the border (all prices are in U.S. dollars, of course):

Would you believe that a 42" HD (720p) plasma would be available for $900? It is. Best Buy will be selling Panasonic's TH-42PE7U for that price, as will Sears be offering LG's 42PC5D. Even more shocking is that Costco is reportedly advertising a 58" 720p Panasonic plasma for "$500 off"; while CompUSA will offer Samsung's 50" 720p HP-T5044 for US$1,300.

Kmart will sell a 32" Olevia LCD for a measly $420; while 37" models will be available between $550 (Target) to $600 (BJ's). Sharp's 42" 720p LC-42D43U LCD will go out Circuit City shop doors for just $800, while the 46" 1080p LC-46D64U will be just $500 more at $1,300.

What's even more unbelievable is the fact that many retailers have already begun offering what could be considered "pre" Black Friday sales, like Wal-Mart offering the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player for just $99; and Sears already selling Hitachi's 42" 1080p P42H401 for just $770!

Considering the massive headache one would have to endure by knocking elbows with swarms of consumers, waiting in horrendous lines, and fighting with the guy next to you for the last TV in stock, is it all worth it? I guess it'll make for a nice work-out after U.S. residents have just gorged on excessive amounts of turkey and stuffing (a TV report I saw the other night estimated that the average American would intake 5,000 calories on Thanksgiving night!)

As for us Canucks, we had our fill of turkey a month ago. And with the Canadian dollar continuing to hover around par, we can probably expect some pretty nifty Boxing Day deals once the holiday season has concluded.

First-Ever Brand Repair Rates for Flat-Panel TVs

Since flat-panel TVs have been a relatively new product category, we haven't had any historical data to indicate what repair rates might be...until now. Consumer Reports has just issued what it deems the first-ever brand repair rates for flat-panels and rear-projection TVs, based on approx. 93,000 sets purchased between 2004 and 2007. The outlook? It's good!

Although many manufacturers might be banking on one technology coming out superior to the other, this isn't the case: there was no difference in reliability between LCD and plasma TVs, both of which had a very small 3% repair rate. Kudos to Panasonic, which took top ranks with just a 2% repair rate in both LCD and plasma categories.

Other highly-reliable LCD brands included Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Toshiba, and JVC; and in plasma, a gold star also goes to Pioneer and Samsung. Although they haven't been on the market for a full three years to qualify for the longevity tests, Consumer Reports says that the reliability of the latest Olevia and Sanyo LCDs, and Hitachi plasmas, looks "promising".

Rear-projection TVs, on the other hand, didn't rank so well. These sets required much more frequent repairs than LCD or plasma sets, with a repair rate of 18% that was mainly due to bulb replacements. Sony and Panasonic had the least repairs in this category with their rear-projo LCDs, followed by Samsung's DLP TVs.

As both LCD and plasma technologies continue to improve, we can only predict even better repair rates in both categories. Congratulations to all of the flat-panel TV manufacturers that came out on top. These reliability rates are just another notch in the belt to convince lagging consumers to switch over to flat-panel TV.

[Photo: Panasonic Canada's Barry Murray at the company's product showcase last year. Panasonic came out on top in terms of repair rates for flat-panel TVs, with the lowest percentage of repairs in both LCD and plasma categories.]

TV Prices to Drop Like Flies

It's no secret that price erosion in the flat-panel TV market is running rampant. Pricing usually dips to an all-year low during the final months of the year, due to holiday season promotions and the like. Now with many retailers already reducing prices in wake of the strong Canadian dollar, how significant of a drop can we expect to see over the next few months? According to Consumer Reports, pricing will be somewhere in the ballpark of 30% cheaper than we saw this time last year.

Consumer Reports predicts that plasmas will see the cheapest pricing, with a 42" 720p model available for as little as US$1,000 (so would this translate to $920 CDN?), and some 50-inchers flying off shelves at $1,500 a pop.

Translation: if you're in the market for a flat-panel TV, and even think you might be in the near future, now is the time to buy. Pricing probably isn't going to get any better than it is now, given that so many factors are coming into play to drive it to an all-time low.

Spam Scams Continue to Make Billions

Even after the many TV specials I’ve viewed, and articles I’ve read, I still can’t believe that so many people have become victim to online scamming. Sure, viruses, spyware, and the like will find their way to unsuspecting computers fairly easily. But I’m talking about the arguably more serious “phishing” scams that request personal information, like banking passwords or account details. Can you believe that Consumer Reports says American consumers have lost more than US$7 billion in the last two years alone from phishing scams, viruses, and spyware? It's sad, but true.

According to Consumer Reports’ survey of more than 2,000 households with access to the Internet, 8% admitted to having submitted personal information in response to a phishing e-mail. Over the past two years, Consumer Reports’ suspects that one million customers in the U.S. lost in the billions of dollars from these types of scams alone! And although the median cost of a phishing scam is US$200, scammers are actually getting better at what they do. Instead of strange, so-called prominent people from overseas countries asking you to cash a cheque for them in order to receive a one-million dollar gift in return (I'm still flabbergasted that anyone would fall for this one!), e-mails now appear to come from companies you actually deal with, like your bank or PayPal; an even people you know!

I receive e-mails on a weekly basis that appear to originate from a slew of different banks: TD, Royal Bank, CIBC, Scotiabank, you name it. Eventually, the “phishers” will finally get the right bank, and I’ll silently laugh as I delete the e-mail. I don’t buy it. But many unsuspecting, technophobic people aren’t so lucky.

For tips and tricks on how to avoid being the victim of an online scam, check out vol. 6 no. 3 of here’s how! magazine (check back to http://www.hereshow.ca/ later this month for the full issue in digital format).

[Photo: Shown here is an e-mail that appears to be from RBC, but is actually a phishing e-mail. The scammer is telling me that my account has been blocked due to suspected fraudulent activity (funny, isn't it?), and asking that I log in to re-instate it. If I hold my cursor over the URL given in the e-mail that looks to direct to RBC’s online security centre, I see that it actually directs to a bogus address. This is just one tip offered in the here’s how! article called Spams and Scams. Readers might also want to note that my Microsoft Outlook had actually flagged this e-mail as a potential phishing message, and filtered it automatically to my junk mail.]