kelzm

Thanks immortalninja, helpful info especially about weight and height when applying for drivers license!

denzil75

That's living in Jersey for you! We pay so much more out here than we did when we were in AZ

mvingsoon

this thread has been great for info.

I have a silly question im hoping someone will answer. Im moving to US in August. Im not sure how american tv works, if I buy a tv and plug it in will I automatically get some channels like the UK, or will I need to order cable? cheers in advance.

mvingsoon

this thread has been great for info.

I have a silly question im hoping someone will answer. Im moving to US in August. Im not sure how american tv works, if I buy a tv and plug it in will I automatically get some channels like the UK, or will I need to order cable? cheers in advance.

Jerseygirl

Depends where you live. Where we used to live we could get all the broadcast channels without cable...moved about 10 miles and couldn't.

MsElui

we were told there would be a handful of channels if we just plugged in - (and all pants). we sorted cable out pretty quick so i never actuallt tried.

Bob

If you get a digital tuner for the tv, or if the tele comes with one, which it probably would, you'd be able to pick some tele up with the rabbit ears....how much, depends on where you live.

Near Boston, can get a fair chunk of channels, a bunch of PBS stations from the local states. Up in Maine, be lucky to get two or three channels, if out in the woods, would get nothing but static.

Not that it matters, tele is pretty shite anyway

Michael

I don't think that either the UK analog or digital tuner will work to receive US TV transmissions. That is because analog in the UK is PAL and NTSC in the US and digital in the UK is DVB-T and 8VSB in the US. Also after Feburary 2009, analog will be turned off in the US.

Ask the question on UK avforums.com to make sure.

If you don't already own the TV, it probably doesn't make sense to purchase it in the UK since a similar TV is the US will probably be much cheaper.

Also if the UK TV does not support both 110-220v, you will need a transformer.

Bob

I think she was talking about buying a tele in the US not the UK and interested to know if there was free over the air tele or not...

mvingsoon

thanks for the advice so far, im going to be living in Washington dc. I havent got the tv yet but was hoping to buy one when I get there. Anyone know the name of cable companies that are good, i dont really want internet or phone line just the cable.

Michael

I believe that Washington DC is wired with Comcast (the largest cable company in the US). However, if you are going to be living in Virginia or Maryland, it may be a different cable company. You can also get Dish and DirecTV for SAT service.

http://www.comcast.com/

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/index.jsp

http://www.dishnetwork.com/

They all have quite a few HD (Hi-Def) channels but DirecTV has the most with about 90, about 45 with Dish, and about 35 with Comcast.

Michael

Comcast and RCN are the cable providers for Washington DC (probably each supplies a different area of the city). However, if you live in Virginia or Maryland, there may be different providers. You can also subscribe to DirecTV or Dish Network if you want satellite service.

The SAT companies provide more Hi-Def channels than the cable companies. DirecTV has about 90 HD channels, Dish has about 80 HD channels, and Comcast and RCN have about 20 HD channels each. Comcast has lately been upgrading systems around the US so many areas now have about 35 HD channels.

ian-mstm

In most of the the US, cities have a contract with a single provider... whether they're any good or not! The alternatives are TV antennae (useless after February 2009) or a satellite dish.

Ian

another bloody yank

Here's a question, right now we get two channels with rabbit ears on our analog TV. After Feb '09 can I throw the TV away or will my wife find some way to subvert this and continue to torture me with the damn thing?

Michael

The government is currently giving away $40 coupons towards the purchase of a digital/analog converter box to allow that old tv to work forever. If the government runs out of coupons, the government has set aside an additional $450 million for more coupons.