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May 9, 2008
Dear CNET members,
Happy Friday! Don't forget--this Sunday is Mother's day! And
on that note, I would like to wish all the mothers a happy
and wonderful Mother's Day--thanks for making such a
difference in our lives. (To my wife, thank you dearly for
being the nurturing and loving mommy that you are to our
children. And to my mom who is with me in spirit, I am
forever grateful for all the things you have done for me--my
life would not be as it is if it weren't for you. I love
you!) Now, let's get to this week's topic regarding all the
confusion over the United States' analog-to-digital-TV
transition that's happening on February 17, 2009.
Well, folks, after going through the members' submissions
this week, I would have to say that the majority of the
people who responded to Chuck's question on the
analog-to-digital-TV transition understand it and know
exactly what is to be expected when we in the U.S. switch to
digital broadcasting in 2009. And that's a good thing!
However, I still receive plenty of these questions through
e-mail from many people that are still confused over it. And
I hope this week's topic clarifies most people's concerns. So
I encourage all the folks who are still confused to go
through this week's answers, and hopefully by the time you
are through reading them, you'll understand it all. I have a
few selected member answers to get you started, but before
you go through them, here are a few things to clarify that I
want to bring up.
- People who are currently connected to cable or satellite
or other paid services will not be affected by this change.
(However, every cable company is different, so contact your
provider to confirm that you will not be affected come 2009.)
- People who are currently receiving their TV broadcast
over-the-air (using rabbit-ear or rooftop antennas) will be
affected, and you will need a digital (DTV) converter box.
However, if your TV has a built-in digital tuner already
(check your manual), you're OK.
- The conversion to digital transmission does not mean you
will receive high-definition (HDTV); digital doesn't
necessarily mean HD.
Anyway, here's your start, and if any of you have already
bought your digital TV converter box, hooked it up, and are
receiving your over-the-air broadcast in digital, tell us
about it and how it's working out for you in the discussion
thread. Thanks everyone, for contributing to this discussion
topic! Have a wonderful weekend!
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Member Question of the Week
I'd like the straight scoop on what happens to TV reception
next year. Specifically, will my several analog TVs that are
connected directly to cable still function? Or will I need a
converter box on each of them? TV store salesmen say I will
need a box on each. But I understood that the cable
companies would continue to send both analog and digital
signals over the cable. Only the 'over-the-airwaves
broadcasting' would be free of analog signals so those
receiving TV via antenna will need a box on each analog TV.
Is that correct? Simple question, but I had to get the simple
answer. Either I'm OK as is, or I need a bunch of boxes. If
you can give me clear and definitive answer, that would be
much appreciated! Thank you very much.
Submitted by:
Chuck B.
 Here are some great answers from our members to get you started
Read all member contributions
Thanks to all who participated!
 Previous week's Q&AThe votes are in! Below is the answer voted most helpful by our community to last week's question.
Hi. I have a problem with my PC (AMD Athlon 1700+, 256MB of
RAM, 80GB hard disk, CD writer), and I hope you guys can clue
me in as to what can be the issue of my system rebooting
every 10 to 20 minutes after it has been on. I've changed my
RAM and also reformatted my hard drive in attempt to see if
that will remedy my issue, but no success and I'm at a loss.
Is this a hardware issue? Please kindly help me and if
possible list all the possible culprits that can cause
such issues and he possible solutions to remedy it. Thank you
kindly.
--Submitted by:
Santhsh K.
Troubleshooting. Here are three basic sources of automatic reboot problems:
- Recovery settings
- Software incompatibilities, including driver issues
- BIOS problems
- Overheating
- Weak memory module
- Bad power supply
- Bad motherboard
Software incompatibilities can be omitted in your case as you have already reinstalled windows, but they are still worth mentioning...
(read more)
Congratulations to the winner!
Community Buzz
 Each week we take a look at topics discussed in the forums.
Have fun and enjoy!
More from the forums
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Check out next week's question:
Three times, once each with three different flash drives, and on six different PCs, I've had the experience of finding that the computer won't recognize the drive, and the data on the drive has become inaccessible. I see this is a common problem. Other users ask for advice on the web, and nobody seems able to offer any solid information on this occurrence. In none of my incidents has the flash drive been dropped, heated, frozen, or dropped into a liquid or run through a strong magnetic field. One day they work; next day they don't. Anybody know why or what could be causing this issue? And whether my data is permanently lost in such cases? Three times, three different flash drives, can't be a coincidence! Please help! Thank you.
--Submitted by:
Paul L.
If you have the answer for our member, click on the link below. Please be as detailed as possible when providing an answer. Thanks!
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• Multimedia
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Simple question, simple answer
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