High-Maintenance TV

There are people for whom getting something to work right is half the fun. For them, there's a new challenge: viewing the digital versions of free broadcast TV. ¶ ... While many users apparently have no problem receiving HDTV or other digital broadcasts, others have flooded online discussion groups like AVS Forum (avsforum.com) with tales of woe. ¶ These users report that decoder boxes may pull in some broadcast stations but not others, depending on the time of day, distance from the transmitter, proximity to other buildings and weather conditions. Boxes from every manufacturer are reported to freeze up and to require rebooting, usually by hitting a reset button or by unplugging the box and then plugging it back in. ... The New York Times link