Can I buy (vs. lease) digital cable box?

Note: From doing a search, I realize this topic had been covered recently. But this is NOT the same question because I already quite willingly pay for cable.

I recently bought an HDTV ready big screen and had to upgrade to Time Warner’s “digitial tier” in order to get the digital signal, which basically means I had to get that ugly box. It costs me an additional $5.95/month for the digital tier and an extra $6.60 for the Digitaldek (box).

Yesterday a salesperson called me and said I could get all channels of HBO for $7 a month for the rest of the year. I thought that sounded fair, esp. since I could cancel it anytime without penalty. Of course, stupid me, I failed to realize at the time that I can only get HBO on the big-screen t.v. because that’s the only one that has the “box.” I have 4 t.v.'s in my house and it would cost me an additional $20/month to lease boxes for all sets. Of course, that is probably why Time Warner offered such a great deal of HBO.

I remember the time when the phone companies forced all its customers to “lease” phones. Congress finally passed a law saying consumers had the right to buy the equipment instead of leasing it. Is there a similar law about cable boxes?

Like I said, I’m NOT interested in stealing anything. But I’m not interested in leasing something at an exorbitant mark up if I don’t have to, either.

Yes you can own and use your own equipment. It’s the signal you’re paying for, and as long as you continue giving the cable company the money for it, you most certainly can use your own box to receive it.

I have some answers for you Lisa. Last year we got pretty much the same offer, but it was for all HBO AND Cinemax channels for only $6 a month. How could we resist? Problem is, we have 4 television in the house (not including the WinTv hookup I have on my computer). The main television in the living room has the digital cable (with the ugly box) and all the rest have “regualr” cable (which cost nothing extra).
I contacted Time/Warner and found that it is legal to buy your own box as long as you pay for the cable. The problem is, Tme/Warners boxes have a special chip in them. So going on Ebay and buying a Scientific Atlanta 2000 digital cable box won’t do you/us any good. They won’t work. And (at least here in Milwaukee) the cable company won’t sell you one of theirs. I wonder if this violates the FCC rules?

Heres what I did: I went on on Ebay and got a wireless audio/video sender. They work great and now I can watch the digital cable on any tv. I actually found a guy on Ebay selling them for only $18 plus shippng. You’ll also need a remote control extender. Make sure to get the EZ Remote brand and nothing else. They work much, MUCH better and are much cheaper. All this sounds like a hassle, but it really isn’t.
"course, it would be better if Time/Warner would let us buy one of their boxes!

pkbites, how does said device work? Does it send the output of your one cable box to every tv? i.e. does it make it so that you can get HBO anywhere, but only when the one cable box is tuned to HBO? Or does it have some magic so you can get HBO on one set and Showtime on another? Also, assuming you can only get one channel, but on any set, does it have a way of changing the channel of the cable box remotely?

Bill, those devices work like your first suggested. They send the output of the cable box to one or more receivers connected to TVs. Each TV will display the channel the cable box is tuned to. With remote control extendrs, however, you can control the cable box from any room in your house.

Regarding the OP, it is usually technically possible to buy and use your own set-top box as long as it’s the right type of box (i.e. Scientific Atlanta or GI/Motorola) and supports the right features, however it’s up to the cable company to authorize a specific set-top box to decode the signal, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of cable companies would simply refuse to authorize a box that you didn’t buy/lease from them.

Since this is GQ and not GD, I’ll refrain from making any comments about behemoth monopoly-based companies and their willingness to cater to any slightly out-of-the-ordinary wishes of their customers.

Well, this explains why Time/Warner manages to hoard their boxes like they’re gold. They make it so easy to hand in your box, even going so far as letting you hand them in at gas stations.

Your suggestion is great, pkbites, but I was hoping to watch my show while hubby was watching (what else?) sports on the big screen.

I also have a total of 4 tv’s in the house, only 2 of which are currently hooked up to cable. However even if I went to the trouble/expense of hooking them all up, I’d be out $32 each month just for the stinking boxes. I guess what you’re saying is that there’s no way around this because T/W controls the chips.

Thanks for the info about the chip. I had gone to various sites and considered ponying up the $150+ for a box, with our without HBO. Because without the box I lose all the digital channels, even though I pay to be on the “digital tier.”

You’re stuck with leasing the boxes from your cable company. Not only are the innards specific to the company, they are specific to the city.

About two years ago, we moved 40 miles north. AT&T cable was the operator in both cities, and we had to change boxes even though they were outwardly the same.