Best digital converters

Illustration by Koichi Fujii

Every household in America is eligible to receive two $40 government coupons to buy two digital-to-analog converter boxes, which cost $40 to $80 each. (You can't use two coupons for one box.) Requests must be in by March 31. Call toll-free 888-388-2009 or apply online at www.dtv2009.gov.

If you haven't applied yet, you will be put on a waiting list. At press time, the government announced that funding had run out and that new requests will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis as older coupons expire. It's expected that 6 million coupons will expire by early spring, freeing up funds for new coupon requests.

If you're approved, expect to wait up to six weeks to get your coupon in the mail. Coupons—actually plastic cards much like store gift cards—expire 90 days after they have been mailed. If you don't use a coupon before the expiration date printed on it, you're out of luck. You won't get a replacement if it expires or if it's lost or stolen. If you buy a box and return it, you won't get your coupon back, or a refund for the $40, but the retailer might allow you to use the $40 credit for another box.

Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, has urged the government to delay the transition until problems with the program are corrected and all consumers who need a box can get a coupon.