Alternative option instead of renting comcast digital transport adapter?

Quote from deelseaker : Is that right? I got a letter from them stating otherwise. The first two are still free, $1.99 for the 3rd and up. See attached.

Where are you located? We have had 2 free adapters for a number of years and I just checked our most recent bill - we are being charged this month for the first time.

I'm pissed - not that the dollar amount is so much, but that we have no options. I am using these crappy DTA boxes on two QAM equipped HDTVs (in bedrooms). I would be happy to return Comcast's equipment to them and just connect my TV's directly to the cable, but Comcast also scrambles most digital content unless I go through the DTA, or pay 10 bucks a month each for HDTV boxes.

Of course the "digital" quality is nothing like the HD quality I would get if I could just use my TV's internal QAM connection.

My understanding was that the free DTA's were to compensate for the fact that analog tv's were no longer going to be usable, even though at some point it was mandated that people should be able to access cable with their own equipment. I guess they can say people should have upgraded their equipment by now, but what the hell - I have upgraded equipment and I can't get the cable signal I am paying for onto my TV without this crappy box.