With very few exceptions, the channels below 100 (the analog channels) do not include digital audio. As you noted, their adspeak of "all digital channels are transmitted in, at a minimum, stereo and Dolby Digital, but they vary in format from Dolby ProLogic all the way up to Dolby Digital Version 3 ("5.1")" does not include the analog channels, which are the channels that tend to get the most viewing in my household. Since the channels are by definition "analog" I've never been too upset by that, but it is annoying that SA chooses to omit any A/D conversion on those channels - making the digital output much less useful.

There is some discussion about the SA Explorer 8000HD in this thread , including at least one Time Warner market (Wisconsin, where tekdredger is located) using 8000HD's that support digital output of analog stations. That market is using the 8000HD's with the DVI output disabled. Since the general concensus is that cable box makers haven't figured out how to make best use of DVI yet, having the DVI disabled isn't going to cost you any picture quality, but it will mean having to use one more component output.

I haven't had a chance to play with cablecard receivers yet, nor have I heard much about them. Does the Time Warner in NY support cablecard? If so and if you're upgrading to HDTV anyway, then it seems like a reasonable approach to consider.