It might be useful in discussions like this to mention which country it's referring to as broadcast systems differ.
Our conversion in Australia started a few years ago.

The converter that I got is made by TEAC and includes a hard drive recorder which has proved to be very useful. It's more flexible to use than VCR. If going this way it's worth spending more to get
a convertor with dual tuners which enables simultaneous viewing on one channel while recording another. The unit works fine but the instruction book is poor. I had to go back to the dealer to find out how to delete recordings. He had trouble too but discovered the method by trial and error.

The only annoyance with the recorder is that the data format is not compatible with other formats and it seems that there is no conversion software around. It would be nice to be able to transfer them to DVD. There are now combined DVD recorders around which weren't available when I got mine.

With that in mind there can be advantages in not rushing to make the switch unless the analogue system is closing soon.

VHF antennae aren't totally useless, it depends on your reception area. In a strong area, line-of-site to the transmitter, they work perfectly. If you are in a weaker area or suffer from reflections from adjacent buildings you are more likely to need a specific UHF antennae, maybe high gain, and more directional (to minimise reception of the reflections).