Comcast DVR Question

[flyerfan116]

Anyone have comcast DVR? Any opinions?

Also do you have to have an HDTV to use the comcast box?

I picked it up on my lunch break and when i look at the box it say DVR & HD...does that just mean its HD ready? Can hardly wait to get home & check this shit out...finally stepping into 2003.

[ih8Uboo-boo]

I have it, it is great. There are some technichal glitches that pop up from time to time but it is pretty good.

The box acts as both HD and digital box. Whether you can watch TV in HD depends on your TV. I think your hook up will be a little different depending on what you have.

If the TV has a built in HD tuner you may have some problems though, because Comcast uses a propriatary HD signal that won't work with the built in HD tuner on the TV.

[flyerfan116]

I have it, it is great. There are some technichal glitches that pop up from time to time but it is pretty good.

The box acts as both HD and digital box. Whether you can watch TV in HD depends on your TV. I think your hook up will be a little different depending on what you have.

If the TV has a built in HD tuner you may have some problems though, because Comcast uses a propriatary HD signal that won't work with the built in HD tuner on the TV.
thanks...my TV isn't HD so i guess it''ll just be a normal hook up & i shouldn't have a problem...just wanted to make sure they didn't give me the wrong box

[ih8Uboo-boo]

just follow the directions that they give and you'll be fine.

[Ren5150]

The Comcast (or any cable) DVR is garbage next to Tivo but its what we have to deal with for now so......You should have no problem. I have 2 of em, HD. THey work well but have some quirky glitches. The DTV DVR is better.

[ChrisC_EIT]

I have it, it is great. There are some technichal glitches that pop up from time to time but it is pretty good.

The box acts as both HD and digital box. Whether you can watch TV in HD depends on your TV. I think your hook up will be a little different depending on what you have.

If the TV has a built in HD tuner you may have some problems though, because Comcast uses a propriatary HD signal that won't work with the built in HD tuner on the TV.

There's one major glitch with the DVR box - and here's your pain-free version. If your box fills up and starts to cut off shows, it can do two things. One, it freezes, and turning it on and off will do nothing. Secondly, it'll appear to "drop" saved stuff, even if you've set it to delete only when you manually do it. You'll be asked by the girl on the phone to unplug the box entirely, and then replug it in. It's all back to normal after that. Kind of an alt-crtl-del if you will.

I learned the hard way after deleting everything off the box. It's a long story, but there appeared to be an empty file on my DVR that was taking up about 65% of the space on my DVR that I kept trying to delete the other files that I could access... and blah blah blah. I'm boring myself with this post.

[robinquivers]

I was thinking about getting the Comcast DVR, but after reading here about some of the problems, I think I will go with TIVO instead

[chiefo104]

Sometimes the box will freeze up, but other than that, i love the DVR. I love comcast on demand, it has a lot of good content.

[CrisK]

If you have the 6412 box, this trick will come in handy when viewing your recorded content:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archive/index.php/t-503537.html

[robinquivers]

Sometimes the box will freeze up, but other than that, i love the DVR. I love comcast on demand, it has a lot of good content.


I love the on demand too, especially for the HBO stuff.

[whoisisthis]

I have it, and have had a problem with it on three occasions in about two years


I actually had to send it back and get another one, but they were great as far as shipping it out to you. I'd still recommend it, as that shit's fucking awesome

[jpc165]

I have the comcast DVR for recording HD and a tivo for regular shows. The DVR does fuck up every once and a while. It seems to work better if you dont keep it full.

[ChrisC_EIT]

I was thinking about getting the Comcast DVR, but after reading here about some of the problems, I think I will go with TIVO instead

I've had the Comcast DVR for a year and it bungled once. If I would have known the fix, it wouldn't have been a problem, really.

Otherwise, I'm entirely impressed with the Comcast DVR in how easy it is to use with just the onscreen interface and how quickly you can jump around the menus. I recall that Tivo was awfully slow going through their menus, but it might just be an older version of Tivo.

I agree with jpc165 above - basically if you don't let it fill up competely, you'll have no real problems.

[flyerfan116]

hoked it up last night and once i figured out how to switch to SDTV from HDTV it was a piece of cake. Already recorded two shows...pretty cool shit...also i read somewhere a few months ago that TIVO & comcast were negotiating some sort of joint deal to integrate the services or something...anyone else hear about this or know when it goes into effect? I found this little blurb about it

http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2005/03/comcast_and_tiv.html

but haven't heard much lately

[robinquivers]

I've had the Comcast DVR for a year and it bungled once. If I would have known the fix, it wouldn't have been a problem, really.

Otherwise, I'm entirely impressed with the Comcast DVR in how easy it is to use with just the onscreen interface and how quickly you can jump around the menus. I recall that Tivo was awfully slow going through their menus, but it might just be an older version of Tivo.

I agree with jpc165 above - basically if you don't let it fill up competely, you'll have no real problems.


Now I am going back and forth on my idea....Comcast or Tivo, Tivo or Camcast :fight6:

[NORTONnFRIENDS]

Ya its a good unit. Cable Company vs. Tivo. Take the cable company. Hell they take care of the box if it goes bad and they do. Also the guide rocks and you dont have to hook up a phone line. ALSO NOTE TO EVERYONE. I know this is about a HD/DVR but..... Dont use a cable card in your T.V. Always use a cable box. Trust me on this one. Those fuckin cards stink on ice. Take it from a fella that installs and repairs em all the fuckin time.

[ih8Uboo-boo]

Now I am going back and forth on my idea....Comcast or Tivo, Tivo or Camcast :fight6:

FWIW

Tivo is $16.95/month for a monthly 3yr plan. You can also prepay to get even more of a discount, but you have to pay for the box if you want dual tuners. The free one can't record multiple shows.

Comcast is an extra $9.95/month but you have to have digital cable. The DVR box has dual tuners, but cannot DVR pay-per-view, where it looks like TIVo can.

On the surface, Tivo is probably the cheaper if you sign up for the 3 year plan. But its hard to crunch the #'s because Comcast bundles the digital cable so it is hard to get an exact price for it (i think its like $14.99 without premium channels).

But if you went the Tivo route you'd still need to pay for cable/digital cable in order to get any good channels (i.e HBO, Skinemax, Starz etc.) Depending on how much it costs for digital cable around you, you may actually be paying more overall for the same service if you got Tivo instead of Comcast's DVR.

I hope this makes sense...

[TurboDan]

Which box did you get? The Motorola one or the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD? The Scientific Atlanta one is alot better IMO. I have the 8300HD box myself, and have found it to be very good. Both of them are better than the dogshit Pioneer box that Time Warner gave me when I lived in their area.

I'd get a Tivo, but why? Yet ANOTHER box hooked up to my TV and it costs more than DVR.

[khemystri]

Anyone have comcast DVR? Any opinions?

Also do you have to have an HDTV to use the comcast box?

I picked it up on my lunch break and when i look at the box it say DVR & HD...does that just mean its HD ready? Can hardly wait to get home & check this shit out...finally stepping into 2003.

GET THE DUAL TUNER!!!!!!

I dont know how I functioned without it.....
What took you so long bro!!!
It fucking rules, if you have Comcast, and havent picked up a
DUAL TUNER DVR..... your missing out big-time.

The menu likes to lockup once or twice a week, and you have to
STOP and let it catch up to you, but other than that... Its the shit.

[flyerfan116]

GET THE DUAL TUNER!!!!!!

I dont know how I functioned without it.....
What took you so long bro!!!
It fucking rules, if you have Comcast, and havent picked up a
DUAL TUNER DVR..... your missing out big-time.

The menu likes to lockup once or twice a week, and you have to
STOP and let it catch up to you, but other than that... Its the shit.
yeah i LOVE it...only bad part is that i haven't been home alot so i already have a ton of shit recorded that i now have to find time to watch...love it though pausing the show to go the pisser...PIP...good shit all around...only problem i've had so far is that every time i turn the box off it re-sets itself to HD and i have to re-format it to SDTV, but i haven't programmed the remote for my TV yet so hopefully once i have it all integrated that will fix the problem

[Harvey_Birdman]

I've got the dual tuner Tivo through DirecTV and fucking love it. Not a single fucking problem.

Maybe someone with comcast or cable DVR can confirm this, but is it true you can't record pay per view pornography?

With the DirecTV Tivo I can save "Barely Legal 18" and watch it as many times as I want.

And we should all envy the Dish Netowrk ppv people. They've got access to the xstcy network, which is the best goddamned porn channel available. I used to have it on monthly subscription and my days were filled with full hard core porn. Ah, the memories.