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Comcast should die!


Scarecrow

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Didn't want to hijack Mitch's Comcast DVR thread but this is along somewhat similar lines. Up until now I had a Panasonic DVR which required no service charge; it just recorded what I wanted. It had a 'built-in' TV Guide and I could do the usual things with a DVR: timeslip, record one thing while watching something else, watch a DVD while recording a TV show, burn to a DVD, etc. We also have an old VCR which my wife prefers (semi-luddite). I had them all connected to my TV and they worked fine.

 

Then Comcast went digital. They sent me a cable box and an adapter box for a 2nd tv. But my way didn't need a cable box, I just put the incoming cable directly into the DVR/TV/VCR. When they sent the boxes, they said the mid-range of channels (35-75) would be unreachable with out the box. But I put the box on a shelf and ignored it. Everything continued to work fine until last night when channels 39-59 scrambled.

 

The problem is, with the boxes, you have to tune your DVR/TV/VCR to channel 3 and depend on the d#$%^$d box. Which means I lost all ability to be able to set up to record multiple channels at various times. I can only record the channel I have the box set to. What freakin #%%%#$%^ good is that?!? :dopeslap:

 

So. What can I do? If I have to now use a set box, I have no particular reason to stay with Comcast. They raise their rates way too often. From the thread Mitch had, it looked like some people thought Dish was a good way to go. Does anyone have pro/con's to Dish Vs DirectTV? Is there anyway I can use my existing DVR's functionality? Or am I screwed?

 

Does anyone have suggestions for a go-forward plan? My TV watching is pretty simple. The local stations, a few cable ones (FX, TNT, TBS, USA, AMC, ComedyCentral) , no premium channels, no movie channels. I have 2 TV's (one in family room, one in bedroom), 1 VCR, 1 DVR. I usually record shows and watch later.

 

Appreciate any advice you have.

TIA,

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Your comcast is going digital. Most of the channels you got with your regular analog cable reciever are not encrypted though they are now digital. You could get a Clear QAM (digital cable) tivo to perform the function you want but there is a monthly charge. A PC would be another option with software such as Beyond TV or Sage TV. I'm using the former to record HD off a Dish HD reciever and HD/SD OTA. I dropped Comcast in favor of DISH and love it. The installer was awesome, probably becasue he worked for Ecostar directly and wasn't a lazy contractor. My signal has never dropped even in a heavy rain. Better than what I can say about comsuck.

 

Digital cable allows the carrier to put 16 channels or 4 HD channels into the space occupied by one analog channel. This applies to Quadature Amplitued Modulation (QAM) 256 (256 has nothing to do with the channels that can be carried). Older versions of QAM were 16 and 64. I don't think 16 ever got much use. See Wikipedia for more info though if you are not a technical person it could make your brain hurt.

 

The Dish DVR is very highly rated and though I do not have one I do like DISH in general. Just make sure the installer gets you a good strong signal on the clear sunny day that it gets installed so when the dark rainy days show up you still have sufficient signal. All those who complain about theire signal sropping when it gets cloudy or rains had a piss poor installation.

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Dish basic.

Get the HD setup.

You can record multiple shows at once and watch another.

 

We left Comcast in 1992 because they were so bad.

I can't imagine 17 years later what it is like.

:dopeslap:

Best wishes.

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Owwww. . . my head is starting to hurt!

 

Thanks for the info; it's going to take me awhile to get my head around all of this. I'm not sure I have a PC good enough. Maybe I'll start with Dish and see what they have for recorders before branching out to something more complex. Are there any rememdial help texts I can read?

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Comcast has a DVR that allows you to do 2 things at once. Watch one record one. Record 2, but have to watch one of the 2 you are watching. I don't remember what the monthly fee for the DVR is, but I think it was around $12mo. My comcast is Cable, Premium Cable,1-DVR, 2 other cable boxes, 1 premium channel (HBO - which sucks these days) cable modem, and phone service. Phone service is unlimited free calling in the US with an answering service. I The bill is $180/mo. They called me a few months ago and said the rate was going to $210. I told them to cancel I was calling dish...(magic words), they renewed my service for $170.

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skinny_tom (aka boney)
Comcast has a DVR that allows you to do 2 things at once. Watch one record one. Record 2, but have to watch one of the 2 you are watching. I don't remember what the monthly fee for the DVR is, but I think it was around $12mo. My comcast is Cable, Premium Cable,1-DVR, 2 other cable boxes, 1 premium channel (HBO - which sucks these days) cable modem, and phone service. Phone service is unlimited free calling in the US with an answering service. I The bill is $180/mo. They called me a few months ago and said the rate was going to $210. I told them to cancel I was calling dish...(magic words), they renewed my service for $170.

 

Your method of keeping the old cost is the only way to get Comcast to make deals. They'll hand out great prices and deals to new customers, but if you'be been with them for any amount of time, they won't cut you a break....unless you threaten to leave. You have to actually tell them to turn off your service before you'll get them. I've had the price drop twice in one conversation. Since I went HD I haven't tried this, but for years I got expanded cable for $25/mo.

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I'm set up the same as Scarecrow. I have Comcast digital cable, but plug my cable directly into my TV instead of one of their cable boxes. Actually, the only reason I have cable is because I got set up with their high speed internet and it was $4 cheaper to get HS internet + basic cable, than to just get the HS internet...... :S. Can't say I understand that, but whatever.

 

I really want nothing to do with Comcast, but they are the only HS internet supplier in my area besides DSL through the phone company........which doesn't work because I don't have a home phone.

 

I had DirectTV for 7-8 years before I bought my house. I would go back to them in a second if it made sense for me (I really miss the NFL ticket), but I don't watch enough TV anymore to justify spending money on it.

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Take a look at the bigger box. There's actually an option there to have it turn on and tune to a channel at a particular time. Then program your VCR to turn on at the same time, and record channel 3 (or 4 depending on your setup).

 

This is the stuff that's NOT in the instructions! I forget where exactly it is in the menu system, I discovered it by accident.

 

We went ahead with the DVR to replace the wife's VCR. It's not bad, in some ways it's better than the VCR. That said, I would *love* to find a replacement vendor.

 

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We have 2 HD cable boxes from Comcast. Our living room box has a double DVR setup while the bedroom box has none. What's really mind boggling is the box wihtout the DVR has no HDMI port to hook the tv up to???

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Take a look at the bigger box. There's actually an option there to have it turn on and tune to a channel at a particular time. Then program your VCR to turn on at the same time, and record channel 3 (or 4 depending on your setup).

 

This is the stuff that's NOT in the instructions! I forget where exactly it is in the menu system, I discovered it by accident.

 

We went ahead with the DVR to replace the wife's VCR. It's not bad, in some ways it's better than the VCR. That said, I would *love* to find a replacement vendor.

 

I think it is called VCR commander on the Scientific Atlanta (now Cisco) boxes. It is in the menu. It can control some models of recorders with an IR emmiter.

 

Keith, Ask for "dry loop" DSL. When I moved in to my house the phone company was not able (or willing) to provide DSL without phone. They have upgraded (or changed their minds) in the past year or so.

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Any device that requires you to tune to "channel 3" should be banned.

 

Go HD with an integrated DVR with a dual tuner. Get a over the air Antannea and split the signal to your existing DVR and the HD DV-R form you sattelite or cable provider.

 

I think over the air signals get overlooked. Most are now in HD.

 

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I'd go with a regular antenna but the reception at my house wouldn't get me anything but static. And I don't think I'm allowed a rooftop antenna.

 

I spoke to a guy at work and his set up is interesting. He gets Dish through AT&T as a bundle (hi speed DSL, dish tv, phone local and long distance). I didn't realize you could get Dish via AT&T. I have AT&T for local phone and DSL, so maybe I can get a bundle through them without the long distance.

 

I'll get one of Dish's DVR's along with it. I just hate not being able to use the perfectly good DVR I have now with no monthly fee.

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My over the air antannea looks like a dish and is mounted on my roof next to my sattelite dish. IT was jsut a unique way to utilize your existing DVR. I currently feed my antannea signal into my DISH netwrok HD DVR. OS I cna therefore record 3 channels at once if one of them is a OTA signal. During College football season, this happens often. I can also do PIP with 2 channels then record a 3rd game.

 

I found that the bundle the phone companies offer, is mostly just a small discount for sending you a single bill. But a discount is a discount.

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Motoguy128: so you have both the satelite dish and your 'air' antenna both feeding your Dish network DVR? Or does the antenna feed its own DVR? What is the model of your air antenna?

TIA,

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Motoguy128: so you have both the satelite dish and your 'air' antenna both feeding your Dish network DVR? Or does the antenna feed its own DVR? What is the model of your air antenna?

TIA,

 

They both feed the DVR. Actually they both feed 2 DVR's. I have 1 dual reciever in my family room and in my bedroom its' a single channel DV-R. The Antannea and sattelite signals are both split and fed to both recievers. Actually, they multiplex them (I thnk that's the right term) so there's a single coaxial cable going to the bedroom.

 

Hers' a link to the unit I bought at Radioshack. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3740644

 

It sems to have pretty good range. The towers are about 30 miles away, with partial obstruction form my neighbors roof and a few trees in my neighboorhood. I'd say the advertised 40/50 miles is probably possible with a completley clear line of sight on a clear moderate temprature day. 25-30 miles is more realistic. Depending on where you live, you might want on of the "horizontal" dish shaped unit that are more powerful.. You also need to onsider what type of signal VHF or UHF you're trying ot pick-up.

 

Here;s a website that shows the towers in yoru area: http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Stations.aspx

NOTE: Select "multistory" for your home. Otherwise it assumes you can't pull in some of the stations. The location of your home makes abig difference. I'm at one of hte highest points in my town, os even though I have soem obstructions, I'm about 100' higher than most homes in town and probably 100' higher than location of the towers

 

 

NOTE: never install a DVR in a bedroom. 1) you won;t use it all that much. 2) the Hard drive is NOISY!!!. I ended up installing it in the basement. The remote uses UHF so it can control teh reciever through the floor.

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I have a winegard antenna model HD7084P.

 

Also check out the FCC's data base for local stations. After entering call letters click on on of the listing that you get for said station. The scroll down a bit and look for and click on "Service Contour Map". Some stations are moving frequencies some are uprating if you see a CP then that is a construction permit and they may or may not be broadcasting at that power level or channel.

 

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/audio/tvq.html

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Thanks for all the detailed info. This may be something I strive for, but knowing myself as I do, I'll end up taking the easy path and just getting a Dish and seeing what kind of DVRs they have to choose from. Given that, any recommendations on which DVR to go for?

 

TIA once again,

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