# Switched to Comcast HDTV DVR with no regrets!



## Jnanadev (Feb 1, 2005)

I just wanted to post this because hopefully it will be helpful for those of you who have been waiting over a year for Dish Network to get their act together and fix the 921's problems so it actually works, or come out with a better HDTV DVR solution. I have followed the 921 Support forum off and on for the last 12 months and now that the 921 price recently dropped to $500 I came extremely close to picking one up. Then after seeing the multitude of problems with the 921's latest software "update" I decided to wait until I saw the support forum calm down a little bit. I was also waiting on my local Costco to get them in stock who had been expecting to get some units for over a month now, checking in every single day for weeks, and still nothing... I was pretty eager to be a beta tester for Dish!

Well in the meantime I stumbled across an offer that Comcast has going on in my area right now. I get all Digital and Analogue Cable channels, ALL over the air locals in HD, plus HBO and showtime, PLUS a Dual Tuner Motorola DVR 6400 series HDTV DVR all for only $39.99 a month for 12 months with FREE install. No hideous antenna on the roof, no more satellite dishes, nada! I also have HD on demand, HD PPV, etc. The picture quality of the digital and HD channels is amazing! The picture quality of the analogue channels sucks, as expected, but is only marginally worse than Dish's so called digital channels.

I've had the box for a few days now and it has performed flawlessly so far. Yes, the interface could be improved a bit, and it's no Tivo, but guess what, it WORKS!! 

I'm still keeping Dish for a Brazilian channel that my Fiance gets that is not available anywhere but Dish, but I'm cancelling everything else. For anyone on the fence who has been waiting for Dish to get their act together with HDTV, DON'T WAIT ANY LONGER! Bite the bullet and get Comcast and enjoy HDTV with an excellent DVR now! Just say NO to expensive (and ugly) antennae installs for HDTV, additional unneccesary dishes, and overpriced, broken, DVR units. Put your foot down and get Comcast now. You won't regret it!

Oh, btw, I'll be saving over $60 a month in subscription fees, plus I don't have to buy anything! :lol:


----------



## scottchez (Feb 4, 2003)

But on the comcast tuner is it not true that recording any analog channels is done be there lower quality Analog tuner.

In other words Digital records good, but the Sci Fi channel looks bad.

This is what they are saying in the AVS forums. Analog is even worse on there DVR becuase they put in a cheap tuner.


----------



## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Not to mention you only have 15 hours of record time...


----------



## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

Your comments strongly resemble an advertisement for your local cable company, but calling a futuristic parabolic antenna _"hideous"_ is so like you. Are you really that gay cable guy who complains that RG-6 only comes in basic black, which is appropriate for evenings, and beige which, although it goes with everything, is not really_ haute couture_? :sure:


----------



## garypen (Feb 1, 2004)

Jnanadev - It was inevitable. Point out something that Dish does poorly (which can be done with a blindfold and a rock), or point to something someone else does better or cheaper than Dish, and you'll get bashed. Don't worry about it. The closer you are to the truth, the more it strikes the nerve. When you're 100% correct, that's when the intellectual giants call you "gay".


----------



## garypen (Feb 1, 2004)

Mark Lamutt said:


> Not to mention you only have 15 hours of record time...


A. That's 15 hours of *HD* record time. It has about 90 hours of SD record time.
B. Since the firewire output of the 6412 actually works, unlike the 921, it's easy to offload the HD content.
C. Maxtor is releasing an external hdd add-on for the 6412. That is because it doesn't use super double secret proprietary technology like the Dish models.


----------



## finniganps (Jan 23, 2004)

So gary, are you doing to switch to Comcast (I see this deal is in your town)? I'd like to hear your comments if you switch to Comcast because eventually they'll upgrade my neighborhood.


----------



## Capmeister (Sep 16, 2003)

garypen said:


> Point out something that Dish does poorly (which can be done with a blindfold and a rock)...


Ok, this cracked me up.


----------



## garypen (Feb 1, 2004)

finniganps said:


> So gary, are you doing to switch to Comcast (I see this deal is in your town)? I'd like to hear your comments if you switch to Comcast because eventually they'll upgrade my neighborhood.


Yes. I am. As soon as my commitment is up. (It was originally 1/31, but was extended due to an equipment upgrade promo.) I will be happy to post my findings and impressions. (I look forward to the responses, if my findings are that it is superior to Dish.)

OTOH, I will most likely return to Dish programming as an SBC Dish customer, when they release the 2Wire Media Portal. My main complaint is with Dish HW, it's design, support, marleting, etc.

I do have issues with their customer support and programming. But, if the 2Wire box works as advertised, the features will outweigh the lack of programming, and, hopefully, I won't have to deal with Dish support directly. (I'm not sure how that works for SBC subs.)


----------



## emoney28 (Mar 1, 2004)

I saw this post and I had to throw in my two cents. Back in the end of Dec I was fed up waiting for the 921 to fix all of it's problems, so I made the just to the Comcast Hi-Def Dual Tuner DVR. Besides the fact that it was high def, I saved $20 a month on my cable internet.

Pros:
1) The Hi-Def channels were spectacular
2) Being able to record them was even better

Cons:
1) The analog channels were worse than could even be imagined. The picture quality is a noticably worse than Dish, but it was the sound quality that floored me. It didn't even sound like 2.0 stereo, and I was getting a weird hissing on low bass sounds. I can get better sound out of my cell phone.
2) There is no Favorites guide. You can mark a channel as a favorite, but you can only jump favorite channels by pressing a button. You cannot view the guide w/ only favorite channels.
3) The guide on Dish is superior to the Comcast guide, both in speed and in easiness of use.

Long story short, after 1 week I called Dish and told them to re-activate my service. I hadn't even received the boxes to return my equipment. What was even stranger was when I called to cancel my Comcast service, they stuck me on the phone with the guy who always tries to save the sale. When he asked why I was cancelling, I have him the cons above, and not only did he not ask me another question, he thanked me and gave me the promotional Internet rate for the next 6 months. I could tell that it wasn't the first time he heard those reasons for cancelling.

In the end, I now have the 522, which I love. I will wait for the 942 to be stable before making the jump again to hi-def.


----------



## StevenZ (Aug 15, 2003)

elinsner said:


> Back in the end of Dec I was fed up waiting for the 921 to fix all of it's problems, so I made the just to the Comcast Hi-Def Dual Tuner DVR.





> I will wait for the 942 to be stable before making the jump again to hi-def.


Much like my experience with Charter through a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD box. See http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=54616

My ancient Dishplayer 7200 is way more usable than this brand new cable DVR! While the 8300's HD PQ, dual-tuner flexibility, and VOD capability are nice, the 8300 is just too unpleasant to use.

I want a decent HD DVR, a bunch of channels like AT120, locals, and Showtime, with as many in HD as I can get. Last weekend, the Dish CSR couldn't tell me whether waiting for a 942 someday might be worth my while.


----------



## stonecold (Feb 20, 2004)

7200s are still the best of all dishes DVRs.


----------



## HappyGoLucky (Jan 11, 2004)

I have the Comcast HD DVR box here. So far I'm not that impressed. As noted, the lower 74 channels are still analog and the picture quality is horrendous. The upper channels, though digital, have frequent "pauses". The DVR is just not up to Tivo standards. I'm spoiled by my HDVR2 on DirecTV, I miss that a lot! This Motorola DVR frequently loses audio and must be powered down and back on to restore it. If it is in the middle of recording when it drops audio, tough, you have to restart the recording once powered back on. I have no idea what triggers the audio to disappear, I've read of many other people having the same problem. Also, can only get the analog audio outputs to work, the optical digital output just doesn't work.


----------



## finniganps (Jan 23, 2004)

stonecold said:


> 7200s are still the best of all dishes DVRs.


I had the 7100 - I prefer my 721. Things I prefer about the 721 are: recording two programs at the same time (instead of just one on the 7100). I think the guide is faster. Quieter HD than 7100. Larger HD that comes with the unit.

7100 advantages over 721 are IMO: NBR, ability to swap out the HD for a larger one. Runs much cooler than 721. webtv - if you liked that. wireless keyboard, which makes seraching for programs MUCH faster than the 721. Faster reboot then the 721 (also didn't require reboot as much as 721).


----------



## scottchez (Feb 4, 2003)

There is one cable major cable system in the whole country doing Simulcasting of there Analog channels in digital.

Untill your cable systems puts the Analog channels on Digital you will NOT be happy as all of there DVRs have low quality tuners Analog turners (thats how they get the price so low).

Its a trick dont fall for it.

If you only watch cable channels 100-9999 you will be happy. 1-99 will look bad

The reason is all the DVR design stream the analog to the HD after it is converted to digital. This is where the picture quality is lost.

I mean really lost. It is bad.

I predict in the next 1-2 year many cable systems will start simulcasting there analog channels in digital to solve this issue, then it will give DBS a real run for the money.


----------



## larrystotler (Jun 6, 2004)

The #1 advantage that D* & E* have is that they are nationally avialable so long as there is a line of sight. I have Adelphia here, and there service is horrible. I only have their cable modem, and half the time it didn't work right until I went in and swapped it with a new motorola. Their really is no comparision in this area. Cable truly sucks.


----------



## scottchez (Feb 4, 2003)

I think the guy that started this thread either worked for the cable company and he is now away lurking, it the poster was a DBS sub who has now left and is not longer posting here.

If he was a DBS sub, he will be back if his TV is larger than 40" the poor Pic quality will get to him someday.


----------



## larrystotler (Jun 6, 2004)

I agree. It gets really frustrating to deal with all this "My company is better" crap. D* subs like D*. E* subs like E*. Cable subs like cable. Heck, some people, amazingly enough, still only use an antenna and don't even PAY for TV!.....


----------



## Loves2shoot (Mar 6, 2005)

Comcast combs and grooms their signal. That means that they remove alot of info from the original signal so they can have extra bandwidth. What does this mean to you...Well if you have a nice large screen hi-def TV of any sort, the picture is nowhere as good as a satellite transmission. This is a fact!!!


----------



## davisdog (Dec 26, 2002)

Loves2shoot said:


> Well if you have a nice large screen hi-def TV of any sort, the picture is nowhere as good as a satellite transmission. This is a fact!!!


I have no interest in a Sat vs Cable debate but You've got your facts crossed. Comcast does no compression of the Hi-Def signals they send on their systems....The HiDef Signal on Comcast is equal to (or better than) Sat providers...


----------



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

I have no love for the local cable company which is Comcast, so it's more likely that pigs will fly than I going back to cable. However, if you think that you can get better a better deal with the local cable company than with DBS, more power to you. It's only television, after all.


----------



## larrystotler (Jun 6, 2004)

davisdog said:


> I have no interest in a Sat vs Cable debate but You've got your facts crossed. Comcast does no compression of the Hi-Def signals they send on their systems....The HiDef Signal on Comcast is equal to (or better than) Sat providers...


He was refering to the SD channels, which will look like crap, and which is more than likely watched more than the HD channels..............


----------



## davisdog (Dec 26, 2002)

larrystotler said:


> He was refering to the SD channels, which will look like crap, and which is more than likely watched more than the HD channels..............


Of course he phrased it like this "Well if you have a nice large screen hi-def TV of any sort"...so I assume he's refering to HD inputs.

anyway, Comcast SD is okay...its there analog that sucks (but there's not much left you need to watch there if you have HD (locals, ESPN, Discovery all have HD counterparts)


----------



## larrystotler (Jun 6, 2004)

You have comcast, I have adelphia. Most of the channels I would watch, like cartoonnetwork or sci-fi are analog on adelphia, and look horrible on any HD TV larger than 42 inches. I have noticed a difference in the PQ between my 721 and my D*TiVo, and the 721 is much clearer even on a 20 inch TV......


----------



## Loves2shoot (Mar 6, 2005)

You misread what I stated. I said they comb and groom the signal. Remove data!


----------

