TivoHD vs Comcast HD DVR ?

[D-MASTER]

The wife and i finally bought a house. I'm soooo happy to get out of the condo.

Anyway, we want to have cable in the bedroom and the living room. I want to be able to record tv shows in HD. My question is this: Is the TiVo worth the $300 and $12 a month over Comcast's HD DVR for around $20 a month?

Which has beter quality and longer recording time. Also, what reatures do you use on the TiVo that make it a $300 value that Comcasts doesn't do?

Also, TiVo says i can transfer recorded tv to my laptop. Is this worth a crap and how much of a hassle is it? Can i transfer HD quality?

[not so Quikjeep]

With TIvo you will still need to get 2 cable cards from us(comcast) at $6.95 apiece. The DVR is 13.95 a month. Picture quality is the same on both. I like some of the featurs that the series 3 has but for the price and the fact that I get mine for a discount I would go with the DVR. As a field tech for comcast I HATE cable cards, they are a pain in the ass. And with the CC you pay the same price as a box and don't get OnDemand, which means no PPV HD movies.

-Tom

[D-MASTER]

With TIvo you will still need to get 2 cable cards from us(comcast) at $6.95 apiece. The DVR is 13.95 a month. Picture quality is the same on both. I like some of the featurs that the series 3 has but for the price and the fact that I get mine for a discount I would go with the DVR. As a field tech for comcast I HATE cable cards, they are a pain in the ass. And with the CC you pay the same price as a box and don't get OnDemand, which means no PPV HD movies.

-Tom

The comcast lady i talked with last night told me that they are $1.50 each. Also is that a monthly fee or one time? Is she right?

[not so Quikjeep]

The cable cards are monthly, if she said $1.50 then I would call her back and take it before she changes her mind cause I have never heard of that price. Unless its a special cause we are way out of the loop on some of the pricing crap.

[bsaunder]

I have both and have regularly checked out the difference between the two. I have a good quality HDMI cable on each one and both are hooked directly to my samsung DLP via HDMI and then fiber cable to my AV receiver.
Below is a bit long, but hits most of the points I can think of between the two. FWIW, I'm canceling comcast in the next couple of days as I get OTA local channels very well in HD, and I can't justify spending ~$100/mo for the 4-6 other channels that I watch for maybe 2-3 hours a week.

Tivo Pros:
- Better picture, especially noticeable on Discover HD and on standard definition shows; to less discerning eyes or on different TVs it may not be the case
- transfers the program to your TV in native resolution without conversion
- can still do PPV movies, just through Amazon unboxed
- Transfer of most shows to computer is easy and fully supported (HD included)
- External hard drive option is fully supported
- will play music from you computer
- will play movies from your computer
- will do a picture show from your computer
- can share saved showed between Tivos
- built in HD tuner for Over The Air (OTA) local channels (generally picture is even better with a decent antenna than from cable)
- better scheduling, Comcast is supposedly Tivo powered, but it still isn?t the same.
- music choice and rhapsody music service
- tivo kidzone
- many many tivo add-on and hacks that do not void your service; tivo actually supports those that want to make it better and will incorporate the more popular ?hacks? into the next firmware/software release if they are used enough
- Much better surround sound

Tivo Cons:
- cost
- cable card support is very hit or miss from Comcast in the Denver area; if you call the main tech line and not the local one, then their knowledge about cable cards and tivos are decent. (be sure to have your sales rep mark your account as a Tivo account as their standard ?ping? doesn?t always work correctly with cable cards)
- no on demand on the S3; the HD will be able to do on demand once v2 of the cable cards are released and Comcast supports them as they are currently claiming.
- Cable cards are flakey; I?ve yet to have one last a year and Comcast will charge you for the visit even though their equipment failed.
- cable card prices vary almost every billing period, I've been charged anywhere from $1.99 each to $9.95 each.

Comcast HD PVR pros:
- well supported by Comcast
- less $$
- on-demand

Comcast HD PVR cons:
- pvr capabilities just above fancy VCR, still not quite Tivo level
- remote is not as intuitive
- sound can be flakey on HD streams
- more pixilization during high bandwidth HD streams.

[TJay]

not so Quikjeep, did Comcast retire the Moto DCT6412 DVR box yet? I got one of those about a year ago when my Moxi box was decommissioned and it's been a huge piece of dogshit compared to the Moxi box. [/hijack]

[D-MASTER]

I have both and have regularly checked out the difference between the two. I have a good quality HDMI cable on each one and both are hooked directly to my samsung DLP via HDMI and then fiber cable to my AV receiver.
Below is a bit long, but hits most of the points I can think of between the two. FWIW, I'm canceling comcast in the next couple of days as I get OTA local channels very well in HD, and I can't justify spending ~$100/mo for the 4-6 other channels that I watch for maybe 2-3 hours a week.

So do you get the av's games in HD w/OTA? That alone would be the deal breaker since they were the reason for the early adoption of HD tv.

[bsaunder]

So do you get the av's games in HD w/OTA? That alone would be the deal breaker since they were the reason for the early adoption of HD tv.
I honestly don't know - I don't think you can get altitude or fox sports OTA, so probably not.

Just checked, doesn't look like it unless they are shown on nbc, cbs, etc...

you can check for OTA stations you should be able to receive here - http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Stations.aspx

[not so Quikjeep]

not so Quikjeep, did Comcast retire the Moto DCT6412 DVR box yet? I got one of those about a year ago when my Moxi box was decommissioned and it's been a huge piece of dogshit compared to the Moxi box. [/hijack]

For the springs I don't know for sure. I thought we did but our whearhouse gave us some a few weeks ago. Yes they are a huge pile of junk. I would go to your payment center and see what they have. If you call for a service call you are limited to what the tech has that day, which is limited to what the whearhouse gives him that day.

-Tom

[not so Quikjeep]

Ok bsaunder you know more than me eekk. Most of the people I do hook ups for on the series 3 just got them so I have not really got the low down on all the features.

Quote
"no on demand on the S3; the HD will be able to do on demand once v2 of the cable cards are released and Comcast supports them as they are currently claiming."

From what I know we have the V2 cable cards but the Tivo software doesn't support it yet. This what the tivo tech support told me.

Can I come over so you can school me. Our training on advanced stuff like this is non exstiant.

-Tom

[bsaunder]

I'm a tech nerd :D - there is a lot of information on tivocommunityforums as well as Tivo.com

I'd be happy to show you what I know and the differences between the two, however unless I get one heck of a counter offer (ie $33/mo for both internet and cable w/HD like is being offered to some new customers) when I call in to cancel, I'll be returning all of my comcast equipment this weekend.

[D-MASTER]

I'm a tech nerd :D - there is a lot of information on tivocommunityforums as well as Tivo.com

I'd be happy to show you what I know and the differences between the two, however unless I get one heck of a counter offer (ie $33/mo for both internet and cable w/HD like is being offered to some new customers) when I call in to cancel, I'll be returning all of my comcast equipment this weekend.

I'd love to pick your brain and hear how things go with Comcast!

[not so Quikjeep]

I'm a tech nerd :D - there is a lot of information on tivocommunityforums as well as Tivo.com

I'd be happy to show you what I know and the differences between the two, however unless I get one heck of a counter offer (ie $33/mo for both internet and cable w/HD like is being offered to some new customers) when I call in to cancel, I'll be returning all of my comcast equipment this weekend.

You should be able to. Maybe, Do you have the phone service? Or call and cancle then have your wife call and set up a new account.;) All I have control over is if it works right.

-Tom

[bsaunder]

You should be able to. Maybe, Do you have the phone service? Or call and cancle then have your wife call and set up a new account.;) All I have control over is if it works right.

-Tom

We don't have a home phone at all, so I am kinda doubting I'll get much of a deal. I can justify the internet cost as I use it a lot to work from home, but I just can't swallow the $100 extra just for VS/VS HD, Discovery/Disc HD, History, and occasionally Spike and ESPN HD - especially since I've got >100hrs of shows recorded from those channels that I haven't even watched yet.

[rmjeep]

Hijack/
Can anyone point me in the right direction to pull shows off my DCT3412?
/Hijack

[not so Quikjeep]

DVD recorder is about the only leagal way. I have heard of a few hacks but you would have to research them.

-Tom

[Eryl Flynn]

I have one of the motorola HD DVRs from Comcast and it is going back. It is slow and sluggish, lots of pixelation. On Demand works like crap. Hit the pause and wait 7 seconds for it to pause. It is dumb as dog crap, I told it to record only new Simpsons episodes and it records ALL of them. Similiar issue with South Park.
I only have a series 2 Tivo, was thinking about going Tivo HD but I went DirecTv. Here is why, many of the cable companies, and I would bet Comcast will be there soon, are changing channels over to switched digital video. This means you the DVR needs bidirectional communication to get that channel, same as On Demand. I understand there are comments about allowing the version of cable cards that Tivo would need to do that to run on Tivo, but the big issue is the cable companies. They don't want to lose that revenue stream that they will lose if Tivo is used.

Bottom line for me was that I could get a Tivo HD, and who knows how compatible it would be down the line as cable companies try to squeeze out competition.

On top of that, DirecTv had more HD channels, AND has VOD which is basically on Demand. It downloads it off the internet to my DVR so I don't have that annoying sluggish response when watching them.

[not so Quikjeep]

If your On demand isn't working and your getting pixelation then it probably isn't the DVR, it could be a bad box which does happen, but it sounds like you have poor signal at the box and your return signal is too high which will make OnDemand not work. Yes we are switching to Switched digital video, this means channels that are not as popular as other will be only avalible in On Demand. This frees up more bandwidth for us to put out more HD channels.

-Tom

[not so Quikjeep]

Hit the pause and wait 7 seconds for it to pause. It is dumb as dog crap, I told it to record only new Simpsons episodes and it records ALL of them. Similiar issue with South Park.



The recording is based off of the guide, if the guide doesn't say "New" or "repeat" then the DVR will record it no matter what. The 7 second wait is because the hard drive in some of the DVRs are crap plain and simple. It was a flaw from the factory and it's called "button cueing". I compare it to a kid with down syndrom, it gets the info but takes a few seconds to process it before it reacts.

I know these sound like excuses but its the truth I deal with this crap every day. If you want me to check out why its acting up shoot me a PM.

-Tom

[Eryl Flynn]

Thanks, I got DirecTV installed so the DVR box is going back. The guide bothered me because Tivo's guide didn't have that same problem that I did with Comcast. I think it is cueing from too few or the wrong place. Shows that were from 2000 and you can see that on the guide would be considered new. I had shows that play 3 times a week record the first one, then record the others as I deleted them as well. Just plain screwy and some thing Comcast should take up with who ever is providing their guide and the software that is reading the guide.

Yea, I wondered about the cable at the house since I also had the broadband go down from time to time. If not for the fact I can get channels in HD that I want like Sci-Fi I might have stuck with Comcast. Though I might drop them all if Verizon ever gets FIOS in our area.

[Yota]

1. Does Comcast have bi-directional, multi-tuner, HD, PCI cards yet? That is what I'm looking for for my Home Theater PC. I won't go to PC-based PVR until this is a reality.

2. Does Comcast have a better DVR available now? The Moto box is adequate (it has problems, yes, but not what I consider show stoppers) but better is always better, ya know. :)



For now I haven't honestly found a solution as elegant and simple and full-featured as the Comcast DVR (or possibly DirecTV but I haven't made that switch yet). The one-off solutions just don't seem to get me everything I'm looking for.

For the record, I haven't seen any problems with HD pixelization on the moto DVR but I probably wouldn't know pixelization if it punched me in the arm.

[not so Quikjeep]

1. Does Comcast have bi-directional, multi-tuner, HD, PCI cards yet? That is what I'm looking for for my Home Theater PC. I won't go to PC-based PVR until this is a reality.

2. Does Comcast have a better DVR available now? The Moto box is adequate (it has problems, yes, but not what I consider show stoppers) but better is always better, ya know. :)



For now I haven't honestly found a solution as elegant and simple and full-featured as the Comcast DVR (or possibly DirecTV but I haven't made that switch yet). The one-off solutions just don't seem to get me everything I'm looking for.

For the record, I haven't seen any problems with HD pixelization on the moto DVR but I probably wouldn't know pixelization if it punched me in the arm.

No for the PCI cards. Which DVR do you have? The 6412, the 3412, or the DCH3416?

-Tom

[Yota]

No for the PCI cards. Which DVR do you have? The 6412, the 3412, or the DCH3416?

-Tom


We have the DCT3412-I.

[not so Quikjeep]

There is a newer one, bigger hard drive, different look and better hard drive. The DCH3416.

-Tom

[Yota]

cool, I'll go over to the one by Centennial Airport and axe for it (well I'll call first :) )