How do I keep cable companies from outsourcing my TiVo?
Tell them your Internet friend kcm says that there’s no reason to give up a working TiVo for a cable company provided DVR. I had a TiVo since the first one came out, and gave it up when I moved a year ago since I got a new HD LCD TV and wanted HD capability. I regret it because the Comcast DVR is a nightmare hardware- and software-wise. For example, if you push Exit on the season pass management screen instead of clicking Confirm, you keep your changes but future management goes to hell when it messes up the indexes. You can no longer move some season passes into some positions because the software corrupts the numbering when you press Exit after changes instead of Confirm. The fix is to write down your settings, hard reset the DVR, and re-enter the passes. That’s just one example. Like the other ones, the bug has existed forever without any word of a fix.. I’m not sure Comcast ever updates the software – though the hardware is very capable. The interface is terrible and completely non
Their HD DVRs do not have 60-80GB disks. The Motorola units, for example, have had 120GB disks for a long time and have recently been replaced by 160GB disks. The Panasonic units Comcast will likely move to 1Q07 has a 250GB disk (and three tuners, vs. two for the current units/Series 3 TiVos [and one for the Series 1 and Series 2 TiVos]). You can certainly have a TiVo with cable service, as they will control most analog and digital boxes via serial or infrared signals. One final upside is that you don’t have to deal with the terminally stupid Comcast customer service, like I just tried to on the phone. 20 minutes on hold just to get to a representative that has no idea what you’re talking about, won’t transfer you, and treat you like an idiot when you ask to speak to someone else.
Cable DVRs are also really not smart. They cannot learn your preferences and record shows automatically for you like TiVo. They also don’t have the “record any show on any channel that has X in the details” function, so there’s no setting that will allow you to, for instance, always have Leno, Letterman, Conan, etc. recorded if your favorite band is making an appearance, or every movie that your favorite actor is in. Also, if you tell the DVR that you want every episode of a show (the equivalent of a “season pass”) even if you specify “only new episodes” be recorded, if the show airs multiple times a week (like Project Runway) it will record each airing. And if you tell it that the particular show should only be deleted when you delete it, not when space is needed, you could come to your TV after two or three days and find that 25% of your measly hard drive space is taken up with repeated recordings of the exact same episode of a show. And even if you watch it and delete it, if it come
If they insist on switching to TWC you could persuade them to opt for an additional standalone TiVo to control the cable box. The best argument for this route is that the menus, interface, and remote control will be identical in the new setup. Nothing is more frustrating than learning new buttons and menus, it can take weeks before you’re really controlling the TV without thinking too hard.
My comcast cable DVR, a Motorola, has weird problems. A show is set to record, there’s the little red dot on the listing indicating it’s going to record, show starts, and… it doesn’t record. What are you supposed to do with that?! KCM’s explanation is the first one I’ve ever heard, so I guess that’s a start. You don’t know when a show will decide not to record, though. Also, if the cable box has to turn itself on to record, and you then turn on the TV to watch something, it’s stuck on mute. You can flip your mute button on and off but it has no effect. WTF?! Grrr. The interface does kind of suck. Just doesn’t seem intuitive, and seems like it could be much better optimized. My buddy’s Tivo interface looks slick and he reports no bizarro problems. The thing is always rebooting itself. I’m never sure why. For a while after reboots, all shows on the guide are titled “To Be Announced”. The thing has two tuners, so you’re supposed to be able to record two shows at once. Usually this works
