Comcast v. Tivo

[BlueDevilBaby]

Anybody have any thoughts, particularly now that Comcast has moved to this awful HD format with a horrible guide and no PIP? I already have a Tivo account but don't use it because it was too much trouble to coordinate with Comcast's little digital converter box. I'm thinking of switching to a better Tivo box (mine is several years old) for the big screen TV but am hesitant without some practical input. Thanks, all.

[JasonEvans]

I am thinking UVerse.

That is what I use and I LOVE it. Their billing is insane -- we have gazoombas of promotions and they keep on forgetting which is which and not crediting us properly, but we call and get it worked out each time. It is waay cheaper than what I would get with Comcast. Heck, I am now getting like 20 pay movie channels for less than what I was paying with Comcast when I had zero movie channels.

Tell them I recommended you. I think I will get a stuffed animal out of it or something like that

-Jason

[BlueDevilBaby]

No go on the Uverse - it's unavailable in my area. Otherwise I would definitely consider it. FIOS is another option but my boss has had so much trouble with his, I'm skeptical even though my trainer loves it.

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

I can't remember if you've mentioned wether FiOS is an option where you are in Arlington (I'm guessing not). If it is, I highly recommend it as a customer (I also work for VZ). I have also read tech blogs who endorse FiOS as Tivo-friendly although I don't have a Tivo anymore.

The newest Tivos use cable cards which should make it fairly easy to work with.

BTW, you're not alone in hating the new guide in Arlington. http://www.arlnow.com/2011/06/29/mor...comcast-guide/

[BlueDevilBaby]

I can't remember if you've mentioned wether FiOS is an option where you are in Arlington (I'm guessing not).[/url]

It is, my trainer lives in Arlington. Thanks.

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

No go on the Uverse - it's unavailable in my area. Otherwise I would definitely consider it. FIOS is another option but my boss has had so much trouble with his, I'm skeptical even though my trainer loves it.

Just read this. Do you know what issues your boss had?

If you decide to give FiOS a try PM me and I'll see if I can help out. I can't do anything about pricing, but I can help with service.

BTW, the new FiOS guide will be coming out soon enough and it's going to be really sharp. http://www.youtube.com/user/verizon?.../6/iqQSE3TpbS8

I can take this conversation offline if this is getting to commercial-like.

[BlueDevilBaby]

It is, my trainer lives in Arlington. Thanks.

Oops. FIOS is not available, just standard bundles. My boss has had phone and internet problems. He doesn't watch much TV.

[SuperTurkey]

I'm a huge fan of Tivos for HD TVs. The configuration with CableCard is a snap, and the UI is so, so much better than that of provider DVRs that I'll gladly pay extra up front for the hardware (and slightly more per month).

Aside from the much better interface, there are a few other key wins in Tivo's favor:

• It's fairly easy to upgrade the storage on Tivos (either internally with a bit of elbow grease, or externally in a way blessed by Tivo). My Tivo and my wife's Tivo each have about 1.5TB of storage.
• Tivo makes it very easy to share content with other Tivos in the house. My wife and I do this all the time, usually when she needs to record more than 2 things at the same time.
• Tivo's web interface for remotely adding shows is much better than I've seen from cable-provider DVRs. This is really important when you get to work and realize you forgot to schedule the Duke game (blasphemy, I know, but it happens).
• Tivo also makes it easy to extract video and play it on a computer if you want to take a show with you. This also gives you an easy path for saving content permanently by putting it on external redundant storage. I know I sleep better at night knowing that the entire 2010 NCAA tournament run, recorded in glorious HD, is backed up in case my Tivo explodes.

[-jk]

I have the hd/xl Tivo with comcast, with a pair of tuner cards. No problems. Love my Tivo!

-jk

[Bluedog]

I also use Comcast with Tivo HDXL (using a single m-stream card). It's great - much better than Comcast's DVR and actually cheaper for me on a per-month basis. It doesn't require the use of a Comcast box at all (I gave my old one back to them). The Tivo box replaces the cable box and the card placed in the slot is all you need. You do lose Comcast's On Demand functionality, but it's a small price to pay in my mind. There was the upfront cost of buying the Tivo admittedly, which I simply got off ebay when Premiere came out (Tivo Premiere hasn't gotten that great reviews so I decided it wasn't worth the extra cost and would rather have more storage so got a better deal from the Tivo series 3 that were being discontinued.) Tivo's user interface, functionality (e.g. simple fast forward, skip back 30 seconds, etc.), suggestions, experience is FAR superior to the terrible Comcast DVR. And my Tivo holds 150 hours of HD (1 TB) as opposed to the Comcast DVR which holds 200 GB, I believe, or 30 hours. 5x the storage with a better experience? Yes please.

Comcast HD box was costing me $8.95/month anyways and the HD DVR box was something like $15 (this varies region to region). Admittedly, I had the upfront cost of the Tivo box, but now only pay like $8/month. Basically the same cost as the Comcast HD box without DVR. No brainer for my particular situation assuming the upfront cost isn't out of reach. I've had no problems whatsover with the m-stream card. They had a tech come to "install" it, but I simply put it in the slot myself and it's worked from day one. I'd recommend getting an m-stream card (multi-stream) as opposed to two s-stream ones if you do decide to go the Tivo route.