Support NeoGAF

[DarienA]

Our one year commitment to DirecTV is up this month and we've been seriously considering switching to Comcast Digital... the switch is driven by two factors...

1. We can get much faster speeds either 4 or 6Mbps($10 more) compared to our pitiful DSL speeds.

2. We've had trouble getting DirectTV units working in all of our cable ready outlets in the house... we know they work for cable but for some reason our DirecTV installers have had difficulty getting them all connected the multiswitch, no idea what the story is there...

Now I know that Comcast has it's own DVR... and I know they have a NFL Sunday Ticket like service so I won't miss anything there... but I don't know much about the Comcast DVR itself... who makes it? How does it compare to a Tivo, let alone a DirecTivo? I think the one thing I'll loose is the ability to record two shows at once.. it seems like only DirecTivo's have that capability?

Any Comcast DVR owners here? Has Comcast announced any plans to add Tivo like Home Media functionality to their DVR's?

 

[Mofo]

I've been a Tivo user for the past 4 years, and recently upgraded my HDTV to Comcast's HDTV/DVR box, and I'm VERY happy with it. We still have one of our Tivo/DVD recorders hooked up, but the convience of being able to record HDTV feeds along with regular content makes me oh so happy.

The quality is good, the on screen guide is doable, and yes, you can record two programs at once. I'm conflicted on keeping my Tivo, I still love some of the extra content you get with the service but the Comcast DVR has quickly become my default DVR. The Tivo is now mostly used for the kid's shows and crappy reality TV.

 

[sprsk]

Motorla makes it, i actually just got one yesterday and its pretty nice. It comes loaded with their new on screen guide (which is 100 times better than the old one) and HD stuff is watchable even on non hd tvs. my only complaint is that it takes a while to flip through channels. and when watching hd programming the guide wont come up (i have a feeling this has to do with my tv not being hd). I dont know hwo tivo is so i cant compare.


You can do things like watch one program and record another, it will record series for you if you want and all that stuff.

 

[borghe]

my HD Tivo blows away any cable DVR...

but it was $899

but I have 500GB of storage in it (63 hours)

but it will probably be obsolete within two years

but I can digitall extract SD and HD video from it

and have caller id on it

and can control it from an HTTP interface

and have it networked wirelessly

but it was $899

for me $899 WELL spent. possibly the single most important entertainment device in my house. YMMV

 

[DarienA]

Uh thanks borghe... but no thanks...

Motorla makes it, i actually just got one yesterday and its pretty nice. It comes loaded with their new on screen guide (which is 100 times better than the old one) and HD stuff is watchable even on non hd tvs. my only complaint is that it takes a while to flip through channels. and when watching hd programming the guide wont come up (i have a feeling this has to do with my tv not being hd). I dont know hwo tivo is so i cant compare.


You can do things like watch one program and record another, it will record series for you if you want and all that stuff.

Does the series recording actually work? I've read a few reviews from late last year that basically say that it you can't cancel individual eps, that it doesn't handle scheduling conflicts well either.... does it have a wish list option where you can use keywords to specify the type of show you'd like? Say I want to always record new Boxing events... with my DirecTivo I have a wishlist set up using the keyword boxing it'll grab any new boxing from any channels.

 

[borghe]

wishlists and the extensive program searching options I believe are patents owned by Tivo. hence why no one in the last 6+ years has released anything that can search like the Tivo can.

 

[DarienA]

wishlists and the extensive program searching options I believe are patents owned by Tivo. hence why no one in the last 6+ years has released anything that can search like the Tivo can.

Good lord a friggin wishlist was patented? Son of a b*tch... <sigh> Oh well guess I guess I'd just have to note the channels that we watch for boxing and set those shows up as series....

 

[borghe]

Good lord a friggin wishlist was patented? Son of a b*tch... <sigh> Oh well guess I guess I'd just have to note the channels that we watch for boxing and set those shows up as series....

it is not the wishlist so much as all of the underlying searching and prioritizing and stuff... if you have ever looked at a TivoWeb page for a single recording you can see a little bit behind how Tivo's database is setup... it is really quite extensive.

http://borgh.dyndns.org/images/tivowebexample.jpg

and you have to remember that every single one of those blue items is actually linked data in the Tivo database (except for the More Info line that is). Their database is really pretty amazing.

 

[sprsk]

I have noticed the scheduling conflicts, but ive only had it for a day so i dunno what the deal with that is. Series recording DOES work, you can set it to record new shows only or reruns and what not.

 

[Phoenix]

It is not a competitor to Tivo, but is competent in its own right.

 

[DarienA]

It is not a competitor to Tivo, but is competent in its own right.

So I get a nice bump in my high speed internet connection... but the trade off is the loss of features for my DVR... <sigh> and how much do additional DVR's through Comcast run? The first one is free and all you pay is the monthly fee? That means you're only renting it right?

 

[Phoenix]

So I get a nice bump in my high speed internet connection... but the trade off is the loss of features for my DVR... <sigh> and how much do additional DVR's through Comcast run? The first one is free and all you pay is the monthly fee? That means you're only renting it right?

Through comcast you're renting them all as far as I know. I know I'm getting a $9.95 surcharge on my bill and I only have one

 

[BlackClouds]

I got this also this Sunday. Seems pretty sweet. Can't wait to record some high def Boxing, and archive a couple concerts on INHD. The Comcast ON Demand is also very convienent, cuts down the number of movies I might have to record so I can concentrate on tv shows, special events and sports.

 

[element]

Video On Demand rules!!

 

[aaaaa0]

I have both the comcast PVR and a triple-tuner HD Media Center.

The comcast box is nice, but the UI on the Media Center is just 100x better. The way the grid listings work, the movie guide, direct links to cast and movie reviews, wildcard recording rules, realtime searching on any field in the show's title/description/cast, etc. (The Media Center has other problems, but the UI isn't one of them.)

Too bad the Media Center can't directly record digital cable and has to go through an external digital cable box.

Hopefully that's going to change with CableCard.

 

[cubanb]

i thought nfl sunday ticket was exclusive to directtv. did something change

 

[gblues]

i thought nfl sunday ticket was exclusive to directtv. did something change

Nope. DirecTV has it locked up through 2010 last I checked.

Nathan

 

[Stuggernaut]

I'm waiting to see DirectTV's entry into the DVR scene (not Tivo)...before I think of anything else.