Personal thoughts on Comcast HD DVR
By Matt Burns 
posted Oct 3rd 2005 2:58PM
posted Oct 3rd 2005 2:58PM
Well I did it. I took the plunge and forked over a little extra cash each month for Comcast’s HD DVR set-top box from Motorola. I used TIVO in the past and didn't expect that this DVR would come close to the functionality of the most popular recorder. However, so far I'm very pleased with Comcast’s implementation of it. The HD DVR box from Comcast has many of the same features that TIVO has. The most important one for me is that I can set a series record for any station.
This box surprised me by having an HDMI hookup as well; the Comcast installer said that there was no increase in picture quality over the Comcast supplied component cables, but when he left, there was a noticable increase in quality. I guess he needs to read HD Beat, or at least do some training. It was sure worth my $27 that Comcast made me pay to have this guy come out, hook it up, and tell me bad information.
Overall, though, I've been very happy with this HD DVR from Comcast. It's easy to use and the DVR operates just as it is supposed to. I still feel though that Comcast is raping me in fees here and there, but at least I get local stations in high-def.
I also have the Comcast HD DVR. It's the ONLY reason I left DirecTV...wasn't willing to pay $1000 for their HD Tivo. Anyway...it's not as good as Tivo, but it's OK. There are a few annoying bugs that still have not been fixed in firmware:
1 - If you turn off the dvr and it turns itself on to record a show it applies mute on the dvr. The comcast remote is programmed so the mute button triggers your tv mute...so there is no way to un-mute the dvr box....really dumb. I have to shut the dvr off and interupt the recording. I just got a Logitech Harmony remote, so I fixed it by programming the remote the correct way.
2 - Occasionally I get no signal and must unplug it from the wall to do a hard reset. This hasn't happened in a long time.
3 - Season Pass (Tivo terminology) bug. My season pass list keeps getting messed up somehow. The number assigned to the season pass duplicates so there will be multiple season passes numbered 7 for example. When this happens I cannot re-order the list. Very annoying!!
4 - Sound volume between HD channels and SD channels is dramatically different. Very annoying to always have to adjust volume between channels. Sometimes on HD channels I have my TV volume turned almost all the way out. This seems to only be a problem for the RCA out jacks on the DVR. Using optical output through my surround receiver the difference is not that noticable.
5 - I cannot "hack" it to add a larger hard drive like I did my Tivo. But, rumors are that eventually you'll be able to ad an external firewire hard drive to increase storage....hopefully they'll enable this feature soon.
I'm willing to put up with these bugs because you simply cannot beat $9.95/month for an HD DVR. BUT, I cannot wait for my Comcast HD Tivo next year...!!
Bah, I never pay installation fees. I just tell them that either they waive the fee or I won't be getting additional services from them. They always comply. When I got HD installed they wanted $50 to install it but I told them I didn't want anyone at all but they requried it so I said I wasn't paying for it. I got install for free!
Comcast ran a free install, free first month on the DVR, so I also jumped in to give it a test spin. I have the dual tuner model. I never had a Tivo, but I did build my own MythTv box.
So far I've had two glitches over 3 weeks:
1.) I paused a show, and when I resumed the video was messed up. I had to change to a different channel and then back to fix it, losing the buffer
2.) One of my HD recordings (CSI season premiere) was missing the center channel audio! There was no voice, only music and sound effects... it was really weird.
From Myth, I miss two things so far:
-a ton of recording options (especially the option to pad the start/end times globally)
-a commercial skip (or at least a 30 sec jump)
But it's THE easiest way to get HD timeshfiting, so overall I'm still happy.
You can add 2 very important features to the remotoe control if you follow the instructions here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_6412
Foward 30 second skip button, and tuner swap (which allows you to keep a program running on one tuner and swap to the other so that you don't lose the buffer).
Also, the firewire ports are a nice plus. I export patriots games to my Mac as an MPEG stream and then take out the commercials and make a DVD out of them for archival purposes. Granted, once you down convert the stream to DVD (480P) its not as nice as having it be full HD, but that still beats the pants off trying to record an HD show on your VHS.
Question about the Comcast Box....
I have the Scientific Atlanta 8300hd w/ Adelphia out of South Florida. I also have the HD Tivo that i was planning on getting rid of. Two things that absolutely bug the hell out of me:
1. No timeshift - if i'm recording a show that started at 8 pm and get home at 830, i cant start watching show from beginning unless i keep my eyes closed and rewind back to beginning.
2. If i watch a movie that i saved and watch only half the movie, i can't resume from the same spot, i have to Fast forward through movie to get to the spot.
I was told that the comcast box operates much the same. is that true? can anybody recommend a site that will give me hints or ways to tweak the explorer 8300 hd?
thanx
The motorola box from comcast, at least w/ the tv quide software (in some areas it apparently comes with Microsoft software that is completely different), does both of those things. If you're recording a show and you get home in the middle, hit the dvr button and watch the show as it records, no problem, if you exit or stop the playback aprtway through, when you go back, it starts from the same spot you left off, a couple times I'm noticed it hasn't, but I think it was due to the box resetting after a power outage.
I just recently got the comcast hd dvr box in my apartment in boston. during the summer i live in virginia, where i have cox cable. though the boxes are identical ive found that while cox does not have the hd offerings that comcast does, the use interface is much better, its seamless, clean, fast, and best of all, nearly bug-free.
Wait until you discover my top 3 favorite bugs - um, features.
First, when you choose to record a series, it will record EVERY episode, even when you choose the option "first run only." And it won't tell you in the list of scheduled recordings that it's recording them -- they just appear on your recordings, eating up disc space.
Second, the chipmunk audio. At least once a week when I play a recording, the sound is shifted up in pitch so that dogs can enjoy it.
Third: my TV is connected via the HDMI port -- and every time I turn on the TV, the picture is messed up. I have to turn off the Comcast DVR then back on to get the picture to sync up.
Just remember, mid 2006, the Comcast Motorola DVR units will have the option to upgrade to TiVo software. Then, most of your worries will be done about usability. I do wonder if it will shut off the Firewire ports though, since exporting via Firewire is less cumbersome than the DRM the TiVo-2-Go software includes - if Comcast offers that option.
Cable companies are required by law to have firewire on their HD boxes, they can't get rid of them. I guess the FCC IS good for something after all!!!
So your saying when the tech leaves the picture gets better? So if he was to stay forever.......
Or u saying hdmi is better than dvi or, or..
I've had a 6214 since feb.lots of bugs but considering we dont got no tivo north of the 49'parallel, I like it.
The segmented picture after a tv off/on cycle disappears by just hittting the guide button twice and ur happy. I never shut mine off.