Cablevision on track to deliver Network DVR this Summer
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted May 20th 2009 2:13PM
posted May 20th 2009 2:13PM
We all want the same thing right? The ability to watch any show we want, whenever we want, and wherever we want. Sounds easy, but even in this day and age to achieve this easily isn't possible. Currently there are a few ways this might happen down the road, and one that looks to be coming our way sooner rather than later is Cablevision's Network DVR. While a traditional DVR has a hard drive in it to store your shows, the Network DVR wouldn't. Instead it would stream the content from a centralized data store, like VOD. You'd still have to pre-schedule your recordings and presumably you'd still have a set limit, but ordering DVR service wouldn't require a new box and best of all, you should have access to all the same content in any room of the house. This has been in the making for a long time now -- three years actually -- but Hollywood has been tying it up in court. Luckily the courts have been on Cablevision's side, but it does appear that the consumer may still get the shaft. That's because it seems there's a chance that the Network DVR won't let you fast forward through commercials, which would obviously make it a show stopper for most.
If you can't FF commercials, then this is basically useless. I REALLY hope they don't go that route, cause I'm actually looking forward to this, and be able to ditch their 2 DVR boxes. Otherwise, I'll stick to the trusted ol' hard-drive DVR.
How is this different from Verizon FIOS's Multi-room DVR?
It's different because you don't have a physical HD in your cable box. Everything you select to record is recorded at the Cablevision server and then is streamed to your cable box over the network.
And the idea of no ff commercials really blows.
Cablevision, like most other traditional cable companies, is so corrupt and disgusting. Rather than compete on price, they have bought up the media content and offers it exclusively to their customers and flaunts it.
In NY, you can't go 5 minutes without seeing a commercial that says something about how you can only see every NY based sports team in HD with cablevision, not FIOS. Of course they don't mention they own MSG and MSG + (as well as the Rangers and Knicks franchises). So they don't offer Knicks, Rangers, Devils and Islanders in HD to FIOS. I believe they also don't offer Fuse (not that I really care) to FIOS customers). I'm shocked that a bigger deal hasn't been made about this. I actually made a formal complaint to the FCC but from what I've read, the FCC thinks this is a fair business practice since they offer the SD feed to FIOS customers (and because cablevision's lobby is much better than mine).
I'm a huge Rangers fan and I watch their games on my DLP in SD because I refuse to support Cablevision and their awful selection of HD channels and prices.
They also advertise that their cable modems are so much faster than "phone company internet" and quote figures that say its like 5 times faster or whatever...of course they fail to mention that the "phone company internet" that they are referring to is DSL, not FIOS. Total misleading advertising that they get away with.
So yeah, I hope this DVR fails, Cablevision fails, they sell my teams and offer subscribers of any cable service the chance to watch sports teams in HD instead of their unfair business practices of buying up teams and networks so they can keep them from competitors.
I would love this so much. Which I enjoy fast forwarding commercials, I would rather have access to more programming since my DVR only lets me record 2 things @ once and malfunctions alot and deletes my recordings or has an error.
This is good but the dvr that cablevision gives needs more space on the harddrive bause mines is always filling up .
Cablevision strikes again. After moving 40 channels to Switched network you would think they would provide a Switched network adapter for their cable card subscribers. They only offer them to TIVO cable card users and for them they require you to be subscribed to a premium subscription. What a ripoff! forcing people to subscribe for things they do not want to get an adapter so that cable cards they rent you to give you all the channels.
Here are requirements from their website:
Requirements
TiVo Requirements
TiVo software version 9.4 or higher and one of the following TiVo DVRs:
TiVo HD DVR
TiVo HD XL DVR
TiVo Series3™ HD DVR
The Tuning Adapter will not function with other CableCARD devices, such as an HDTV, Moxi HD DVR or PC TV tuner.
Subscription Requirements
Customers must subscribe to one of the following services:
iO en español, iO Russian, iO Korean, and other subscription international programming.
MLB Extra Innings, NBA League Pass, NHL Center Ice, and other subscription sports programming.
iO Sports Pak (in order to receive NHL Network HD).
iO Silver or iO Gold (in order to receive all of the included HD channels).
HBO, Showtime, Cinemax Starz/Encore individual movie packages (in order to receive all of the included HD channels).