And there is no telling on the cost of that either.
Seems to me that they are killing themselves here.
Rental of a STB DVR is $10 ~ $20 a month and there is no upkeep...
And last I heard rental rates and availability of a cable card was up to the cable company.
Theoretically, they can charge you more to rent the cable card than it would cost to rent their DVR.
Don't get me wrong, this is a great announcement but there are still a lot of things that need to come together before Media Center can be a more desirable option.
"And last I heard rental rates and availability of a cable card was up to the cable company."
This is not true. If it were up to the cable company they would never provide you with that cable card. I have cox in northern virginia with a tivo hd and an SDV adapter. If not for legal action filed by enthusiasts through the FCC I don't believe i would even be able to use my tivo hd. Cable companies do not have the discretion to not provide you with a cable card. They are required (by the FCC) even if a little reluctant at first to provide you with them. Honestly though i have found my current cable provider to be very on top of the Cable Card / SDV issues. As for rental rates i have never been charged more than a buck or two a month for the cards themselves. What sucks is getting hit with another 10 dollar a month "HD" fee to get the HD tiers on another tv.
Wow that smacks of monopolistic behavior, only charge a fee for the cards when they are going into the primary DVR competitor of the company? Very shady.
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So they lift the OEM requirements. ABOUT TIME!
Too bad that the only cards available right now are in the $250 range.
Ceton says theirs won't be available until 1Q 2010 ... http://www.cetoncorp.com/ProductsWMCFAQ.php If they don't push it back more...
And there is no telling on the cost of that either.
Seems to me that they are killing themselves here.
Rental of a STB DVR is $10 ~ $20 a month and there is no upkeep...
And last I heard rental rates and availability of a cable card was up to the cable company.
Theoretically, they can charge you more to rent the cable card than it would cost to rent their DVR.
Don't get me wrong, this is a great announcement but there are still a lot of things that need to come together before Media Center can be a more desirable option.
Comcast charges no monthly cablecard rental fee in my market when used in an htpc as opposed to a TiVo.
"And last I heard rental rates and availability of a cable card was up to the cable company."
This is not true. If it were up to the cable company they would never provide you with that cable card. I have cox in northern virginia with a tivo hd and an SDV adapter. If not for legal action filed by enthusiasts through the FCC I don't believe i would even be able to use my tivo hd. Cable companies do not have the discretion to not provide you with a cable card. They are required (by the FCC) even if a little reluctant at first to provide you with them. Honestly though i have found my current cable provider to be very on top of the Cable Card / SDV issues. As for rental rates i have never been charged more than a buck or two a month for the cards themselves. What sucks is getting hit with another 10 dollar a month "HD" fee to get the HD tiers on another tv.
@normychas
I believe smaller regional cable companies (< a certain # of subscribers) are exempt from the FCC regulation regarding cable card.
@Nate
Wow that smacks of monopolistic behavior, only charge a fee for the cards when they are going into the primary DVR competitor of the company? Very shady.
WRONG! The availabiltiy of cable cards is REQUIRED BY LAW for any cable provider in the US and the price can be no more than $1.99 a month per card!