Engadget HD Podcast 163 - 11.10.2009
By Trent Wolbe 
posted Nov 10th 2009 3:50PM
posted Nov 10th 2009 3:50PM
Wow what a show this week. You wouldn't know for looking at it, but there was a lot to cover and this show ended up being in contention for the longest on record. Which partly because we just couldn't stop talking about Media Center's new ability to record without DRM from CableCARD. But there was also plenty of talk about RVU, Managed Copy and DVRs in general. At one point we even took issue with claims by the chat room and really let 'em have it -- but we doubt we got through to them. We could go on and one about the other topics, but really, you should just have a listen for yourself. It'll be a good listen too as the man who loves every TV show, explains why he even watches shows he doesn't like, yes really. Get the podcast
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Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh, Richard Lawler
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Program
00:00:40 - Comments from Engadget HD Podcast 162
00:08:45 - Microsoft emancipates Digital Cable Tuners with second Media Center update today
00:21:04 - RVU Alliance gets Motorola, Pace, Thomson and others to dream the multiroom dream
00:34:12 - TiVo's AN0100 802.11n WiFi adapter hits the FCC, stirs up imaginations
00:40:17 - Are DVRs actually going to save the network TV model?
00:52:45 - A la carte lawsuit against cable companies dismissed
00:55:50 - Forget HDTV and 3D, when is Ultra HDTV / Super Hi-vision coming home?
00:58:50 - VUDU brings Pandora, Picasa and Flickr to connected HDTVs, promises more apps soon
01:00:38 - Managed Copy hits Blu-ray Discs December 4th, but you still can't use it
01:13:30 - Netflix instant streaming demoed on PlayStation 3 (updated with more video!)
01:15:58 - Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime squashes Wii HD rumors... again
01:19:25 - Ready for the first all-HD Winter Olympics? NBC is
01:28:22 - Poll: Did you like the new show V?
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Oh my...I just tried to listen to the podcast for the first time. I cannot do it. I'm sorry, but Ben's little lisp is just too much. Not only does he sound comical, but he is very hard to understand.
Ben, I wanted to take an opportunity to give you my insights as to why Cable Company, Telco, and Satellite DVRs have such little disk space.
Your right, it's not due to cost. What it has everything to do with is STANDARDIZATION.
1.) The cable company does not want to have to stock multiple DVR models with multiple size hard disks in each particular model. It's just a way to keep their costs and complexity down. Comcast for example only wants to have three kind of STBs in inventory. An SD Box, and HD Box, and a SD/HD DVR. They just want the tech or customer service rep (depending if they rolled a truck or you showed up at the service center) to be able to go to one shelf and get the right device without having to worry about how much storage they need to give you. It just makes things simpler.
2. Okay, and then your next question would logically be. Alright so the cable company doesn't want to carry three models of DVRs. So why do they purchase the model with the smallest harddrive and that falls into the realm of customer psychology. One only has to check the local HDTV forums at AVSforum.com to see the problem. When a new STB is announced, the forums come alive with "Hey, is Comcast offering the new Motorola DVR yet? If so, how can I demand that they give me one because the one I currently have sucks." Now, from a hardware point of view, there is really no "functional" difference between say the DCT-6412 Phase III models to the new DCX models in the Motorola World. They all have the same necessary features. An HDMI port and a eSATA port for storage expansion. They all run the same sucky ass iGuide software and they all work exactly the same. But those facts have not stopped those pathetic morons from demanding that Comcast give them the latest and greatest box.
Now imagine what will happen if say tomorrow Comcast decides that they will now only deploy the DCX-x432 DVR. 320GB of space (the average Comcast DVR is in the 120GB-160GB). Once that news gets out on the Internet, Comcast will have their customer services lines melted down and lines outside of their service centers with all the AVS-gotta-have-the-newest-geeks calling and walking up DEMANDING that Comcast replace their functioning DVR with the DCX model with more storage. There is no way Comcast will have enough of those boxes to go around and they will end up with a bunch of pissed off customers. So, the idea is to only buy DVRs with bigger hard drives when you can no longer get the ones you have been buying and then only buy the smallest unit so you don't have to replace every DVR you deployed.
I had three Comcast DVRs before I got my Vista Media Center.
DCT-6208 (80GB)
DCT-6412 Phase III (120GB)
DCT-3412 (120GB)
I understand the commonly deployed model is now the DCH-x416 (with the "x" either being a 3 for a digital only box or 6 for a analog/digital box) which is a 160GB unit. I believe the x416 is now the smallest model Motorola makes. So hard drive sizes are increasing, but they only increase slowly as to make the "enthusiast" customer not to want to bother with an upgrade. (as going from 120GB to 160GB only gives you 4 more hours of HD).
Now if you are looking for a conspiracy, ask why the eSATA ports still aren't active on those DVRs. Beyond the craptacular iGuide software, that is.
Oh, and I have mentioned how much I hate iGuide?
One point I forgot...when I say the there are no functional differences between the later DCT, DCH, and now DCX STBs that is in relation to the commonly deployed cable architecture. Yes, the DCX supports "MPEG-4" and "1Ghz Tuning" but all the current deployments are MPEG-2 and 860Mhz tuning, so no difference. Yes, there maybe aesthetic differences between the models that make them more attractive in your rack but hey if you wanted pretty you wouldn't have the Cable Company DVR anyway...
Have you guys ever noticed different "levels" of surround between different nfl games? Some stadiums feel more immersive. Is it the station carrying the game, or is it the stadium wiring? Your thoughts...
Assuming that the station has their Dolby Digital 5.1 encoder setup properly. The amount of sound present in the surround channels probably is mostly due to the skill of the audio engineer in the truck and how much surround the director / producer wants in the production.
I tested videoo playback over Windows 7. In short some videos play without a hitch; others are problematic; no videos will play from within Media Center.
Details here http://thunor.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!71C238B5E0E3724D!2723.entry?&_c02_vws=1
regarding the comments on tivo i agree with some of Ben's points regarding the dated ui. However you can now look at the guide while watching a recorded tivo. This was a feature added close to a year ago. I am a person who has really outgrown tivo but i often wonder why Ben a person who only really watches tv and doesn't archive his movies prefers media center. Granted the 4:3 interface is hideous but Ben often talks about the out of the box 160 gig hard drive on the tivo which isn't really a fair criticism for tivo since its so easy to add a 1 terabyte hard drive with a small amount of hacking. I realize that this requires a bit of hacking and would be considered a work around but so does setting up commercial skip and auto convert for dvrms toolbox. I'm not saying that media center isn't more capable for somebody that spends hours writing dvrms toolbox profiles i feel like its not fair to say that tivo comes with a 160 gb hard drive as though it just cant be changed. Another advantage to tivo is dual live buffers, something which no amount of hacking can fix. In terms of added functionality I love the netflix ui another something that media center cant really say that it has. Another thing i never hear mentioned is stability. Stability is a major concern from me and its the number one thing that makes me hesitant to make the jump to media center. At any rate i agree with most of Ben's criticism of the tivo ui but wanted to point out that it can now pull up the guide while watching a recorded tv.
The main reason I use Media Center instead of TiVo is because it has real multi-room viewing. I want one comprehensive now playing list for the entire house and one Todo list. I also want to be able to watch whatever I want without having to transfer a show first. Combine this with the much better overall UI and ability to automatically skip commercials and I prefer it despite the reduced reliability.
That being said, if TiVo releases a new box with a UI that looks like the new search and real MRV, I'll gladly switch back to TiVo -- if the price is right.
Technically it’s still O-L-E-D. And SATA is Serial A-T-A. :)
For the past 5 or 6 years I have been using Media Center except for about 18 months I had Tivo HD which I got rid of and went back to Media Center once the CableCARD hack came out. So I have forgotten a few things about Tivo.
Some things you mention about the Tivo is true but what I am just talking about is the actual guide and recorded TV. Now that you mention the guide not showing what is set to record is annoying. That was really my only complain about Tivo, besides multi-room. But the guide and recorded TV screen look great and there isn’t a reason to change the look. Looks essentially the same as Media Center. But there isn’t a need to change that part of Tivo. Just all the other junk they put into Tivo shouldn’t be there, such as youtube.
A lot of the stuff you mentioned also have the same flaws in Media Center, like not being able to change the font. And there is an easier way then going to the To Do list, which I never used. Just try recording it from the guide and it will ask you if you want to continue to record it, then you know it is already set to record. But you shouldn’t have to do that.
My biggest gripe about Media Center is not being able to record the buffer and not having recorded TV show up grouped and sorted by date, as Tivo can do.
I also only have seen Comcast and DirecTV boxes and they are just complete garbage. They were so unusable to me in so many ways. But I can’t comment on other providers. I do have FiOS every place around me but my condo complex I am fighting with the management to allow Verizon to come in and install it for free. Been fighting for months. :(