http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/engadget-hd-podcast-163-11-10-2009/ Engadget Comments for Engadget HD Podcast 163 - 11.10.2009 http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/engadget-hd-podcast-163-11-10-2009/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/engadget-hd-podcast-163-11-10-2009/Nov 23rd 2009 4:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/engadget-hd-podcast-163-11-10-2009/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/engadget-hd-podcast-163-11-10-2009/
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?



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Details here http://thunor.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!71C238B5E0E3724D!2723.entry?&_c02_vws=1]]>Nov 12th 2009 7:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/engadget-hd-podcast-163-11-10-2009/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/engadget-hd-podcast-163-11-10-2009/Nov 14th 2009 2:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/engadget-hd-podcast-163-11-10-2009/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/engadget-hd-podcast-163-11-10-2009/
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.]]>Nov 14th 2009 2:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/engadget-hd-podcast-163-11-10-2009/http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/engadget-hd-podcast-163-11-10-2009/
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. :(]]>Nov 16th 2009 11:08AM