PVR Wire

1. The input lag that I, and many commenters to Battelle's post, experience isn't isolated just to the Motorola 6412 DVR boxes from Comcast. A good friend has the non-DVR Moto box from Comcast and he experiences exactly the same thing. That's what leads me to doubt that the promised TiVo software for the 6412's will solve that problem. It's a Motorola problem, not a Motorola DVR problem.

Posted at 2:53PM on Nov 3rd 2006 by Bill G

2. I've you've not used a DVR before one of the generic cable or satellite company boxes may seem great, but after using a TiVo I'd be surprised if I could to a lesser unit.

It's because of this that I predict the DirecTV branded generic DVRs will ultimately fail to reach penetration within the entrenched community of DirecTiVo users and that more of those users will end up with a Series3 and cable than will end up with a DirecTV DVR.

Posted at 11:16AM on Nov 3rd 2006 by Robert Aitchison

3. I have one of these and, maybe because as a previous poster notes it's the only DVR I've ever used, I haven't noticed any of these problems. It works fine. The only problem is that it doesn't auto-size the aspect ratio to the TV, so when I change channels between HDTV and regular channels it stays in 4:3 even if the show is 16:9 or superwide, so i need to use a second remote to change that, since the comcast remote can't seem to change that on the TV. otherwise, i love it!

Posted at 1:57PM on Nov 3rd 2006 by Moe Hong

4. I can't believe the dumbass thought it had 100GB of flash memory. No hard drive... sweet christ. And you say Motorola does not understand the computing paradigm. Your blog just lost a buttload of credibility.

Ha ha ha!!!

Posted at 2:48PM on Nov 3rd 2006 by TylerDurden0

5. #3, you need to assign this up in the settings. Use upconvert-2 or pass through so your box will detect the programming.

Posted at 2:50PM on Nov 3rd 2006 by TylerDurden0

6. If you are a TiVo user, and haven't had the opportunity to spend a week with one of these boxes, please do. You will quickly realize why TiVo can get away with charging $800 for their box.

I had something going on yesterday afternoon, so I decided to use my Comcastic HD box to record the West Virginia - Louisville game. I was really looking forward to enjoying the game, and too the extra steps of sequestering myself from the national sports media. I get about an hour and a half into the game, and poof.. my DVR powers off. As a customer of Comcast, I am used to this type of reliability issues, and patiently waited for it to power back on, reinitialize, and communicate with Comcast to ensure I am still a customer of their DVR service. Since Comcast's DVR doesn't let you jump in fifteen minute increments for longer programs (like football games), I started the program, and hit fast forward. Still no major issues, until I arrived at the point of the game I had left off at. I hit play, but nothing happens. I hit play again, still nothing. I stand up and move closer to the DVR, ensuring good line of sight, and hit play. Still nothing. Now I start mashing buttons, but nothing still. Quickly, out of the corner of the screen, I see the scoring bug moving, touchdown, field goal, touchdown. I start screaming obscenities at my DVR, realizing that the game is ruined. I now know the outcome, and its all screwed up.

This is the type of experience you can only get with a Comcast HD DVR. It is so unreliable, I have a standard definition TiVo series two that duplicates any HD recording I entrust to the Comcast box, and it gets used at least twice a week. The only reason I still keep it is because I want HD recordings, and am unable to spend $800 on the Series three.

But don't worry... I am saving up.

Posted at 6:09PM on Nov 3rd 2006 by Rick