PVR Wire

1. I don't see anything strange in it. As number of users of Comcast PVR is increased the number of unsatisfied users is increased too. It's the rule of the market

Posted at 10:30AM on Nov 19th 2006 by Jack

2. I'm a former TiVo user and because of a few annoyances (that now seem so minor!) I switched to a Comcast box about a year ago. I've had all of the problems mentioned here except for the freezing when switching channels-- though my box often just refuses to change channels at all. The recent software update increased responsiveness and I haven't had a problem with getting stuck in FF since the update. I'm still holding out hope that we'll get TiVo software someday, though. The price tags on the series 3 TiVos is ridiculous and pretty much means I'm stuck with Comcast at this point.

Posted at 10:30AM on Nov 19th 2006 by Bridget Samuels

3. Everything you states in your article is true and even more. I could fill a page worth of issues with the Comcast 6412/3412.

Comcast is releasing an updated version of Firmware and the i-Guide. This new release addresses many issues but adds its own new ones.

I have experienced the following on my 3412:

-Failed to recored shows that were marked to record
-Garbled text or code showing up
-Screen Saver does not cover the entire screen on an HD TV.
-Sometimes navigating the i-Guide will cause it to drop out back to TV for no reason
-The FF,Pause, and REW are much more responsive. The push buttons and Guide catch up seems to be fixed.

Overall it is a step forward but after waiting two years for an update it is very disappointing.

Posted at 2:32PM on Nov 19th 2006 by Mark

4. I agree with the first 3 posters. There does seem to be some improvement in the many well known problems since the recent updates.

As a former ReplayTV owner it will be interesting to try out the TiVo software when [and if] Comcast brings it to our market.

Posted at 2:32PM on Nov 19th 2006 by Bill G

5. I just hope when Comcast pushes the Tivo software to these motorola boxes that all these bugs are fixed. I'm only worried that the hardware inside the box is not fast enough to keep up with all that is going on in this dual HD tuner box. I hope Tivo has better more optimized (threaded) code that can run better on this hardware.

Come on Tivo and Comcast, lets get this software out the door, we comcast uses are sick and tired of our existing PVR's!

Posted at 2:33PM on Nov 19th 2006 by Brian

6. All of this crap happens with my comcast dvr. I HATE the box...but i'd rather not drop over $700 to get a HD capable Tivo.

I guess you get what you pay for. It's just good to hear that my box isn't the only problem.

Posted at 2:33PM on Nov 19th 2006 by James

7. My TiVo (Humax DTR800) had every single one of those problems in the main post and then some.

- Thumbs Up/Down only worked when pressed using the Guide. If pressed at any other time it would just flicker what was supposed to happen then make the wrong "BONG" noise.
- Changing the channel would first flicker the TiVo to go black, then reappear, then dial the numbers to change the channel, then actually change the channel, then bring up the info for that channel. Total process took about 5 seconds and has done it sense the day I got it.
- DVD Burning would require another disk if the recording was slightly over 60min long.
- Would pop up a message telling me my cable box was off, but was too stupid to do something about it.
- The HDD vibrated the TiVo and made a very low pitch noise that would fade in/out and would pass right through a pair of earplugs.
- Somehow thought I was gay and started recording random shows from Lifetime, Bravo, and We. (had to disable those channels)
- Recorded random shows
- Couldn't record two shows at once or record one while watching another.
- Took a good 15min just to boot up or restart.
- Cost $13/month on top of my cable bill.

I just switched over to Comcast's DVR and only have good things to say about it, so far. It does everything I need it to do for $6.50/mo, and I'm not out $800+13/mo just to have a THX logo on it.

Posted at 4:41PM on Nov 19th 2006 by Robert

8. I've also had these problems. Also, this is my second Moto 6412. On the first I had, something was wrong with the secondary tuner: whenever I'd switch to it, the HD channels would be garbled. Even with these issues, I feel I'm getting a great deal - $10/mo for a dual HD tuner DVR? That's outstanding. But like everyone else, I can't wait to get Tivo's software.

Posted at 9:38PM on Nov 19th 2006 by Nate

9. I've noticed lately the delay others are talking about. Last night, I was channel surfing and hit the button to go to the next channel and nothing happened. When that happens your first instinct is to start pressing other buttons. I finally realized waht was happening (it's happened before) and just left the room. When I came back it was 4 channels higher than when I left it. I've never seen it as bad as it was last night. When it normally happens, there's maybe a delay of a few seconds when you hit the button. Last night it was at least 5 minutes.

Posted at 11:11AM on Nov 20th 2006 by Glen Harness

10. Where do I begin? I gave up Tivo for the Comcast Moto DVR so that we could record HD shows. It's been a horrible trade-off. Programs set to record do not. The sound contantly loses synch with the video, and the picture gets very jerky. That happened probably 15 times last night in one hour. Plus, when it starts to record a new program, it ends playback of a recorded program we're watching, forcing us to grab the remote, hit DVR, find the recorded show, press play, and then fast-forwarded through the 45 minutes or so we already watched. Even the functions that do work (eg, erase a recorded program) take several more steps than Tivo. The $800 Tivo Series 3 is starting to sound like a bargain.

Posted at 3:31PM on Nov 20th 2006 by Arlington Customer

11. The issues described in the post are par for the course when it comes to the Comcast DVR. I am eagerly awaiting the TiVo software, though we can't be assured that will resolve everything.

Frankly, a lot of people take TiVo for granted, but they are truly a cut above everyone else. The rest of the set top DVR solutions are quite immature compared to the TiVo series 2 and series 3.

Posted at 3:31PM on Nov 20th 2006 by Rick

12. I've had Comcast for about a year and a half now, and I've been through 6 (yes SIX!!!) of their PVRs. All of the previously mentioned problems existed in one or more of the 6 that I've had:
Not following commands given, then running them all at once.
Completely frozen unit.
Failed hard drive.
No sound on live HD broadcasts.
No sound on recorded shows.
No video on recorded shows.
Loss of season pass info.
Intermittent pausing/stuttering of recorded shows.

It never ends with these things. I was waiting for a Series 3 TiVo, but not at its current price. Now I'm hoping the Comcast-TiVo partnership produces some results...or else I wait to see if someone develops a CableCard adapter for a PC so I can record HD programs.

I've not been happy with Comcast, but there really is no other (read cheap) option for recording HD content. At least they credited my account for 4 months of PVR rental.

Posted at 5:56PM on Nov 20th 2006 by Chris

13. Like any relatively new technology, there are quirks with the MOTOROLA DVRs Comcast deploys. I have one. However, nothing more than a quirk. Runs flawlessly 90% of the time. Now my PC running XP still freezes up weekly to the point I have to unplug it to reboot. Now THAT is irritating!! Windows is,what, 15- years old and still crashing on a regular basis. Salt in the wound is the damned error report icon that pops up. Microsoft, fix your damn software.

Posted at 6:19PM on Nov 20th 2006 by John

14. This is pretty typical of a lot of cable-provider-provided DVR boxes. We have a pretty entry-level Sci-Atlanta box from Knology, and it's chock full of bugs and glitches like this. There's a reason people love their Tivo's, just like some folks adore their Macs-- they just work!

Most of the time. Makes me glad cars were invented a LONG time ago ;-)

Posted at 3:21PM on Nov 21st 2006 by Victor Agreda Jr

15. I am on my third comcast dvr box. The first 2 boxes had failed hard drives. One day I went to use the dvr and everythig was gone, it wouldn't record anything manually and I could not set it to record. BOTH TIMES. I would LOVE to get a Tivo but I can't afford it, so, like the rest of you peeps, I have to settle for the comcast dvr. I hope they get moving with the Tivo software, but who knows how fast they will roll it out. I also have trouble with the freezing and the fast ford stick and a few other things and the last time I called them, they were like "oh, there's an update, I guess you didn't get it". Why not? Jeez.

Posted at 8:18PM on Nov 25th 2006 by yatesy

16. I got the dual tuner HD motorola box when my family got an HDTV. We're on number four now. The things are crap! Initially we just had a problem where the sound would cut out for a few seconds and then come back.

Then we had a problem where we would change the channel and there would be no sound or we would skip forward or backward and there'd be no sound. The only way to get sound back was to change the channel. I later learned a trick where I mute and unmute the box and that brings sound back.

Then we had problems where the sound and picture would go out for ten or fifteen seconds and come back.

We also had/have the problem with fast forwarding and rewinding not stopping when told. Also having the issue where the box doesn't respond to buttons being pushed and then trying to execute all of them at once.

I got the new firmware but still have most of these problems. I'm probably going to drop the box and go with dual tuner MCE PC and just live without HD until I hear better news about this.

Posted at 8:18PM on Nov 25th 2006 by Chaz

17. I have a Sony Bravia and a Comcast DVR. When I change the channel from a non-HD station to a HD station, the Bravia's picure goes blank. The audio goes to the selected channel. The only way to get the picture back is to power off and on the TV.

I hate my comcast box because if it's sluggish response to the remote control. Half the time it does not respond at all. Then it stacks up the remote commands that it ignored when you hit the button and then executes them all at once. It really sucks bad compaired to my Tivo boxes. The only reason I have the comcast DVR/cable box is because I don't want to spend $800 on the HD Tivo box. However, this comcast box is such a piece of crap that the $800 is not looking so bad.

Posted at 11:19PM on Dec 31st 2006 by Michael Moore

18. I have had the SA8300HD box for about 2 weeks now. I have run into many of these issues - but infrequently so far. I more interested in whether any Comcast customer with this box has been successful at installing an external hard drive. I called Comcast support twice, and both times I was told that Comcast does not support the external device. I asked if they meant it's just not supported but it will work and they responded "It will not work. Save your money." Do they know what they're talking about? I know there are people out there that have done this. Don't know if there's regional differences or not.

Posted at 5:22PM on Jan 17th 2007 by John Pellico

19. In response to Michael Moore, I had exactly the same problem with my motorola and Sony Bravia. It is an HDCP issue between the two. The solution (took me months to figure out) is to go into the white setup screen on the dvr. (Power off, then hit menu once or twice to bring it up.) Make sure that the 4:3 override is set to "Off" instead of 480i or 480p. When you are switching now it keeps changing from 1080i to 480i and back, and the HDCP doesn't sync up fast enough, causing you to lose picture. I had Comcast, Best Buy, and Sony all to my house, yet I figured this out myself a few months later.

Posted at 9:55PM on Jan 30th 2007 by MillarGeo

20. Their box is crap, their service is worse, and the price...

Last month my bill more than doubled. It was $120 for tv, internet and phone, but they started billing me $270.

I called and told them to get bent, that the service wasn't worth the $120 I was paying and it sure as hell wasn't worth $270. He claimed that was what the service was "worth" and that I had been getting a promotion price for the last 18 months.

After two days of calls to management, the guy said he'd re-issue the bill and put us back to the $120 price.

He lied. They never re-issued the bill and they withdrew the full $270 bucks. When I called to complain, they claim there was no record of that two day ordeal on my account. No notes. No records. Nothing.

To top it off, for the last three weeks the phone and internet service has been off more than it's been on. The morons, of course, kept blaming it on my configuration or the modem, but it's their lines that are the problem. (I had a tech out here today that confirmed that for me.)

Thanks to the illegal monopoly that Comcast has setup with the city I live in (the city gets a kickback to keep other cable co's out) I have zero options and Comcast has zero incentive to do anything to fix their broken system.

My next step is to contact the Better Business Bureau and the states attorney General to see if I have some recourse.

Posted at 9:34AM on Feb 11th 2007 by Geekfather