said by andyross:Too many people use their DVR's for long-term storage.
The "big deal" is - when your dealing with MPEG2 HD recording, it takes up probably DOUBLE the (HDD) space of MPEG4 HD. So IMHO, while a 500G HDD is "reasonable" for, say, either sat provider - it IS simply too small for any (current) cable system - or FiOS for that matter. Even Tivo realizes this, as their cheapest DVR only has 500g; the rest all start at 1TB+.
If/when they transition their HD all over to MPEG4, then it might be a different story...
If this actually DOES come to fruition, then it wouldn't be so bad in keeping their current Moto DCX series of DVR boxes. As long as it has enough HDD space & 30 second skip, I'm pretty happy with any DVR.
Presumably there are security codes and encryption on the stored data, and if you change your box, there goes all your recordings.
(as mogamer already posted at the same time I did
)
Yes, but you do realize it does NOT have to be that way! DISH Network ties ALL your recordings to your account - & NOT to a specific receiver/access card. You can move recordings freely between external (multiple) hard drives, & even multiple receivers on your SAME account. This IS the way it should be from ANY TV provider.
Unfortunately, DirecTV ties recordings to a specific receiver/access card combo...been there, done that!
I also wonder just how much Comcast will charge to enable this feature?
Considering NEITHER DBS provider - or the other cable co. that offer this feature do, Comcast should NOT, either!