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rick0204
join:2009-05-20
North Bergen, NJ

rick0204

Member

Samsung boxes to be the new DVR

A CV tech was at my house today for a repair and after he was done we talked for a few minutes about the new DVR I heard about. The tech said the new physical DVR will be the Samsung boxes that customers are using now. In February CV is going to enable the DVR function and phase out the SA DVR's. The recordings will be both in the home and in the cloud so you will not lose your recordings if you swap the box. Also, all Samsung boxes in the home will be able to record and play back all the recordings as long as the customer subscribes to DVR service. We did not discuss the stroage space or adding an external drive. He did say that when this happens it will be better to have a Tech do the swap in the home. Customers will still be able to do the swap in a store but he said there may be activation problems requiring a Tech visit anyhow.
frdrizzt
join:2008-05-03
Ronkonkoma, NY

frdrizzt

Member

He is talking about DVR+, which does not store the DVR on the box. Not all of what is expressed is 100% accurate. Anyone can swap a box, it is the same as swapping a box a year or two ago. There is no local DVR capability (a la the SA 8300 DVR unit) on the Samsung. You press the DVR button and it should just go to channel 1001 to bring up the DVR+ menu where you can play back your recorded content.

limegrass69
No Whammies
join:2008-05-28

limegrass69 to rick0204

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to rick0204
DVR+ works on the SA boxes too...not just Samsung.
dm145
join:2009-12-12
Clifton, NJ

dm145 to rick0204

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to rick0204
This thread should be deleted since it is not very accurate!

Samsung boxes DO NOT have hard drives!
The rest of what OP is describing is called DVR+ and is already being rolled out.

PS - onsite techs love to talk out or school
TheWiseGuy
Dog And Butterfly
MVM
join:2002-07-04
East Stroudsburg, PA

TheWiseGuy

MVM

While I suspect the tech had it wrong, how do any of us know for certain that CV has not changed their mind and decided to buy Samsung DVRs for people who do not want DVR+ and want a physical DVR. How do any of us know for certain whether they intend to offer an enhanced service combining the 2 items in order to offer more options. rick0204 See Profile has posted about DVR+ in the past and certainly knows about the DVR+ service. While CV's stance on the DVR+ and Physical DVRs in the past make it seem unlikely, they may have decided there are enough people who want a physical DVR that they need to offer that option.

Stranger things have occurred.

aztr0
join:2007-10-28
Brooklyn, NY

aztr0 to rick0204

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to rick0204
Lol at the "will not lose your recordings" thing. I've had the Samsung box with DVR+ since a year ago. I've had my fair share of shows magically disappear from my recordings list and yes I specified it to delete when I tell it to only. The system has somewhat improved, I give that some credit, but the box is still slow in between pulling up the guide more times than not and channel surfing.
rick0204
join:2009-05-20
North Bergen, NJ

rick0204

Member

2 CV employees told me they are testing a new physical dvr service- not dvr +.
dm145
join:2009-12-12
Clifton, NJ

dm145 to rick0204

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to rick0204
said by rick0204:

The tech said the new physical DVR will be the Samsung boxes that customers are using now. In February CV is going to enable the DVR function and phase out the SA DVR's.

The Samsung boxes "customers are using now" do not have hard drives!
How can they enable local recording in February on devices that have no hard drives?
rick0204
join:2009-05-20
North Bergen, NJ

rick0204

Member

I don't know how. But a new dvr service is being tested and it involves the Samsung boxes. We will just have to a few months for more jnfo.
frdrizzt
join:2008-05-03
Ronkonkoma, NY

frdrizzt to rick0204

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to rick0204
said by rick0204:

2 CV employees told me they are testing a new physical dvr service- not dvr +.

Well, part of what you describe is the DVR+. There may very well be a new physical DVR in testing, but it wouldn't have multi-room capability without DVR+, and that isn't Samsung only.

jaa
Premium Member
join:2000-06-13

jaa

Premium Member

said by frdrizzt:

There may very well be a new physical DVR in testing, but it wouldn't have multi-room capability without DVR+, and that isn't Samsung only.

Why couldn't multiple samsung boxes communicate through the coax to a "master" samsung box with a hard drive to provide a multi-room capability without DVR+? Not saying they will do this, but I think it could work...

cvtek
@optonline.net

cvtek to rick0204

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to rick0204
Sounds like you had a tech that has heard about DVR+. The Samsung boxes will work just as the SA boxes. I've heard nothing of the Samsung boxes doing anything differently than the SA boxes when working with DVR +.

I have not heard of any talk of getting a different physical DVR.

Jmartz0
join:2000-07-20
Tenafly, NJ

Jmartz0 to rick0204

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to rick0204
The Samsung boxes have Ethernet connections. Could it be possible that they might have some other box in the works that the Samsungs might eventually connect to within the house?
rick0204
join:2009-05-20
North Bergen, NJ

rick0204

Member

That makes sense to me for now. The employees did not make it seem like this was a secret so ask if anyone is in a CV store.
frdrizzt
join:2008-05-03
Ronkonkoma, NY

frdrizzt to jaa

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to jaa
said by jaa:

said by frdrizzt:

There may very well be a new physical DVR in testing, but it wouldn't have multi-room capability without DVR+, and that isn't Samsung only.

Why couldn't multiple samsung boxes communicate through the coax to a "master" samsung box with a hard drive to provide a multi-room capability without DVR+? Not saying they will do this, but I think it could work...

There's just about a 0% chance that CV invests all that money into DVR+ and then lots of money into a physical multi-room DVR. That's why I said it won't. It would be a total step backwards.

jaa
Premium Member
join:2000-06-13

jaa

Premium Member

said by frdrizzt:

There's just about a 0% chance that CV invests all that money into DVR+ and then lots of money into a physical multi-room DVR. That's why I said it won't. It would be a total step backwards.

Depends on your perspective. I don't have any CV boxes because I want multi-room DVR, the ability to pause live TV, and ability to store as much as I want.

I'd call it a step forward.

I also think DVR+ will go away in time. Content providers will simply allow old content to be streamed through the internet (with ads), so DVR+ will be obsolete. Many already do this.
frdrizzt
join:2008-05-03
Ronkonkoma, NY

frdrizzt

Member

I'm talking step backwards in terms of corporate view (money spent and years of legal fighting up to the supreme court to so quickly plan a replacement), not any pros & cons of hardware & software DVR.
TheWiseGuy
Dog And Butterfly
MVM
join:2002-07-04
East Stroudsburg, PA

TheWiseGuy

MVM

said by frdrizzt:

I'm talking step backwards in terms of corporate view (money spent and years of legal fighting up to the supreme court to so quickly plan a replacement), not any pros & cons of hardware & software DVR.

Unless the cost benefit analysis has changed. They did the DVR+ because they analyzed it and decided it would cost less. If they have found costs are greater then expected to run the service or that the cost of the physical DVR has gone down or even that they believe they are losing revenue without a physical DVR then as a corporation they must change their strategy.
RemyM
join:2005-02-14
Pinehurst, NC

RemyM to jaa

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to jaa
said by jaa:

Why couldn't multiple samsung boxes communicate through the coax to a "master" samsung box with a hard drive to provide a multi-room capability without DVR+? Not saying they will do this, but I think it could work...

They could have done this years ago with the SA boxes but didn't.
»www.cisco.com/web/consum ··· oom.html

jaa
Premium Member
join:2000-06-13

jaa to frdrizzt

Premium Member

to frdrizzt
said by frdrizzt:

I'm talking step backwards in terms of corporate view

Got it, and I agree from that perspective. Of course, most of us don't really care about the corporate view.
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT

1 recommendation

tired_runner to rick0204

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to rick0204
DVR+ is a joke, especially for the monthly $14.95 fee. Windows HTPC all the way.
RemyM
join:2005-02-14
Pinehurst, NC

RemyM

Member

said by tired_runner:

DVR+ is a joke, especially for the monthly $14.95 fee. Windows HTPC all the way.

It's $10.95 unless you're like me and keep your SA8300, then it's only $5.00
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT
·Frontier FiberOp..

tired_runner

Premium Member

$5 per box? I forget, haven't paid that pesky fee for some time.

I get to pay $4 for two cable cards plus the bullshit $5 premium outlet fee, which in turn gets me three PC-connected TV's with two tuners on each.

EliteData
EliteData
Premium Member
join:2003-07-06
Philippines

EliteData to rick0204

Premium Member

to rick0204
said by rick0204:

2 CV employees told me they are testing a new physical dvr service- not dvr +.

unless there is going to be a small QAM plant for each corp code, then there just isnt enough QAM frequencies available for DVR+.
i still dont see how there could possibly be enough QAM channels to operate DVR+ if 1,000 customers in one corp code area (like 7801) all started using their DVR+ service, there would be a "service temporarily unavailable" message displayed on the screen (think of when CV gave out the free VOD for customers and what happened).
unless the protocol for DVR+ doesnt use QAM and uses CV's walled garden intraLAN network....
RemyM
join:2005-02-14
Pinehurst, NC

RemyM to tired_runner

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to tired_runner
said by tired_runner:

$5 per box? I forget, haven't paid that pesky fee for some time.

I get to pay $4 for two cable cards plus the bullshit $5 premium outlet fee, which in turn gets me three PC-connected TV's with two tuners on each.

Nope $5 per house on top of the fee for the physical DVR. So I have six tuners to record on at once, (4 DVR+ and 2 SA8300) and can still get access to the interactive and on demand channels. Each option has its good and bad points.
milan22
join:2008-12-17
Newark, NJ

milan22

Member

Advantage of a physical DVD is that when "cable" goes down(not the power), you can still access the DVR.

Physical multiroom DVR should be the standard. Cloud based option should be there too for customers who desire it. The draw would be a larger storage space capability for those going that route.

optimumtv
@myvzw.com

optimumtv to rick0204

Anon

to rick0204
The Samsung boxes have an "esta" port on the back. Maybe cv is working on software that customers can punches an external hard drive with the Samsung boxes or maybe they are looking at (Samsung Dvr SMT-H3272)
optimumtv

optimumtv to milan22

Anon

to milan22
Maybe they are looking at Samsung DVR. SMT-H3272.

EliteData
EliteData
Premium Member
join:2003-07-06
Philippines

EliteData

Premium Member

said by optimumtv :

Maybe they are looking at Samsung DVR. SMT-H3272.

only TWC has this box at the moment.
SMT-H3272/TWC comes with a 320GB hard disk
frdrizzt
join:2008-05-03
Ronkonkoma, NY

frdrizzt to milan22

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to milan22
said by milan22:

Advantage of a physical DVD is that when "cable" goes down(not the power), you can still access the DVR.

Physical multiroom DVR should be the standard. Cloud based option should be there too for customers who desire it. The draw would be a larger storage space capability for those going that route.

Advantage for DVR+ is that when "cable" goes down (whether power or not), you can still record your scheduled recordings for DVR+ while the service is unavailable.
said by TheWiseGuy:

said by frdrizzt:

I'm talking step backwards in terms of corporate view (money spent and years of legal fighting up to the supreme court to so quickly plan a replacement), not any pros & cons of hardware & software DVR.

Unless the cost benefit analysis has changed. They did the DVR+ because they analyzed it and decided it would cost less. If they have found costs are greater then expected to run the service or that the cost of the physical DVR has gone down or even that they believe they are losing revenue without a physical DVR then as a corporation they must change their strategy.

To me, the logical answer is that purchasing & maintaining additional DVR equipment at each customer premise, scheduling installs & uninstalls of such equipment, and the requirement of physical replacement to increase service levels (for example, they can set the DVR+ limit to 6 streams and double the storage space overnight without needing to go to single customer homes just doing upgrades in the head end). I'm sure there are a lot of costs on both sides that I wouldn't think of in a full analysis (that's why it's not my job to figure it out!) but I wouldn't imagine a remote storage option being significantly more expensive than multiple local storage options.

All that being said, I don't plan on swapping my 8300 for DVR+ for a number of reasons (primarily, that I only have 1 HD TV and if I wanted to use it for multi-room I would need to make SD recordings).