| reply to cypherstream
Re: New here ... can I please get a little comcast DVR advice? said by cypherstream:Interesting. I thought they were going to put them in the same plastic shell. Something similar to the pace rng110. But think about it...why WOULD Moto be using the SAME shell as a Cisco made box, & visa versa??? 
While each of these Moto (& Cisco) bear the "Xfinity" name on the front, they are STILL Moto & Cisco made boxes throughout; it just so happens that CC contracted thru both Moto & Cisco to make "Xfinity-branded specific" boxes for CC exclusively.
Now Pace OTOH...since Pace makes BOTH Moto & Cisco compatible boxes themselves, that's why THEIR shells are the same for boxes for boxes for BOTH systems...see the difference??? |
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BiggA
join:2005-11-23
EARTH | reply to telcodad
Weird. So how'd Comcast get suckered into using Sci Atlanta's naming system when they use mostly Moto hardware? It's just bizarre... |
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| reply to dishrich
said by dishrich:said by cypherstream:Interesting. I thought they were going to put them in the same plastic shell. Something similar to the pace rng110. But think about it...why WOULD Moto be using the SAME shell as a Cisco made box, & visa versa??? Same way a directv box from pace looks identical to Samsung or humax, technicolor, etc..
I thought Comcast contracted the manufacturers with their specs. Like here are the dimentions, here is the case and this is the port output, design a motherboard that fits this shell and can run this software with these specs....
The Comcast RNG110 looks IDENTICAL to the Pace HD box Service Electric Cablevision issues.
I think the RNG specification means its powerful enough to run X1 and can do IPTV if software is written to do so.
They should of also mandated that all RNG set tops were interchangeable regardless of what the backend system is. |
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 telcodad
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ
kudos:2 | reply to BiggA
As was mentioned before, the "RNG" designations are a Comcast labeling scheme with respect to their Residential Network Gateway specification.
I guess when Cisco then built their new line of STBs/DVRs they just used the corresponding RNG numbers as their own model numbers.
Motorola just stuck to their DCX naming scheme, with the units built for Comcast just displaying the appropriate RNG numbers on their front panels. |
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| reply to cypherstream
said by cypherstream:They should of also mandated that all RNG set tops were interchangeable regardless of what the backend system is.
Indeed. In fact I keep wondering why this isn't possible since all the boxes made since the mid-2000's have separable security (i.e. CableCARDs). So theoretically all the boxes should just be a CableCARD swap from working in SA or Moto markets. Of course the other hurdle is the software base which I think was the real issue. The Moto markets were all on iGuide while SA/Cisco had been on SARA, until recently there was no iGuide port available.
I assume with the eventual move to the X1 Guide software, all boxes with an RNG designation are supposed to be up to standards for the X1 software. Eventually eliminating the Cisco/Moto vendor split.
said by telcodad:I guess when Cisco then built their new line of STBs/DVRs they just used the corresponding RNG numbers as their own model numbers. Looks like Pace has also followed suit and have started using Comcast's naming scheme for their boxes regardless of MSO.
»www.pace.com/americas/products/s···rng150n/
»www.pace.com/americas/products/s···rng200n/
»www.pace.com/americas/products/s···/rng110/ |
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| reply to justmeee
The model I ended up getting was the MOR200BNR. I guess it's the RNG110 .... looks exactly the same. It's a big step up from the DCT6412. I'm really happy with it so far. |
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| reply to SpHeRe31459
Sphere you beat me to it! I ended up also seeing the RNG model numbers at Pace Americas. Weird how they all look different but have the same model number. That's like say a few cars called Focus... The Ford Focus, the Chevy Focus and the Toyota Focus (hypothetical of course). 3 manufacturers, different looks but same name!
I wonder what kind of agreement between manufacturers allows them to reuse the same model name without getting happy with lawsuits? I can tell you this... If Chevy made a "Focus" Ford wouldn't be too happy!
How big is the hard drive in the Motorola version of the RNG200N or as the op posted MOR200BNR ? |
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| reply to justmeee
said by justmeee:The model I ended up getting was the MOR200BNR. I guess it's the RNG110 .... looks exactly the same. It's a big step up from the DCT6412. I'm really happy with it so far.
Can't be an RNG110, that's a smallish non-DVR model made by Pace.
Googling "MOR200BNR" shows this page at Comcast
»customer.comcast.com/help-and-su···eue-stb/
which confirms it's a Motorloa DCX 3501M. Which I assume can be inferred by the "MOR" prefix of the model number. |
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| And that Cisco RNG200 on that page is identical to the Cisco 8652HDC that my inlaws have with Blue Ridge Cable.
»www.cisco.com/web/consumer/suppo···HDC.html
It runs Passport Echo on their system. Not a bad piece of hardware. Fast channel changes and pretty snappy UI.
By the way, that link shows a feature called Queue. Is that live now? |
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telcodad
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ
kudos:2 | OK, well looking around on that Cisco consumer products website, it appears that there are non-Comcast, "Explorer-numbered" versions of the other Cisco RNG boxes also:
Cisco Next Generation Cable Set-Top Boxes At-A-Glance
»www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collate···-AAG.pdf |
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BiggA
join:2005-11-23
EARTH | reply to telcodad
So Cisco used Comcast's naming scheme? That's even weirder! |
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telcodad
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ
kudos:2
1 edit | said by BiggA:So Cisco used Comcast's naming scheme? That's even weirder!
Well, like I said in my previous post (»Re: New here ... can I please get a little comcast DVR advice?), it now looks like Cisco has their own "Explorer" series of model numbers for similar boxes for sale to other MSOs, so what I had said may not have been correct. |
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| reply to BiggA
I've used the Cisco 8652HDC. Most likely that came out first and met Comcasts technical requirements specified for RNG-200N. I guess it means it has to have a certain amount of MIPS performance, memory, DOCSIS Set Top Gateway support, moca, and a minimum of a certain size hard drive. Also they all require 1 GHz tuning and MPEG4 support.
The higher "RNG" numbers must be stricter on CPU performance as the 8652HDC is Cisco's most powerful North American cable set top at the moment.
Makes me wonder if the RNG110's can run X1. If so will it be dumbed down? Will it still have the graphics capability to draw the slick UI transitions like the sliding effects, fades and scaling? |
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| said by cypherstream:Makes me wonder if the RNG110's can run X1. If so will it be dumbed down? Will it still have the graphics capability to draw the slick UI transitions like the sliding effects, fades and scaling?
I've been wondering the same thing.
We've heard that the Pace RNG150N that comes as extra room boxes with X1 DVR deployments doesn't perform a smoothly or load as quickly as the X1 DVR itself.
So I wonder what differences in processing power, etc. make a something an RNG110 versus a 150.
The Pace product pages for the 110 and 150 are missing some specs to be fully comparable, but it says the 110 is only a 1000 Drystone rated MIPS CPU while the 150 is rated at 1500 Drystones and the 110 has less flash memory, but it doesn't say how much RAM the 110 has but the 150 has 512MB which is in keeping with other newer DCX boxes from Moto. |
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BiggA
join:2005-11-23
EARTH | reply to cypherstream
That gives us a clue as to what's next for Comcast: 1ghz VOD and MPEG-4 VOD and linear channels? |
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| reply to SpHeRe31459
said by SpHeRe31459:it says the 110 is only a 1000 Drystone rated MIPS CPU while the 150 is rated at 1500 Drystones and the 110 has less flash memory, but it doesn't say how much RAM the 110 has but the 150 has 512MB which is in keeping with other newer DCX boxes from Moto.
Well for comparison the Tivo Premiere has a Broadcom BCM7413 400MHZ dual core CPU at 1100 Dhrystone MIPS. We all know the Tivo Premiere has an HD UI and a bunch of apps on it. So the RNG110 has very similar performance so it should be able to run an HD user interface. |
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| said by cypherstream:Well for comparison the Tivo Premiere has a Broadcom BCM7413 400MHZ dual core CPU at 1100 Dhrystone MIPS. We all know the Tivo Premiere has an HD UI and a bunch of apps on it. So the RNG110 has very similar performance so it should be able to run an HD user interface.
Ah yeah, well that's good then. I would think Comcast wouldn't have anything in their new "RNG" labeling that wasn't able to be part of their next generation platform, considering that is part of the reason why Comcast started using their "RNG" designation. |
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| reply to cypherstream
said by cypherstream: We all know the Tivo Premiere has an HD UI and a bunch of apps on it. So the RNG110 has very similar performance so it should be able to run an HD user interface. Well for any subs that get an RNG110, I sure hope it can aspire to something BETTER than the performance of the Tivo Premiere HD UI - at least judging from ALL the complaints about it at tivocommunity.com! 
Many folks there finally gave up & have switched BACK to the SD UI, for several reasons.
And as far as having "a bunch of apps" on the UI - IMHO most people would rather have a basic, quick, nice-looking, bug-free UI for (just) the DVR/set-top functions - instead of all the buggy, bloatware apps that can be crammed onto the box, that just cause slowdowns & more bugs that have to constantly be fixed!  |
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| said by dishrich:And as far as having "a bunch of apps" on the UI - IMHO most people would rather have a basic, quick, nice-looking, bug-free UI for (just) the DVR/set-top functions - instead of all the buggy, bloatware apps that can be crammed onto the box, that just cause slowdowns & more bugs that have to constantly be fixed!
True that! |
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| reply to dishrich
I think the future is all cloud powered apps. That way it wouldn't slow the box down. High performance streaming technology like OnLive or RemoteFX. Server farms can do the heavy lifting while the STB just really presents the video and I/O back and forth.
Such an edge that architecturally Satellite wouldn't be able to compete without requiring high speed broadband connection. |
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