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Grogck
join:2009-01-04
Pelham, AL

Grogck

Member

Current DVRs offered in Birmingham?

I'm moving to a new house with little possibility for satellite. Have the DVR offerings in Birmingham gotten any better? I briefly dipped my toe back in with Charter last year and was given Scientific Atlanta boxes from the early Mesozoic period. Tivos meant adding even more malfunctioning intermediary TA/Ccard equipment. Quickly jumped back to DirecTV.

The Motorola boxes seemed to at least have an interface comparable to my Dish receiver from 5 years ago. I could maybe live with that.

Uverse is also available in the area, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to sacrifice picture quality and web speed just to have a decent UI. Football season in the South demands high PQ.
Nspradley
Premium Member
join:2011-03-17
Northport, AL

Nspradley

Premium Member

You are either in a SA system or Motorola system, not both. If you live in an SA area Charter has some new Cisco DVRs that arent bad.
Grogck
join:2009-01-04
Pelham, AL

4 edits

Grogck

Member

That's what I assumed too. But when I asked this same question on Facebook a former co-worker (still in town) said he just got signed up last week and got hooked up with a "decent" Motorola box in a neighborhood only a few miles from the one I'm moving too. Asked him a follow-up question, but haven't heard back yet. I have no major reason to doubt him though. He's a highly skilled programmer so I'd assume he'd know the difference between a Cisco and Motorola box (in fact I remember a discussion we had one day about using Charter for web and DirecTV for TV.) Once I hear back I'll update. But if anyone knows anything about semi-modern DVRs being introduced to the market feel free to chime in and assuage my fears some.

Rampage522
join:2001-10-18
Birmingham, AL

Rampage522

Member

You can easily find out for sure by calling or online-chatting with Charter and asking them (they'll know from your service address) or by going by the local office. Pretty sure the Pelham one is still running.
mdavej
join:2004-06-09
united state

mdavej

Member

How do you online chat with Charter now? I thought they shut that down several months ago.

In any case, I don't know of any Charter systems with post-Mesozoic DVRs. Why not get a cable card tuner and use your PC as a DVR? Here's what mine looks like, very similar to Dish and DirecTV and is from this epoch. It works beautifully and saves me a ton of money (around $40/month in savings on equipment and DVR fees alone on my 4 TV system). Works so well, my wife thinks we still have Dish.

»images.techhive.com/imag ··· orig.jpg

Rampage522
join:2001-10-18
Birmingham, AL

Rampage522

Member

Online chat is still (and has always been) there on the charter.com site. Direct Support/CharterDirect is no longer available, but is a different entity.

InTheKnow
@charter.com

InTheKnow to Grogck

Anon

to Grogck
SA/Cisco= Pelham, Alabaster, Montevallo,Helena,Inverness, Vestavia (Cahaba Heights & Liberty Park), Gardendale, Leeds, Chelsea, Trussville, Moody. and any other areas except below

Motorola = Hoover,Homewood, Vestavia (Hoover Area), Tarant, Center Point.
watts3000
join:2002-01-21

watts3000 to Grogck

Member

to Grogck
mdavej I used the same configuration when I had Charter now we are on Directv. I must say Direct's DVR service is really nice we have the 5 tuner Genie.
mdavej
join:2004-06-09
united state

1 edit

mdavej to Rampage522

Member

to Rampage522
said by Rampage522:

Online chat is still (and has always been) there on the charter.com site. Direct Support/CharterDirect is no longer available, but is a different entity.

No it isn't. If you click CHAT, you get a stupid FAQ search, "virtual assistant" they call it, not online chat. If you have a link to an actual chat type of service, please post it. I'd love to be able to communicate with an actual human being other than the useless people on the phone.

EDIT: Never mind. If you make it through their obstacle course, you eventually get a link to live chat. They sure do make it difficult.
mdavej

mdavej to watts3000

Member

to watts3000
said by watts3000:

mdavej I used the same configuration when I had Charter now we are on Directv. I must say Direct's DVR service is really nice we have the 5 tuner Genie.

Yes, I had DirecTV for many years and really liked it. My parents still have it. But I just couldn't tolerate the fees anymore ($25 advanced receiver fee plus $6 for each box). Although I have a 4 tuner Ceton at the moment, I could get a 6 tuner model, several of them if I wanted. So I'm still happier and paying a lot less by keeping Charter. Unless they raise cable card fees dramatically or kill cable card altogether, I don't see myself ever going back to satellite.

CoolMan
join:2008-01-07
Maryville, TN
ARRIS BGW210-700
Netgear R7000

CoolMan to mdavej

Member

to mdavej
said by mdavej:

EDIT: Never mind. If you make it through their obstacle course, you eventually get a link to live chat. They sure do make it difficult.

In the future to make it easier, simply bookmark this link »www.myaccount.charter.co ··· ive.aspx
mdavej
join:2004-06-09
united state

mdavej to Grogck

Member

to Grogck
Thanks!

mixdup
join:2003-06-28
Alpharetta, GA

mixdup to InTheKnow

Member

to InTheKnow
said by Anon80:

SA/Cisco= Pelham, Alabaster, Montevallo,Helena,Inverness, Vestavia (Cahaba Heights & Liberty Park), Gardendale, Leeds, Chelsea, Trussville, Moody. and any other areas except below

Motorola = Hoover,Homewood, Vestavia (Hoover Area), Tarant, Center Point.

Basically anywhere that was Marcus cable way back in the day = Cisco/SA. Anywhere that was AT&T or TCI = Motorola.