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Mr Guy
@charter.com

Mr Guy to mdavej

Anon

to mdavej

Re: [CATV] All digital, Monterey Park, Calif. - and boxes

said by mdavej:

If you want to keep using that, you'll have to get a cable box. If I were you, I'd sell the Magnavox and get a Tivo. Whatever service you get if you cancel Charter would also require a box (satellite, U-verse, etc.).

Even if Charter didn't encrypt ANY channels he'd need a box since that device doesn't have a QAM tuner.

Built-in ATSC/NTSC Tuner. I imagine the only thing he is recording now is SD content.

wingspar
Premium Member
join:2002-11-09
Oregon

wingspar

Premium Member

Well, I'm definitely not happy with this. I still want to know if I'm going to completely loose my TV if I don't get a set box? Simple yes or no.

Why is there nothing on the Charter web site on this, or if there is, can someone provide me with a link?

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO

nunya

MVM

You will lose all your TV unless you rent a converter box.

Mr Guy
@charter.com

Mr Guy to wingspar

Anon

to wingspar
said by wingspar:

Well, I'm definitely not happy with this. I still want to know if I'm going to completely loose my TV if I don't get a set box? Simple yes or no.

Why is there nothing on the Charter web site on this, or if there is, can someone provide me with a link?

We already told you YES. You need a Charter STB or a cable card. If you don't use one now Charter will give you at least 1 free for a year.

As has been said Charter announced they were going all digital LONG ago. This is not NEW news.

If you are not happy you are free to go with DirecTv or DishNetwork possible FiOS or U-Verse if they serve your area.

wingspar
Premium Member
join:2002-11-09
Oregon

wingspar

Premium Member

said by Mr Guy :

We already told you YES. You need a Charter STB or a cable card. If you don't use one now Charter will give you at least 1 free for a year.

As has been said Charter announced they were going all digital LONG ago. This is not NEW news.

If you are not happy you are free to go with DirecTv or DishNetwork possible FiOS or U-Verse if they serve your area.

I guess the answers were not clear enough for me to understand, so I had to ask for a clear yes or no.

Charter may have announced they were going all digital, but till this week, I knew Nothing about having to have a set top box. I'm happy with what I have now, and have no need or desire to change. I've seen HD TV and I can't tell the difference from SD. I have a fairly new Sony wide screen digital capable TV, and a friend has the same TV with HD, and I can't tell any difference. I'm 100% certain that this is catching thousands by surprise. You can't expect everyone to get the news or understand what they are hearing. I've got 3 days till this is supposed to happen, so I will be SOL very soon as if I ordered a stb today, I would not have it in time. Am I a happy customer? Absolutely Not.

I've had Charter for a very long time. They have consistently removed good channels I used to watch and added crap channels that I just end up programing out. It sounds like this is happening again. How does Charter expect customers to see that as progress. I don't.
wingspar

wingspar to mdavej

Premium Member

to mdavej
said by mdavej:

If you want to keep using that, you'll have to get a cable box. If I were you, I'd sell the Magnavox and get a Tivo. Whatever service you get if you cancel Charter would also require a box (satellite, U-verse, etc.).

I did a lot of research on Tivo, and decided it was way more than what I wanted, and expensive. I'm not a big movie person. In fact, the TV is rarely on more than a couple of hours in the evening, and sometimes not at all since there is less and less programing out there now that I am interested in. I bought the Magnavox for the HDD and pausing Live TV, which it does very well. It has turned TV into the most user friendly user system I have ever had, and to loose that after spending all that money just doesn't sit well with me. It's only a few months old.

Mr Guy
@charter.com

Mr Guy to wingspar

Anon

to wingspar
said by wingspar:

Charter may have announced they were going all digital, but till this week, I knew Nothing about having to have a set top box.

This has been common knowledge ever since they announced the move to digital. Comcast is about 2 years ahead of Charter and it was known that Comcast customers needed a box. As I said even if Charter didn't encrypt ANY channels your DVR doesn't have a QAM tuner in it so how would you get any programming without a box? Cable uses QAM modulation. Your DVR only has ATSC and NTSC tuners in them.

I'm happy with what I have now, and have no need or desire to change. I've seen HD TV and I can't tell the difference from SD. I have a fairly new Sony wide screen digital capable TV, and a friend has the same TV with HD, and I can't tell any difference.

Then you don't have it hooked up correctly or you need to have your eyes checked.

I've had Charter for a very long time. They have consistently removed good channels I used to watch and added crap channels that I just end up programing out. It sounds like this is happening again. How does Charter expect customers to see that as progress. I don't.

1 analog channel uses the same amount of bandwidth as 2-3 HD channels or 10 SD digital channels. You don't see why they want to get away from that? More and more people have HDTV so they aren't watching SD programming in 4:3 format anyway. If Charter didn't adapt they would lose TV customers to DishNetwork, DirecTV U-Verse and FiOS.

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
·Charter

nunya to wingspar

MVM

to wingspar
said by wingspar:

I've seen HD TV and I can't tell the difference from SD. I have a fairly new Sony wide screen digital capable TV, and a friend has the same TV with HD, and I can't tell any difference. I'm 100% certain that this is catching thousands by surprise.

You've probably seen Charter HD - which is horrible. Compared to OTA antenna or DirecTV, Charters picture is a steaming pile of poop. When I go to someones house and they have Charter on the TV, I can definitely tell.
mdavej
join:2004-06-09
united state

1 edit

mdavej to wingspar

Member

to wingspar
said by wingspar:

said by mdavej:

If you want to keep using that, you'll have to get a cable box. If I were you, I'd sell the Magnavox and get a Tivo. Whatever service you get if you cancel Charter would also require a box (satellite, U-verse, etc.).

I did a lot of research on Tivo, and decided it was way more than what I wanted, and expensive. I'm not a big movie person. In fact, the TV is rarely on more than a couple of hours in the evening, and sometimes not at all since there is less and less programing out there now that I am interested in. I bought the Magnavox for the HDD and pausing Live TV, which it does very well. It has turned TV into the most user friendly user system I have ever had, and to loose that after spending all that money just doesn't sit well with me. It's only a few months old.

While your Magnavox will work with your new, free cable box from Charter, it will be quite awkward to use, as it will require setting timers on both boxes for recordings and is somewhat complicated to hook up. Pausing live TV will be no problem. A used Tivo with lifetime is about the same as you paid for your Magnavox and far simpler to use, which is why I recommended it. A new Tivo with lifetime is very expensive, I agree.

Times change, technology changes. There isn't much you can do about it. You'll have to adapt. DVD recorders like yours had a good 15 year run. It's unfortunate that you bought yours just as they are being rendered obsolete.

wingspar
Premium Member
join:2002-11-09
Oregon

wingspar to Mr Guy

Premium Member

to Mr Guy
said by Mr Guy :

Then you don't have it hooked up correctly or you need to have your eyes checked.

That's a pretty immature statement since you know nothing about either of us. If the tech guys that showed up at the house had the same attitude you have towards customers, I'd have dumped Charter a long time ago.
wingspar

wingspar to mdavej

Premium Member

to mdavej
said by mdavej:

While your Magnavox will work with your new, free cable box from Charter, it will be quite awkward to use, as it will require setting timers on both boxes for recordings and is somewhat complicated to hook up. Pausing live TV will be no problem. A used Tivo with lifetime is about the same as you paid for your Magnavox and far simpler to use, which is why I recommended it. A new Tivo with lifetime is very expensive, I agree.

Times change, technology changes. There isn't much you can do about it. You'll have to adapt. DVD recorders like yours had a good 15 year run. It's unfortunate that you bought yours just as they are being rendered obsolete.

If it doesn't work, then I'm moving to Direct-TV, which is cheaper. I don't understand why it wouldn't work, then again, I'm clueless when it comes to this kind of technology. I can build a computer from scratch, but operating my TV? Today is the day Charter went 100% digital (what ever that means. I thought they did that 3 or 4 years ago, and I didn't have to do anything), so I have no TV till the stupid stb gets here, and according to the guy on the phone, it may not be here till next week. I can, however, see the name of the channels as I scroll thru. ESPN and ESPN2 used to be 37 and 38, but 37 is still ESPN, but 38 is CBS, which used to be 6. Why in the world would they not keep the two ESPN channels next to each other?
wingspar

wingspar to nunya

Premium Member

to nunya
said by nunya:

You've probably seen Charter HD - which is horrible. Compared to OTA antenna or DirecTV, Charters picture is a steaming pile of poop. When I go to someones house and they have Charter on the TV, I can definitely tell.

I've never had Charter HD, but I know two people with Sudenlink (bought from Cox) HD and neither of them can tell the difference between the SD and HD, and neither can I on their TV's.

DocDrew
How can I help?
Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal
Ubee E31U2V1
Technicolor TC4400
Linksys EA6900

DocDrew

Premium Member

HD compared to SD channels is a pretty clear difference. To actually see HD you need an HD capable box connected with dvi, HDMI, or component cabling. Then box then has to be setup to output HD resolutions. Of course you have to be watching the HD versions of the channels and the channels have to be broadcasting HD content too.

Plenty of people miss part of that whole setup and wind up watching SD quality video on their HD TV.
DocDrew

DocDrew

Premium Member

Btw where are you seeing the names of the channels when everything is encrypted and you don't have a cable box?
mdavej
join:2004-06-09
united state

mdavej to wingspar

Member

to wingspar
said by wingspar:

If it doesn't work, then I'm moving to Direct-TV, which is cheaper. I don't understand why it wouldn't work, then again, I'm clueless when it comes to this kind of technology. I can build a computer from scratch, but operating my TV? Today is the day Charter went 100% digital (what ever that means. I thought they did that 3 or 4 years ago, and I didn't have to do anything), so I have no TV till the stupid stb gets here, and according to the guy on the phone, it may not be here till next week. I can, however, see the name of the channels as I scroll thru. ESPN and ESPN2 used to be 37 and 38, but 37 is still ESPN, but 38 is CBS, which used to be 6. Why in the world would they not keep the two ESPN channels next to each other?

If you can build a computer from scratch, build one to use as a DVR. That's what I've done and am saving a ton of money compared to DirecTV. I had DirecTV for about 7 years. It was great, their DVR's were great. I even use a DVD recorder like yours for years. But after your discounts run out, they stick it to you just like Charter does.

If you can't tell a difference between SD and HD now, you definitely will when you get DirecTV. Their SD is unwatchable. It looks like a youtube video of a SD TV playing a VHS tape of a program shot through a screen door covered in vaseline.

Not that it makes any difference to you, but DirecTV also has about 50 fewer HD channels than Charter.

B4Knight
Premium Member
join:2014-03-20
Colon, MI

B4Knight to wingspar

Premium Member

to wingspar
Why didn't you just go to your local office and pick up a STB locally as opposed to having them ship you one?

Best of luck

wingspar
Premium Member
join:2002-11-09
Oregon

wingspar to DocDrew

Premium Member

to DocDrew
said by DocDrew:

HD compared to SD channels is a pretty clear difference. To actually see HD you need an HD capable box connected with dvi, HDMI, or component cabling. Then box then has to be setup to output HD resolutions. Of course you have to be watching the HD versions of the channels and the channels have to be broadcasting HD content too.

Plenty of people miss part of that whole setup and wind up watching SD quality video on their HD TV.

The setup I'm referring to that both of us have seen was set up by the Sudenlink tech, so it should be set up correctly. No?
wingspar

wingspar to DocDrew

Premium Member

to DocDrew
said by DocDrew:

Btw where are you seeing the names of the channels when everything is encrypted and you don't have a cable box?

My TV shows it. I don't know how it shows it, but it does next to the channel in the upper right hand corner where it has always shown it.
wingspar

wingspar to mdavej

Premium Member

to mdavej
said by mdavej:

If you can build a computer from scratch, build one to use as a DVR. That's what I've done and am saving a ton of money compared to DirecTV. I had DirecTV for about 7 years. It was great, their DVR's were great. I even use a DVD recorder like yours for years. But after your discounts run out, they stick it to you just like Charter does.

If you can't tell a difference between SD and HD now, you definitely will when you get DirecTV. Their SD is unwatchable. It looks like a youtube video of a SD TV playing a VHS tape of a program shot through a screen door covered in vaseline.

Not that it makes any difference to you, but DirecTV also has about 50 fewer HD channels than Charter.

I have considered using an old computer as a DVR, but just never got serious about it.

Both Charter and Direct-TV have more channels that I'll program out than channels I'll actually watch, so a 50 channel difference is more of a moot point vs what channels I get. I'm more interested in the quality of the channels vs the quantity of channels. Yes, Direct-TV does say the cheap prices are only good for 12 or 24 months, depending on the package, so that does tell one that they stick it to you after that.

If my existing DVR will work with the STB, then I'll see how it works out before I make a change. The thought of being forced into something is what has made me unhappy and come here for answers I can't get from Charter, and Charter has actually removed a lot of good channels, and added junk (to me) that I just program out, a lot over the years.

I'm not a big TV or movie guy. I mostly stick to the Travel Channel, History Channel, Discovery Channel, and the Nat Geo Channel. The TV is on for maybe a max of 2 hours a few nights a week. I'm just not interested in bookoo channels, just quality channels.

DocDrew
How can I help?
Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal
Ubee E31U2V1
Technicolor TC4400
Linksys EA6900

DocDrew to wingspar

Premium Member

to wingspar
said by wingspar:

The setup I'm referring to that both of us have seen was set up by the Sudenlink tech, so it should be set up correctly. No?

Totally depends on what was ordered, available at the time of install, and customer request during the install. From your description of being unable to tell the difference between HD and SD, I'd say you were looking at SD video. It could be it's all wired and setup correctly, you're just looking at the wrong channels.

wingspar
Premium Member
join:2002-11-09
Oregon

wingspar to B4Knight

Premium Member

to B4Knight
said by B4Knight:

Why didn't you just go to your local office and pick up a STB locally as opposed to having them ship you one?

Best of luck

Because it is a 120 round trip. Even if Charter reimbursed me for the expense of making the drive (Fat Chance), I would not make the drive.

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

CoolMan

Member

said by wingspar:

Because it is a 120 round trip. Even if Charter reimbursed me for the expense of making the drive (Fat Chance), I would not make the drive.

I entered your zip in on »www.charter.com/browse/s ··· ocations and it looks like the local office in California is closer then your state. Crescent City, CA office looks to be about 22 miles from your zip.

wingspar
Premium Member
join:2002-11-09
Oregon

wingspar

Premium Member

said by CoolMan:

I entered your zip in on »www.charter.com/browse/s ··· ocations and it looks like the local office in California is closer then your state. Crescent City, CA office looks to be about 22 miles from your zip.

That's the wrong zip since I don't live there anymore. I've been here since 1973, and I think I know how far it is to Crescent City a lot more so than someone on the other side of the country in Tennessee. It's 120 miles round trip. I've made the trip hundreds of times, but no longer go down there. Yes, it is in another state and it's even more than 22 miles from Brookings. Those internet milage things are never right. Not even as the crow flies.

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

CoolMan

Member

said by wingspar:

That's the wrong zip since I don't live there anymore. I've been here since 1973, and I think I know how far it is to Crescent City a lot more so than someone on the other side of the country in Tennessee. It's 120 miles round trip. I've made the trip hundreds of times, but no longer go down there. Yes, it is in another state and it's even more than 22 miles from Brookings. Those internet milage things are never right. Not even as the crow flies.

Sorry , I didn't realize your location was different from your profile. Yeah, you are right, I do not know anything about the area as far as travel times as I was simply looking at an online map.

I guess I am pretty lucky as I am only 5 miles from my local office. The headend for the entire area is also basically right near the office as well.

sdurrough
Premium Member
join:2002-12-10
Haines City, FL

sdurrough

Premium Member

I just got through testing the new channel lineup for 2 areas.thought I was never going to get through.We added HD channels I have never even heard of.Even TV Japan!

wingspar
Premium Member
join:2002-11-09
Oregon

wingspar to CoolMan

Premium Member

to CoolMan
said by CoolMan:

Sorry , I didn't realize your location was different from your profile. Yeah, you are right, I do not know anything about the area as far as travel times as I was simply looking at an online map.

I guess I am pretty lucky as I am only 5 miles from my local office. The headend for the entire area is also basically right near the office as well.

I have no idea how to change my location. I'd like to update the computer in my profile as I've built a new one, but I can't figure out how to do that. It's been 8 years since I changed my profile last, and this site has changed enough so that I can't figure out how to do that.

Most people seem to live in metropolitan areas and have no concept of what it's like to live in remote locations. While it doesn't seem remote to me, it is to most. I've found in the past that those online mileage things are worthless. I've found some that say Grants Pass is 25 miles away, however, in reality, it is 68 miles as the crow flies, and being a pilot and aircraft owner, I've flown it a lot over the years, and by highway, it is 133 miles.

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

CoolMan

Member

said by wingspar:

I have no idea how to change my location.

To change it you click Members > Account tab > and there should be a box that says ZIP (or Canadian postcode): > then Update Profile at bottom of page

wingspar
Premium Member
join:2002-11-09
Oregon

wingspar

Premium Member

said by CoolMan:

To change it you click Members > Account tab > and there should be a box that says ZIP (or Canadian postcode): > then Update Profile at bottom of page

I found that yesterday, but I'd really rather just have it say Oregon and not the exact location. Oregon is close enough for me. How did you get yours to just say Tennessee?

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

CoolMan

Member

said by wingspar:

How did you get yours to just say Tennessee?

I just typed it in the same box rather then a Zip.

B4Knight
Premium Member
join:2014-03-20
Colon, MI

B4Knight to wingspar

Premium Member

to wingspar
Oh I see.. Well that's unfortunate that there isn't a closer office to you