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ttugrad95
join:2004-01-27
Allen, TX

ttugrad95

Member

Comcast HDTV with DVR

I have been using Tivo for a couple years and for the most part love the way it worked. Their customer service has been somewhat lacking recently and I have been interested in other options but declined to do so because I have only basic cable. Even though I only pay for the basic I don't think I have a trap because I get channels up to 99. With the Tivo this gave me more than enough TV to watch. I also had a seperate on air HDTV tuner but rarely used it because I am addicted to skipping the commericials. After a few calls to Comcast I found out that I could add HDTV and DVR without upgrading to the digital packages which add channels I don't watch. I picked the box up Friday (yes they let me do this), its a Motorola 6412. I can't express how dissapointed I am in this. The pixelation on most HDTV channels make them unwatchable. I recorded the NASCAR race and tried to watch it last night and ended up skipping to the end just to see who won. Discovery HD is always beautiful but the rest are crap. On top of this 1/2 of the time you tune to a channel and it says "this channel will be available shortly" and you have to turn the tuner off and on to get it on. Not good if you want to rely on unatended recording. The DVR is not any better. While I don't have a problem with the operation of it I've had problems deleting recordings, I have had to unplug the reciever to do a hard reset in order to play back recordings. I've had recordings start 30 minutes late, and end 45 minutes early. I can't figure out what, if anything I am doing to stop these recordings. It has dual tuner and I have not tried to record more than 1 thing at a time and I should be able to change channels at will. I have not been able to watch an entire show all weekend either due to bad pixelation or incomplete recordings. I don't know if I can bear with this or not. Sorry for the rant but I've been so frustrated with this thing all weekend I thought my head was going to explode.

owlyn
MVM
join:2004-06-05
Newtown, PA

owlyn

MVM

You have a signal problem. Make sure all the connections are tight and not bad for some other reason (like a bad or loose connector). Got any splitters? Take'em out and see what happens.
ttugrad95
join:2004-01-27
Allen, TX

ttugrad95

Member

I took a splitter off and we'll see if that helps. What confuses me is that Discovery HD is always perfect, and its one of the higher resolution channels having many shows that are what I would call true HDTV not shows that have been enhanced. TNT HD is almost not worth tuning in to.

Snowcat
join:2004-02-02
Nashville, TN

Snowcat to ttugrad95

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I am surprised that Comcast let you have a 6412 without subscribing to a digital package of some kind.
ckjonny
join:2002-02-01
Redwood City, CA

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ttugrad95, Why don't you just call customer care? They can reset the box and walk you through the setup. When they do the reset it's complete and you'll loose anything you have setup, recordings, etc. However I agree with Snowcat I to am surprised. That may be why you have problems. The Comcast product site says: "DVR requires subscription to Comcast Digital Cable."

Good luck

bryank
join:2000-03-23
Plainfield, IL

1 edit

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Have you checked your signal levels within the box? Have the TV on, turn the box off, and within 3 seconds of powering the box off, hit the select button on the front of the box. Use the cursors to move down to inbound status, and tell us your signal level. My current signal level is like 34db and I have no issues with my HD.
ttugrad95
join:2004-01-27
Allen, TX

ttugrad95

Member

I'll check the levels when I get home. I removed the splitter I had behind the TV and on the programs I recorded last night I didn't have many issues. CBS was almost flawless, with maybe 2 or 3 glitches in 3 hours of recordings. Fox still had quite a few issues but was watchable and nothing like the NASCAR race Sunday that was wasn't.
Just so those of you looking to upgrade know, when I called Friday to upgrade to a digital package so I could get DVR and HDTV (because the website does say its required) the lady asked me if I wanted digital or just DVR and I said, I really just want the DVR because there aren't any many digital channels that interest me. She said they no longer required a sub to a digital package. I also expected an "installation" would be required but she then asked me if I wanted them to install or would I rather just pick the box up. I of course chose the latter. I never even gave her my personal info and wasn't calling from my home phone. When I went by the office to pick the box up I was 1/2 way expecting something different than what I was told but I had no issues doing just what I was told I could. The lady who helped me at the office did say that if I ever wanted to upgrade to digital they would need to come out to remove the trap on the line. I'm pretty sure they never put one on, but I wasn't going to tell her that.
sc0ri0n
join:2002-05-01
Nutley, NJ

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Hello,

I too have Basic Cable( BC) and see channels up to CH99. When I first signed up for BC, I was only able to see up to CH40. I don't know what happened but one day I noticed that I was receiving more channels and I am not complaining

I had signed up for HDTV which cost me an additional $10. Together with Internet access, I pay about ~$77 in Rutherford, NJ.

As ppl. mentioned here, Comcast page clearly states that you need to have Digital Cable but I called them anyway. I was told that I did not need to sign up for Digital package and I would be paying $75 if I get the DVR box??? It does not make sense to me but that's what they said.

I was also told that I could keep my current DCT6200 for $10 more but I am not sure why I should keep it. Still, I am concerned that I might lose ch.40-ch99 if I install the DVR box. Should I be worried? Does the type of box I have will have any affect on the number of channels I get?

TIA
sc0ri0n

sc0ri0n

Member

I could not wait for an answer and called Comcast back. I got different information this time. they told me that keeping the current box would not do me any good anyway and I had to pay about $10 more for DVR box.

So, I took my DCT6200 to local comcast office and replaced it with a DCT3412/2305 Platform 704 Phase 1. Although the person in charge claimed that this was the latest device, I don't know if that's true.

They also had some problem deciding what to charge me because I had basic cable only and in their system, they had prices for digital cable owners only. After a lot of discussion on the phone, she and the person she was talking agreed to charge me $5 only???

Anyway, I installed it and checked the channels.I did not lose any of them. When I check the guide for tomorrow, most of the stuff is 'to be announced". I called up comcast and they said it may take overnight to download full 2 weeks of program schedules. Difficult to understand why...