Tivo vs. Comcast DVR

[TommyTutone]

I have finally entered the 21st century and purchased an HDTV for the home. I noticed of course that the Series 2 Tivo does not support HDTV, and as such, I imagine if I upgrade my Comcast cable box to HDTV, it won't matter since my signal will get downgraded.

Also, I see that the Series 3 Tivos are $800, and even with a 15% discount, is more than I really want to pay at the moment since I did just buy the tv (and a Wii). I love Tivo, the product has been nothing but fantastic for our family and I really don't want to lose it, but $680 is still really steep.

I saw that Comcast has, in addition to its HDTV cable box, has one with a built in DVR that runs for $20-ish/month more than what I am paying. I fully expect the capabilities of the Comcast DVR to pale compared to Tivo, but does anyone have any experience with it and can tell me how it compares?

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to ditch Tivo, and if there is a trade-in in place where I can trade in my current Series 2 Tivo along with another Series 2 that we are currently not using, to save a few bucks, we'll consider it, but otherwise, that price seems crazy high right now.

Thanks!

[HomieG]

I have finally entered the 21st century and purchased an HDTV for the home. I noticed of course that the Series 2 Tivo does not support HDTV, and as such, I imagine if I upgrade my Comcast cable box to HDTV, it won't matter since my signal will get downgraded.

Also, I see that the Series 3 Tivos are $800, and even with a 15% discount, is more than I really want to pay at the moment since I did just buy the tv (and a Wii). I love Tivo, the product has been nothing but fantastic for our family and I really don't want to lose it, but $680 is still really steep.

I saw that Comcast has, in addition to its HDTV cable box, has one with a built in DVR that runs for $20-ish/month more than what I am paying. I fully expect the capabilities of the Comcast DVR to pale compared to Tivo, but does anyone have any experience with it and can tell me how it compares?

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to ditch Tivo, and if there is a trade-in in place where I can trade in my current Series 2 Tivo along with another Series 2 that we are currently not using, to save a few bucks, we'll consider it, but otherwise, that price seems crazy high right now.

Thanks!

There are many posts in other threads on this exact topic. I switched from a DirecTiVo to the Comcast HD-DVR (Motorola 3412) in June. It lacks some features and space, but for $5.99 a month I can survive just fine. The cost of trying their DVR is rather inexpensive, and generally doesn't require a committment, so you may want to consider a test drive for a few months to see if it fits your lifestyle and expectations.

It can be programmed for the 30-second skip.
I've had zero problems with this model, however others have had problems.
It has a free-space indicator (sure to elicit some debate now...)
It's a full digital unit, records the digital tier versions of the analog channels.
I think the remote is superb (configuration pages on the internet explain a lot about that).
Records the shows I want, when I tell it too, including season passes. Does not have wishlist or keyword records, but does have keyword program title search.
Supposedly Comcast will be introducing the TiVo interface on this model sometime Q1 next year, at additional cost. No word on if it will be the full-featured interface or not.

[ah30k]

That $20'ish price probably also includes upgrading to the digital tier as well which accounts for something like $15 of the $20 price. It makes it harder to compare prices.

My observations are that while the Comcast DVRs are not as nice as the S3, they get the job done. As the previous poster mentioned, it costs nothing to try it out if you are willing to drive to the counter service and pick it up yourself.

[jfh3]

I had the Comcast 6412 Phase III box for about 8 months - it was fine, as long as you don't rely on it. Remember that you will only be able to store 12-15 or so hours of HD programming on it. Search is near impossible. The guide is decent, but scheduled recordings (especially repeat detection) really need to be "baby sat". And make sure you have it on a good UPS - if you lose power, it can take a good 6-8 hours to repopulate the guide data. The interface takes some getting used to - if you are familiar with a Tivo, you may be easily frustrated with iGuide. And just forget trying to search for a program. :)

PQ is very good. The price is reasonable and you can rent it month to month. But if you are getting it primarily to record HD content - the storage limitation will kill you. A few movies and a few episodes of your favorite TV shows are you are done.

But my wife is extremely happy that we have the Series 3 now instead. :)
Yes, $680 is a lot, but I own the box, can upgrade the storage (already done) and it's a Tivo.

[jwehman]

I have had/have Comcast's x421 DVRs now for about 2 1/2 years (6412 and then recently 3412). I also have the S2 Lifetime Tivo.

I use the two combined (Comcast -> Tivo via Svideo, and Tivo -> Comcast via IRBlaster) since my wife and kids watch and record numerous episodes of the same shows and Folders are an absolute necessity. Plus they don't give a rats patootey about HD. I use only the Comcast, though, since what little TV I watch *must* be in HDTV for me to really enjoy it.

That being said, I've lived with the x412 DVRs and their limitations without any problems, other than gripes/occasional complaints. They have been reliable and work to store HD programs.

Am I looking forward to the Comcast/Tivo marriage? YOU BET! But if the new service doesn't include Folders and TivoTransfers I will not switch over for any more money. But if it includes both of those, they can't take my money fast enough.

Go with the 3412. Like someone else said, you can always return it if it doesn't fit your needs. But by all means, try it. There's nothing like HDTV on a new HDTV :-)

Rgds,

Jwehman

[yunlin12]

I've had the 3412, it worked, which is just about all the + I can say. Now on to the list of -'s.

1) 120 GB HDD, what were they thinking. Yeah free space indicator is nice, if it had any free space. however this kinda made the folder thing moot, since you never had to worry about having too many recorded shows to search through.
2) Search is weak. I was watching a lot of A's games. The only search I can do is title "MLB baseball", then I scroll through the whole list to find the ones that are A's games, set manual recordings, and pad 30 min to each one. This is including all the games on MLB sports package channels. I waste about ~30 min every 1-2 weeks doing that. With Tivo's wishlist, I never had to do this.
3) You can't do a channel I receive list to limit the scope of the searching.
4) It blanks out about once a month, not getting any video signals. When that happens I have to unplug it. Which leads me to #4.
4a) After unplugging, guide data comes back slowly, a lot of shows I scheduled show up as no info.
5) Trick play was jumpy. Often if I do rewind using the 1st speed setting, and hit another key like "play", its response to remote control is very slow, some times it waits 5-10 seconds, and way over shoots.
6) Also no overshoot adjustment on FFW/FRW.
7) Series recording has no idea of a recording history. I record an episode of something off HBO, watch, delete it (remember the 120 GB HDD?), and found it recorded again the next day from another HBO showing.
8) iGuide (I got the iGuide software) was always wrong when INHD2 covers FoxSports BayArea games, when it overlaps with a national game on INHD1.

So yeah it works, but not well.

[mattack]

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to ditch Tivo, and if there is a trade-in in place where I can trade in my current Series 2 Tivo along with another Series 2 that we are currently not using, to save a few bucks, we'll consider it, but otherwise, that price seems crazy high right now.

Thanks!

Well, if your current models have lifetime, you could use the $200 transfer option to get lifetime service on the S3... and sell one lifetime'd unit on ebay for at least a couple hundred. (The s2 you transfer lifetime from will get 'free' service for another year.)

Also, if you don't already subscribe to digital channels, you should be able to get the HD broadcast channels *free* with the S3, though you currently will need cablecards to do the channel mapping (hopefully will be "fixed"/improved in a future software update).

[cwerdna]

I saw that Comcast has, in addition to its HDTV cable box, has one with a built in DVR that runs for $20-ish/month more than what I am paying. I fully expect the capabilities of the Comcast DVR to pale compared to Tivo, but does anyone have any experience with it and can tell me how it compares?

You need to let us know most importantly, what software is on the box and of lesser importance, what box it is.

Comcast has lots of totally unrelated DVR software (from different vendors) and hardware and what you get depends on the area you're in. The experiences that people are conveying may not be for the software and hardware available in your area.

Even saying "6412" is useless. It could be running iGuide from TV Guide/Gemstar, MSTV from Microsoft, Passport Echo or something else.