Thinking about going from S1 DTV to S3 Comcast - caveats?

[StarmanTHX]

Hi all,
In recent months, I've been dissatisfied with the state of PVRs with respect to DirecTV. I have a S1 TiVo from WAY back. I went with DTV simply because at the time, Comcast here in NJ was TERRIBLE. You know, the typical diagonal lines, awful reception on CBS, the usual garbage. In the last few months I've seen how much better Comcast has gotten. That, plus the fact that the only TiVo solution I can find for HDTV is a Series 3 which only runs on cable TV, makes me want to jump back to Comcast.

Before I do, are there any caveats I should know about? How reliable are these Series 3 units? I assume that I'll still be able to use the S3 like an S1, but with HD functionality. Is there anything I should know about besides getting a cable card? I'd like to just go to BB, buy it, go to my local office and get a cable card (some people from my area said they could, others said I had to have a truck come by), and be done with it. Thanks.

P.S. I'm not new to the forums, I just lost my old registration :D

[gatorbait]

This is my take

have now had Comcast and the S3 in place for about a month. I dropped D* after being with them since 1996. I did not like what they were doing with their HD DVR nor did I want to add another larger satellite dish, deal with the new multi switches, or commit to an additional two year commitment on leased equipment.

It has been a great switch for me. It is is so fun to be back to a real life TiVo and not the features that D* decided I wanted. I had hacked my D* TiVo's for additional functionality but still have enjoyed the switch.

I had no problems at all getting the cable cards installed and working. The picture quality is tremendous. The OTA tuner better than the HR10-250. With the S3 we feel like we got a new TV. The SD is at least as good as what D* spews, and the HD is not even close. Comcast in a land slide.

In Salt Lake at least you can just go to the office and pick up the cable cards. You might want to search the web for a better price though than what you find at best buy. I know people who have had good success at amazon or digitalhotbuy.

I have features that I appreciate like speed and folders, without having to deal with the unreliable recent upgrades that D* has sent to its HR10-250 customers.

I also sold my HR10-250 on ebay for $550 so the actual cost of my S3 was next to nothing.

Something else I didn't expect is how much I like the S2 TiVo we picked up for the bedroom. TiVo to Go is a great feature and very easy to implement. I love setting up the batch transfers and moving shows to my laptop overnight.

Just in case anyone else is on the fence, I would suggest you make the switch, I think you will enjoy the experience.

[nhaigh]

I also switched from DTV to Comcast with an S3. No problems here with cablecards either and I 100% agree the Comcast HD with and S3 is far better PQ than DTV's HD.

Best decision I every made :)

[BoyScout]

There's a HUGE Comcast thread already in this forum. I'd peruse it if I were you. Many have wonderful experiences with Comcast and many do not. It depends a great deal on the local tech/installer you get and who is on the other end to activate your cards (I assume you are going S3).

I'd also read the threads in the S3 forum. I just switched from Dish to Comcast with an S3 and while I'm ecstatic about the overall experience, but there are a few caveats about installation and the feature set of the S3.

[CraigHB]

I'm currently switching from DirecTV to cable/S3 for the same reason. Everything has been working well so far, but I don't get the cable cards until tomorrow. I'll keep my fingers crossed. If that goes well, I'll be happy. I've been running the TiVo off analog cable and digital OTA for a couple weeks now and haven't had any problems.

Getting HD through DirecTV was not an attractive option. I really wasn't interested in all the mess. First, there's a dish upgrade. Then I'd have to make a 2 year commitment. My montly bill would increase and I'd have to pay $300 up front. On top of that, I'd lose my TiVo and get stuck with their NDS POS.

I decided to go the with the S3 and cable. I have a basic digital cable package and I get HD OTA only. My HD is limited, but it's free. My monthly rate is much less than what it would be with DirecTV's HD package plus HD DVR. I did have the large up front cost of the S3, but hey, it's a TiVo and it's what I want. And, the monthly savings will pay for it in about 3 years. I really do like TiVo and am willing to pay the premium for it, especially when it lowers my montly rate.

I did consider going with the HR10-250 at one point. However, those aren't cheap either. And then I'd be in DirecTV / TiVo limbo. Who knows how long or how well they're going to support their TiVo boxes. I felt that going with the S3 and cable was just a smarter/better investment.

[StarmanTHX]

I got my S3 last night and the only thing I can run it from upstairs is OTA, but wow this thing is nice. Comcast is going to run a cable from the downstairs box to upstairs, and I have to wait a WEEK for the HD card to get here. /sigh. Anyway, I can't complain too much right now. I get OTA HD, I can tell the unit to record shows using the web, and it's a fast machine to boot. I'll start reading the Comcast thread.

[ewilts]

In the last few months I've seen how much better Comcast has gotten. That, plus the fact that the only TiVo solution I can find for HDTV is a Series 3 which only runs on cable TV, makes me want to jump back to Comcast.

Read carefully the threads in the Series 3 forum about Switched Digital Video - SDV. Comcast has announced that they will be aggressively rolling this out, and the Series 3 does not appear to support it. TiVo has only said that they're investigating/researching.

It is possible that your new Series 3 could be rendered useless by a Comcast rollout to SDV in your area. At a minimum, some of the new HD or digital channels could be unwatchable. This has already happened to some S3 owners.

Although I have a Series 3 (and have owned a TiVo since they were first released), I'd be hesitant to purchase a Series 3 now until TiVo announces how they will address SDV.

..../Ed

[CraigHB]

I believe the SDV thing is sort of a "sky is falling" prediction. Moving all of their line-up to SDV is going to cost a lot of money. Do their deployed end user devices even fully support it yet? Currently, they have enough bandwidth to carry several hundred digital channels. Why would they take all of them offline in favor of SDV. It doesn't seem reasonable to me. If anything, I would think they'd be pulling analog channels into the digital realm first. Several digital channels can broadcast on the bandwidth an analog channel consumes. Another issue about moving all their channels to SDV is that it violates the spirit of the integration ban mandated by the FCC. I bet the FCC would have something to say about that especially if a lot of people start complaining. I think the worst case is you won't get *all* the channels, but certainly enough to make the S3 worthwhile.

There's been a lot of chatter about the S3 and the two way communication required to support things like PPV, VoD, and of course, SDV. People say the TiVo does not have the hardware to support it, but I haven't read that from any engineers at TiVo. I've only read that in posts from end users. How do they know? Maybe the hardware *is* there.

[ewilts]

I believe the SDV thing is sort of a "sky is falling" prediction.
Tell that to the people who do not have a full channel lineup because of SDV. This isn't a "sky is falling" prediction. This is a "the sky has already fallen on me" statement. Sure, many people have not yet been impacted - I haven't been (yet). Some may never be. However, some people all *already* impacted.

If the information really is inaccurate, would it be that hard for TiVo to say so? A simple FAQ on their web site would suffice. Search their support forums and you won't find a single mention of it. If you can find otherwise, I'd appreciate a link.

.../Ed

[ewilts]

http://dtv.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=98553

Read the quotes from the Time Warner VP/CTO:

"We've rolled out SDV to hundreds of thousands of customers ... Our intention is to rollout SDV everywhere," he said.

Still think the sky is falling?

.../Ed

[ah30k]

There's been a lot of chatter about the S3 and the two way communication required to support things like PPV, VoD, and of course, SDV. People say the TiVo does not have the hardware to support it, but I haven't read that from any engineers at TiVo. I've only read that in posts from end users. How do they know? Maybe the hardware *is* there.The CableCARD specs specifically disallow any upstream transmitters for Unidirectional Cable Card devices. It ain't opinion, its in the specs. I'll look for the other thread that copy/pastes the relevant requirements.

edit - here is the spec http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4753310&&#post4753310

[CraigHB]

Tell that to the people who do not have a full channel lineup because of SDV. This isn't a "sky is falling" prediction. This is a "the sky has already fallen on me" statement. Sure, many people have not yet been impacted - I haven't been (yet). Some may never be. However, some people all *already* impacted.On the other hand, the loss of some channels to SDV does not render the S3 a paperweight. I've read statments in this forum to that effect.

Fortunately for me, I'm with Charter who has not yet indicated any plans to rollout SDV, although they have expressed interest. If Charter does move to SDV, there's a good chance I won't be affected since I'm using a basic digital package and have no need for PPV or VoD. If a person is counting on receiving channels that have been moved or added to SDV, then I suppose buying an S3 only to find they can't receive them would be quite annoying.

Is SDV compliant with the integration ban? Does the current cablecard spec cover the mechanics required for end user devices to access it? I do believe in the intergration ban and if SDV is not compliant, the FCC needs to do something about it.

[ewilts]

On the other hand, the loss of some channels to SDV does not render the S3 a paperweight. I've read statments in this forum to that effect.

Fortunately for me, I'm with Charter who has not yet indicated any plans to rollout SDV, although they have expressed interest. If Charter does move to SDV, there's a good chance I won't be affected since I'm using a basic digital package and have no need for PPV or VoD. If a person is counting on receiving channels that have been moved or added to SDV, then I suppose buying an S3 only to find they can't receive them would be quite annoying.

Is SDV compliant with the integration ban? Does the current cablecard spec cover the mechanics required for end user devices to access it? I do believe in the intergration ban and if SDV is not compliant, the FCC needs to do something about it.
If Charter does move to SDV, you very likely will be impacted. You're just in denial. You may find a favorite station just you suddenly can't get. It would only take a few for my wife to be pretty annoyed as I explain to her how we used to be able to watch the station, still pay for it, but my $1,000 (with lifetime transfer fee) S3 can't. Comcast would unfortunately get exactly what they want - me selling the S3 and renting one of their TiVo-based DVRs.

The FCC isn't doing anything today that I've heard about. Remember, we're not talking about what cable companies will be doing in the future - it's what they're already doing *today*.

.../Ed

[CraigHB]

Yes, it is a disturbing development to say the least. I'd have the same problem with my wife. However, it may not be all the doom and gloom that people are forecasting, at least in my case.