S3 Combined With Digital Cable Box

[kev206]

Hi:

I took a quick look around and didn't see a thread that looked like it addressed this question...I hope I didn't miss it...if I did, sorry for the new thread.

I'm finally going to take the plunge and ditch Comcast's DVR in favor of a S3...but I would like to still have the box hooked up...both to watch the backlog of programming recorded and to continue to have access to On Demand. Is this something that could be done? I'm figuring I could just split the coax and run it into both the S3 and the Comcast box...but will this cause any conflicts with the CableCards?

Thanks in advance for any info/advice.

Best,

Kevin

p.s. - oooh, this is my 4th post since 2002...quite the active forum member, huh? :D

[ScottUrman]

Split the incoming cable, run it into each box, and then have each box output to a separate input on your TV. The S3 can't control or accept output from the cable box directly.

[kev206]

Cool, thanks for the info...figured that would work...but thought it would be good to get confirmation.

Thanks again!!

Best,

Kevin

[SNJpage1]

My HD set has more than one hdmi input. If yours is the same set up, feed each of the boxes hdmi to diff inputs and use the TV's built in switch to go back and forth between the 2 boxes. there are also receivers for home theater systems with hdmi switchs built in.

[LCD1080]

Split the incoming cable, run it into each box, and then have each box output to a separate input on your TV.Interesting that would give one 410 GB without having to get an unsupported Esata drive or having to physically upgrade the original 250GB drive in the S3. It also would address the worst case scenario if one or more channels were "lost" to SDV. One could access and record the "lost" channels with the Comcast box either permanently or until TIVO and the cable companies came up with a long term solution to allow SDV and the S3 to co-exist harmoniously. It would cost $11 a month to rent the Comcast DVR but there would be no up front cost to buy an eSATA drive or upgrade the S3's internal drive.

[SugarBowl]

Interesting that would give one 410 GB without having to get an unsupported Esata drive or having to physically upgrade the original 250GB drive in the S3. It also would address the worst case scenario if one or more channels were "lost" to SDV. One could access and record the "lost" channels with the Comcast box either permanently or until TIVO and the cable companies came up with a long term solution to allow SDV and the S3 to co-exist harmoniously. It would cost $11 a month to rent the Comcast DVR but there would be no up front cost to buy an eSATA drive or upgrade the S3's internal drive.

and if you're going to keep a cable co dvr, why not remove the cablecards from your S3, hook it up to an antennae, and use the cable DVR for all missing HD channels? An extra Digital/DVR box is about $20 a month here (raleigh, nc).

[ah30k]

Interesting that would give one 410 GB without having to get an unsupported Esata drive or having to physically upgrade the original 250GB drive in the S3. It also would address the worst case scenario if one or more channels were "lost" to SDV. One could access and record the "lost" channels with the Comcast box either permanently or until TIVO and the cable companies came up with a long term solution to allow SDV and the S3 to co-exist harmoniously. It would cost $11 a month to rent the Comcast DVR but there would be no up front cost to buy an eSATA drive or upgrade the S3's internal drive.But you are still stuck using the cable company DVR! To me, this is a pretty lame workaround. I want to leave my TV set to my TiVo and not have to worry about swapping input devices depending on which shows I want to watch.

[LCD1080]

But you are still stuck using the cable company DVR! To me, this is a pretty lame workaround. I want to leave my TV set to my TiVo and not have to worry about swapping input devices depending on which shows I want to watch.I'm more interested in raising my storage capacity with minimal effort and cost during the next 6 months to a year. By then eSATA should be a supported plug and play device and the cost per gigabyte for an eSATA drive should be considerably lower.

[LCD1080]

and if you're going to keep a cable co dvr, why not remove the cablecards from your S3, hook it up to an antennae, and use the cable DVR for all missing HD channels? An extra Digital/DVR box is about $20 a month here (raleigh, nc).Because the 160GB in the cable co DVR isn't enough to store the HD programs that I'd like to accumulate. The DVR box is $11.95 a month in Baltimore.

[kev206]

I think what I'm going to end up doing is split the coax, keep my current setup the way it is...with the Comcast DVR and a Pioneer 810 S2 TiVo...and add the S3 to the mix. I have two HDMI ports on my television (both with HDMI switchers attached) so having both the Comcast box and the S3 hooked up won't be a problem.

Once I clear off the content from both the Comcast box and the S2, I'll have to decide whether or not to keep it as a backup recording option...I had wanted to keep the Pioneer unit in play somehow (for the easy copy to DVD functionality) and this seems easier than swapping it for the S2 that my wife primarily uses. I will probably swap the Comcast box out for a non-DVR unit though...this will still give me access to On Demand not having to subscribe to their DVR service.

Thanks again for everyone's input!

[Ziggy86]

Can you download the saved programs on the cable Co DVR for an external drive?