Considering switching to Comcast...Need Advice!

[juliedrys]

We are long, long time TiVo users, as well as DirecTV subscribers. When forced to last year, we made the switch to the DTV DVRs. We kept our HR10-250 and set up our bedroom TV with 4 tuners, which has been great. I don't like the DTV DVR, but having the backup TiVo has helped.

Now we're frustrated with DTV -- we can't get NBC HD or CW local. We were getting those OTA, but we lost CW in the digital switchover the other day, and our OTA NBC HD is often poor quality. (We've asked for waivers for both, but not gotten them.)

We're thinking about switching to Comcast HD -- they have NBC HD local, and CW, and better On Demand than DTV.

I know I would want more space and capability than the regular Comcast DVR, but what do I need to make this work for me?

Should I 2 buy Series3 Tivos, and use a splitter, to get 4 tuners? Or can I use the Comcast DVR, and a Series3 Tivo for the other 2 tuners? What kind of splitter do I need?

We already have cable coming into the house, we use it for cable internet.

Any advice would be appreciated -- thanks!

[That Don Guy]

Keep in mind that if you want OnDemand, you will have to have at least one Comcast box (not necessarily a DVR) - TiVos do not support OnDemand (or PPV ordering, for that matter).

I'm confused as to what you mean by "what kind of splitter". Naturally, it's a splitter that takes one coax cable as input and has two as outputs. Make sure it covers enough of a frequency range to cover all of the channels - digital channels can go above 1 GHz in some areas, so a splitter that only handles 1 GHz and below would result in some channels not being available.

-- Don

[juliedrys]

I did read that we need the Comcast box for OnDemand, that's why I was thinking of using the Comcast box for 2 of the tuners, and then getting a Series3 TiVo for the other 2 tuners.

Thanks for the information on the splitter, as well. That's what I was looking for, details such as neededing to buy one with a high enough frequency range. We have some old splitters but I'm not sure what their range is.

[PaJo]

We prefer Netflix, available on the HD Tivo to Comcast's "On Demand" We don't miss "On Demand" at all. We were with Direct TV for several years and went to Comcast when DTY dropped the Tivo - we may go back when they use Tivo again. However, having a HD Tivo does make Comcast almost as good as DTV,

It was frustrating getting the cablecard from Comcast , but once it was setup our HD Tivo has been working good. The HD Tivo has an option to plug in an external hard drive so it will be pretty easy to add more space. However, we spend a lot of time watching Netflix and really don't have too many show being recorded. We dropped all the movie channels but Stars, and may drop that as well. In our area Comcast only has 1 HD channel on each premium service, 1 HD HBO , 1 HD Showtime etc. hardly makes it worth worrying about.

I understand your thinking, but check out all the HD DTV has compared to all the HD Comcast has before you leave.

[kiwiquest]

We switched from Directv after being with them for many years.....I am really glad that we did. We purchased two TivoHD's, and one DVR Expander. So, far everything has worked great, and it is so nice to be back using the Tivo interface again!! It actually works, what an amazing concept.

[juliedrys]

We've been using DirecTV with and without TiVo for quite awhile now, and the TiVo interface is just so much better. But of course DTV aren't supporting TiVo anymore, and the HR10-250 is becoming increasingly useless. We just have it for SD programming, as backup for extra tuners.

I suspect that DTV may have better HD programming than Comcast, but as long as I have the shows I want (which I will), and with the addition of our locals in HD, as well as the CW network (now completely gone from our current system), it's well worth the switch. Also, by upgrading to Triple Play, we will eliminate our phone bill and save money overall.