Comcast Tivo - not going to be be an improvement?

hey I have an idea. How about you wait and see!

 

Or just get a TiVo HD. The difference being the $250 - $300 cost of the device. In my situation, cablecard rental and the TiVo monthly fee is less than half the monthly rental/service costs for a Comcast DVR.

 

I agree. Other than acceptance and therefore support from Comcast, I'm not sure it's going to be better than using an SA TiVo with cablecards even if you use Comcast as your cableco.

Those closer to the situation may know better what the advantages might be.

 

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So it it here yet????


Late??? http://www.news.com/TiVo,-Comcast-reach-DVR-deal/2100-1041_3-5616961.html

 

One possible advantage is that a Comcast TiVo box may also function as a full featured cabe STB, allowing you to order PPV and access VOD. That can't be done with a Series 3 or a TiVo HD. (of course, you could always get a cable box to go along with a SA TiVo for those situations, but that is another box to hook up and switch over to).

 

Thanks Jeff, that makes sense.

I'd say it's late MediaLivingRoom. Mid 2006 was a while ago!

 

It definitely will. They've made that clear.

 

Which is a huge benefit!

 

Open mind here.....

But one negative on the larger side for me would be the inability to open the box and either add a larger hard drive, or make a backup image. Let's say you have TiVo......you open the box, decide the HD is big enough, but you make a backup image just in case (after setting up your SPs). If the drive fails, yes, you have to buy a new HD, but you can slap your backup image on it and still have your SPs.

With the Comcast Box, yes, if it fails, they just give you another one. But you have lost your SP list and have to re-enter everything.

 

If it fails, you've probably lost everything anyway, right?

 

Expect Comcast's Motorola/TiVo offering to be significantly better than Comcast's Motorola/iGuide and not as good as pure TiVo/TiVo, for all features that the latter actually supports. Remember, Comcast's Motorola/TiVo supports On Demand and SDV.

Keep in mind that some Comcast NE customers already have the TiVo software. They're simply under confidentiality agreement and so they cannot discuss it. (I'm, unfortunately, not one of those folks. )

 

Well, yes, but the point I Was trying to make is that with TiVo at least you have the ability to open the case and make a backup image. Presumably, one would likely make an image after setting up their SP list.

 

Also when the very first symptoms of failure creep up, knowing a backup method is available brings higher serenity to the home.

 

I haven't had a problem with cut off recordings, besides, you can pad a recording if you're concerned about it being cut off, just like TiVo.
What it does a poor job of is not knowing you just recorded and watched a show. It will try to record every showing of Weeds (or any cable show) even though you just finished watching it.
By the way, the Comcast DVR will also show you other times a show is playing.

 

What you describe is way beyond my capabilities, and most other people. I have no idea how to make a backup image. And don't even bother to provide a link to a site with instructions on how to do it because I would need instructions to follow the instructions.
At least you say it's a negative for YOU.

 

A backup image isn't necessary. Comcast will just give you a new box for free. I don't think you buy it, you rent it.

For your season passes, dust off your VCR and record yourself navigating through the season pass list. And if you've forgotten how to use a VCR or what a VCR is, there are these things they used to use in the dark ages called a "pen" and "paper". You could apparently do something called "writing them down", whatever that means. I think it's the same as a PDA, but there's a fancy kind of stylus that outputs something called "ink". That's too barbaric for me, I just open a text document and type them in.

 

Over in avsforum one Comcast insider has indicated that those expecting the Tivo software on the Motorola to be a full replacement from what you could get with a Tivo HD + CableCARD will be sorely disappointed.

It sounds like the Tivo software for Comcast is somewhat better than Tivo Basic (and will have the unique feature of being able to deal with PPV and OD in the Tivo interface), but with far less function than is currently on the stand-alone Series 2/Series 3 platforms.

Unless the upfront cost is a significant issue, I see very little value for those in Comcast markets to wait for the ComcasTivo code unless they are heavy OnDemand users. I had a new Motorola 6412 DVR from Comcast for almost a year, waiting for the Tivo software. (It doubled as a space heater, so I didn't mind too much). Finally returned it, got the Series 3 and now the Tivo HD, and won't even bother with the Comcast offering when they finally get around to releasing it in my market.

It certainly doesn't look like we are going to see massive distribution in 2007, so, for those on the fence, just go get a stand-alone Tivo HD.

 

You raise a very good point. I have not wanted to open my box yet for fear of zapping it. But I would also probably need help to actually get a abckup image going. If my box crashes, I am likely to just go to weaknees and buy a drop-in replacement drive. And as you say, there probably is a large % of users who would not want to attempt a backup. I have been toying with using my now unsubcribed STS2 to see how difficult or easy it really is, but I may not bother.

Bob, in acutality, I have in the past just taken digital photos. But usually, I do just use the pen/paper methodology. This certainly works for what you need to enter. However, it doesn't replace the actually having to enter part. But, after reading JamesBobo's comment from above and thinking about it some more, while it would be nice to not have to re-enter your SPs, you would still have to take the time to prepare and install a new hard drive.




And thinking about all of this some more, what would be great with respect to recovering from a HD or other crash, is if you could essentially store/backup your SP list on line and then pull it back down to the new HD/box/etc.

 

I can't even do that. I did double the memory of my old computer (from 256 to 512MB) but I had to take a deep breath before I started.