Hello-

I currently have a Motorola (non DVR) cable box from Comcast. I live in Eastern Massachusetts. My box- which I got in mid 2005 has DVI out. I currently pipe audio via analog connections to my ancient receiver. I'm planning on purchasing a Pioneer 1018 receiver in a couple of months when they arrive- the 1018 has the ability to process sound from an HDMI input.

So, I'm excitied by the notion of reducing cable clutter behind my setup and want to have a single HDMI cable between my set top box and my receiver.

Does anyone know if Comcast will give me trouble for asking to switch a DVI box to a HDMI box? I'm not interested in a DVR/PVR box.

I've read some posts from a year ago or so where some folks are having trouble getting the box and their tv or receiver to properly do the HDCP handshake. Have these problems been cleared up for the most part?

If anyone has any advice for me when I talk to the (hopefully friendly) people at Comcast, I'd appreciate it! Thanks, AL

"Does anyone know if Comcast will give me trouble for asking to switch a DVI box to a HDMI box?"

No idea, contact your local office and see what they have in stock.

"I've read some posts from a year ago or so where some folks are having trouble getting the box and their tv or receiver to properly do the HDCP handshake. Have these problems been cleared up for the most part?"

Not really, certain boxes don't work with HDMI repeaters which is what AV receivers tend to act as.

In reality if you can't get an HDMI enabled box, you only need two cables vs one for DVI, the DVI cable and an optical audio cable.

Thanks for the reply. I'll go see if they have HDMI boxes.

i got a 4350 (i think that's the model #) which is a SA HD box with HDMI out, but no DVR capability. They even gave me a free hdmi cable.

Comcast just gave me 2 DCH3200's

They're great.

I finally took my old DVI box back today and they gave me a DCH3200 too. I'm hoping it puts out less heat than the old one (it's only been on for 5 minutes so far...) I assume the old one used tons of electricity considering the amount of heat it put out- even when turned off. I hope these use less electricity and generate less heat.

This box apparently was already used by someone else because the front is a little bit scratched- or possibly the people at the comcast office just handled it a bit rough.

It does switch channels in about half the time as the old one (I forget the model of the old one) and for some reason, the audio coming out of the analog audio outs is far more "stereo" than the old box- so much so that I find it annoying when I'm standing close to the speakers- at least on first impression. Feels like I'm in a wierd vortex! Perhaps I have the polarity mixed up on my speaker cables. Sitting back on my couch it isn't so bad...

Anyway, my comcast office is a 35 minute drive from my house and so I called the Comcast phone number and asked them to check if the office had some HDMI boxes. He went away for 30 seconds and then came back and said they had plenty. I then went to the office and they said they only had one and she acted as if I was lucky to get it- so not sure the guy on the phone truly checked. Thankfully they had the one box and I didn't make the trip for nothing (and waste $5 in gas!)

I'll be purchasing a HDMI receiver soon (waiting on Pioneer 1018 to become available) and can't wait to reduce all the cable clutter with HDMI cables!!

The 3200 puts out much less heat than the old box. It also works just fine with my Monoprice 4x1 HDMI switch. I'm very glad I switched!