Has anyone else (on limited Basic) noticed that since yesterday (Friday) Discovery HD now says "Not Authorized" ? Have they stared encrypting the signal? ESPN HD still comes through fine.

I should be getting upgraded to Digital Silver Monday, but was curious if this is a change just in Fremont, or if others have noticed it too..

Originally posted by dmlove51
Does anyone have this set up in a configuration with a TiVo, too? How are you connected - component to TV and S-video to TiVo?

Don't connect it up this way or you will turn your dual tuner 6412 into a single tuner or less setup. Instead, split the cable coming in and route one to Tivo and other to 6412. Then the Tivo can do whatever it wants and won't impact 6412. Run 6412 on component to TV (receiver) and Tivo on best output you have available (s-video).

My analog signal on the new box keeps getting worse. They're trying to fix it, but so far no dice. Any ideas?

Edit: The signal coming in from the wall is fine. The signal coming through the 6412 is awful (on the analog channels). Is anyone else experiencing this? If the problem is that the decoder on the box stinks, is there something we can do to make it better (Radio Shack, etc.)?

Finally I got my 6412 installed in south san jose yesterday.

But I have plagued with problems since the install.

Yesterday I kept the INHD special on Mary J Blige to record and
went to sleep. This morning the whole box was busted. I had to remove the power cable to reboot it back.

Now the box has become totally inoperable... It is automatically switching between different DVR screens without pressing any keys. I think it might be a remote problem though, since the remote light is flickering continuously.

Anybody seeing such problems?

Is there a button stuck on the remote?

Originally posted by dmlove51
My analog signal on the new box keeps getting worse. That is not normal, analog PQ should be good with 6412. Connect cable directly to TV tuner if possible to check signal. If ok, have Comcast replace the 6412.

And why would you want to connect a TiVo to a DVR? Use TiVo in another room or sell it.

Got an appointment for the 6412 installation Monday afternoon in South San Jose. I'm reading about some problems in San Jose with other installations......any resolve yet? Which remote should I ask for? Also, is anyone getting any documentation/Users Guides/manuals with the 6412/remote, or do I need to download the PDF files from the websites?

For those that didnt see it on the news last night or the feature article in the SJ Merc this AM...over 2000 "unhappy" comcast customers showed up yesterday at the Tivo HQ..they had 2000 Tivo's to give away so a few ended up getting coupons instead..the rest took home new Tivo's....and 2000+ toys for needy kids were collected in exchange...nice PR move

The articles said the crowd was bigger than expected...they had to bring in Porta potties, a shuttle from the Great America parking lot, donuts, coffee and police to keep the traffic moving

too funny...go Tivo ;)

ps...I write this as I wait for the Comcast Tech to show up with my 6412 this afternoon :D

The pooh gotta be hitting the fan at Comcast over this TiVo thing...hilarious.:D

If Comcast had simply done a soft rollout that included all interested AVS Forum members (regardless of which part of the Bay Area) during the last week of November/first week of December, the newspapers would never have gotten ahold of all the material about negative experiences posted in this thread, and Comcast would have averted its huge embarassment.

The local media would never have taken this to the level it did if it hadn't been for the members who post on this thread and all the negative experiences they suffered.

It would have been quite easy to accomplish such a soft rollout-- such as has been done in many other Comcast markets. And for the minimal extra effort for such a soft rollout, the returns in the PR department would have been huge. Too bad ...

The good news is that we have all been part of a case study about the influence that can be exerted by early adopters who band together. In this case, thanks to AVS Forum ...

Well, it looks like Fremont Comcast (Mowry) won't allow self installs. Went today and the rep said I had to pay $16 install. Told her I'd pay the $16 and save everyone some time. She said she'd didn't have any of the boxes and that only the techs can bring them out to the house. Whatever. I also asked if DVI output was activated on any of the HD boxes and she said no.

Can anyone just make me feel better and tell me if DVI is activated in the Fremont area? I have a DVI to VGA transcoder for my PJ but don't have a good component to vga transcoder yet.

Also any other east bay payment centers that will allow pick up of the DVR's? Thanks.

Andy

AndyN,
DVI worked for me on Sony PDP. It should work for you if your PJ is HDCP compliant. Standard across the country for 6412 is S/W: 71.44-1203 F/W: 9.12

Yes, thanks AVS forum!

Just had my DVR installed (in SF). Appointment 12-4, showed up at 1:30. He said it was his third today. He tried to show me how to work the remote, but he needed some training himself.

Anyway, so far so good; program guide hasn't loaded yet, and I've got a lot of studying to do (their handouts, the Moto manuals, and this board).

One thing I noticed right away, though, is that HBO hd is now showing true letterbox (in other words, a movie that had a wider aspect ratio had bars at the top and bottom). I haven't heard this reported yet, but I'm pleasently surprised.

Jim

OK, we're all set up and we've got the silver remote. The problem is we can't figure out how to work some things. I can do "swap" and I can record from the guide. The live button works and the quick reverse works. It seems to me, however, that pause, fast forward and reverse aren't working at all, unless I'm doing something wrong (which is certainly possible). Any ideas?

What are the A B and C buttons on the remote?

By the way, we did try another box to see if the analog signal would be any better. No dice. Analog is definitely better coming straight from the wall (that was true with the 5100, too, although there seems to be even more of a discrepancy now.

If someone could help with the remote issues, I'd be very thankful.

Tried again. Working now (that is pause, FF, and REW). Still need to know what ABC are.

Edit: Back again, I figured out ABC. Now I just need to know how to set up season passes. Although, I don't have all the guide data yet, so maybe it will become clearer when I do.

dmlove51,
The forward and reverse buttons at the top should work when you have enough in the live buffer or you are viewing a recorded program. The right arrow and left arrow should mimick the forward and reverse, respectively. The up arrow will toggle between pause and play. The B and C should have "Day +" and "Day -" printed above, and allows you to jump from day to day while using the guide.

This thread is awesome!

For those in San Francisco who got Comcast DVR installed or scheduled to be installed, where are you guys located? I'm in the Richmond District and the Comcast Rep said it wasn't available yet. (another month or so...) :(

Thank you all!!!

Help please: how does one turn off the red 'message' light on the 6412 stb? I knew how to do it on the 6200, but I don't see how to do it with the 6412.

Originally posted by millerwill
Help please: how does one turn off the red 'message' light on the 6412 stb? I knew how to do it on the 6200, but I don't see how to do it with the 6412.

usually all you have to do is delete all of the messages that are stored.

Menu/Menu/->Messages

Originally posted by rayzir
This thread is awesome!

For those in San Francisco who got Comcast DVR installed or scheduled to be installed, where are you guys located? I'm in the Richmond District and the Comcast Rep said it wasn't available yet. (another month or so...) :(

Thank you all!!!

Seems to be available in all areas (assuming your area has been upgraded for HD)...

I'd try calling again just to see if you have better luck w/ a different CSR

Got my 6412 installed Thursday pm and it seems fine mostly, but the operations do not exactly match those in the booklet. One issue is that my favorites button only works when I have just changed channels and the info box is still showing at the bottom of the screen. Once the box goes away, the favorites button doesn't do anything. Does this happen for anyone else?

Otherwise, I like the new menus, (BTW, to turn off the "mail" light, hit menu, choose main menu, then messages, then read and delete your messages). The Steelers-Giants game in hd was terrific. I need to read about how to assign the 30 second skip button to the remote since I am used to it in my ReplayTV, but the fast forward worked fine for moving quickly through the game. I was watching while recording and the "swap" button did not work to take me off dvr when I had it paused as the booklet says. But just changing the channel worked fine and did not turn off the recording.

Thanks!! Duh, I didn't see the 2nd page on the Menu!

My 6412 install (Mountain View) was scheduled for 8-12 this morning (Saturday). About 9am I received a call from the Comcast tech to let me know he was running behind schedule and would it would between noon and 1pm before he could do my install. Nice customer service touch with the phone call :).

He arrived about 12:30pm, did a detailed check of my signal, removed an old filter, installed the 6412, and it has been working without any problems since. Silver remote with the 'Swap' button. Checked both tuners for display/recording/etc. SD quality is at least as good as with the 6200, but the Comcast tech suggested, as others on this forum, to split the signal: one to the 6412 and one to the TV for SD channels.

At this point I am a pretty happy 'camper' :D.

Originally posted by millerwill
Help please: how does one turn off the red 'message' light on the 6412 stb? I knew how to do it on the 6200, but I don't see how to do it with the 6412.
Press the 'Menu' button, then select 'Main Menu' icon.
In the Main Menu, select 'Setup'.
In Setup, select 'Guide Setup'.
In Guide Setup, you can select 'Off' for "Message notice".
That should prevent the red 'message' light from being displayed when you have a message.

web

has anybody figured out how to program a 30 second skip on the black remote yet?

DVR delivered in San Francisco!!!! The tech was late. He arrived about 4:45 pm. I hooked up the 6412. He gave me a black remote that was in a sealed plastic bag. On the back it says ICX Global. It did not have a setup button on it. I asked if he had any other remotes. I went out to his truck. He had a silver remote with the setup button on it. He told me that the remote in the plastic bag was the one they were providing with the 6412. He gave me the silver remote. He told me that they were only allowing one 6412 per customer. He left right away. He said it would take about an hour to download to the box and that he would call in to have the box authorized. I live in the Parkside.

Anyone else using the FusionHDTV for QAM256 reception with Comcast?

I stopped getting Discovery and InHD* today. FusionHDTV crashes when I tune any of those channels. I'm thinking that they might have started encrypting those channels. Anyone know for sure? ESPN-HD still comes in, as do all the HD locals.

Originally posted by zooey91
has anybody figured out how to program a 30 second skip on the black remote yet?

I received the ICX black remote also. But, I still had my silver Comcast remote from my prior 6200. So I programmed it to do 30 second skip and then transferred all of the codes up to my Pronto TSU3000. If you have your old 5100/6200 remote you should be able to use those.

Just scheduled my dvr for Los Gatos!

ok ok,

So they installed the 6412 five hours ago, and the guide only goes until midnight tonight. Is that normal? Will it eventually load through the end of the week?

Originally posted by zooey91
has anybody figured out how to program a 30 second skip on the black remote yet?

Here is a link to the setup instructions for the 6412 ICX black remote.

http://www.icxglobal.com/download/files/ENT%206412%20manual%204-in-1.pdf

It is such a great match for the DVR because it was custom designed for the 6412. After reviewing the instructions, there is no way to program an individual button.

With universal learning remotes so inexpensive, it is probably a better idea just to get an upgraded remote ... especially one that can do macros.

For those waiting for their DVR's here is what the ICX black remote looks like:

http://www.icxglobal.com/en/images/products/cable/new_moto_pip.jpg

Except it only has 4 device buttons on top (aux, vcr, cbl, tv)

Originally posted by davisdog
Seems to be available in all areas (assuming your area has been upgraded for HD)...

I'd try calling again just to see if you have better luck w/ a different CSR

davisdog: Thanks a million!

It turns out that the first CSR didn't know what he was talking about. I called again and this CSR not only said it was available, but "if you get it now, I can waive the installation fee ($15.99)." How can I say no?

Thanks to all that replied...

Originally posted by zooey91
ok ok,

So they installed the 6412 five hours ago, and the guide only goes until midnight tonight. Is that normal? Will it eventually load through the end of the week?

yes it will..patience, we've waited 13 months for the DVR out here ;)

Well, I was scheduled for a DVR install today too. The guy showed up at 11:50 (ahead of the 12-4 slot)! I missed him since I was helping my wife shop at Costco (since when did the cable guys start coming early). My neighbor told me the comcast guy was here, so I called up Comcast and they told me they would tell him I was now home.

Sure enough, he came by around 2:30 - he was delayed a bit doing a cablecard install! He just stopped by early since was just a box swap in case I was home, but then came back during the scheduled window. Boy, Comcast sure is different than AT&T!

Anyways, he just swapped my 6200, and gave me some new documentation and the black remote. Everything seems about the same, except finding the IR window for my IR distribution system to blink to is a little problematic.

The guide is nicer, but sometimes gets slow and behind my remote control keypresses. HD pause is very nice - too bad the cowboys game tommorrow is on channel 2....

Nice job Comcast! Next step is to try a firewire hookup to record MPEG streams off the 6412!

PS My analog picture through the 6412 doesn't look as good as it did. Not sure why, but I am going to try and boost the gain from my distribution system to the box tommorrow to see if that helps. Going direct to the TV (or ReplayTV works fine too). It's not the signal - I'm one pole away from an optical node - no amps between me and the fiber.



thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by davisdog
For those that didnt see it on the news last night or the feature article in the SJ Merc this AM...over 2000 "unhappy" comcast customers showed up yesterday at the Tivo HQ..they had 2000 Tivo's to give away so a few ended up getting coupons instead..the rest took home new Tivo's....and 2000+ toys for needy kids were collected in exchange...nice PR move

The articles said the crowd was bigger than expected...they had to bring in Porta potties, a shuttle from the Great America parking lot, donuts, coffee and police to keep the traffic moving

too funny...go Tivo ;)

ps...I write this as I wait for the Comcast Tech to show up with my 6412 this afternoon :D

I wonder how many of these are going to get resold on ebay, or stripped for parts... :-)

Thanks,
mike

I have not been able to figure out how to set a "season pass" using the silver remote. Anybody?

From the massive 6412 thread:

you have to select a program to record first; then you can go to options that include the season series (or other frequencies and choices).

That's the point - I couldn't find any recording options.

Originally posted by dmlove51
That's the point - I couldn't find any recording options.

I'm not in front of my 6412, but hopefully this will get you close enough. If there is a show that you have indicated that you want to record, you can select it by pressing the OK button. Up comes a small menu of icons, move between them until you get to one that reads something like record settings and press OK again. This will bring up your record settings. The last item on the bottom of the box is usually SERIES RECORDING. Select that and follow the dialogs.

I also thought I read in the brochure that came with the DVR that you can press record twice.

Good luck, it works.

I thought I read somewhere that the 6412 also has a cable modem built in. Is this true and if so, have you used it yet? Would be nice to save another $3 a month.

The 6412 does have a cable modem but comcast doesn't use it. The only place I have heard of the modem being used inside the box is mexico.

Has anyone in the north bay gotten VoD to work yet, regardless of what box you are using?

Originally posted by MikeSM
I wonder how many of these are going to get resold on ebay, or stripped for parts... :-)

Thanks,
mike

Think the paper said people had to sign up for service before they left. So they are guaranteed some income. Even if they are sold, the end user would have to continue paying Tivo their monthly fee. Isn't it true that you have to pay the monthly fee to make any use of the recording feature?

I still wonder why people pay Tivo $13/mo. to, essentially, program their watching for them? In 15 years, never had a problem programming my own VCR- and i'm in the generation who is not supposed to be able to do that<G>.
I can see using Tivo as a recording device that is much more sophisticated than a VCR - but I can do my own programming of what I want to watch.

...mike

Mike: While I agree that it's possible to program your own VCR/TIVO, it's a lot easier to just pick a program and let TIVO figure out when it's on and record it for you. Sometimes the networks change the days that show's are shown and TIVO adjusts the recording for the change. It's just more convenient for me. I've had a TIVO for 4+ years and paid for a lifetime subscription when I got it. No HDTV but I'll stick with it until it breaks down.

Originally posted by rayzir
This thread is awesome!

For those in San Francisco who got Comcast DVR installed or scheduled to be installed, where are you guys located? I'm in the Richmond District and the Comcast Rep said it wasn't available yet. (another month or so...) :(

Thank you all!!!

Call 1-888-824-4146 and it will go directly to the rep... tell them to read their memos and mention the Tivo offer and they will tell you 2 minutes later it's available.

Originally posted by rayzir
davisdog: Thanks a million!

It turns out that the first CSR didn't know what he was talking about. I called again and this CSR not only said it was available, but "if you get it now, I can waive the installation fee ($15.99)." How can I say no?

Thanks to all that replied...

I've been trying to get them to waive the installation fee but all the CSR's I got are always females and would say they can't do it even though they said there is no installation fee for the DVR when they said it wasn't available and when it was, they said the $15.99 was required. Also, I was wondering how did the other people here manage to keep their old 6200 remote since I thought you guys basically swapped out the 6200 for the 6412?

Originally posted by dandrewk
Has anyone in the north bay gotten VoD to work yet, regardless of what box you are using?

My VOD here in Berkeley does not work. Called CC and they scheduled a service call for next week.

Originally posted by Almighty1
I've been trying to get them to waive the installation fee but all the CSR's I got are always females and would say they can't do it even though they said there is no installation fee for the DVR when they said it wasn't available and when it was, they said the $15.99 was required. Also, I was wondering how did the other people here manage to keep their old 6200 remote since I thought you guys basically swapped out the 6200 for the 6412?


They just waived it for me...didnt even have to ask (lucky me I guess).

Also, Tech didnt even bother picking up the old remote... I still have the old Silver 6200 Remote + he gave me the new Silver remote with DVR and OnDemand when he dropped off the 6412 (dont really use them since I have a Harmony 688 that is all programmed up with Forward/Replay/Swap/MyDVR etc.)

-steve

I also thought I read in the brochure that came with the DVR that you can press record twice.

Must be the problem - I didn't get any kind of brochure. I'll have to stop by tomorrow to see if they have one. If not, I'll be back here asking one of you kind souls to copy it and email it to me.

dmlove51,
This should help:
http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/downloads/URMD2.pdf

Thanks Hiker. Very useful (even if I have found most of the info by pushing buttons!).

Two things I can't remember:

1) The firewire is not active yet is it?

2) The "season pass' does address conflicts in the same way that TiVo does, does it? That is, if something is bumped to another time slot, will it record in that other time slot? What if one program records multiple times and the other only once (and the latter has "priority"), will it record the second one in a different time slot?

My DVR appt. is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, but unfortunately, I won't be home, so my wife is going to take care of it. I want to get everything all set up, so what I'd like to know is:

Are there any additional cables in or out required for the 6412 vs. my current box? I'm not sure which box I have, but I'm currently running component video out to the TV, audio L/R out to the TV, and digital optical out to my receiver. The only input I have is the cable line which comes from the wall. What I'd like to do is just unplug my current box, leave the cables exposed, and have the tech just replug everything back in. And one more thing - does anyone know if the AC power plug is the same? If so, then I can just leave that plug exposed as well. It's a real pain to get access to the back of my STB, as well as the back of the TV, so if I can just set everything up for plug-and-play, that would be ideal.

Any other cables that need to be run?

TIA,

Mike

I can't comment on the "season pass" conflicts, but I can comment on firewire.

Firewire is active on the 6412. I got my dvr yesterday and began to experiment this morning. My recording setup involves a Mac running 10.3 and iRecord.

The firewire output is what you see on the screen. On my Mac I recorded a segment that I had previously recorded on the 6412. Not bad!

Originally posted by platypus
... Are there any additional cables in or out required for the 6412 vs. my current box? I'm not sure which box I have, but I'm currently running component video out to the TV, audio L/R out to the TV, and digital optical out to my receiver. The only input I have is the cable line which comes from the wall. What I'd like to do is just unplug my current box, leave the cables exposed, and have the tech just replug everything back in. And one more thing - does anyone know if the AC power plug is the same? If so, then I can just leave that plug exposed as well. It's a real pain to get access to the back of my STB, as well as the back of the TV, so if I can just set everything up for plug-and-play, that would be ideal.

Any other cables that need to be run?

If you have the 6200, the AC power cable is the same. You should be able to unplug the current STB and leave the cables ready to plug into the 6412. That is essentially what I did for my install. Everything was unplugged and waiting for the tech.

web

I still wonder why people pay Tivo $13/mo. to, essentially, program their watching for them? In 15 years, never had a problem programming my own VCR- and i'm in the generation who is not supposed to be able to do that<G>.
I can see using Tivo as a recording device that is much more sophisticated than a VCR - but I can do my own programming of what I want to watch.

...mike [/B]

My friend, if you think that a TiVo can be compared squarely with a VCR, you don't know much about TiVo. And the beauty of TiVo has nothing to so with the 'Suggestions' feature to which you seem to be referring.

Of course, even with a vastly inferior user interface, Comcast's HD DVR is going to have to do the trick when I have the time to get my hands on one. I prayed forever that TiVo would come out with a stand-alone or cablecard HD box, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon.

-Paul

Originally posted by dmlove51

2) The "season pass' does address conflicts in the same way that TiVo does, does it? That is, if something is bumped to another time slot, will it record in that other time slot? What if one program records multiple times and the other only once (and the latter has "priority"), will it record the second one in a different time slot?

Priority is always given to single recordings...By default Series's are given priority in the order that you set them up, but there is any easy way to override that by moving a series up or down on the priority list.

I'm not sure the intelligence exists to record a show that was out prioritized later down the line...although since it can record 2 shows at once.....

-steve

I just got my 6412 and HD three days ago, so tonight was the first HD football game I've seen (BTW, what's up w/ Fox, NOT providing HD for NFC games on Comcast?? Is to spare Niner fans the agony of so many losses in HD ;)?). WOW - I was blown away - it was almost a religious experience, seeing a live game that crystal clear and detailed.

Originally posted by kmitche
I can't comment on the "season pass" conflicts, but I can comment on firewire.

Firewire is active on the 6412. I got my dvr yesterday and began to experiment this morning. My recording setup involves a Mac running 10.3 and iRecord.

The firewire output is what you see on the screen. On my Mac I recorded a segment that I had previously recorded on the 6412. Not bad!

So what's "irecord?" I didn't see anything about it on the 6412 board.

Does this mean it would be possible to output to a dvd recorder with a firewire input?

Originally posted by zooey91
So what's "irecord?" I didn't see anything about it on the 6412 board.

Does this mean it would be possible to output to a dvd recorder with a firewire input?

I'm not sure about iRecord but most of these apps are DVHS emulators which will record the MPEG stream to your computer. For Windows, I use CapDVHS and works fairly well. There's a step-by-step on how to use it here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=403695

From The New York Times 12/20/2004

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
In the Bay Area, TiVo Supplies DVR's at a Terrific Price: Nothing

By KEN BELSON

Published: December 20, 2004

It was a deal that so insane that even Crazy Eddie could not have beat it.

Last Friday, TiVo gave away nearly 2,000 digital video recorders to Comcast subscribers who showed up at its Silicon Valley headquarters between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

TiVo scheduled the giveaway to capitalize on problems that Comcast, the major cable provider in the Bay Area, was having in getting its own DVR's to customers.

Advertisement

"Comcast has let down its customers with promises unfulfilled," TiVo said on its Web site.

To get a new TiVo Series2 DVR, which holds 40 hours of programming and typically retails for $199, Comcast customers had to show their cable bill and, in the spirit of the season, bring a toy or clothing for TiVo to donate to charitable causes.

Devotees of the TiVo technology started lining up outside the company's headquarters at 5:15 in the morning.

After TiVo ran out of machines, it gave customers a coupon that could be used to buy a DVR online.

The giveaway is not as crazy as it may look. TiVo is battling cable companies, which have started to lease their own DVR's to subscribers. While TiVo users must buy a machine and pay $13 a month for a program guide, cable companies have been giving their machines away or charging a small fee; their service fees are typically between $5 and $10 a month.

After waiting several months to receive a supply of DVR's from Motorola, Comcast said it had installed thousands of the machines in the last week and that it still had 5,000 customers on a waiting list for the machines.

Comcast is charging $4.95 a month for a DVR and $9.95 a month for the service.

The insanity over DVR's would have made Crazy Eddie proud.

Re: iRecord

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=386740&highlight=mac+irecord

Information about firewire recording can be found in the HDTV Recorders Forum. There are lengthly threads for Windows XP, Mac users. I think there is also a thread for Linux.

Originally posted by davisdog
They just waived it for me...didnt even have to ask (lucky me I guess).

Also, Tech didnt even bother picking up the old remote... I still have the old Silver 6200 Remote + he gave me the new Silver remote with DVR and OnDemand when he dropped off the 6412 (dont really use them since I have a Harmony 688 that is all programmed up with Forward/Replay/Swap/MyDVR etc.)

-steve

Yeah, it seemed easier doing the original HD install a year ago since they waived it and then the box swap install was waived too. But for the DVR, they wouldn't waive it. As for the remote, I wonder do they keep track of how many remotes they give you because I do have both the original 5100 silver remote and then the one for the VOD when they delivered the 6200 half a year ago. But the pricing guide does say they can charge you $0.30/month for each additional remote. I'm thinking about getting a Harmony except I'm lost of which model to get since it's not a pricing issue.

Much to my surprise, I received a call from Comcast last Monday the 13th with an offer to install the new HD DVR in Sunnyvale! This, after having called them on Friday the 10th to get one, and being told that it was not working with the Sunnyvale headend yet.

I had put myself on their "VIP" list about a year ago. The person from Comcast who called on Monday said she was calling all the people in Sunnyvale that were on the VIP list, and my name was first on the list. She asked if I still wanted it (which I did), and we arranged an install date for last Saturday, December 18th. I asked her about the fact/rumor that it didn't work with the Sunnyvale head end yet, and she assured me that it was working.

Well, the guy arrived on Saturday, swapped out my old HD cable box for the new HD DVR cable box, and after a minor problem with it not having the correct lineup, all appears to be working. I test recorded some things and they seemed to work, but my first REAL recording was Desperate Housewives last night. I still need to see if that one came through OK.

It's hard to believe, but maybe there was really something to the VIP list.
And, Sunnyvale people....know that it works in our fair city!

I haven't had a chance to explore EVERYTHING about it, but it appears adequate. For those TiVo users out there (I have two), it is not bad...not as good as TiVO...but not bad.

The "series recording" feature is like a season pass, and it claims that it will track schedule changes. You can also select first run only, repeats, etc. just like on a TiVo Season Pass. You can also specify padding, and the delete options pretty much just like TiVo.

You can search by various means, and the text entry method for title searching, while different from TiVo, is satisfactory.

I can't wait to watch my first episode of Desperate Housewives in HD! Won't be for a few days, as we have the episode from the 12th on the TiVo to watch before last night's episode.

Cable showed up about 1/2 hr ago, and the swap-out was easy. He was pretty knowledgeable, but there were still a few questions he couldn't answer. I like the new look of the guide, and that it gives you a box insert to keep viewing the video while you search the guide.

Question: I can't seem to find in the set-up screen how release the channel function so you don't have to type "0" in front of the 1 and 2 digit channels. Does anyone know how to do this?

The setting is called Auto Tune. It is in the cable box settings. The cable guy set it up during the install on Friday.

Originally posted by John Mace
Question: I can't seem to find in the set-up screen how release the channel function so you don't have to type "0" in front of the 1 and 2 digit channels. Does anyone know how to do this?

To change channels? Mine works by just punching in the number, say 7, and then punching the enter button. Not sure what you mean by "release".

"Auto Tune" ? Can you elaborate on what that is?

keenan,
Try "Auto Tune" like fitzwest described. You don't have to hit enter, it automatically tunes the station after a couple of secs.

Originally posted by keenan
To change channels? Mine works by just punching in the number, say 7, and then punching the enter button. Not sure what you mean by "release".

My bad-- I didn't explain it well. On the old box, I was able to just enter, for example, "3" and the channel would switch. There was no need to hit the "enter" button. I remember there was a way to set it up so you didn't have to push "enter". Currently, the channle will swith w/0 pressing "enter" only if the channel has 3 digits.

Originally posted by hiker
keenan,
Try "Auto Tune" like fitzwest described. You don't have to hit enter, it automatically tunes the station after a couple of secs.

That's it. Thanks!!

I don't see that option on mine, you say it's under Cable Box Setup?

All I have are Front LED Display, AC Outlet, RF Bypass and Configuration.

I can't rember the menu, but it will be set to manual. It will be with the flip bar controls.

Originally posted by keenan
I don't see that option on mine, you say it's under Cable Box Setup?

All I have are Front LED Display, AC Outlet, RF Bypass and Configuration.

It's under GUIDE SETUP.

Thank you, that's where it is ..:)

Originally posted by tji
Anyone else using the FusionHDTV for QAM256 reception with Comcast?

I stopped getting Discovery and InHD* today. FusionHDTV crashes when I tune any of those channels. I'm thinking that they might have started encrypting those channels. Anyone know for sure? ESPN-HD still comes in, as do all the HD locals.

You now need to subscribe to the digital tiers to get inhd, inhd2 and dischd...

yeah, the same happened to me. beginning Friday i lost inhd, indh2 and dhd. So in saturday I called Comcast and got one of the digital packages. A couple of minutes later I had all the hd channels again .

Uh oh. Looks like my box has a problem. A few times now (and I've only had the thing for about 2 hrs) the picture has frozen (audio, too). I have to switc channels and then switch back to get it going again.

After calling 5 times in a row, I finally got someone in the repair CSR department who agreed to waive the installation charge. He said that my appointment is scheduled for this Wednesday from 8AM-12PM for the box swap. Seems like the woman reps will not waive the installation charge no matter what.

Originally posted by John Mace
Uh oh. Looks like my box has a problem. A few times now (and I've only had the thing for about 2 hrs) the picture has frozen (audio, too). I have to switc channels and then switch back to get it going again.

My 2nd box, hooked up to a SDTV, has done that a couple times, too. It's worked as soon as I've changed channels, though, so I'm ignoring it for now.

I tried recording the SF NFL game on Saturday on my other DVR (my primary viewing unit, which is connected to HDTV) - the listing showed 4 hours (I padded the ending) of recording. But when I watched it, it skipped from about 40 minutes in to 2 hours and 40 minutes - skipping all of the 2nd and 3rd Qs, and essentially everything I had NOT seen "live".
Any ideas how that could have happened? Would a live channel change have caused it to stop, then re-start two hours later??

The freezing problem might be a DVR software bug or a network issue. When I had a 6412 is happened several times.

Originally posted by AVWH
My 2nd box, hooked up to a SDTV, has done that a couple times, too. It's worked as soon as I've changed channels, though, so I'm ignoring it for now.

I tried recording the SF NFL game on Saturday on my other DVR (my primary viewing unit, which is connected to HDTV) - the listing showed 4 hours (I padded the ending) of recording. But when I watched it, it skipped from about 40 minutes in to 2 hours and 40 minutes - skipping all of the 2nd and 3rd Qs, and essentially everything I had NOT seen "live".
Any ideas how that could have happened? Would a live channel change have caused it to stop, then re-start two hours later??

That's exactly what I'm afraid of-- that this "pause" thing will happen during a recording. It's bothersome live, although easy to fix, but a major issue if it happens during recordings.

I'm recording a 2 hr program right now as a test, but I think I'm going to be setting my VCR as back-up for awhile until I'm certain things work OK.

BTW, I was lucky enough to get the tech to come back over, but (of course) the box didn't freeze up while he was here...

I got the remote without the swap button with my 6412, but programed another button as a swap. I'm I missing any other commands?

Comcast came by and swapped out my 6200 for the 6412 on Saturday afternoon. The tech had it plugged in very quickly.

I got the silver Comcast remote. Later in the day, I learned that if you turn the box off, then later a recording starts, the box will have "mute" on. I couldn't figure out how to un-mute it, until I wandered into this post in the general Comcast / iGuide discussion here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4718737#post4718737).

I also learned that I can program in a "30 second skip" function
here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4636291#post4636291).

Now that I set that up, things are working fine. One oddity I noticed is that the "FF1" (first fast forward speed) doesn't seem much faster than real-time for HD, even though it's supposed to be 2x. Anyone else notice that?

Originally posted by Raf39
I got the remote without the swap button with my 6412, but programed another button as a swap. I'm I missing any other commands?

There is a great 30 second skip forward command, also.

Originally posted by Poochie
I also learned that I can program in a "30 second skip" function
here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4636291#post4636291).


Which button are you guys using to map the 30 sec skip to?

The tech who installed my DVR said VOD would be available here on Dec 27. I haven't heard anything from Comcast directly about this, so I'm not sure of its validity. I'm very curious to see how good VOD is.

where are you located John?

I'm in south San Jose and I don't have VOD, does any one else in south SJ has VOD?

Originally posted by keenan
Which button are you guys using to map the 30 sec skip to?

On the silver remote, I used the HELP button.

Originally posted by keenan
Which button are you guys using to map the 30 sec skip to?
I'm using the unhelpful HELP button. Now it helps me watch an NFL game quickly. Except when Payton Manning runs his constant hurry-up offense. :)

Originally posted by rsra13
where are you located John?

I'm in south San Jose and I don't have VOD, does any one else in south SJ has VOD?

VOD has not been deployed in the South Bay yet

A friend of mine who contacted the local Comcast folks about having KTVU in HD by the SuperBowl forwarded my an email which said:

We anticipate getting it before the SuperBowl. Playoffs is up in the air but a possibility.

I know the email is legit but would like additional corroboration.

Sonoma???

That would be really great news!!!!

We've had some channel lineup changes recently, including analog channels:

(1) New analog channel 71-- Travel Channel

(2) Analog channel 77-- changed from "digital cable preview"/FSN+/CSN+ to infomercial network which was formerly on analog channel 32 or 33

There was no net loss (or gain) of bandwidth since one channel disappeared entirely (the "digital cable preview" channel), a new one was added and the third one simply changed channel number.

(3) Added Fine Living channel as digital channel 181.

(4) Added Comcast Sportsnet as digital channel 400.

Channel 400 erroneously shows up on the HD category channel list.

Note for those with VOD: There is a KRON test area, under the Lifestyle heading, then the Wisdom (or Good Life) category. Right now, it only has the latest issue of Bay Area Backroads.

Bay Area Backroads would be a great show to do in HD. Maybe Comcast could pick up the extra cost of producing it in HD (like it did with the Raiders-49ers preseason game) ... I don't know if the ratings justify it.

Also, I received an erroneous message on the STB about a new VOD category-- KOMO on Demand. KOMO is a Seattle area station.

6412 is working great. My one major complaint so far: the hard drive is too small. The sooner we can get an external firewire drive hooked up, the better ... D-VHS works, but I don't like tape storage as a general matter.

Originally posted by rsra13
where are you located John?

I'm in south San Jose and I don't have VOD, does any one else in south SJ has VOD?

Los Gatos.

http://news.com.com/Dish+leaps+into+San+Francisco-area+DVR+scuffle/2100-1047_3-5498545.html?tag=nefd.top

also, got my dvr installed on saturday, first unit was a dud, tech had to go back to the shop and get a new. no coplaints here, still testing everything out. I noticed it was using a seagate HD, good choice. FOX-HD anytime soon is great news, but im not holding my breath:D

---------------

Dish Network has thrown itself into the latest marketing blitz for digital video recorders, aiming to appeal to the tech-savvy San Francisco Bay Area audience in the wake of a gaffe by cable company Comcast.

The satellite television service provider ran an advertisement in the San Jose Mercury News daily newspaper Monday in response to a recent promotion by DVR rival TiVo. The ad wasn't associated with a promotion but was taken out to remind potential customers that Dish also offers a DVR service.

The ad asks, "San Jose, Where's the DVR cable promised you?" DVRs allow viewers to pause live television broadcasts and program systems to record shows to a hard drive.

Through a series of communication miscues earlier this month, cable giant Comcast left some of its Bay Area subscribers with the impression that its DVR service--which was supposed to be up and running in the area--wasn't available, or that there was a shortage of recorders. A recent check of the Comcast Web site indicated that the DVR service was available in San Francisco and San Jose, Calif.

Alviso, Calif.-based TiVo took the opportunity to organize the promotion in which it gave away about 2,000 Series2 recorders in an attempt to take advantage of the Comcast gaffe to win over converts.

Dish is clearly aiming to attract cable customers as well.

"By running the ad we wanted to increase awareness of our free DVR," said Marc Lumpkin, a Dish Network spokesman. "Cable wasn't providing for its customers."

Dish has previously run the ad but its inclusion in the Monday addition of the San Jose Mercury News was a direct response to TiVo's efforts and Comcast's mix-ups, according to Lumpkin. "It was an ideal time to place emphasis on DVRs for potential customers, especially in the Bay Area where there are tech-savvy consumers," he said.

Dish's ad offers free installation and the 120GB DVR add-on allowing for up to 100 hours of recording time and a $4.98-per-month charge for the service.

Originally posted by mazman49
A friend of mine who contacted the local Comcast folks about having KTVU in HD by the SuperBowl forwarded my an email which said:

We anticipate getting it before the SuperBowl. Playoffs is up in the air but a possibility.

I know the email is legit but would like additional corroboration.

Sonoma??? I doubt it but anything is possible. The analog contract expires 12/31/05, so the theory is there will be no movement until the last 3 months of next year, but maybe Cox Enterprises is finally coming to its senses.

I suppose the information your friend received depends alot on exactly who sent it. Remember, the negotiations for KTVU DT would be taking place at the highest levels (Comcast's corporate office in Philly), although local execs would be kept apprised of what is going on.

Also, look at the literal language of the email: "We anticipate ..." I hate to say it, but "anticipate" doesn't mean squat.

I will check around and see if I can find out anything more.

Originally posted by UCSB
On the silver remote, I used the HELP button.

Good idea, I used the + button in the PIP area but the Help button is placed in a better spot. It would be nice to move the swap button higher up as well..

Re: Comcast and KTVU-Fox.

Fox-HD is up and live on DirecTV today. Although KTVU is not O&O Comcast may be feeling some pressure as it's relatively simple to do a "move' with DirecTV.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4844735
FOX HD is LIVE on DirecTV! - AVS Forum

I know this is a Comcast thread but I felt it was noteworthy as it concerns Fox-HD.

maybe if we let the media know about the remaining concerns with comcast, it will help

Originally posted by youngbuc
maybe if we let the media know about the remaining concerns with comcast, it will help

If you decide to contact the media, make sure you let them know that some of us are EXTREMELY happy with our Comcast service. I count myself in that group.

They really came through on this HD DVR. It is a fantastic addition to my home theater. The 6412 is a quality product. The seamless integration between the cable / DVR is impressive. This product is no small step forward (even for Tivo, ReplayTV owners, like myself). It is easy to use and has a nice user interface. They delivered a full solution: custom remote; documentation on DVR, Motorola 6412, and remote. The PQ is superb.

In addition, they delivered a solution that is just not available in the market right now (ie. Cablecard HD DVR's). Let's give Comcast a little credit here!

Can they improve? Sure, my grip list would be:
> Lower cable TV prices.
> Create a cost effective HD package for the premium movie channels.
> More HD channels.
> Offer high quality digital replacements for key analog channels.

I'm sure that this HD DVR program took Comcast several years to put together and rollout. They have done a great job. I think they deserve some credit. Throw in the low cost of entry and low monthly service fees and you really have a program that most people can afford. It is really unique.

I understand that there are some people still trying to get an installation appointment and that it must be tough to see this rollout moving forward without your box. There is really no excuse for not having a consistent message from all CSR, also. But, it seems to me that even at this very early point in their rollout there are a lot of happy customers out there.

DVR sucessfully installed yesterday. :) Got home late so I didn't have time to play with it, but after a quick check, I did notice the degraded PQ on the analog channels that others have mentioned here. Guess I'll need to get a splitter and run one line directly into the TV for analog. Anything special I need to look for in a splitter? Bandwidth specs?

Also, I noticed that the box was making a sort of clicking sound, kind of like it was constantly accessing the hard drive. This was a continual sound (every 5-10 sec) and could also be triggered when changing the channel. I hope this isn't normal because it was rather annoying as I could hear it from our viewing position.

Oh yeah - and I got the black ICX remote...

platypus,
That clicking of the hard drive is normal so get use to it or put the box in a cabinet. The hard drive is accessed for the live buffer while you're watching TV and more activity can be heard when changing channels because the live buffer is reintialized. This is standard for all DVRs.

I didn't notice any difference in PQ with the DVR box.

I also don't notice any noise. And I'm very sensitive to noise, so if it was bad, I'd be one of the first to complain.

The picture freeze problem seems to have gone away (happend 4 times in the first few hours). I hate it when something just "goes away"-- always leaves me wondering when it will come back.

Originally posted by keenan
Re: Comcast and KTVU-Fox.
Fox-HD is up and live on DirecTV today. Well that gets me off the fence, Santa is going to bring a HD D*TiVo. Comcast DVR is cheap but I want the SB in HD.

Hopefully, the Fox HD announcement for D*TV will spur similar action by Comcast.

It'd be a major let down for the SB to be in SD after all the college bowl games that are in HD.

We've had some channel lineup changes recently, including analog channels:

We've had 71 Travel Channel all along.

Channel 77 was the "preview" station but it was also the overflow for Fox Sports Bay Area. I wonder where those games are going to be shown now.

What is Comcast Sportsnet?

I got the same erroneous message about KOMO.

I should add - I love this machine. I like the guide, I like the remote, I love being able to record HD. Because it's "repeat" season, I haven't recorded much on my TiVos in the last week or so (I don't use "suggestions"), so I'm using the Comcast more than the TiVo, getting used to it, and I am a happy happy camper. I'll wait until the "new" season to check out the handling of season passes and conflicts.

One suggestion for the software. It would be nice if once Favorites are set up, that's what appears when you press "guide".

Further edit: To UCSB, I got no manual whatsoever. Fortunately, Hiker pointed me to it on the web and I was able to print it out (and it did add a little to the knowledge I had gained by just pressing buttong!)

Originally posted by hiker
platypus,
That clicking of the hard drive is normal so get use to it or put the box in a cabinet. The hard drive is accessed for the live buffer while you're watching TV and more activity can be heard when changing channels because the live buffer is reintialized. This is standard for all DVRs.
Thanks hiker. Guess I'll have to get used to it...

Originally posted by John Mace
I didn't notice any difference in PQ with the DVR box.
Wonder if the type of monitor has anything to do with the 6412's analog PQ degradation??? FWIW, I've using an RP-CRT (Pioneer Elite). Perhaps those who don't see any difference are using fixed pixel displays which don't do a very good job with analog to begin with?? Just a hypothesis...

From what I have noticed on my DLP front projector the analog quality is only bad when the box is trying to deinterlace it.

If you set the 4x3 mode to 480P it is bad.

1080i or 480i looks fine.

Originally posted by John Mace
I also don't notice any noise. And I'm very sensitive to noise, so if it was bad, I'd be one of the first to complain.


Mine is extremely quite as well, I have to be within 2ft of the box to even hear just the slightest noise.

Originally posted by dmlove51
One suggestion for the software. It would be nice if once Favorites are set up, that's what appears when you press "guide".


That would be nice, but with a box that's rented I don't imagine Comcast's content providers would be too happy with that.

Originally posted by hiker
Well that gets me off the fence, Santa is going to bring a HD D*TiVo. Comcast DVR is cheap but I want the SB in HD.

You'll still have to get a waiver from KTVU or do some other finagling to get the channel from DirecTV. ;)

one question about the dvr...

because the wife, I had to put HD Box (5200) standing vertical (yeah, I know...)

do you think I'll be able to do the same with the 6412? my big concern there is the hard drive.

Shouldn't matter how the box is placed, it should work upside down. :)

This is probably a newbie question, but I noticed that they are offering the DVR here in my area. Suprisingly...since they are yet to give us the local channels such as ABC, NBC, CBS, in HD. Go figure...sorry...on to my question.

I currently have the platinum cable services with the HD box. I know that I pay $5 for each HD box, does the DVR also play HD? Or am I adding the DVR to go along with the HD box?

But...if I get the DVR, and it does do the same things as the HD box, and there is no longer a need to have both boxes, would I be paying $5 plus the $9.95? Ot just $9.95.

Again, I'm sure this is a newbie question, but any info would be great. Thanks.

you need only the DVR box. So you should only pay $9.95

It is a HD-DVR box. this will be the only box you will need and it will cost 9.95 for the HD and the rental of the DVR. You might have problems getting more than 1 DVR right now.

Originally posted by keenan
You'll still have to get a waiver from KTVU or do some other finagling to get the channel from DirecTV. ;) I've had the Fox (and ABC, CBS) wavier since 2001. Got it by just asking D* back then. I hope I'm grandfathered until KTVU is offered on D* which should be sometime in '05 hopefully.

I was playing around with the 6412 last night; simply poking around to check out features.

I found that about every few minutes, the box would stop responding to the remote control...but only certain buttons on the remote. For example, when I was on the 'Menu' screen, I could use the right and left arrows to move along the icons on the bottom, but the OK button wouldn't do anything on some of the icons, and would on others.

Also, when I was looking at the series recording options for a show, and pressed the little wrench icon to modify the options, nothing happened. Nothing. Just stayed on the same screen.

I tried power off/power on, and everything worked just fine...then started failing again after a few minutes.

Anybody else have this problem?

Originally posted by hiker
I've had the Fox (and ABC, CBS) wavier since 2001. Got it by just asking D* back then. I hope I'm grandfathered until KTVU is offered on D* which should be sometime in '05 hopefully.

You should be okay, although if you have any east coast feeds I think the new bill shuts those off.

Originally posted by AVWH
Hopefully, the Fox HD announcement for D*TV will spur similar action by Comcast.

I really don't think that just because FOX has the Super Bowl is going to get Cox and Comcast to come to an agreement soon.

Here in Sacramento, we were hopeful that Sinclair and Comcast would come to an agreement last year in time for the SB (on CBS last year). The result.....we're still waiting for CBS, even after some negative press because the SB wasn't available in HD on Comcast. Add to that, both Directv and Dish have had CBS HD for quite some time.

So, although it might give you something to hope for, I wouldn't be holding my breath for KTVU-HD before the Super Bowl. If it hasn't happened now, it probably won't happen until the contract expires.

Comcast might be able to do a one event deal with Fox/Cox for the SB. That's what D* did for the WS games.

I've had the box freeze up but it has always comeback after 30 secs or so. It then responds to buffered remote commands. IMHO a minor problem, and not worth holding up the roll-out . I would like to say that my wife after some culture shock to the new menu system has taken to the whole DVR thing. She just loved doing replays during the MNF game. The Miami RB acrobatics to get into the end zone was one of her favorites.

Originally posted by keenan
You should be okay, although if you have any east coast feeds I think the new bill shuts those off. Hope I can keep the east coast feeds, it's a great way to time shift (ex., Leno at 8:35 :) ). Oh well, it would be one more reason for the HDTiVo.

I think hiker may have hit upon something:

> Comcast might be able to do a one event deal with Fox/Cox for the SB. That's what D* did for the WS games.

Indeed, lots of the Giants and As games carried on KTVU/FOX this past summer were also on a FOX-HD preemption of InHD2 on Comcast. While normally encrypted in Pleasanton, during the FOX-HD preemptions of InHD2, Comcast would turn off the encryption for this SubChannel. Baseball in HD was great save for the camera angles not taking full advantage of the widescreen format...

While I'm personally much more interested in "full-time" FOX-HD, I'm sure such a 1-time deal for getting the SuperBowl in HD on Comcast wouldn't be without precedent.

One very important thing to remember, however, is the HD Olympics debacle. Remember that several "locals" did not have the equipment to splice in commercials into the HD stream. As such, they would lose advertising revenue. The result was that the HD feed was very sketchy and yet another day delayed from the SD feed broadcast on the non-HD station equivalent. Watching the SuperBowl in HD a day later doesn't sound too interesting to me :-)...

are we allowed to walk into a Comcast station and switch our current hd box to a DVR or do we have to set up an appointment for them to bring it to out to the house? I'd rather just walk in and switch than sit at home for a four hour window of when to expect them.

I have standard cable. A while ago I bought HD ($5). I just got the DVR ($10)
since my Tivo can't hack HD. Then INHD1&2 and DCHD went away.
Comcast tells me that I need digital cable ($10 more) even though their
web site clearly states that with HD you get INDH1&2. They train their
support people in weasel words as well as any one in public office.
Did you know that if the phrase "you get" is followed by the phrase
"off an exceptional variety" means that you have to pay for it?

I feel better now that I got that off my chest. I can now enjoy the HD programs
I do get since Tivo has made it unlikely that I watch anything when its
broadcast anymore. The recorder interface is funky compared to Tivo.
The guide is hopeless. I told it to find Nova it found some rebroadcast
on ch 22, there was not way to find it on HD other than scroll for ever.

Is there any way to "Save till I delete" after the program is recorded?

I still watch my analog directly from the cable (the Comcast guy replaced
my old splitter with a 1Ghz splitter when I got HD, I think someone
was asking about that) so I don't observe the reception problems people
report.

Originally posted by edmc
Indeed, lots of the Giants and As games carried on KTVU/FOX this past summer were also on a FOX-HD preemption of InHD2 on Comcast. While normally encrypted in Pleasanton, during the FOX-HD preemptions of InHD2, Comcast would turn off the encryption for this SubChannel. No, not so. The games on INHD2 were Fox Sports Net Bay Area games, NOT the games that KTVU did. Fox Sports Net Bay Area is a totally different entity from KTVU-- different ownership, different everything, absolutely no relationship to each other except the name "Fox."

The Giants games produced locally by KTVU were not produced in HD at all; even with OTA you would not have seen them in HD.

So, if you are thinking there is some precedent for a one-time Super Bowl showing of Fox HD, there isn't.

Comcast would love it if Cox let Comcast show the Super Bowl in HD. That would be a huge benefit to Comcast, and very little (if any) benefit to Cox. So forget it.

And it's been at least 15 months since Comcast started earnest efforts to get KTVU's digital signal/Fox Widescreen/Fox HD. If it hasn't happened yet, with all the Fox NFL regular season games in HD, it's almost certainly not going to happen for the playoffs.

Nothing is impossible, but unless you feel really lucky (as in win the lottery type lucky), you should be planning to get your Fox HD/Super Bowl in HD through a source other than Comcast:

(1) DirecTV (if you can "finagle" it, as was well put by keenan)

(2) ExpressVu (if you can get a Canadian address)

(3) OTA from Sutro Tower (KTVU-DT)

(4) OTA from Sacramento (KTXL-DT)

I already have my solution in place-- number (4).

Well if Comcast in the BA is not going to have the SB in HD, they are going to look extremely inept and foolish, especially after running all those ads touting how much HD content they have.

Originally posted by Neo57
are we allowed to walk into a Comcast station and switch our current hd box to a DVR or do we have to set up an appointment for them to bring it to out to the house? I'd rather just walk in and switch than sit at home for a four hour window of when to expect them.

Keanu-

I think the general answer is no, you can't just switch the boxes at the a Comcast office but some of the offices evidently have not gotten the memo that doesn't allow customer installs. I went to the Comcast office in Pleasant Hill on Contra Costa Blvd and they gave me a 6412 last week without any problem. I went home, swapped out the 6200 and connected the 6412 and it is working fine (VOD didn't work for the first several days). But most other people posting said that a technician's visit was required. So I think it's worth a try (especially if you are near Pleasant Hill) but you will probably go home empty handed.

- Phil

Originally posted by Philip Klein
Keanu-

I think the general answer is no, you can't just switch the boxes at the a Comcast office but some of the offices evidently have not gotten the memo that doesn't allow customer installs. I went to the Comcast office in Pleasant Hill on Contra Costa Blvd and they gave me a 6412 last week without any problem. I went home, swapped out the 6200 and connected the 6412 and it is working fine (VOD didn't work for the first several days). But most other people posting said that a technician's visit was required. So I think it's worth a try (especially if you are near Pleasant Hill) but you will probably go home empty handed.

- Phil
Thanks Phil, I actually live in the Solano County area. Comcast's website says that DVR is available in my area so I was thinking of going in and giving it a shot, but Im sure they won't give it to me over the counter. I'll try anyways and let you guys know if Im lucky.

Originally posted by hiker
Well if Comcast in the BA is not going to have the SB in HD, they are going to look extremely inept and foolish, especially after running all those ads touting how much HD content they have. Maybe to Joe Blow with a new HD set who was promised something different by the salesperson at Good Guys, but not to us who understand why Comcast does not have Fox HD.

Comcast does not have Fox HD because KTVU's owner refuses to take the same deal that all the other local stations accepted (KGO-ABC, KPIX-CBS, KNTV-NBC, KQED-PBS) for their digital/HD signals. The problem here is with Cox Enterprises, not Comcast.

Originally posted by Neo57
Thanks Phil, I actually live in the Solano County area. Comcast's website says that DVR is available in my area so I was thinking of going in and giving it a shot, but Im sure they won't give it to me over the counter. I'll try anyways and let you guys know if Im lucky. Yeah, don't even bother disconnecting your current box. Just go in and say you were told by a CSR you could pick up a DVR at the office-- if you are lucky, get it before someone else grabs it and take it home and hook it up to make sure it works. Then take back your current HD box. (As long as it is not an absurdly long drive to the Comcast office.)

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Yeah, don't even bother disconnecting your current box. Just go in and say you were told by a CSR you could pick up a DVR at the office-- if you are lucky, get it before someone else grabs it and take it home and hook it up to make sure it works. Then take back your current HD box. (As long as it is not an absurdly long drive to the Comcast office.)
Yeah that's what Im hoping will happen Sonoma. It still puzzles me that they have the DVR available in my area already, yet the local HD channels are still not here and its been awhile now. Go figure

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Yeah, don't even bother disconnecting your current box. Just go in and say you were told by a CSR you could pick up a DVR at the office-- if you are lucky, get it before someone else grabs it and take it home and hook it up to make sure it works. Then take back your current HD box. (As long as it is not an absurdly long drive to the Comcast office.)

That is actually what I did. I was somewhat near the office on a weekday as I was going in late to work and my install appointment wasn't until the 27th (a week from yesterday- said it was the first available appointment). Just stopped by to ask if I could get a box but I didn't expect them to say yes but they did. Returned the 6200 to another office several days later.

- Phil

Originally posted by hiker
Well if Comcast in the BA is not going to have the SB in HD, they are going to look extremely inept and foolish, especially after running all those ads touting how much HD content they have.

Yes, they will "look" inept and foolish and that is how it will be perceived by the casually interested, but the onus really is on Cox-KTVU Partnership as they are the ones, by most all accounts, that are holding up the deal to put KTVU-FoxHD on Comcast cable.

I would get some local reporters and a truckload of cheap footballs and go to KTVU and dump the footballs at their front steps and ask them what the problem is, TV stations don't like that sort of publicity, especially if it makes it on-the-air of another station. Just an idea...:cool:

Maybe Comcast will foot the bill for the footballs...:p

Originally posted by hiker
Well if Comcast in the BA is not going to have the SB in HD, they are going to look extremely inept and foolish, especially after running all those ads touting how much HD content they have.

Looking foolish is the one area that Comcast excels at, so I am sure they won’t let us down there. :D

In fairness to Comcast though, the DVR is definitely worth the wait. I have two of the units and both have performed exceptionally. I do hope that they have the Super Bowl in HD, but I am not holding my breath. Unfortunately, I can’t get any OTA signals, so I will need to check with some friends to see if they can get the FOX signal via DTV. If so, I will borrow their box for the day, as I still have the dish and the wiring set up from when I was on DTV.

The DVR has kept me from switching back to DTV though. For as much as I pay per month for my service, I would certainly pay a couple more dollars a month for FOX in HD, but I understand where Comcast is coming from.

Overall I believe Comcast has done a very good job in my area. I get most (FOX would be great, but with the 49ers playing the way they are I can wait a year or two) of available HD programming and high speed internet and it all works without any problems or disruptions.

Kris

Originally posted by nightowl
I really don't think that just because FOX has the Super Bowl is going to get Cox and Comcast to come to an agreement soon.

Here in Sacramento, we were hopeful that Sinclair and Comcast would come to an agreement last year in time for the SB (on CBS last year). The result.....we're still waiting for CBS, even after some negative press because the SB wasn't available in HD on Comcast. Add to that, both Directv and Dish have had CBS HD for quite some time.

So, although it might give you something to hope for, I wouldn't be holding my breath for KTVU-HD before the Super Bowl. If it hasn't happened now, it probably won't happen until the contract expires.

I was thinking more along the lines of another PR debacle for Comcast if they can't get a one-time HD feed from Fox - so perhaps there's an incentive for Comcast to cave a little. After all, the Tivo give-away last weekend sure grabbed a lot of press (FOR Tivo and ANTI Comcast); now D*TV will have the SB in HD - another "risk" to Comcast of likely HD subscribers switching, if they can't pull it off.

Then Comcast should start a media campaign to educate 90% of BA HD subscribers because otherwise it's not going to be Cox that looks foolish but Comcast. Like my neighbor, for example, who ususally gives a small SB party that doesn't understand why last year it was in HD (oin CBS) and this year not.

Look how much influence this group had when they called local reporters about the DVR, I'd be willing to bet there will be an article very soon about no SB in HD for people with cable in the bay area, it would be a better scenario if the reporter had some input before the article was written... :)

Originally posted by hiker
Then Comcast should start a media campaign to educate 90% of BA HD subscribers because otherwise it's not going to be Cox that looks foolish but Comcast. Like my neighbor, for example, who ususally gives a small SB party that doesn't understand why last year it was in HD (oin CBS) and this year not.

That's exactly my point: Comcast has more to lose, at least in the short term, if they can't get the SB in HD. So they should have an incentive to cut a deal w/ Cox. I can't imagine they'd be able to mount a PR campaign in the next 5 weeks to make Cox/Fox look like the "bad guys" - and it's Comcast's HD subscriber base that's at risk.

Comcast themselves are not going to mount any PR campaign to influence a contract dispute, just wouldn't be good business practice, but the subscribers(you, me and the next guy) can raise whatever hell we want, it's going to have to come from the end users, not Comcast.

SonomaSearcher> No, not so. The games on INHD2 were Fox Sports Net Bay Area games, NOT the games that KTVU did. Fox Sports Net Bay Area is a totally different entity from KTVU-- different ownership, different everything, absolutely no relationship to each other except the name "Fox."

I had it exactly backwards. The games that were on FSN-BA were the ones that were often carried in HD preempting InHD2. Those games that were on KTVU Ch. 2 were, unfortunately, the ones *not* available in HD.

While KTVU is the local FOX affilliate, I'm sure they'd be disappointed to lose out on advertising dollars if the SuperBowl were also carried on a non-KTVU HD station (e.g. preempting InHD2). No, what has to happen is for KTVU, themselves, decide to share their HD feed with Comcast for the one-time preemption of another station. As I said, there is precedent for "a" station doing this. My brain freeze was that it wasn't KTVU :-(...

Thanks to SonomaSearcher for clearing this up - edmc

Installed the DVR today. Got several interesting information from the technician:
1. DVR can be installed with limited basic. He did it in early monrning. He just joked why customer needs a DVR with so few channels.
2. VOD will be launched in 12/28 in Fremont.
3. The max work load for Fremont office is 20 installation per day. They have only 4 person to do it.
4. He DID take my old remote away. Otherwise it will be charged.

I have a question re the speed of the menus/interface. I am a long time Ultimate tv user and am shocked at how slow the Tivo menus are. Please tell me that the 6412 is faster than Tivo so that I can convince my wife to switch over. Also, if anyone is familiar with UTV, how does it compare?

Thanks.

Much much faster than TiVo, I guess because it's a unified unit (no need to send the signal from the TiVo to the cable box).

Another successful DVR install as scheduled, today in Foster City, and a happy customer :-)
Cable guy came very near the end of the window, but was fast, about half an hour. Swapped out my 6200, gave me a little brochure on how to use the DVR features (including swap), but not a full doc.. I got the silver (new?) remote w/ "MyDVR" and swap/pip buttons. He programmed the remote for my TV and Tivo, we checked things, and he left (almost forgot my old remote :) ) Actually the hardest part he had was programming the remote, for the 6412 box!!

Schedule starting picking up pretty soon, but took several hours to load in data more than a few hours ahead.

Swap button worked, after fiddling for a while, I'm still not sure how to activate/undo it sometimes... maybe the remote was stuck on TV mode.
(anyone know how to "undo" swap, eg only use a single tuner? I don't want to thrash the harddisk around too much, unless I need to watch 2 at once...)

The new guide is MUCH better than the 6200...but yes, the font is small, you need a big TV :)

It's a significantly clunkier interface/menu system than my Tivo, but seems to have all the right features- "season pass"(series recording), w/ reruns/new only, save until... , extra padding, series priority, etc... one nice thing is it has a %full meter, when you list recorded programs! (sheesh, already 25% full only 6hrs after my install! Bunch fun things on INHD2.)

I forgot and turned it off before a recording, and now I have the "muted audio" bug... have to check how to fix that, above... fairly annoying. I haven't had a "paused" recording yet, but haven't checked all my recorded shows yet :)
Edit: here is the post w/ links to Mute bugfix for remote, and 30sec skip...
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4843277&highlight=mute#post4843277

I do notice some harddisk noises, kind of a "tick tock" periodic noise, eg spindle seeks... I don't hear any rotation whine or fan noise though. The clicking noise is audible from ~8-10ft away (it's on top of my TV), hence I'd like to deactivate the 2nd tuner to avoid extra seeks and reduce the noise...any ideas?

With my long cable run and few splitters, I am getting good PQ w/ no breakups, but my SNR is ~34db (good), my AGC is ~76% (fair)... no errors.
I haven't tried the analog/SD PQ yet, since I have an RF splitter for the analog stuff (to my Tivo, DVD-PVR, etc.
Box is Version 71.44, Firmware 9.12 .

I had to tweak the audio setup (advanced, matrix stereo) etc, thanks to the forum for those tips as always), the installer appreciated it since he was hella busy w/ other installs... seems very very heavy demand, everyone wanting to swap their STB's for the 6412!

all in all, I'm very happy, just in time for Christmas :)


One note that confused me during playback- suddenly FFwd/Rewind didn't seem to work! Then I used the "cursor" keys to check the status/info banner, and it started FFwd! I couldn't stop it!
I realized then, that the remote was in "TV" mode... I pushed "Cable" and the controls worked again, both cursor and FFwd/Rvs. ("up" is play, not "ok".)
So there's a "feature"- while in TV mode, you can use the cursor keys for "tape transport"... although not sure why a TV would need to use ffwd/rvs!

Swap works, but PIP and HD Zoom don't seem to do anything.

Originally posted by keenan
Yes, they will "look" inept and foolish and that is how it will be perceived by the casually interested, but the onus really is on Cox-KTVU Partnership as they are the ones, by most all accounts, that are holding up the deal to put KTVU-FoxHD on Comcast cable.

I would get some local reporters and a truckload of cheap footballs and go to KTVU and dump the footballs at their front steps and ask them what the problem is, TV stations don't like that sort of publicity, especially if it makes it on-the-air of another station. Just an idea...:cool:

Maybe Comcast will foot the bill for the footballs...:p

I tried the office in Burlingame on Friday. The receptionist had a tough time getting herself away from the computer terminal and then told me that a DVR was not available in my area until the new year - while still staring at the computer terminal. She told me to come back after the first of January. I called Monday and had an appointment scheduled for the 28th. Anyone out there able to get a DVR from the Burlingame office?

Originally posted by cgould

Swap button worked, after fiddling for a while, I'm still not sure how to activate/undo it sometimes... maybe the remote was stuck on TV mode.
(anyone know how to "undo" swap, eg only use a single tuner? I don't want to thrash the harddisk around too much, unless I need to watch 2 at once...)

...

I do notice some harddisk noises, kind of a "tick tock" periodic noise, eg spindle seeks... I don't hear any rotation whine or fan noise though. The clicking noise is audible from ~8-10ft away (it's on top of my TV), hence I'd like to deactivate the 2nd tuner to avoid extra seeks and reduce the noise...any ideas?


To the best of my knowledge, both tuners are always active, and hence buffering, so you will always have disk activity as long as the box is on. I leave my box on all the time, mainly to avoid the annoying mute bug. I figure heck, if the HD wears out from constant use, Comcast will swap the box - the upside of leasing equipment.

-Tim

Originally posted by tmaestas95
I leave my box on all the time, mainly to avoid the annoying mute bug. -Tim

Why not just program the MUTE button on your remote.

From the iGuide thread:

==================

The box goes into mute when the power is off and a recording starts. You have to press the mute button on your remote. If it mutes the tv instead of the cable box then follow these steps..


1. Press the cable button

2. Press and hold setup until it blinks twice then let go

3. Press 994

4. Press setup and release

5. Press 00141

6. Press the mute button
__________________
Jim


===================

Found a problem for my box. I can not record two program with same name in same time. For example, both ch 2 and 5 have NFL Football in 10AM, Jan. 02. I can only record one of them. When I tried to record the other one, the box just complained scheduling confilct. I guess it is caused by the same program name. It can not distinguish them with channel number!
Current

Originally posted by lmsyl
Found a problem for my box. I can not record two program with same name in same time. For example, both ch 2 and 5 have NFL Football in 10AM, Jan. 02. I can only record one of them. When I tried to record the other one, the box just complained scheduling confilct. I guess it is caused by the same program name. It can not distinguish them with channel number!
Current

Consider trying Manual Recording.

Originally posted by lmsyl
Installed the DVR today. Got several interesting information from the technician:
1. DVR can be installed with limited basic. He did it in early monrning. He just joked why customer needs a DVR with so few channels. Yes, DVR can be installed with just Limited Basic if you happen to get a CSR that doesn't know the rules. This happened to me and I was happy with DVR until 3 days later when I returned the old box (5100) and found out that the billing computer had automatically upgraded me to Standard (Limited + Expanded) even though I couldn't even receive the Expanded channels! That's why I'm no longer a Comcast subscriber.

So whoever your installer joked about is in for a big surprise when they get the bill.

Originally posted by cgould
One note that confused me during playback- suddenly FFwd/Rewind didn't seem to work! Then I used the "cursor" keys to check the status/info banner, and it started FFwd! I couldn't stop it!
I realized then, that the remote was in "TV" mode... I pushed "Cable" and the controls worked again, both cursor and FFwd/Rvs. ("up" is play, not "ok".)
So there's a "feature"- while in TV mode, you can use the cursor keys for "tape transport"... although not sure why a TV would need to use ffwd/rvs!

I discovered this by accident also. Not sure if it's in the manual. But I like it since the FF key gives you a pretty slow advance. Hitting the cursor key multiple times increases the speed and lets you zip along nicely. There are 3 or 4 speed settings.

Originally posted by John Mace
I discovered this by accident also. Not sure if it's in the manual. But I like it since the FF key gives you a pretty slow advance. Hitting the cursor key multiple times increases the speed and lets you zip along nicely. There are 3 or 4 speed settings.

hitting FF or Rew multiple times should have the same effect...4 speeds...2x, 15x, 30x, 60x in either direction

Anyone out there able to get a DVR from the Burlingame office?

I tried to get Burlingame to give me one for self-install, which they wouldn't do, but then I got an appointment, and the install was done last Saturday.

Originally posted by davisdog
hitting FF or Rew multiple times should have the same effect...4 speeds...2x, 15x, 30x, 60x in either direction

I tried it on my remote, but it didn't work... I'll have to check again.

Regarding scheduling conflicts, does anyone know if there are problems recording the HD version and SD version of a show (at the same time)? I'm thinking that for critical programs (like LOST) I'll want to record both since the HD signal sometimes disapears several times during a show.

Komo on demand message was an error. Like the job posting error. It's amazing the people we have working and making dumb mistakes like this.

It's been one week since VOD has been offered in Marin, and I still can't get it.

I have called them a couple of times, they have flashed the unit... and I get "communications error" when tuned to channel 1.

Twice I have had service calls. The first one looked at it and said "wait a day for the guide to complete downloading, then it will work". Nope.

The second guy replaced the 6412. When we tuned to channel 1, it said "Press ok to activate" and then "channel will be available shortly". I had hope. But alas, they had to "authorize" the new box, which meant flashing it. The tech left saying "it will work when guide is done downloading". Nope.

So I called Comcast... again. This time, the rep said they sent a stronger signal (not a flash/reboot) and it would take 45 minutes to work. Otherwise, they would send ANOTHER tech for a visit.

Still getting the "communication error".

I don't know what to do next. Is ANYONE in the north bay getting VOD? With the 6412 or non-dvr?

I had the problem you describe last week, when I first tried VOD. Called Comcast and they scheduled a service visit for yesterday. The tech came (very nice guy), and when we tried it, it worked! We watched our first VOD movie last night, no problems. So I guess it does take 'a while' for it to get up and running.

Originally posted by dandrewk
I don't know what to do next. Is ANYONE in the north bay getting VOD? With the 6412 or non-dvr?

I get it in Rohnert Park. Worked with 6200 now works with 6412.

What is the point of On Demand if you can record programs to the dvr and watch them whenever you want?

Okay, I'm in San Francisco and the the install was completed at 9:30AM. The tech arrived at 9:25AM and I handed him the 6200 and he plugged in the 6412 and then he called in and it did the IP download and he left and then I got the 0 on the front of the box which means unauthorized but then about 2 hrs ago, the box was rebooted and working. VOD seems to be working for me and Analog channels look fine on my 43" Pioneer HD Plasma.

Question for you guys, any of you guys have a RF Output because it seems the Module from the 6200 doesn't work for the 6412 as the connectors on the box are at a different location. Thanks.

Originally posted by dmlove51
What is the point of On Demand if you can record programs to the dvr and watch them whenever you want?

only that Comcast has a MUCH bigger Harddrive (and records things you may have forgotten to)...and they will use it for PPV for Premium movies etc..

What is the point of On Demand if you can record programs to the dvr and watch them whenever you want?

- you don't have to wait until the program airs to view it.
- you don't have to remember to set the recording.
- you could get stuff that hasn't aired in years in theory

DVR could be considered "near video on demand". Video on demand would be better, but only after they have sufficient selection. It's not there yet.

Originally posted by Stephen Tu
- you don't have to wait until the program airs to view it.


You can't view a program before it's scheduled first run air date...

Originally posted by keenan
You can't view a program before it's scheduled first run air date...

He means stuff that's ALREADY aired, but the repeat hasn't yet- or never will.
You can't DVR something until it comes on air (again).
The benefit of VOD is that it has stuff that ALREADY aired in the past, and you missed it- especially if it won't otherwise be shown again, for you to see/DVR it.

This is a nice aspect I hadn't thought about before- and being for regular TV shows/series etc, incl HBO ones like Sopranos, not just movies, is a neat idea. Most people just think of "movies on demand", which is nice but limited given netflix/DVDs.

The usefulness of this however, depends on how much material is available... comcast seems determined to add a lot of stuff, hopefully stuff we're interested in (more HD, please!)
You could always buy/rent a DVD of the episode, assuming it's available, but since Comcast is doing a lot of material for free, that's compelling.. and much handier even than netflix (assuming you can find the show in VOD menu :) )

That, plus the comment about Comcast having a bigger harddrive than each of us, is true :-)
My new HD-DVR is 50% filled, and I haven't even recorded my regularly scheduled shows yet, just INHD interesting bits! :)

one comment- I don't think, we can DVR VOD stuff? at least not PPV things... anyone know for sure?

I like to share my experience with a 6412 install on Mon 12-20.

The cable bill is in my roommates name so I've been bugging him to call them and get the new 6412 scheduled to be installed. He finally made it down to the comcast offices and asked if he could sign up for an install. Instead of scheduling an install they told him to go home and get his old box and they'd give him the 6412 and let him do a self install. He says they claim that they get a few in each day and are allowing people that come in to do a self install. He even asked that he heard it was comcast install only but they sorta smiled and let him do the install anyways. This is all post free TiVo frenzy.

We hooked it up and he called in to get it activated. Everything is working fine so far but something interesting happened last night. At about midnight the 6412 showed dl with a progress bar going in circles (my best description) and there was no picture. It finished and displayed fp and rebooted, now it seems it has to download all of the guide data again. The firmware did not change. I'm assuming it did some sort of software update. Its a pain in the ass if it has to re-download guide data every time it reboots.

Some observations and questions.

We hooked up both DVI and component. We get audio on the TV when component is selected but not when DVI is. You have to use a stereo receiver. I believe this is a TV issue.

DVI looked washed out compared to component. The DVI cable is a $14 10 footer from newegg so it might not be the best quality.

Mute button on the remote seems to be mapped to the TV button by default.

I can hear the hard disk seek from the couch which is 10 feet away.

I'm curious, how exactly is the 6412 downloading information? It seems to download it slowly and not at cable modem speeds.

ZZ

Originally posted by KGD_007

In fairness to Comcast though, the DVR is definitely worth the wait. I have two of the units and both have performed exceptionally. I do hope that they have the Super Bowl in HD, but I am not holding my breath. Unfortunately, I can’t get any OTA signals, so I will need to check with some friends to see if they can get the FOX signal via DTV. If so, I will borrow their box for the day, as I still have the dish and the wiring set up from when I was on DTV.


Kris

Fox HD is available via D* starting today for customers in NY and LA and shortly for those in 23 other areas that are O&O by Fox. Unfortunately, KTVU is owned by Cox. You would have to "move", say to LA, to get Fox via D*. Or find a friend w. OTA fm. channel 2 or the few of us that have both E&W HD via BEV.

...mike

One question about using the 6412, is it possible to do something as follows? Assuming I was watching channel 4 from 4:00PM and then I hit the record button at 4:15PM, it seems the 6412 will only record from the beginning of the program I'm watching and not all the way from 4:00PM, is there a way around that? Is there a way to record manually similar to a VCR though so that I hit record at 4:15PM, it will record from the point I hit the record button until the point I hit the stop button instead of just recording the current program only and stop on it's own?

In the DVR menu there is an option to setup a manual time based recording. Before the guide is loaded by the box, time based recording is the only option. I don't think you will be able to use it in a pure VCR mode. The guide data makes it too clever when record is pressed. Of course you could just tune to another channel change back and then press record. The buffer will have been cleared and the recording will start when you re-tuned to the channel.

I was asking only because I was trying to record channel 262 - the Jade channel and while I had tuned to the channel at 4:00PM, I hit the record button at 4:37PM and it stopped at 4:40PM. Then when I did a record at 5:00PM, it started at 4:45PM so it bases the info on the guide, I guess I wanted to give it some extra minutes at each end to be on the safe side. It seems like the end time can easily be fixed but how do I record a little more than the programs start time if it's already in the buffer?

Originally posted by Almighty1
One question about using the 6412, is it possible to do something as follows? Assuming I was watching channel 4 from 4:00PM and then I hit the record button at 4:15PM, it seems the 6412 will only record from the beginning of the program I'm watching and not all the way from 4:00PM, is there a way around that? Is there a way to record manually similar to a VCR though so that I hit record at 4:15PM, it will record from the point I hit the record button until the point I hit the stop button instead of just recording the current program only and stop on it's own?

Since the buffer resets when you change channles, you might try switching to another channel, then switching back to what you were watching before hitting record. If I understand how the DVR works, it will then only record for the time you hit the record button.

Originally posted by John Mace
Since the buffer resets when you change channles, you might try switching to another channel, then switching back to what you were watching before hitting record. If I understand how the DVR works, it will then only record for the time you hit the record button.

I just checked and here is what happened... I had the box on channel 262 since 1:00PM this afternoon. At 4:37PM, i hit the record button and somehow the recording stopped on it's own or something since it was 50 minutes long but started at 3:50PM but when I hit swap to watch it, it said the recording got interrupted so it record to about 4:40PM. So I hit Record at 4:55PM, and this time it does say REC on the front of the boxes display and starts recording at 4:45PM so basically I lost 5 minutes. The first record didn't show anything other than the time.

P.S. It seems good while it lasted, about 20 minutes ago - the HD (Seagate) made this noise that sounded like a head crash and the box completely powered off and then 5 minutes later, it turned on but the diagnostics can no longer see a Hard Drive. I just called Comcast and they are sending out a new box tomorrow between 9-11AM.

Originally posted by millerwill
I had the problem you describe last week, when I first tried VOD. Called Comcast and they scheduled a service visit for yesterday. The tech came (very nice guy), and when we tried it, it worked! We watched our first VOD movie last night, no problems. So I guess it does take 'a while' for it to get up and running.

I guess I need to narrow the question down to Marin only, as they just made it available here last week. It's been available in other parts of the bay area for much longer.

I want to know if the problem is maybe localized with my local head end. If others in Marin are having success, then there is something amiss with my setup.

Marin-ites: Any success with VOD?

I just had my DVR installed today, everything works great!! Only one slight problem the picture seems to be blurry. Its as if there is static on the screen for the non hd channels, but even the hd channels aren't as clear as when I had the 6200. Also the guide/menu the text is blurry and doesn't seem like its at its optimal resolution. Is there any settings on the machine that I can mess around with to improve this? Its a pretty big difference from before. Thank you in advance.

dailowai,
Did you already try with the box powered on, hitting power and then the menu button on the front of the box?

I noticed one thing on the 6412, that is that it now allows you to choose the audio stream so if the channel had English and Spanish, then you can choose which to output. Before, this wasn't possible with the Analog audio outputs and only on the RF Outputs.

I have not, didn't know I could do this with the new box. Will try thanks for the tip!

Ah it was set to output at 4:3, switched it to 16x9 and works like a charm. Thanks again.

Originally posted by dailowai
I just had my DVR installed today, everything works great!! Only one slight problem the picture seems to be blurry. Its as if there is static on the screen for the non hd channels, but even the hd channels aren't as clear as when I had the 6200. Also the guide/menu the text is blurry and doesn't seem like its at its optimal resolution. Is there any settings on the machine that I can mess around with to improve this? Its a pretty big difference from before. Thank you in advance.

Have you set the output for your particular TV? You turn your TV on and cable box OFF. Then you hit "menu" on the remote, and you get a set up screen where you can pick between 480p, 720p, or 1080i. Maybe your cable box output is not sync'ed with what the TV input is expecting. More instruction found on p9-13 in the DCT6400 Series User Guide the tech should have given you.

I'm not sure if this is it, but it's worth a try.

Yeah its set on 1080i. I think after changing the output to 16x9 it looks ok. SD channels are still blurry but that's prob just cuz I was watching too much HD. The menu is fine now though. Thanks for the help.

I have a new Sony RPTV with an ATSC tuner. I do not have a cable card installed. And I only subscribe to limited basic service.
When I first plugged in to comcast in October, it discovered INHD, DSHD and several other digital/HD signals. Interestingly, it only saw KQED 9.1, not the other PBS sub-channels.

Last Friday (I think) something changed. Almost all the HD channels disappeared. Now KGO shows as 0.0, KPIX is now missing, KNTV still shows as 11.1 and I now see 9.1-9.1 on KQED. Anybody else seen this change? Any ideas what happened to KPIX?

I, like others who also had an hd box, used to get INHD1/2 and Discovery HD until recently when they all went blank. However, after changing out my 6200 for the HD DVR, i got them all back! WOOO HOO! Thought i would share. I'm in Daly City.

6412 billing question for all --

Is everyone with just expanded basic getting hit with a $5.00 "DGENREPPVPLX" charge on top of the 9.95 DVR charge? I wasn't told about this when I signed up, and the installer said it was some sort of "PPV enable" charge that I could have dropped. But when I called in the CSR claimed it was a charge for the box, the 9.95 only covered the service. Was she correct or blowing smoke?

Update - I tried another CSR who also claimed that the total charge for DVR was 9.95 + 5 for the box itself. This contradicts information earlier in this thread from DCTDictator and others. What's the real scoop?

50% more expensive is a lot! This would make it easier to justify buying a Tivo if they come out with a CableCard version in the $700-900 range including lifetime service.

Freeze-up came back on my box today. Twice within 5 minutes the audio and video stopped as if I had hit the "pause" button. The only way to get it going again was to switch channels and switch back.

This is going to be a real problem, so I'll need to get the Comcast tech back out here the next time it happens.

Originally posted by Jizzay1
I, like others who also had an hd box, used to get INHD1/2 and Discovery HD until recently when they all went blank. However, after changing out my 6200 for the HD DVR, i got them all back! WOOO HOO! Thought i would share. I'm in Daly City.

I think till the DVR is fully loaded you get lots of stuff you should not. I got
HBO for a while. Then INHD1/2 and Discovery HD went away. I yelled at them
but to no avail (they said the would discount a month or 2 if I went to
digital cable). However, at lunch today I notice that IND1/2 are back, not Discovery.
Maybe my griping got them to read their own web site. More likely someone
hit the wrong switch and they will fix it after a while. (I'm in Oakland.)

Originally posted by Stephen Tu
6412 billing question for all --

Is everyone with just expanded basic getting hit with a $5.00 "DGENREPPVPLX" charge on top of the 9.95 DVR charge? I wasn't told about this when I signed up, and the installer said it was some sort of "PPV enable" charge that I could have dropped. But when I called in the CSR claimed it was a charge for the box, the 9.95 only covered the service. Was she correct or blowing smoke?

Update - I tried another CSR who also claimed that the total charge for DVR was 9.95 + 5 for the box itself. This contradicts information earlier in this thread from DCTDictator and others. What's the real scoop?

50% more expensive is a lot! This would make it easier to justify buying a Tivo if they come out with a CableCard version in the $700-900 range including lifetime service.

Both CSR's are correct, the cost is 14.95 per month with just expanded basic service. You pay 5 dollars for the box rental and 9.95 for the DVR service along with HD. For Digital Cable customers the cost is just 9.95 per month. Hope this clears things up for you.

6412 billing question for all --

Is everyone with just expanded basic getting hit with a $5.00 "DGENREPPVPLX" charge on top of the 9.95 DVR charge? I wasn't told about this when I signed up, and the installer said it was some sort of "PPV enable" charge that I could have dropped. But when I called in the CSR claimed it was a charge for the box, the 9.95 only covered the service. Was she correct or blowing smoke?

Update - I tried another CSR who also claimed that the total charge for DVR was 9.95 + 5 for the box itself. This contradicts information earlier in this thread from DCTDictator and others. What's the real scoop?

50% more expensive is a lot! This would make it easier to justify buying a Tivo if they come out with a CableCard version in the $700-900 range including lifetime service

Steven

The charge only applies if you do not have digital classic. Since the $9.95 digital classic includes a set top box the DVR is one of those boxes. If you don't have digital classic you have to pay $5 for the box.

Basically the 9.95 DVR fee does not include a box..........


From my point of view since you now need digital classic for discovery HD, INHD and INHD2 it makes sense to go for the digital classic for only $5 more.

Kevin

I had a 9AM-11AM appointment to replace the DCT6412 DVR that was installed yesterday, the hard drive crashed last night and the box shutdown. Upon power up, the box took 5 minutes before it actually turned on as it kept trying to access the Hard drive which just clicks until it times out. The Diagnostics can't even see the hard drive even though it took 3-4 minutes before showing the output. Today at around 10:30AM, the tech which replaced my line drop in my apartment a year ago gave me a Silver Comcast remote but it is missing the swap buttons so now I have both the black ICX remote and the Silver remote. The new box appears to work fine so far. Both the old and new boxes had the Seagate ST3120025ACE Hard Drive which are manufactured in China. I never knew China made hard drives as Seagate drives are usually made in the USA, Malaysia/Singapore while I know other companies makes them in Ireland, Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand. According to Seagate, this HD has a 1MB buffer with a UltraATA/100 interface but the spindle speed is unlisted. I thought they would use a drive with a larger buffer. I was wondering - are the boxes that everyone got delivered to them in perfect cosmetic condition since I noticed that the 5100/6200/6412 - the display is always perfect as they have the plastic covering it but the silver plastic front always either has scratches/marks or slight dents.

Stephen Tu,

I think the pricing works like this. For people that have a Digital Package, they only pay $9.95 for the DVR Service with HD. For people without the Digital Package, it's $9.95 for the DVR Service + $5.00 for the box as the Digital Package includes one box.

Originally posted by bmark
Both CSR's are correct, the cost is 14.95 per month with just expanded basic service. You pay 5 dollars for the box rental and 9.95 for the DVR service along with HD. For Digital Cable customers the cost is just 9.95 per month. Hope this clears things up for you.
Not that I don't believe you, but I just called Comcast and they insisted that it was $9.95 for the DVR and $5.00 for the HDTV "Service" on top of any digital plan. (I am in the "Delta Valley" region.)

I haven't gotten the mute bug again, but consistently, when I turn the 6412 back on, I get no display of video (1080i, YPrPb component.)
I can see the OSD graphics, just no picture or sound.
I change the channel, try ffwd/rvs, reply...still fails.
Only comes back when I go to MyDVR and play back an existing program, then live TV works again. I haven't been able to tell/check yet, if a recorded program is intact, or is also black during recording... I think it is intact. Kind of annoying...

I remember seeing this above- anyone else? Fix?

Also, my SVideo output is off- always pan/scan, or letterbox, dep. on my Menu-bootup setting... how can I get plain 480i, no tweaking? (eg 16:9 480i untouched, record as "anamorphic" I guess, display fine on my 16:9 tv)
I want to record 16:9 hdtv shows to DVD/VCR, and play them back still 16:9 (albeit 480i ntcs.) Any way to get this? My 6200 seemed to be ok for this...

Guess I should cross-post to iGuide/recorder forum...

Thanks for the pricing clarification.

From my point of view since you now need digital classic for discovery HD, INHD and INHD2 it makes sense to go for the digital classic for only $5 more

I guess that would be true except that I live in one of the "2%" areas, 550 Mhz bandwidth and can't get any of those channels nor the FSN HD broadcasts even if I paid the extra $5.

Since I don't have any particular interest in any of the other digital tier channels I guess I'll just have to pay the $5/month for the box.

Originally posted by mazman49
Not that I don't believe you, but I just called Comcast and they insisted that it was $9.95 for the DVR and $5.00 for the HDTV "Service" on top of any digital plan. (I am in the "Delta Valley" region.)

You spoke with a mis-informed CSR. The cost for the DVR with any digital package is just $9.95 since the digital pkg includes the cost of the box rental.

Originally posted by Almighty1
Both the old and new boxes had the Seagate ST3120025ACE Hard Drive which are manufactured in China.

That's very interesting because I thought most of the boxes have Maxtor QuickView hard drives in them -- I know mine does. These drives are a smaller form-factor (still 3 1/2 inch but thinner) and are specifically made/tested for STB DVR's. I wonder if your boxes are actually older test units or something. Do they have an blemishes or signs of wear/tear?

Mine's a Seagate, couldn't tell you where it's made. It's quiet as hell as though, make's the one in my computer sound like a diesel motor.

Originally posted by keenan
Mine's a Seagate, couldn't tell you where it's made. It's quiet as hell as though, make's the one in my computer sound like a diesel motor.

I have an extremely quiet Seagate, also.

Originally posted by fender4645
That's very interesting because I thought most of the boxes have Maxtor QuickView hard drives in them -- I know mine does. These drives are a smaller form-factor (still 3 1/2 inch but thinner) and are specifically made/tested for STB DVR's. I wonder if your boxes are actually older test units or something. Do they have an blemishes or signs of wear/tear?

Actually, it seems there are boxes with both Seagate and Maxtor's in there according to the 6412 thread in the HD Recording forum. As for wear/tear, all the Silver colored boxes I've got which includes the 5100, 6200 and now the 6412's have dents and scratches on the front silver plastic. The screens always had the protective tape which they take out when they get here.

Originally posted by keenan
Mine's a Seagate, couldn't tell you where it's made. It's quiet as hell as though, make's the one in my computer sound like a diesel motor.

Yep, mines very quiet. The one installed yesterday that crashed was clicking. It's strange that Seagate's specs don't list the RPM speed for the drive. I wonder how much buffer is there on the Maxtor drive since I thought it was beneficial to have a drive with a larger cache. Strange thing is it doesn't say "Made in China" or "Assembled in China" but rather "Product of China" so maybe it means something different. The drive is quieter than the Western Digital Caviar 7200RPM 8MB 120/250GB Fluid Dynamic Bearing drives I'm using and quieter than my notebook which uses the Hitachi TravelStar 2.5" 60GB 7200RPM HDD.

Hard Drives
I know Maxtor does, and so probably does Seagate, use different firmware in drives that go into STBs and TIVOs. The firmware slows down the seeking operations of the drives and makes them quieter. I don't think they spin any slower than standard drives though; probably 5400 RPM. I think there's a write up about QuickView on Maxtor's web site. Quantum developed QuickView and it was later taken over by Maxtor when they bought Quantum.

rshaw,

Seagate usually list specs for all the drive models but for some reason, the ST3120025ACE only shows every spec except the spindle rate. I wonder is the Maxtor drives in the STBs actually made in the former Quantum factory or the former Maxtor factory. Maxtor used to be a very high-end company when they made SCSI only hard drives which was known as Maxtor San Jose. Maxtor Colorado is basically after Maxtor took over MiniScribe which makes MFM/RLL drives and I guess later IDE drives. The firmware does make a difference since Seagate's original Barracuda SCSI line which was the first 7200RPM hard drives were made in the US and they had huge rates of death due to heat. Then for whatever reason, they didn't do the new firmware until they started making the drives in Singapore. It's just strange that the current STB drives from Seagate are not 7200RPM or have a larger buffer as Seagate drives are known to be quiet and low in heat.

VOD appears to be up in Healdsburg (at least the menu is up and working, I haven't tried to view anything). Anyone know how to tell the difference between free content and fee based content? Also, when I tune to channel 1, I get the message "To activate, press ok". What exactly am I activating?

-Steve

I am visiting my in-laws for the holidays. Recently I talked him into a Samsung HL-P4663W TV and an upgrade from his basic to HDTV. So currently he has limited basic with the HDTV channels with that tier. Do you know exactly which channels he should be receiving? He is in Newark and has a non-DVR HD Receiver.

Currently he is receiving 703-709 plus ESPN HD is there any he is missing with limited basic?

What other channels would he get with the expanded basic?

Is it worth it?? Do you know if there are payper views channels in HD?

When is VOD available to Newark?

thanks alot,

Kipp

I thought we were supposed to get the NFL Network's "Game of the Week" in HD. I'm only getting the SD version on channel 180. Anyone know what the scoop is?

Currently he is receiving 703-709 plus ESPN HD is there any he is missing with limited basic?

I happened to receive the "definitive list" in the mail this week. With Limited Basic and HDTV, you get 703-709. If you have Digital Classic, you also get InHD1, InHD2, FSNBA, Discovery HD, ESPNHD and NFLHD. Obviously, for the premium channels (HBO, Cinemax, Starz and Showtime), you just have to subscribe to that channel and you'll get it in HD as well as SD.

Originally posted by mds54
I thought we were supposed to get the NFL Network's "Game of the Week" in HD. I'm only getting the SD version on channel 180. Anyone know what the scoop is?

I'm not a football fan, but I thought I saw NFL Game of the Week in HD this evening on the HDSE (Special Events) channel. I don't know the number, but it the next HD channel above ESPN HD.

Wednesday and Thursday nights the NFL Network shows a one-hour HD game summary of 2 games the previous week. These are very good shows, but right now its all we get in HD from NFL Network. NFL Network will not get its own live broadcasts, but should have more HD (IMO) next year.

Our HDSE channel is 208.

Rich N.

This morning at 8:00AM - I turned on the Plasma tv as I leave the box on and for some reason, the box when I go up/down the channel shows the information on the channel but there is no picture. When I clicked on the Live button, it was stuck on channel 61 at a little before 3:00AM as that was as far as the bar went even when I was on a different channel. So I pressed power off and then back on and it was still not showing a picture for any of the channels but the bar at the bottom is updating and channel 1 says "To Activate". I had to pull the power and plug it back in before the box worked correctly and showed picture on the channels and channel 1 works correctly again. But what is strange is when I hit swap, it was on channel 61 so the content on channel 61 probably froze the box?

Anyone with just Limited Basic and HD box care to comment on what VOD programming you can access?

I dropped my Comcast service due to aggravation over getting a DVR with just Limited Basic and they keep calling and writing me with offers to start up again. I've never tried VOD so I don't know if it would be worth resubbing.

I took my 5100 into the San Rafael office yesterday to trade it in for a DVR. They refused but made an appointment for 12/28 to do the install. They also would not give me the DVR without adding $25/month to my service. You can't get the DVR with basic cable?
Sorry for not reading the whole thread.
thanks,
Sam

Originally posted by SamEdwards
I took my 5100 into the San Rafael office yesterday to trade it in for a DVR. They refused but made an appointment for 12/28 to do the install. They also would not give me the DVR without adding $25/month to my service. You can't get the DVR with basic cable?
Sorry for not reading the whole thread.
thanks,
Sam

DVR requires extended / standard basic service. You get additional HD channels if you add digital classic (INHD, INHD2, ESPN HD).

Posting to say that I wish Comcast would get Encore HD. It supposedly has a lot of HD content and would make those of us who subscribe to Digital Plus or higher something new to look at.

Local office also refuses to trade for DVRs over the counter. Clearly they're planning to make a killing on "installation fees" for giving DVRs to people who know how to hook them up.

My installation fee is only $15.99. I also think they're getting everything they can from the early adopters.
Sam

Originally posted by michaelc
Clearly they're planning to make a killing on "installation fees" for giving DVRs to people who know how to hook them up.

Do you seriously think that in charging $15 for a truck/tech to visit your house they are making money...

Originally posted by davisdog
Do you seriously think that in charging $15 for a truck/tech to visit your house they are making money...

I agree ... the requirement isn't about making money. I don't see how they are on the small fee. It probably has more to do with getting the installation done correctly. To put this into perspective, I was telling my neighbor today that Comcast was now installing HD DVR's and that I really like the service. He said, "what is a DVR?". I explained it and he still wasn't clear about it. Let alone VOD, etc. Also, to get a picture on a HD monitor you need to go into the setup menu on the BOX. Most people will not be able to do this.

Is anyone else getting SHOWHD for free?

Yes, Showtime will be free for 2 months for everyone. Comcast sent a card a couple of weeks back saying so. Enjoy!

I'm glad when I upgraded from Digital Plus to Digital Silver + Jade Channel + Premier Tier that I chose HBO instead of Showtime for the 3 month special introductory rate.

Originally posted by SamEdwards
My installation fee is only $15.99. I also think they're getting everything they can from the early adopters.
Sam

It costs Comcast alot more than $15.99 to roll a truck out anywhere. In two months from now this installation requirement will probably be a thing of the past. You can look at any products out on the market, early adopters always pay more but they reap the benefits first.

Woot!! Good thing I passed by it, I usually never pass by HBO/SHOW since I know I don't get it. Now I just need Jade, VOD, and Discovery channel and I'll be a happy camper.

Thanks guys.
I finally found it in HD on my channel 725 listed as "To Be Announced".
It would be nice if they reflected that on the guide....

Originally posted by raidbuck
Wednesday and Thursday nights the NFL Network shows a one-hour HD game summary of 2 games the previous week. These are very good shows, but right now its all we get in HD from NFL Network. NFL Network will not get its own live broadcasts, but should have more HD (IMO) next year.

Our HDSE channel is 208.

Rich N.

Originally posted by SamEdwards
My installation fee is only $15.99. I also think they're getting everything they can from the early adopters.

Yep....just got my bill today with the same charge, but they had told me about that when I placed my order. It's well worth the DVR, IMHO (and it's working flawlessly to this point)

Originally posted by mds54
Yep....just got my bill today with the same charge, but they had told me about that when I placed my order. It's well worth the DVR, IMHO (and it's working flawlessly to this point)

No installation charge for me. The tech who came here said they were not charging people. I'd contest on principle, especially since there is no need to have the tech do the installation in the first place.

Originally posted by masoo
Someone already pointed you in the right direction. Problem is, you need a remote with a setup button, which is the "old new" remote ... the new new remote has no setup button and so I, at least, haven't seen anyone explain how we can program it. I use an MX-500, but I need to get the skip into the original remote before I can transfer it to my MX-500.

It doesn't need a setup button because you just hold down the cable button and it goes into setup mode when it flashes. The black remote being ICX previously known as US Electronics actually has more functions than the silver remote as the ABC buttons are unused as we already have separate list and Day+/Day- buttons when compared to the Silver remote. It seems like there are two versions of the Silver DVR remotes. One is probably made for the 6208 while the other is for the 6412. The other thing is the ICX remote controls 4 devices while the Silver controls only 3.
So I guess we have to figure out how to get the 30 second skip on the ABC buttons, one of those on the ICX remote.

Originally posted by russwong
Yeah, i just called Comcast and was able to setup an appointment, but after figuring out the new price for the service in order to get DVR, it doesn't look like it's going to be worth it for me, since I pay about $29 now with limited basic and 2 HD boxes. To get DVR, I have to move to the standard cable as show in the previous posts. After you add it all up, it will be a little over $60 a month for DVR. So I guess I'll be passing on the DVR. I get all the channels I want now at the limited basic price...

Anyone want to get an extra DVR and I'll pay you directly the $6 or $7 monthly fee?

Russ

Happy Holidays Russ.... I would do it for you and you'll get my Digital Plus Package + Jade + Premier Tier and for the next 2.5 months HBO but the problem is that I only have two TV's and I already have a DVR and a regular non-HD box so I think they will need a tv to install to before they'll give me the 3rd box.

Originally posted by keenan
Shouldn't matter how the box is placed, it should work upside down. :)

Actually, hard disks can be used front side up or vertical but not diagonal or upside down since the platters will crash into the head.

Oh man ever since I got the DVR I've been recording every single thing available in HD. Too bad I have to delete them all everyday as it takes up a ton of space. I really hope one day we'll be able to install an external HD to keep the recording capacity. Anyways....happy holidays everyone.

Originally posted by John Mace
No installation charge for me. The tech who came here said they were not charging people. I'd contest on principle, especially since there is no need to have the tech do the installation in the first place.

Originally they were going to charge me but when I called and finally got a male operator, they said there is no fee for the upgrade. You can usually tell on the online recent activities area since it will show new charges credits that is updated every 24 hours or so.

Originally posted by Almighty1
Happy Holidays Russ.... I would do it for you and you'll get my Digital Plus Package + Jade + Premier Tier and for the next 2.5 months HBO but the problem is that I only have two TV's and I already have a DVR and a regular non-HD box so I think they will need a tv to install to before they'll give me the 3rd box.

Happy Holiday's to you too! Oh well, looks like I'll just stick to my HD with out DVR and cheaper bill.

I think the big problem with Comcast is that not a single piece of information has been consistant and correct. Everything from installation fees, availability, costs, what packages are needed, self-installs, have provided different informations from different people and different experiences.

That's just damn frustrating if you ask me.

Russ

Hey, so here's a quick question for you guys. I've recently noticed, the last week or so, that some content on our NBC channel is being shown is what appears to be 16x9 or some variation thereof. (Picture looks a little zoomed and the NBC bug is halfway off the screen.) Anyone know why this would be happening in a non-HD upgraded service area? (Santa Cruz)

One other thing, I also had a "message" on the STB last week advertising how traffic reports were going to be "on demand" using the VOD features. (something KOMO?) Um, guys, we have none of the above here? Could it be they are actually working on getting us upgraded to HD and VOD here in Santa Cruz?

Originally posted by russwong
Happy Holiday's to you too! Oh well, looks like I'll just stick to my HD with out DVR and cheaper bill.

I think the big problem with Comcast is that not a single piece of information has been consistant and correct. Everything from installation fees, availability, costs, what packages are needed, self-installs, have provided different informations from different people and different experiences.

That's just damn frustrating if you ask me.

Russ

Yeah, I know what you mean... It's like the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing... I think since you got the 2nd box without having to pay the extra $5 for HD, it might be a good idea not to touch anything yet. I just wished that they would deliver boxes to me without scratches or dents on the front gray plastic which seems to be the case with both the 5100/6200 and the two 6214's (the 2nd to replace the first one that had the HDD crash after 7 hours after install). So other than the freeze the first night on the 2nd box of no video until I did a physical power plug off/on, there aren't any problems. Not sure if I want to do another swap though.

We had guests on Christmas - they all raved about the HD picture as we watched the Chiefs-Raiders game.

One them asked for a "tour" of what the 6412 and iGuide could do, etc. (the more knowledgeable ones immediately said "Tivo is in trouble"). Anyway, he also pointed out that the HBO-W channel we get (730, IIRC) does NOT show up in the HD channels when I access that through the HD button in the iGuide. That's strange, b/c it IS there in the "regular" guide. Anyone else with that oddity?

Originally posted by AVWH
Anyway, he also pointed out that the HBO-W channel we get (730, IIRC) does NOT show up in the HD channels when I access that through the HD button in the iGuide. That's strange, b/c it IS there in the "regular" guide. Anyone else with that oddity?

Yes, I noticed this also when I tried out my new HD DVR after installation last week.

Anyone's DVR locking up all the time? I just got the DVR and it locks up like crazy and I can't do ****. Is there any way to remedy this or do I need to setup a service call for a new box?

Occasionally, mine does not respond to the remote control and I just wait it out until it executes the remote functions I already entered. Can be anywhere from a few seconds to 15 or 20 seconds before the box catches up.

Originally posted by bmark
Anyone's DVR locking up all the time? I just got the DVR and it locks up like crazy and I can't do ****. Is there any way to remedy this or do I need to setup a service call for a new box?

Call up Comcast and ask them to download your software again ... it might fix it.

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Occasionally, mine does not respond to the remote control and I just wait it out until it executes the remote functions I already entered. Can be anywhere from a few seconds to 15 or 20 seconds before the box catches up.

That's not the case with my box. It seems I hit certain keys like menu or enter and the box locks up and reboots itself. It keeps doing this constantly. I'm starting to believe it's a bad power supply or something.

Hey, is anybody else who only has a non-digital standard package seeing that they have INHD1 and 2 back? I just noticed today that they are working fine, but Discovery HD is "not authorized." Did Comcast change its mind on the limited HD channels for non-digital package subscribers as we are paying the same extra fee for HD?

Also, does anybody know how long the "free trial" of Showtime will last? I hear its 2 months, but when did it begin or when will it end exactly?

Originally posted by AVWH
...Anyway, he also pointed out that the HBO-W channel we get (730, IIRC) does NOT show up in the HD channels when I access that through the HD button in the iGuide. That's strange, b/c it IS there in the "regular" guide. Anyone else with that oddity?

Same observation here. Neither HBO or Showtime is listed when displaying the HD channels via the HD button, but are displayed in the "regular" guide.

web

Originally posted by neoufo51
Also, does anybody know how long the "free trial" of Showtime will last? I hear its 2 months, but when did it begin or when will it end exactly?

The card I received said the showtime free preview would last for 60 days, starting 12/24. I'm liking it so far ;)

Originally posted by bmark
Anyone's DVR locking up all the time? I just got the DVR and it locks up like crazy and I can't do ****. Is there any way to remedy this or do I need to setup a service call for a new box?

I got DVR since last Wednesday. The first box had the HDD crashed after 7 hours post installation that the diagnostics no longer sees the HDD and booting up took 5 minutes after the HDD timed out trying to power up. The replacement box on Thursday froze after 12 hours or so as the infoguide shows but the channels had no video. I pulled the power and plugged it back in and it's been fine ever since.

Originally posted by bmark
That's not the case with my box. It seems I hit certain keys like menu or enter and the box locks up and reboots itself. It keeps doing this constantly. I'm starting to believe it's a bad power supply or something.

Look at the serial number of the box... if the 4th to 6th digits is 436 or 437, you have a bad power supply and need the box swapped.

Originally posted by Almighty1
Look at the serial number of the box... if the 4th to 6th digits is 436 or 437, you have a bad power supply and need the box swapped.

Thanks for the info! I have a 436 serial number on the box. I went ahead and setup a service call for tomorrow.

I received a phone call last week saying that the DVR box was now available in my area (south san jose). The first CSR I called said, no the boxes are not available in your area. I asked him to double check since I had just received a phone call. He replied, I don't need to double check and then went on to list the cities where he said it was available. Knowing Comcast, I said ok and hung up, the redialed. The next CSR was very friendly and set up an appointment for me for today. The Tech arrived 3 hours early and took all of 2 min to disconnect the old box and hook up the new one. Handed me the remote and an instruction manual. And was gone. Box is working well so far.

-Larry

So, VOD rolls out in SJ and Campbell today, according to the Merc. Is anyone in those areas getting it yet? Does anyone know the roll out schedule for the rest of us? The Merc says all customers should have it by the end of January.

I'm also having a tech come by this PM to swap out my DVR box. It was freezing up intermitently since I got it a week ago.

the Merc says it starts today (Monday) and goes through Wednesday, by Monday everybody shoud have VOD. I'm in South SJ and I don't have VOD yet.

OK... so the tech came out today and gave me a new DVR box. Within a few minutes after the tech left the new box froze up just like the old box did.

I've got someone coming out later this week, but I'm starting to think this is a signal problem. I noticed that if I turned the box off and then on again after it froze (without changing the channel) I get a "one moment please, this channel should be available shortly" message.

Originally posted by John Mace
OK... so the tech came out today and gave me a new DVR box. Within a few minutes after the tech left the new box froze up just like the old box did.

I've got someone coming out later this week, but I'm starting to think this is a signal problem. I noticed that if I turned the box off and then on again after it froze (without changing the channel) I get a "one moment please, this channel should be available shortly" message.

Sounds definitely like a signal issue. Did the tech check your signal level with his meter? That should have been the first thing he did before he put in the new DVR box.

Originally posted by bmark
Sounds definitely like a signal issue. Did the tech check your signal level with his meter? That should have been the first thing he did before he put in the new DVR box.

Yes he did, as did the tech who installed the first box. My guess is that the signal level is not consistently "good", and sometimes fluctuates below the level necessary to keep the DVR going. What surprises me (if this IS a signal level problem) is that the DVR doesn't start up again once the signal level fluctuates back into the "good" range.

So far, I've only see a freeze up happen in the afternoon-- never early in the AM or during the evening. I have noticed that the signal level in my area is somewhat temperature dependent, and is often "noisy" in the summertime. I have a feeling this is going to be very difficult for Comcast to fix...

Originally posted by John Mace
So, VOD rolls out in SJ and Campbell today, according to the Merc. Is anyone in those areas getting it yet? Does anyone know the roll out schedule for the rest of us? The Merc says all customers should have it by the end of January.

I'm also having a tech come by this PM to swap out my DVR box. It was freezing up intermitently since I got it a week ago.

Does this include the Peninsula too? AFAIK, no VOD is active south of San Francisco.

Thanks,
Mike

Since the Foster City Comcast office has not had HD DVRs available the last couple of times I went there, I ordered an installation for a DVR using their web interface. This is Monday evening and they agreed to come out for delivery on Friday afternoon--ready for new year's eve. I hope I like it enough to cancel my TIVO subscription. They should also bring a cable card for me. Woo hoo. I am excited.

The Mercury News stated that San Mateo county is scheduled to have VOD by the end of January.

Now all we need is to have all of the local channels in HD. Oh and the capability to expand Hard drive storage through a firewire external drive.

Now all we need is to have all of the local channels in HD.

Just curious what channels you don't have in HD that you'd like to have.

Originally posted by John Mace
OK... so the tech came out today and gave me a new DVR box. Within a few minutes after the tech left the new box froze up just like the old box did.

I've got someone coming out later this week, but I'm starting to think this is a signal problem. I noticed that if I turned the box off and then on again after it froze (without changing the channel) I get a "one moment please, this channel should be available shortly" message.

I had the same problem with my box, but it cleared up. My guess is that the 'problem' was the following. When the DVR was installed it had channels for the San Jose area memorized, while we live in Los Gatos (which, BTW, has a simply horrid system, with not enough bandwidth to provide the same HD content as San Jose, but that's another thread...).
Anyway, the box dowloaded all the guide info, but kept the San Jose channel lineup, and whenever it got to a San Jose channel it would either pause for a long time, and appear to be stuck, or get stuck.
Anyway, after the guide info was complete, I did a power down and power up, and, voila, it all of a sudden only showed Los Gatos lineup channels, and hasn't frozen since then.
So, it seems it needs a manual power cycle to complete its synchronization to the local system. Maybe...
Good luck.
Mike

Originally posted by dmlove51
Just curious what channels you don't have in HD that you'd like to have.

My choices for additional HD locals : FOX, WB, UPN