I would really like to believe you but from what I have personally observed with Verizon FIOS in Northern VA, this was NOT the case. Without renting an extra HD box, my sister can not get expanded HD channels on her second QAM capable TV.

- Vikas

He didn't say there wasn't a box rental fee, he just said that there is no "digital replication fee" with FioS . Comcast charges both and is pretty much my only gripe with comcast. If they got rid of the digital rep fee and only charge the current box fee I would be a happy customer.

-Ken

If it were up to Comcast, you would be paying for each and every computer that is hooked up in your house. Consider yourself lucky that Comcast has not come up with a scheme to break the NAT technology of your router either technically or using different terms of services.

Realistically our beef with Comcast is that they charge too much for the rental of the boxes and do not allow outright purchases. Unfortunately; the designed in technology needs decoding at the point of viewing. That means Comcast has to manage the boxes.

Contrast this with how Cable mdem is handled. For it, Comcast only needs to manage a single entity per account and to be fair, Comcast makes it easy enough for you to purchase and swap your own cable modem. Only single MAC address is associated with your account.

However, with TV, they will need to associate lot more boxes per account and there is no way Comcast is going to do this for "free".

If there is a technology which can unscramble *all* of the channels that you have paid for and then mux it back and do it at the point of demarcation, we would be all set (assuming Comcast lets you own (or at least rent) the "bulk unscrambler")

- Vikas

Just put your technical hat on for a minute and think how cable modems work. Every cable modem has a unique address. Using this address it registers to comcast network. Once registered, comcast has full control of the modem and your internet connection. VOIP adapter/SIM cards use similar concept.

A cable box has to do just that. Additionally it needs a QAM tuner and an unscrambler. A QAM tuner is 50 bucks. Unscramblers are not expensive. Add it all up and a HD box should cost around 100 bucks. A cable card pretty much does the same thing. Using a combination of cablecard id, host id and data value it registers to comcast network. It then downloads channel listing and decrypt key. After this you have a secure connection between your box and comcast. Only reason cable card readers and boxes are expensive is because cable labs certification is a nightmare and expensive. No competition = high prices.

I would still want to revisit the comment about the need to scramble expanded basic. It was unscrambled for all these years - what changed? Going all digital did not make it more vulnerable to copyright theft than it was before. Comcast is just taking advantage of Digital transition to force consumers pay unwanted fees for cable boxes.

I would still want to revisit the comment about the need to scramble expanded basic. It was unscrambled for all these years - what changed? Going all digital did not make it more vulnerable to copyright theft than it was before. Comcast is just taking advantage of Digital transition to force consumers pay unwanted fees for cable boxes.

this is incorrect. right or wrong, it is the content providers that are requiring Comcast to encrypt their digital signals.

Here in Leominster the transition started in January and we've been losing HD stations gradually. I had to rescan again this morning. In Jan. I hooked up the two free DTAs and was ok with using one of them since at that time I still had a tube tv. The other was connected to a small 720p tv in the kitchen, which had been receiving HD signals just fine without the need for the converter. After hooking it up, of course I was ticked about the crappy SD picture quality and removed it. Of course, I now receive fewer and fewer channels. And recently the tube tv has been replaced with a 1080p Sony so I'm back in the same boat. As I see it, my choices are these:

(a) keep using the cable connection from the wall to get some HD channels and not receive those like ESPN, HGTV, etc.

(b) use the DTA and put up with crappy SD picture quality on hi-def tvs.

(c) use the DTA, a splitter and an A/B switch (arghh, I can't believe this is a Comcast recommendation!!) and watch some channels in HD, the rest of the encrypted ones in SD.

(d) rent another DVR (already renting one) to get all my channels in HD. As I really don't need a second DVR is there a cheaper alternative to the $14.95/month they charge? A different digital box they offer that doesn't have DVR capabilities?

FIOS is not yet available in my neighborhood. Getting pretty ticked off about Comcast and this "Digital Transition" which is turning into a screw job. These DTAs are a joke.

Here in Leominster the transition started in January and we've been losing HD stations gradually. I had to rescan again this morning. In Jan. I hooked up the two free DTAs and was ok with using one of them since at that time I still had a tube tv. The other was connected to a small 720p tv in the kitchen, which had been receiving HD signals just fine without the need for the converter. After hooking it up, of course I was ticked about the crappy SD picture quality and removed it. Of course, I now receive fewer and fewer channels. And recently the tube tv has been replaced with a 1080p Sony so I'm back in the same boat. As I see it, my choices are these:

(a) keep using the cable connection from the wall to get some HD channels and not receive those like ESPN, HGTV, etc.

(b) use the DTA and put up with crappy SD picture quality on hi-def tvs.

(c) use the DTA, a splitter and an A/B switch (arghh, I can't believe this is a Comcast recommendation!!) and watch some channels in HD, the rest of the encrypted ones in SD.

(d) rent another DVR (already renting one) to get all my channels in HD. As I really don't need a second DVR is there a cheaper alternative to the $14.95/month they charge? A different digital box they offer that doesn't have DVR capabilities?

FIOS is not yet available in my neighborhood. Getting pretty ticked off about Comcast and this "Digital Transition" which is turning into a screw job. These DTAs are a joke.

First of all Comcast has NEVER provided anything other than the over the air channels in HD unencrypted. So you have not lost anything HD. Maybe you thought they were HD because you were stretching the analog channels to "fit" your screen ?

You can get a Moto-6200 which is HD without a DVR, the cost is $15.95 less than the DVR.

How is this a money grab ? It costs Comcast $35 for each DTA it gives away. And I am willing to sacrifice the analog channels for 60+ new HD channels. Oh and I just noticed that my internet speed is now 20 up 8 down and they didnt increase fees for that either.

I do agree that the digital rep fee is a rip however as I would like to get a second HD box but I won't under the current circumstances. I would however welcome a HD DTA.

-Ken

I don't mind shutting off access to certain channels, I just don't like the high fee for a second HD DVR.

First of all Comcast has NEVER provided anything other than the over the air channels in HD unencrypted. So you have not lost anything HD. Maybe you thought they were HD because you were stretching the analog channels to "fit" your screen ?

You can get a Moto-6200 which is HD without a DVR, the cost is $15.95 less than the DVR.

Wrong, unless one wants to hassle with a piece of crap A/B switch, we HAVE lost our HD basic network channels when using their crummy DTA. It's a money grab, pure and simple, forcing people to pay overpay for rental equipment.

Wrong, unless one wants to hassle with a piece of crap A/B switch, we HAVE lost our HD basic network channels when using their crummy DTA. It's a money grab, pure and simple, forcing people to pay overpay for rental equipment.

If it's the HD that is most important to you, don't use the DTA and hold out until a HD DTA becomes available.

First of all Comcast has NEVER provided anything other than the over the air channels in HD unencrypted. So you have not lost anything HD. Maybe you thought they were HD because you were stretching the analog channels to "fit" your screen ?

You can get a Moto-6200 which is HD without a DVR, the cost is $15.95 less than the DVR.

Thanks for your response. Technically you may be correct, I haven't lost the channels above 30 in HD, but I was fine with having a mix of HD and SD channels without needing a box. As capecodguy states, I most certainly have lost something, in that if I choose to use their DTA then ALL my channels are in SD. How they could think their cable customers with hi-def tvs would be satisfied with the DTA as a solution is beyond me.

Comcast made this latest transition sound as if it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. From their website: More Channels, Higher Quality, No Additional Cost on up to 3 TVs*

Digital picture and sound

Totally misleading! When I got my DTA and connected it to my hi-def tv, I couldn't believe how lousy the picture quality was. I was somehow expecting that even though there was no hdmi output perhaps it would at least put out a 1080i signal. I did some searching on their website and finally found in the FAQ that it didn't support HD signals. Called Comcast to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding the use of the DTA and their suggestion was the splitter and a/b switch. Say what? That's like going back to cable tv in the 1980s.

And in answer to your question, no I was not stretching my picture to fill the screen.

I'd simply like to be able to fully utilize the excellent picture quality of each of my hi-def tvs without having to rent an HD set top box for each one. My monthly bill with Comcast is high enough as it is. Their so-called free DTA is an unacceptable solution.

Thanks for your response. Technically you may be correct, I haven't lost the channels above 30 in HD, but I was fine with having a mix of HD and SD channels without needing a box. As capecodguy states, I most certainly have lost something, in that if I choose to use their DTA then ALL my channels are in SD. How they could think their cable customers with hi-def tvs would be satisfied with the DTA as a solution is beyond me.

Comcast made this latest transition sound as if it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. From their website: More Channels, Higher Quality, No Additional Cost on up to 3 TVs*

Digital picture and sound

Totally misleading! When I got my DTA and connected it to my hi-def tv, I couldn't believe how lousy the picture quality was. I was somehow expecting that even though there was no hdmi output perhaps it would at least put out a 1080i signal. I did some searching on their website and finally found in the FAQ that it didn't support HD signals. Called Comcast to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding the use of the DTA and their suggestion was the splitter and a/b switch. Say what? That's like going back to cable tv in the 1980s.

And in answer to your question, no I was not stretching my picture to fill the screen.

I'd simply like to be able to fully utilize the excellent picture quality of each of my hi-def tvs without having to rent an HD set top box for each one. My monthly bill with Comcast is high enough as it is. Their so-called free DTA is an unacceptable solution.

Heres a point of information that might be helpful. The DTA was meant to be used with ANALOG Tv's, not your expensive Hi-Def displays. Comcast was hoping for those, you would use one of their HD receivers or DVR's to get the full benefit from those products. That strategy is no different than any other provider. The one advantage you have with cable over Sat though is the use of QAM, which gives you the option of not using a box to still receive your locals in the clear. The gripe that is most valid is the price they charge for such equipment, not the method they are using to deliver their service.

I would still want to revisit the comment about the need to scramble expanded basic. It was unscrambled for all these years - what changed? Going all digital did not make it more vulnerable to copyright theft than it was before. Comcast is just taking advantage of Digital transition to force consumers pay unwanted fees for cable boxes.

Digital is different because once you have a copy, you can make another exact, perfect copy. And again, and again. Analog was less worrisome because the copy process degraded the quality each time.

Thanks for your response. Technically you may be correct, I haven't lost the channels above 30 in HD, but I was fine with having a mix of HD and SD channels without needing a box. As capecodguy states, I most certainly have lost something, in that if I choose to use their DTA then ALL my channels are in SD. How they could think their cable customers with hi-def tvs would be satisfied with the DTA as a solution is beyond me.

Comcast made this latest transition sound as if it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. From their website: More Channels, Higher Quality, No Additional Cost on up to 3 TVs*

Digital picture and sound

Totally misleading! When I got my DTA and connected it to my hi-def tv, I couldn't believe how lousy the picture quality was. I was somehow expecting that even though there was no hdmi output perhaps it would at least put out a 1080i signal. I did some searching on their website and finally found in the FAQ that it didn't support HD signals. Called Comcast to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding the use of the DTA and their suggestion was the splitter and a/b switch. Say what? That's like going back to cable tv in the 1980s.

And in answer to your question, no I was not stretching my picture to fill the screen.

I'd simply like to be able to fully utilize the excellent picture quality of each of my hi-def tvs without having to rent an HD set top box for each one. My monthly bill with Comcast is high enough as it is. Their so-called free DTA is an unacceptable solution.

I agree. I have expanded basic with several tv's and (had) no boxes.

When Comcast sent us a letter about the boxes, they made it seem like a wonderful thing. So do the notes in our bill. The results have been extremely disappointing.

First, the boxes convert the cable to SD analog, but I don't need analog.

I now have two DTA boxes which convert the incoming picture to a very poor quality analog signal which my TV then converts to 1080 digital. The DTA's respond to their remotes very slowly. I no longer get the HD channels I had before.

With these DTA boxes, my Replay TV boxes have become completely useless. VCR's too.

The cable box they gave me is also abysmal. Worst user interface I've ever seen. It only lists 5 channels per page so there will be room for ads. It lists tons of channels I don't get. A royal PITA.

I am evaluating my options to see what I should do now. The present situation is unacceptable to me. There seems to be no alternative but for me to pay Comcast more money (or less). No cable at all is a better value than what I have now. But figuring out what my choices are and what they cost is difficult. The Comcast web site makes it really hard to figure out what you actually get in a package. I can't even figure out exactly which channels I should be receiving now.

Since my Replay TV boxes will be useless, I started looking into Tivo. Looks like a Tivo with a cablecard will do the job nicely. Then I learned that this is going to stop working when Comcast deploys SDV, which won't work with cablecards.

Can someone explain to me what "digital cable" means? I understand the difference between SD and HD, NTSC and ATSC and QAM, but "digital cable"? As far as I've been able to determine, it was made up by some marketing guy and has no meaning at all.

this is incorrect. right or wrong, it is the content providers that are requiring Comcast to encrypt their digital signals.

It would seem that way, but really it isn't. It has been cable companies all the way. This is a way for cable companies to control cable reception from their servers and eliminate the need for truck rolls. Basically we have to pay because comcast can increase profits - 2009 was a good year for comcast.

On another note this article explains well how we got here and probably what's in the future. We have to remember DTA is just an exception, the ultimate FCC mandate is separate encryption from STB aka cablecard or Tru2Way

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=637

Believe it or not a lawsuit is coming.

Talked to the FioS guys at the New England Home Show today and they said that FioS will be available in Chelmsford starting in August. As we know from Bicker's situation, available in Chelmsford doesn't mean it will be available everywhere in Chelmsford in August. It will take another 18 months after that to complete the whole town as they are obligated to do as specified by the contract they signed with the town.

-Ken

Ken,

You and the rest of Chelmsford can thank me ;) . I called Comcast Friday to get the Triple Play and had a postcard from FiOS announcing service being available soon in my mailbox on Saturday!

Looks like a Tivo with a cablecard will do the job nicely. Then I learned that this is going to stop working when Comcast deploys SDV, which won't work with cablecards.

While you are correct in that Cablecards & SDV don't work together I hadn't heard any announcement from Comcast saying that they'd be using SDV around here in the near future. It is one of a number of ways to get more bandwidth from a system but it's currently not needed after the digital migration we're currently going through.

Can someone explain to me what "digital cable" means? I understand the difference between SD and HD, NTSC and ATSC and QAM, but "digital cable"? As far as I've been able to determine, it was made up by some marketing guy and has no meaning at all.

'Digital cable' basically comes in 2 forms, SD(480i) & HD(720p & 1080i) and is used for most channels now instead of analog. There are a couple advantages of digital over analog, the biggest for the customer being picture quality.

The analog picture starts by looking good but quality degrades as it travels through the cable system & your house (apt, whatever) due to the signal going up & down through amps & cable loss, poor connections, splitters and other things. This can lead to a pretty good looking picture at the end TV or some degree of fuzziness or graininess.

A digital signal however (SD or HD) will only be one of 3 levels of quality when it gets to your TV: the perfect quality it was broadcast at (which will be most of the time), tiling or breaking up (which will occur if there is low signal, loose connections or some other issue along the way), or no picture at all (see the causes of tiling, but on a worse degree).

The biggest variable in picture quality on a digital signal is the TV itself. You'll get a better picture on some good TVs using an SD signal then you will with an HD signal on some low end TVs, sad but true. Anyone saying they had a better picture on their analog TV using an analog signal than they're getting now with a DTA is full of baloney (putting it nicely). If they're saying they had a better picture on an HD set however they are correct, if they were watching an HD channel before. If they were watching an analog channel though, once again the DTA wins.

Some benefits to the cable companies to using digital is that customers are generally happier with better picture quality, but also that they can fit ~12 SD digital channels or 2 or 3 HD channels in the same 6Mhz carrier in the cable system that can handle 1 analog channel so they can also fit immensely more channels in the same old system.

Since my Replay TV boxes will be useless, I started looking into Tivo. Looks like a Tivo with a cablecard will do the job nicely. Then I learned that this is going to stop working when Comcast deploys SDV, which won't work with cablecards.

Tivo HD with cablecard will work with SDV. If comcast switches to SDV in your area it will supply a "Tuning Adapter" free of cost.

See more info here
http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/307

A fair warning before you consider Tivo. Even though cable card installing is the easiest thing in the world, COmcast will do its best to make you give up. It took me 3+ weeks and 3 appointments to get TivoHD working with cable card. But understand it is worth the wait, I have Tivo and like it a lot. Definitely worth $10/month.

Chelmsford: I see new channels added by comcast but no guide information in Tivo. Here are the channels
784 - Travel HD
792 - TOON Disney HD
794 - Bravo HD
795 - CNBC HD
796 - ESPN News HD
797 - BIO HD
815 - PLNTGRN HD
834 - ETV HD
845 - WTHRSCN
860 - Cartoon Network HD
881 - CSNNEHD
904 - MGM HD

Chelmsford: I see new channels added by comcast but no guide information in Tivo. Here are the channels
784 - Travel HD
792 - TOON Disney HD
794 - Bravo HD
795 - CNBC HD
796 - ESPN News HD
797 - BIO HD
815 - PLNTGRN HD
834 - ETV HD
845 - WTHRSCN
860 - Cartoon Network HD
881 - CSNNEHD
904 - MGM HD

Yup these channels have been up and running in Chelmsford since last Thursday. Watched MGM HD last night, movies looked stunning in OAR.

-Ken

Nope. The FCC aren't the villains, Comcast is. Forcing TV manufacturers to include cablecards on every TV is not the answer. Why make millions of people pay for something they don't need or use? (Those with cable boxes, sat. dishes, or off-air antenna) The answer is simple, don't encrypt what we're already paying for, thus making all our digital TVs useless without a crappy DTA.

This has been my argument since encryption but like others are saying, it appears to be a losing battle. I do have 2 cable cards which I like because it eliminates The Box; the cost was around a buck each when I first got them, now they're around $7 each - go figure.

The whole DTA thing was clearly aimed at people with "old" (tube/non-HD) TVs & expanded basic. It works fine for my "old" TVs, in that I get a few channels beyond the expanded basic.

I dont think that Comcast anticipated that people who spend Two Thousand Dollars on a TV will get cranky because they have to drop another monthly fee on an HD box. Or add a DTA & Splitter because they were only interested in the HD locals (all you could get without a box anyway) to begin with.

I suspect that this is because if nothing else, Comcast has amassed a considerable amount of info on who owns what. This is probably tellling them that people who pay really big bucks for a television set are unlikely to be interested in only locals in HD. OTOH--they probably have a considerable subscriber base that is still interested in keeping their existing TV, and watching expanded basic. That will change over time, as "old" TVs disappear, and we'll see how Comcast handles it. (perhaps lower fees on a second HD box, etc)

I suspect that my family and I are typical. We have the "good TV" (LED HD, QAM, etc etc) in the den with an HD DVR box.

We have two other older TVs that receive abount one-tenth the viewing, for which the DTAs are fine.

Comcast probably thinks that the folks with the $2000 TV in the den, the $1000 TV in the kitchen, and $500 TVs in each bedroom are the outliers, and they are therefore willing to piss them off.

The whole DTA thing was clearly aimed at people with "old" (tube/non-HD) TVs & expanded basic. It works fine for my "old" TVs, in that I get a few channels beyond the expanded basic.

I dont think that Comcast anticipated that people who spend Two Thousand Dollars on a TV will get cranky because they have to drop another monthly fee on an HD box. Or add a DTA & Splitter because they were only interested in the HD locals (all you could get without a box anyway) to begin with.

I suspect that this is because if nothing else, Comcast has amassed a considerable amount of info on who owns what. This is probably tellling them that people who pay really big bucks for a television set are unlikely to be interested in only locals in HD. OTOH--they probably have a considerable subscriber base that is still interested in keeping their existing TV, and watching expanded basic. That will change over time, as "old" TVs disappear, and we'll see how Comcast handles it. (perhaps lower fees on a second HD box, etc)

I suspect that my family and I are typical. We have the "good TV" (LED HD, QAM, etc etc) in the den with an HD DVR box.

We have two other older TVs that receive abount one-tenth the viewing, for which the DTAs are fine.

Comcast probably thinks that the folks with the $2000 TV in the den, the $1000 TV in the kitchen, and $500 TVs in each bedroom are the outliers, and they are therefore willing to piss them off.

Well said. I don't think Comcast wants to piss anyone off, they just have to make the best corporate decisions they can at any given time. HD DTAs don't even really exist yet, they are being tested by a small MSO. I think Tru2way and maybe the HD DTA will be the answers to everyones problem but it will take some time.

-Ken

Well said. I don't think Comcast wants to piss anyone off, they just have to make the best corporate decisions they can at any given time. HD DTAs don't even really exist yet, they are being tested by a small MSO. I think Tru2way and maybe the HD DTA will be the answers to everyones problem but it will take some time.
-Ken

That's why I said "willing to," not "wants to." And seeing how its impossible not to piss off someone in this process, I guess they just went for what they thought was the least likely group. If they had waited 10 years to do this (or if Congress had waited), then the "old TV" people might be the smaller group that gets affected most as there would be fewer of both (the people and the TVs) around.

Well said. I don't think Comcast wants to piss anyone off, they just have to make the best corporate decisions they can at any given time. HD DTAs don't even really exist yet, they are being tested by a small MSO. I think Tru2way and maybe the HD DTA will be the answers to everyones problem but it will take some time.

-Ken

Do you really think that Comcast cares about pissing people off? Their profit motives certainly trump their altruism.

I have 5 HDTV. Until the transition, I was happy to have an HD DVR connected to my primary set, a cable card for another, and just the use of my QAM tuner on the balance. Now, if I want to get any HD with my expanded basic tier I need to use the crappy DTA and an A/B switch. How you can't see that as bogus is beyond me. What does Comcast want me to do? Why, spend >$70 per month on equipment renatls alone (before programming) ! This is unacceptable.

I asked a Comcast CSR about the prospects of an HD-DTA and was laughed at. He stated that the way Comcast is handing out these "expensive" DTA like water, it's never going to happen. He admited that he could see they would be available for RENT when they are widely available. Hmmmmm.

I asked a Comcast CSR about the prospects of an HD-DTA and was laughed at. He stated that the way Comcast is handing out these "expensive" DTA like water, it's never going to happen. He admited that he could see they would be available for RENT when they are widely available. Hmmmmm.

Comcast CSRs are clueless, there is no way they would know anything about a HD DTA at this point. I would gladly rent a HD DTA if available for a couple of bucks a month.

That's too funny. What has Cocast done that makes you think the rental would only be a couple of bucks per month?

And it also surprises me that none of the videophiles here are bemoaning the fact of what our new improved HD-Lite will look like once the newly compressed channels are all implemented. Some upgrade, I'll now get QVC-HD, but ESPN-HD et. al. will look like crap. (on my recently added $14.95/mo. HD Cablebox and my existing $14.95/mo HD DVR)

That's too funny. What has Cocast done that makes you think the rental would only be a couple of bucks per month?

And it also surprises me that none of the videophiles here are bemoaning the fact of what our new improved HD-Lite will look like once the newly compressed channels are all implemented. Some upgrade, I'll now get QVC-HD, but ESPN-HD et. al. will look like crap. (on my recently added $14.95/mo. HD Cablebox and my existing $14.95/mo HD DVR)

Capecodguy - Your current HD channels aren't being compressed more to add these new channels.... These new HD channels replace the analog channels that you were so sad to see go away.

That's why I said "willing to," not "wants to." And seeing how its impossible not to piss off someone in this process, I guess they just went for what they thought was the least likely group. If they had waited 10 years to do this (or if Congress had waited), then the "old TV" people might be the smaller group that gets affected most as there would be fewer of both (the people and the TVs) around.

I think Comcast believes at this point most people purchasing HD TV’s don’t understand the implication of connecting to a DTA; some people think that if they have a full picture on a wide screen they have HD.

Capecodguy - Your current HD channels aren't being compressed more to add these new channels.... These new HD channels replace the analog channels that you were so sad to see go away.

I think he keeps missing that point.

Yup these channels have been up and running in Chelmsford since last Thursday. Watched MGM HD last night, movies looked stunning in OAR.

-Ken

I am new to Tivo. Anyone know when we will have program listings Tivo? I see the channels, but no program data.

I am new to Tivo. Anyone know when we will have program listings Tivo? I see the channels, but no program data.

Too bad Bicker is on vacation, he would be able to answer your question.

I'm back, though battling what is probably viral pneumonia.

The "real" TiVo's get their program guide listings from Tribune. Tribune does have information sharing arrangements with most major service providers and so generally we get program guide data for new channels within a day or so of their planned introduction date. Sometimes, the messages get lost in the cracks and it is up to subscribers to push the process along. TiVo has a page for reporting line-up omissions:
http://www.tivo.com/setupandsupport/contactsupport/lineup_tool.html

You can also report it directly to Tribune; that might shave a few hours off of the process.

Do you really think that Comcast cares about pissing people off? Their profit motives certainly trump their altruism.

I have 5 HDTV. Until the transition, I was happy to have an HD DVR connected to my primary set, a cable card for another, and just the use of my QAM tuner on the balance. Now, if I want to get any HD with my expanded basic tier I need to use the crappy DTA and an A/B switch. How you can't see that as bogus is beyond me. What does Comcast want me to do? Why, spend >$70 per month on equipment renatls alone (before programming) ! This is unacceptable.


I think they understand that ANY way they handle the move from analog to digital, they understand that they will piss SOME people off. I think their profit motive you cited suggests that they aim to piss off the fewest people, i.e. the smallest group affected. Which brings me to this:

I have 5 HDTV

With all the accuracy that pulling numbers out of my ass might represent, I'd nevertheless guess that "people with 5 HDTVs" represents an extremely small fraction of Comcast subscribers. That is, a group that they are currently willing to piss off. Moreover, I'd also guess that within that subgroup of 5 HDTV owners, very few subscribe only to expanded basic or only have one box. There are some pretty obvious economic assumptions there; they could be wrong, but I'd guess that those are close to how Comcast views the situation:

Employee: "Boss...if we do this, the people with 5 HDTV's and 1 box are gonna be screwed."

Boss: "Yes, they will. But there aren't a lot of them, and most people who are buying 5 HDTV's are already springing for multiple boxes."


As with all outliers, the outliers at both ends in all this -- either those without cable at all, or those, like you, with 5 HDTV sets -- get the short straw.

Being 7-feet tall and wishing to drive a car probably sucks too, from a how-much-will-this-cost to buy one of the 5 or 6 cars I can actually fit into perspective. Car manufacturers just dont really care about giving options to 7-footers. (Its just an analogy; I'm not 7 feet tall)!!

I think they understand that ANY way they handle the move from analog to digital, they understand that they will piss SOME people off. I think their profit motive you cited suggests that they aim to piss off the fewest people, i.e. the smallest group affected. Which brings me to this:

Comcast can get away with that kind of thinking because it has little to no competition. We generally see this apathy for consumers for companies without or with little competition. If Comcast were doing business in an area where customers had choices this would not happen.

Comcast can get away with that kind of thinking because it has little to no competition. We generally see this apathy for consumers for companies without or with little competition. If Comcast were doing business in an area where customers had choices this would not happen.

In theory, you are right and some specific examples have been provided in these pages. But with this specific issue, I'm not so sure, other than to say they run a high risk of losing the battle over people with 5 HDTVs. (altho I dont know how competitors deal with this issue.)

At the same time, though, even in the most competitive business environments, the outliers are ignored. (Whether I'm correct that 5 HDTVs = outlier is certainly debatable).

At the same time, though, even in the most competitive business environments, the outliers are ignored.That's really the crux of the issue.

In theory, you are right and some specific examples have been provided in these pages. But with this specific issue, I'm not so sure, other than to say they run a high risk of losing the battle over people with 5 HDTVs. (altho I dont know how competitors deal with this issue.)

At the same time, though, even in the most competitive business environments, the outliers are ignored. (Whether I'm correct that 5 HDTVs = outlier is certainly debatable).

I had been on economy tier for past 1+ year. With Digital Transition my bill increases by $13 ($6.5 per box) because I was forced to buy Digital boxes for additional outlets (DTA's don't work with Digital economy)

Knowing this I had no choice but to upgrade to Digital Starter.

I think they understand that ANY way they handle the move from analog to digital, they understand that they will piss SOME people off. I think their profit motive you cited suggests that they aim to piss off the fewest people, i.e. the smallest group affected. Which brings me to this:



With all the accuracy that pulling numbers out of my ass might represent, I'd nevertheless guess that "people with 5 HDTVs" represents an extremely small fraction of Comcast subscribers. That is, a group that they are currently willing to piss off. Moreover, I'd also guess that within that subgroup of 5 HDTV owners, very few subscribe only to expanded basic or only have one box. There are some pretty obvious economic assumptions there; they could be wrong, but I'd guess that those are close to how Comcast views the situation:

Employee: "Boss...if we do this, the people with 5 HDTV's and 1 box are gonna be screwed."

Boss: "Yes, they will. But there aren't a lot of them, and most people who are buying 5 HDTV's are already springing for multiple boxes."


As with all outliers, the outliers at both ends in all this -- either those without cable at all, or those, like you, with 5 HDTV sets -- get the short straw.

Being 7-feet tall and wishing to drive a car probably sucks too, from a how-much-will-this-cost to buy one of the 5 or 6 cars I can actually fit into perspective. Car manufacturers just dont really care about giving options to 7-footers. (Its just an analogy; I'm not 7 feet tall)!!

Perhaps at 5 HDTV I'm above the norm, but given the current low cost of these TVs, I know MANY people who have at least 3. So even at that, the rental costs of HD cableboxes is $45/month. No way to justify that high of a rental rate. It's gouging plain and simple.

Knowing this I had no choice but to upgrade to Digital Starter.

Or: downgrade to Basic, do without their service completely, etc.

It's gouging plain and simple.No. Gouging, as the term is properly used, refers to a situation where someone charges more than the regular, publicized price for something, because of some catastrophic situation that makes demand for what is being offered substantially higher than normal. You simply don't like that they're charging more than what you want to pay.

Also note that if you pay it, or, as the pp did, upgrade as a result, then you are ratifying their pricing decision, rather than rejecting it.

....Also note that if you pay it, or, as the pp did, upgrade as a result, then you are ratifying their pricing decision, rather than rejecting it.
Unfortunately, this is correct. And now for my monthly reminder of the best low cost option out there: OTA....your locals in crisp, clean, free HD.

Mickey

No. Gouging, as the term is properly used, refers to a situation where someone charges more than the regular, publicized price for something, because of some catastrophic situation that makes demand for what is being offered substantially higher than normal. You simply don't like that they're charging more than what you want to pay.

Also note that if you pay it, or, as the pp did, upgrade as a result, then you are ratifying their pricing decision, rather than rejecting it.

Ok, you win the semantics award for the day.

Perhaps a better characterization is that their pricing for equipment rental is greedy, monopolistic, and predatory as there are no other alternatives where I live.

Better?

Perhaps a better characterization is that their pricing for equipment rental is greedy, monopolistic, and predatory as there are no other alternatives where I live. Better?No, because now what you're saying is false -- factually inaccurate.

The reality seems to be nothing more than that you are frustrated because you cannot have what you want the way you want it at the price you want it for. Indeed, perhaps your own personal greed is motivating you to cast reckless aspersions on service providers.

To be fair, I believe we all wish we could have what we want how we want it for what we want to pay for it. It's natural.

there are no other alternatives where I live.

Which parts of Cape Cod don't receive satellite?

Fall River's Date changed from 3/11 to 3/25

Travel HD - 784
Lifetime - 788
QVC HD - 791
Disney XD HD - 792
Bravo HD - 794
CNBC HD - 795
ESPNews HD - 796
Bio HD - 797
Planet Green - 815
MGM HD - 904
E! HD - 834
Cartoon Network HD - 860
Tru TV HD - 902
HLN (CNN Headline News HD) - 843
Turner Classic Movies HD - 903


April Transition date changed from 4/7 to 4/21

HBO (Latino/Comedy/Zone HD) 783-785
MAX (Action/5Star/Thriller/WMAX/Outer) - 777-779 780-782-784
Encore HD - 785
G4 HD - 786
Style HD - 787
Fox Business HD - 789
Hallmark Movie HD -790
Fuse HD - 793
IFC HD - 798
WE HD - 799
WBZ DT - 804
WHDH DT - 807
WSBK DT - 814
TV One HD - 816
NBA HD - 817
MYRI HD - 820
NHL HD - 822
MTV HD - 827
VH1 HD - 829
Tennis HD - 838
TWC HD! - 847 :D
CBS College Sports HD - 856
Comedy Central HD - 858
CMT HD - 864
HBO2 HD - 871
SHO Showcase - 879
SHO Extreme - 880
TMC Xtra - 884
Big Ten HD - 885
EspnU - 900

Well idk about new bedford :(

Which parts of Cape Cod don't receive satellite?

Those who live in homes surrounded by trees with a hill in the way of line of sight.

No, because now what you're saying is false -- factually inaccurate.

The reality seems to be nothing more than that you are frustrated because you cannot have what you want the way you want it at the price you want it for. Indeed, perhaps your own personal greed is motivating you to cast reckless aspersions on service providers.

To be fair, I believe we all wish we could have what we want how we want it for what we want to pay for it. It's natural.

I had what I wanted until Comcast shoved this "upgrade" down my throat. For some reason, you are some Comcast apologist, or groupie, or worse yet, shill.

Keep throwing money at your beloved Comcast and enjoy it.

And btw, I'm not alone in my anger over this crappy conversion, so get off your high horse.

Perhaps at 5 HDTV I'm above the norm, but given the current low cost of these TVs, I know MANY people who have at least 3. So even at that, the rental costs of HD cableboxes is $45/month. No way to justify that high of a rental rate. It's gouging plain and simple.

If there was some sort of competition, perhaps the number would be less than $15/month. But then again, an HD box without a DVR is considerably cheaper (around $9 a month). Do multiple HDTV people really have multiple DVRs?

I'm agnostic on the Comcast-as-devil point, so I guess the question I would have for you is "How much do you think Comcast should charge for an HD-DVR box?" Presumably its less than 15/mo. And presumably its more than $0/mo.

I wish my one HD-DVR box cost less. I also dont think I'm being screwed. I used to pay $14.95/mo. for cable. Now I pay $80-90. If the cost of watching TV escalated to a point where I did feel screwed, I'd cut back on TV watching; save for the occasional upper bleacher ticket, the Red Sox priced me out of Fenway. Its too bad, but that's the way it goes.

You have 5 TVs. Four of them used to be free. Now they aren't quite, not without some modification. It sucks, I suppose, but I just dont get the vitriol.

I had what I wanted until Comcast shoved this "upgrade" down my throat.But other people didn't. And evidently, their money was more than your money. In reality, Comcast stuck it out with you longer than any of their competitors. You should be grateful that they didn't dump you as early as the rest did.

For some reason, you are some Comcast apologist, or groupie, or worse yet, shill.Ridiculous. I'm not even a Comcast customer anymore. I'm just calling it as it is: Comcast is doing what they're supposed to. You don't like it.

Keep throwing money at your beloved Comcast and enjoy it.Uh, I'm not a Comcast customer anymore.

And btw, I'm not alone in my anger over this crappy conversion, so get off your high horse.But that's just it: You're angry, and you're confusing your anger with someone having done something wrong to you. No one wronged you. You were just unfortunate.

If there was some sort of competition, perhaps the number would be less than $15/month. But then again, an HD box without a DVR is considerably cheaper (around $9 a month). Do multiple HDTV people really have multiple DVRs?

I'm agnostic on the Comcast-as-devil point, so I guess the question I would have for you is "How much do you think Comcast should charge for an HD-DVR box?" Presumably its less than 15/mo. And presumably its more than $0/mo.

I wish my one HD-DVR box cost less. I also dont think I'm being screwed. I used to pay $14.95/mo. for cable. Now I pay $80-90. If the cost of watching TV escalated to a point where I did feel screwed, I'd cut back on TV watching; save for the occasional upper bleacher ticket, the Red Sox priced me out of Fenway. Its too bad, but that's the way it goes.

You have 5 TVs. Four of them used to be free. Now they aren't quite, not without some modification. It sucks, I suppose, but I just dont get the vitriol.

An additional non-DVR HD cable box is NOT only $9 per month. Comcast charges an additional outlet "fee" of $6.95 PLUS the box rental, so the cost for a rental is $13.95 per month per TV.

My anger comes from the fact that by providing these crappy DTAs, they act like they are doing everyone a favor with all these new channels and bo charge DTAs. The truth is it's only a means to encrypt those channels that used to be received with a QAM tuner, so that they can RENT BOXES. What's so hard to understand?

No, because now what you're saying is false -- factually inaccurate.

The reality seems to be nothing more than that you are frustrated because you cannot have what you want the way you want it at the price you want it for. Indeed, perhaps your own personal greed is motivating you to cast reckless aspersions on service providers.

To be fair, I believe we all wish we could have what we want how we want it for what we want to pay for it. It's natural.

That's just your opinion based in your total and complete devotion to Comcast. Its not based on reality for sure.

Every other month Comcast increases their rates by 2-3 bucks. Do you know why? Because they can! I signed up for a promo a couple of years back and my total bill was 93 and change. By the end of that year, my bill had gone up to 105 and change due to their arbitrary fee increases every couple of months. Then I made some changes to my service and my bill went up to 125 and change. Only in a matter of one year, my bill was up to 135 and change.

If you were to ask me about their customer service, I would say great things about Comcast. But their prices are NOT fair. Not by a long shot.

I had what I wanted until Comcast shoved this "upgrade" down my throat.

So you're saying that Comcast shouldn't have changed their analog content to digital? I could understand that if you were a rabbit-ear using elderly person. But I'm guessing that's not the case.

An additional non-DVR HD cable box is NOT only $9 per month. Comcast charges an additional outlet "fee" of $6.95 PLUS the box rental, so the cost for a rental is $13.95 per month per TV.

My anger comes from the fact that by providing these crappy DTAs, they act like they are doing everyone a favor with all these new channels and bo charge DTAs. The truth is it's only a means to encrypt those channels that used to be received with a QAM tuner, so that they can RENT BOXES. What's so hard to understand?

I honestly don't think the boxes are quite the profit center that you think they are. I also think the encryption is at the behest of the content providers and not from Comcast.

I heard today that Comcast is looking into a DTA with analog pass through. That would certainly help the situation and make Comcast look a little less evil to you.

-Ken

An additional non-DVR HD cable box is NOT only $9 per month. Comcast charges an additional outlet "fee" of $6.95 PLUS the box rental, so the cost for a rental is $13.95 per month per TV.

My anger comes from the fact that by providing these crappy DTAs, they act like they are doing everyone a favor with all these new channels and bo charge DTAs. The truth is it's only a means to encrypt those channels that used to be received with a QAM tuner, so that they can RENT BOXES. What's so hard to understand?

My bad on the price. I also haven't had any issues with the DTAs.

But other than the HD locals, which you can still get, what dont you get with the DTA that you did get with the QAM? That's what I dont understand.


Before: HD locals & expanded basic in SD
After: HD locals (with A/B switch) and expanded basic in SD.

Is this all about the A/B switch?

So you're saying that Comcast shouldn't have changed their analog content to digital? I could understand that if you were a rabbit-ear using elderly person. But I'm guessing that's not the case.

Of course not. The transition to digital is mandated. That's not Comcast's fault in the least. They COULD have done everything the exact same way they are doing with one exception, don't encrypt the limited basic tier as before. This one difference would not have made all of our digital QAM tuners useless on their network (excepting broadcast chs.)

Of corse, had they done that, they wouldn't see the huge spike in equipment rentals they are experiencing now.

If there was some sort of competition, perhaps the number would be less than $15/month. But then again, an HD box without a DVR is considerably cheaper (around $9 a month). Do multiple HDTV people really have multiple DVRs?

I'm agnostic on the Comcast-as-devil point, so I guess the question I would have for you is "How much do you think Comcast should charge for an HD-DVR box?" Presumably its less than 15/mo. And presumably its more than $0/mo.

I wish my one HD-DVR box cost less. I also dont think I'm being screwed. I used to pay $14.95/mo. for cable. Now I pay $80-90. If the cost of watching TV escalated to a point where I did feel screwed, I'd cut back on TV watching; save for the occasional upper bleacher ticket, the Red Sox priced me out of Fenway. Its too bad, but that's the way it goes.

You have 5 TVs. Four of them used to be free. Now they aren't quite, not without some modification. It sucks, I suppose, but I just dont get the vitriol.

Not everyone feels that it is ok to sit back and say "there is not much I can do except cut my services". Some of us who bills went up by 20% are aggravated.

Of course not. The transition to digital is mandated. That's not Comcast's fault in the least. They COULD have done everything the exact same way they are doing with one exception, don't encrypt the limited basic tier as before. This one difference would not have made all of our digital QAM tuners useless on their network (excepting broadcast chs.)

Of corse, had they done that, they wouldn't see the huge spike in equipment rentals they are experiencing now.

The transition to digital isn't mandated. Why would you think that? The transition is so that the rest of us can get a whole bunch more HD on our HD boxes and faster internet speeds. You know....those things that FiOS is advertising as the reason to leave Comcast. Maybe Comcast should just say "No, don't leave...we don't make you use boxes to get expanded basic like everyone else does".

That's just your opinion based in your total and complete devotion to Comcast. You must have missed the part where I dumped Comcast.

Its not based on reality for sure.It is based only on reality. I have nothing else to base it on.

Every other month Comcast increases their rates by 2-3 bucks.Hyperbole. :rolleyes:

I've made this offer before: Post a image of your Comcast bill with the personal information blotted out. We have five competitors here, and every time someone has had the guts to put their bill up to the comparison we've discovered that the pricing is pretty much the same, within a small range.

My 'cable box required' rant has as much to do with the inconvenience as it does to the additional cost. I don't want to use a box in the kitchen. I can't be alone in that wish. I also don't want to add a box in my bedroom, which I have a clean wall mount install. Without the new encryption, I had a reasonable set-up. I couldn't watch everything I was paying for, and HD was limited to the clear broadcasts, but it was okay enough. Now, I get to have a crappy analog DTA velcro'd to the back of these sets and watch limited basic in horrible SD (which, incidently looks far worse than the SD using the TVs tuner.)

I'm on the same page about this as capecodguy. I now have three hi-def sets, one on which I use Comcast's DVR, the other two I'm using the sets' QAM tuners as the picture quality out of the DTAs sucks to say the least.

And I'm not about to run out and get splitters and a/b switches. So yes, it it about the inconvenience in Comcast's solution to the lousy quality of the DTA output. I don't really need a second or third DVR in the house, but there's got to be a better alternative to the DTA.

How are other forum members with multiple hi-def sets handling this situation? This is the avsforum, certainly you guys can't be content with the picture quality from these DTAs. Do you simply rent additional DVRs or other HD boxes from Comcast for each hi-def tv?

My 'cable box required' rant has as much to do with the inconvenience as it does to the additional cost. I don't want to use a box in the kitchen. I can't be alone in that wish.However, you can be a part of a too-small group willing to pay extra to incentivize someone offering you what you want. If you want people to offer you something different, then you have to make it worth their while -- it has to be better for them than what they're doing now.

Without the new encryption, I had a reasonable set-up.If you had gotten a CableCARD-compatible television back when they were on sale in 2005-2006, then you'd have had no problem. However, not enough of us were willing to pay extra for that, and so they stopped making those televisions. We consumers had control, and we consumers made a decision, a decision that worked against your current interests. However, we did it to ourselves, just to save a hundred dollars or so in 2005.

How are other forum members with multiple hi-def sets handling this situation? This is the avsforum, certainly you guys can't be content with the picture quality from these DTAs. Do you simply rent additional DVRs or other HD boxes from Comcast for each hi-def tv?I use a TiVo S3.

However, you can be a part of a too-small group willing to pay extra to incentivize someone offering you what you want. If you want people to offer you something different, then you have to make it worth their while -- it has to be better for them than what they're doing now.

So my $178 per month that I pay to Comcast is no incentive to Comcast to keep me (and others) happy as a customer? Your point is REALLY that I, and those like me, aren't doing enough for Comcast?

If you had gotten a CableCARD-compatible television back when they were on sale in 2005-2006, then you'd have had no problem. However, not enough of us were willing to pay extra for that, and so they stopped making those televisions. We consumers had control, and we consumers made a decision, a decision that worked against your current interests. However, we did it to ourselves, just to save a hundred dollars or so in 2005.


I actually DID buy one TV in 2005 that has cable card. It took four truck rolls to get it working. It was wonky as all hell and frequently stopped working correctly, needing resetting. The cost started out at $1.00 per month and is now $6.95 per month. The TV's in the bedroom and gets so little use, what was once a good value was no longer so at the current fee level. It's laughable that you state that it's OUR fault as consumers that Comcast has taken steps to make sure that millions of customers who were enjoying their new HDTVs without cableboxes now have to rent equipment to get similar enjoyment. It's not Comcast greed, it's the stupid public who haven't done enough for Comcast. What a joke.

I use a TiVo S3.

So your tivo, in addition to it's up front costs, also costs $10-$13/ mo Tivo subscription plus $6.95 tp Comcast as an "additional outlet fee". Yeah, that's the answer.


Just curious, how much does Comcast pay you to monitor this board and be their champion? That's the only reasonable explaination for your ridiculous fanboism.

I'm on the same page about this as capecodguy. I now have three hi-def sets, one on which I use Comcast's DVR, the other two I'm using the sets' QAM tuners as the picture quality out of the DTAs sucks to say the least.

And I'm not about to run out and get splitters and a/b switches. So yes, it it about the inconvenience in Comcast's solution to the lousy quality of the DTA output. I don't really need a second or third DVR in the house, but there's got to be a better alternative to the DTA.

How are other forum members with multiple hi-def sets handling this situation? This is the avsforum, certainly you guys can't be content with the picture quality from these DTAs. Do you simply rent additional DVRs or other HD boxes from Comcast for each hi-def tv?

I'd be curious to know, too, as I wont have the extra "old" TVs forever. I had no idea that the SD quality with the DTAs was so poor on the QAM sets (its actually better on the older tube TVs than it was with the line going straight into the back of the set). But at the same time, I had thought that the SD quality was pretty bad for the 6 months or so that I had the coax line going straight into the back of the then-new LCD HD set. If its really worse than that was, than I can more easily understand the frustration.

Whether its "gouging" etc. -- or just plain sucky -- I guess its hard for me to know without seeing comparable service prices from other carriers.

In the end though, I think what this is really about is that there are more subscriber like me -- one "new" TV, a couple of "old" ones -- than there are people who BOTH have multiples of all "all new" AND have issues with multiple boxes. In the short run, if true, then it probably helps Comcast, as it provided the greatest benefit to the most subscribers, without costing THAT group of subscribers (like me) anything, and, in the end, adding HD content. Time will tell about the long run impact as to those subscribers not "like me," that is whether the capecodguys and lunchmen of the world will still be with Comcast when the digital dust settles.

No offense intended, but I'm guessing that Comcast really doesn't care about (not yet anyway) what problems they are causing people with HD in their kitchens. (but I can see that a box in the kitchen would be a serious pain in the ass.)

just curious, how much does comcast pay you to monitor this board and be their champion? That's the only reasonable explaination for your ridiculous fanboism.

:p

well said

I'd be curious to know, too, as I wont have the extra "old" TVs forever. I had no idea that the SD quality with the DTAs was so poor on the QAM sets (its actually better on the older tube TVs than it was with the line going straight into the back of the set). But at the same time, I had thought that the SD quality was pretty bad for the 6 months or so that I had the coax line going straight into the back of the then-new LCD HD set. If its really worse than that was, than I can more easily understand the frustration.

Whether its "gouging" etc. -- or just plain sucky -- I guess its hard for me to know without seeing comparable service prices from other carriers.

In the end though, I think what this is really about is that there are more subscriber like me -- one "new" TV, a couple of "old" ones -- than there are people who BOTH have multiples of all "all new" AND have issues with multiple boxes. In the short run, if true, then it probably helps Comcast, as it provided the greatest benefit to the most subscribers, without costing THAT group of subscribers (like me) anything, and, in the end, adding HD content. Time will tell about the long run impact as to those subscribers not "like me," that is whether the capecodguys and lunchmen of the world will still be with Comcast when the digital dust settles.

No offense intended, but I'm guessing that Comcast really doesn't care about (not yet anyway) what problems they are causing people with HD in their kitchens. (but I can see that a box in the kitchen would be a serious pain in the ass.)


The reason the DTA quality is so bad on a digital set is that the DTA was NOT designed to use on a digital set !!!! Comcast has said so much on their official blog.

"The DTA was designed as a low-end, basic device to do one thing and one thing only ... convert digital signals back to analog for display on an analog TV. That's all, no higher end outputs, no VOD, no HD, no interactive guide. Keeping the device simple as described is what kept the price down enough that we can provide so much free equipment to our customers. Also, the RF output makes it compatible with the absolute maximum number of TVs, which is critical to the program. As a digital device, however, it does offer dramatically-improved picture quality over analog even through the RF output."

http://blog.comcast.com/

the DTA is taking a digital signal and converting it to analog to run on OLDER ANALOG TVs. If you use it on a digital tv, the tv then has to take the analog signal and reconvert it back to digital. The extra conversion steps makes for ugly TV.

Oh and if you could get FioS you would find that they charge 6.99 for a standard set top box, 9.99 for an HD box, 15.99 for a HD DVR, and 19.99 for some extra special DVR. Sounds very similar to Comcast except that Comcast charges the extra digital rep fee.

So my $178 per month that I pay to Comcast is no incentive to Comcast to keep me (and others) happy as a customer?Literally? I guess the answer is 'no'. $178 is petty cash to companies like Comcast, Verizon, etc. Unless hundreds of thousands of people are just like you, then don't expect that your $178 will earn you any special considerations.

Your point is REALLY that I, and those like me, aren't doing enough for Comcast?No, not in those terms, but rather than Comcast is better off expending its energies satisfying the mass-market, rather than individual/personal proclivities.

I actually DID buy one TV in 2005 that has cable card.You did your part then. Sucks that it didn't work out for you.

The cost started out at $1.00 per month and is now $6.95 per month.I pay $7.98 per month. Well worth it.

It's laughable that you state that it's OUR fault as consumers that Comcast has taken steps to make sure that millions of customers who were enjoying their new HDTVs without cableboxes now have to rent equipment to get similar enjoyment. It's not Comcast greed, it's the stupid public who haven't done enough for Comcast. What a joke.No joke. You are thinking like a consumer, and so you're having trouble understanding the full picture, I understand that. It really isn't a matter of "fault" per se, but let's put it this way: If you simply must have someone to blame, then yes, blame consumers, as a group. That's where all the "fault" rests. Comcast is doing what they're supposed to do -- what they're obligated to do.

So your tivo, in addition to it's up front costs, also costs $10-$13/ mo Tivo subscription plus $6.95 tp Comcast as an "additional outlet fee". Yeah, that's the answer.If you want it cheap, then accept crap. If you want it deluxe, then be prepared to pay more.

Just curious, how much does Comcast pay you to monitor this board and be their champion? That's the only reasonable explaination for your ridiculous fanboism.As I've explained before, I don't have any association with Comcast other than as a FORMER customer. You are unwilling to accept the actual reasonable explanation for my explanations for you: That I'm not blinded by consumerism. That I see all sides of the issues, and speak from a position of balanced insight. You don't like what I'm saying -- looking at things strictly from the consumer's perspective, it is natural to not like what I'm saying. However, ignoring it just sends yourself into a never-ending death-spiral of disappointment.

Whether its "gouging" etc. -- or just plain sucky -- I guess its hard for me to know without seeing comparable service prices from other carriers.A very rational perspective. I outlined one example, earlier, where Comcast is charging capecodguys (and used to charge me) $6.95 while Verizon is charging me $7.98. YMMV.

As far as getting (free) HD DTA, forget about it. That is NOT going to happen. There is no business reason for Comcast to do it. The people who have $2000 tv will eventually relent and rent the HD STB. As far as Comcast is concerned, these customers have money to buy the TV and they will fork the money for the rental equipment.

When you look at the supplied DTA and see that it does not have anything but RG6 coming in and RG6 going out, you should have realized that Comcast has no intention of making life easier to the customers. If the DTV had A/V and/or SVIDEO out, many of you would have been able to do A/B switching using your own $2000 TV very easily but I do believe this option was most likely deliberately rejected by Comcast.

Call me cynical but once you start thinking like Comcast, it becomes crystal clear as to what Comcast is doing and why it is doing. It would be stupid to do any other way.

- Vikas

However, you can be a part of a too-small group willing to pay extra to incentivize someone offering you what you want. If you want people to offer you something different, then you have to make it worth their while -- it has to be better for them than what they're doing now.

If you had gotten a CableCARD-compatible television back when they were on sale in 2005-2006, then you'd have had no problem. However, not enough of us were willing to pay extra for that, and so they stopped making those televisions. We consumers had control, and we consumers made a decision, a decision that worked against your current interests. However, we did it to ourselves, just to save a hundred dollars or so in 2005.

I use a TiVo S3.

TV's with cable card slot were very limited....

I'd be curious to know, too, as I wont have the extra "old" TVs forever. I had no idea that the SD quality with the DTAs was so poor on the QAM sets (its actually better on the older tube TVs than it was with the line going straight into the back of the set). But at the same time, I had thought that the SD quality was pretty bad for the 6 months or so that I had the coax line going straight into the back of the then-new LCD HD set. If its really worse than that was, than I can more easily understand the frustration.

Whether its "gouging" etc. -- or just plain sucky -- I guess its hard for me to know without seeing comparable service prices from other carriers.

In the end though, I think what this is really about is that there are more subscriber like me -- one "new" TV, a couple of "old" ones -- than there are people who BOTH have multiples of all "all new" AND have issues with multiple boxes. In the short run, if true, then it probably helps Comcast, as it provided the greatest benefit to the most subscribers, without costing THAT group of subscribers (like me) anything, and, in the end, adding HD content. Time will tell about the long run impact as to those subscribers not "like me," that is whether the capecodguys and lunchmen of the world will still be with Comcast when the digital dust settles.

No offense intended, but I'm guessing that Comcast really doesn't care about (not yet anyway) what problems they are causing people with HD in their kitchens. (but I can see that a box in the kitchen would be a serious pain in the ass.)

I have 4 HDTV’s – 2 w/cable card, 1 w/rentabox and 1 w/DTA – having the boxes really sucks for me.Cable Card TV’s are no longer available. The point is the TV’s are all capable of receiving all extended HD content without any extra equipment and it would be nice if that could be done

TV's with cable card slot were very limited....Indeed, and folks like me are mostly to blame. I had the option of buying one of those CableCARD HDTVs or what I bought instead -- same basic television, the CableCARD slot being the only significant difference -- oh, and the extra $100. I chose to save money. Seems like most other people did as well, and so the mfgs got our message loud and clear.

Indeed, and folks like me are mostly to blame. I had the option of buying one of those CableCARD HDTVs or what I bought instead -- same basic television, the CableCARD slot being the only significant difference -- oh, and the extra $100. I chose to save money. Seems like most other people did as well, and so the mfgs got our message loud and clear.

This is a classic "chicken or the egg" scenario. Why buy a cable card TV when the cable companies don't support them very well and there is a limited selection of TVs that have it? Why would the cable companies invest enough in the cable card technology/support when there are so few TVs sold with cable card support?

So I find both sides to be culpable here, hard to say it's "mostly" the consumer.

Indeed, and folks like me are mostly to blame. I had the option of buying one of those CableCARD HDTVs or what I bought instead -- same basic television, the CableCARD slot being the only significant difference -- oh, and the extra $100. I chose to save money. Seems like most other people did as well, and so the mfgs got our message loud and clear.

But for that extra $100 I've been paying much less per month for cc than the box, plus the convinience of not having a box (convinient for me anyways).
I'm sure over the years I have saved more than the $100 in rental fees.

This is a classic "chicken or the egg" scenario. Why buy a cable card TV when the cable companies don't support them very well and there is a limited selection of TVs that have it? Some people often do pay more for up-and-coming technology in the interest of future-proofing their purchases. The problem is that more and more often, people aren't thinking ahead. They just care about what they want now, and getting it for the lowest price, now. If you don't pay the premium to future-proof your purchases, then you "deserve" to have to pay for that "lack of vision" later on.

Perhaps you would have saved the $100. I wouldn't have. However, your point is well-taken: I suspect a lot of people would have saved the $100 over time, but my point was that they decided not to. They decided to save the money back then, and pay for it over the long-term. Consumers don't have to be rational.

Has anyone in the March listed areas gotten a new channel listing in their bill?

How are other forum members with multiple hi-def sets handling this situation? This is the avsforum, certainly you guys can't be content with the picture quality from these DTAs. Do you simply rent additional DVRs or other HD boxes from Comcast for each hi-def tv?

I have 4 HDTVs. 3 of them have HD-DVRs and the 4th has a DTA with A/B switch (recent change from just QAM). MY cablecard capable HDTV is now at the in-laws, but has never actually had a CC installed. That could change this summer when they add HD service.

All 3 HD-DVRs get heavy use. 2 are the new DCX series with 250GB each and the 3rd is getting swapped out for one shortly (currently a DCH with 160GB, but it's taken forever to empty the damn thing. The olympic break finally did the trick.) The only thing that may get watched live these days is sports and even then we're constantly rewinding plays over and then catch up during commercials. My friends know when they call during a Pats game to ask where I am in the game before they start talking! Even stuff we watch the same night gets started late so we can skip through commercials. A 1 hour show takes about 45 minutes.

Cable Card TV’s are no longer available.Sure they are.

The Panasonic TH-42PZ80Q list price $1300 & TH-50PZ80Q list price $1700. At a minimum they were at Best Buy, in the Boston, Denver, Chicago, and Atlanta areas.

Cable boxes came up again eh? My only argument is back in the day with analog boxes one could buy one. Now it wouldn't give the ppv's for free but at least you didn't have to pay say the $3 or so a month to rent.

Earlier in the thread someone brought up that back then the picture was poor and they are right. This is why companies tend not to want to allow this as a digital copy can look well pretty darn close to another digital one.

The problem with this though is in the long run this adds up. The trouble I see with cable is the maintence. The industry would have been in a much better place if they navigated to digital maybe in the mid 90's..

Just think about this for a moment. Cable has..
Analog cable
Digital cable
HDTV
Internet access
Phone.

Technically for cable they are a monopoly for the first two. There's plenty of ways to get phone access and there's OTA and satellite for hdtv...internet can be a bit iffy as technically dialup still exists.

I think there are some pricing pressures coming up I just got wind of a package deal (triple play 2.o?) for $119 for 12 months with $135 for another 12...sounds nice until I figure this isn't including the rental fees and they add another $5 per month for the phone.

This recession is causing pain. A video store I saw going out of business was PACKED like I've never seen it on day 2 of the clearance. I would be surprised if after this conversion happens that prices flatten.

I have 4 HDTVs. 3 of them have HD-DVRs and the 4th has a DTA with A/B switch (recent change from just QAM). MY cablecard capable HDTV is now at the in-laws, but has never actually had a CC installed. That could change this summer when they add HD service.

All 3 HD-DVRs get heavy use. 2 are the new DCX series with 250GB each and the 3rd is getting swapped out for one shortly (currently a DCH with 160GB, but it's taken forever to empty the damn thing. The olympic break finally did the trick.) The only thing that may get watched live these days is sports and even then we're constantly rewinding plays over and then catch up during commercials. My friends know when they call during a Pats game to ask where I am in the game before they start talking! Even stuff we watch the same night gets started late so we can skip through commercials. A 1 hour show takes about 45 minutes.

If my TV viewing habits were like yours I would not mind paying rent for an advanced STB. Most of comcast users don't really need all this or VOD or menu. They just need the ability to plug a wire in TV and watch expanded basic channels which were available for around 45 dollars not so long ago.

If Comcast want to encrypt expanded basic then fine, but at least provide a decent DTA for decryption free of cost or available cheap. Comcast will not do that because it wants its users to subscribe to and pay for enhanced services. If there were multiple providers I would have no problem with that model, I can just choose alternate provider. With cable there is no choice - that is what pisses most of us.

This is a classic "chicken or the egg" scenario. Why buy a cable card TV when the cable companies don't support them very well and there is a limited selection of TVs that have it? Why would the cable companies invest enough in the cable card technology/support when there are so few TVs sold with cable card support?

So I find both sides to be culpable here, hard to say it's "mostly" the consumer.

Well no, I don't find the consumer culpable. Cable companies have never declared true support for Cable Card when it was first introduced. I recall all kinds articles at that time about it being poised to fail. If Comcast had said at that time that cable card will be officially supported people would have bought TV's with cable cards then.

Its the same story with Tru2Way today. I would go for it but what is to say that 2 years later it will be discarded for something else.

The missing piece here is for Cable companies to decide on a single standard and officially declare its support for near future

Sure they are.

The Panasonic TH-42PZ80Q list price $1300 & TH-50PZ80Q list price $1700. At a minimum they were at Best Buy, in the Boston, Denver, Chicago, and Atlanta areas.

Cable Card slot?

Ken H was being a little misleading (perhaps not intentional). These are Tru2way ready sets which require cable cards.

GTRacer, I got a card from Xfinity that Speed ch. 67 and RTPi ch.40 will be moved on the 7th. That is good news that Fall River will be keeping Speed channel.

Comcast is doing what they're supposed to do -- what they're obligated to do.


Now that makes me laugh!!!!

Well no, I don't find the consumer culpable. Cable companies have never declared true support for Cable Card when it was first introduced. I recall all kinds articles at that time about it being poised to fail. If Comcast had said at that time that cable card will be officially supported people would have bought TV's with cable cards then.

Its the same story with Tru2Way today. I would go for it but what is to say that 2 years later it will be discarded for something else.

The missing piece here is for Cable companies to decide on a single standard and officially declare its support for near future

In July 2007 the FCC actually mandated the cable companies support cable cards... or rather, what they called seperable security. Look at an old settop and you won't see a cable card sticking out of the back. Look at one of the newer model HD settops and you'll see a cable card (or rather a plate over the cable card)... this was by FCC mandate with backing from several consumer advocacy groups. Its not cable card support thats the problem (since it works in so many millions of boxes) but rather the hardware that that cable card plugs into. I have friends in the industry who dealt specifically with cable card issues on certain makes and models of TVs. Firmware updates to these TVs later fixed many of the issues.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CableCARD

In July 2007 the FCC actually mandated the cable companies support cable cards... or rather, what they called seperable security. Look at an old settop and you won't see a cable card sticking out of the back. Look at one of the newer model HD settops and you'll see a cable card (or rather a plate over the cable card)... this was by FCC mandate with backing from several consumer advocacy groups. Its not cable card support thats the problem (since it works in so many millions of boxes) but rather the hardware that that cable card plugs into. I have friends in the industry who dealt specifically with cable card issues on certain makes and models of TVs. Firmware updates to these TVs later fixed many of the issues.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CableCARD

This is good information. I agree with new model HD STB's that have cable cards. We can see from the article about the resistance put by cable companies for these cable cards. Hopefully cable card is here to stay and we will have more STB's in future.

In July 2007 the FCC actually mandated the cable companies support cable cards... or rather, what they called seperable security. Look at an old settop and you won't see a cable card sticking out of the back. Look at one of the newer model HD settops and you'll see a cable card (or rather a plate over the cable card)... this was by FCC mandate with backing from several consumer advocacy groups. Its not cable card support thats the problem (since it works in so many millions of boxes) but rather the hardware that that cable card plugs into. I have friends in the industry who dealt specifically with cable card issues on certain makes and models of TVs. Firmware updates to these TVs later fixed many of the issues.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CableCARD

This is good information. I agree with new model HD STB's that have cable cards. We can see from the article about the resistance put by cable companies for these cable cards. Hopefully cable card is here to stay and we will have more cable card STB's available for customers to purchase in future.

Received an automated call tonight in Methuen. It was a Comcast recorded message alerting me to a change in my program guide coming 3/25. Alert was letting people know they may have to reset parental locks. I only was able to hear part of the message as I wasn't home and my answering machine only recorded part of it. Anyone know what this is all about?

Cable Card slot?

Both the Panasonic HDTVs I listed above are tru2way, which is the current generation of CableCard host devices. In addition to everything a CableCARD HDTV can do, they also are pay-per-view and on demand compatible.

Without a CableCARD, they still have a Digital TV tuner (ATSC) and a clear digital cable tuner (QAM).

Received an automated call tonight in Methuen. It was a Comcast recorded message alerting me to a change in my program guide coming 3/25. Alert was letting people know they may have to reset parental locks. I only was able to hear part of the message as I wasn't home and my answering machine only recorded part of it. Anyone know what this is all about?

It's advance service work on the guide software, for future upgrades. For now, be sure to check your recording settings, locks, etc., as some of those settings may be affected.

As far as getting (free) HD DTA, forget about it. That is NOT going to happen. There is no business reason for Comcast to do it. The people who have $2000 tv will eventually relent and rent the HD STB. As far as Comcast is concerned, these customers have money to buy the TV and they will fork the money for the rental equipment.

When you look at the supplied DTA and see that it does not have anything but RG6 coming in and RG6 going out, you should have realized that Comcast has no intention of making life easier to the customers. If the DTV had A/V and/or SVIDEO out, many of you would have been able to do A/B switching using your own $2000 TV very easily but I do believe this option was most likely deliberately rejected by Comcast.

Call me cynical but once you start thinking like Comcast, it becomes crystal clear as to what Comcast is doing and why it is doing. It would be stupid to do any other way.

- Vikas
The sole reason for the DTA as it is, it to keep the cost of the unit to a bare minimum.

Ken H was being a little misleading (perhaps not intentional). These are Tru2way ready sets which require cable cards.

?

My answer wasn't misleading in any way. See my comment answering the question.

How are other forum members with multiple hi-def sets handling this situation? This is the avsforum, certainly you guys can't be content with the picture quality from these DTAs. Do you simply rent additional DVRs or other HD boxes from Comcast for each hi-def tv?

You have options.

If you want just local HD, and the Standard Basic tier (formerly channels 1-99), you can get a SD digital cable box with composite video and l/r stereo audio output. That way you switch the HDTV input from RF for HD to video for the SD channels. (Most areas also have SD boxes available that have S-Video and digital audio output).

If you want all the HD associated with the given tier you subscribe to, you can get an HD box without the DVR.

And, as you're aware, you can get another HD DVR.

Received an automated call tonight in Methuen. It was a Comcast recorded message alerting me to a change in my program guide coming 3/25. Alert was letting people know they may have to reset parental locks. I only was able to hear part of the message as I wasn't home and my answering machine only recorded part of it. Anyone know what this is all about?

This is very good news, this is the guide cleanup that comes right before the roll out of the new iGuide version A28 which includes new features including remote dvr scheduling. The remote scheduling is something that I've been waiting for.

-Ken

Ken H was being a little misleading (perhaps not intentional). These are Tru2way ready sets which require cable cards.

And these are supported and ready to go in the Boston area?

And these are supported and ready to go in the Boston area?

Comcast in the Boston area is fully tru2way compatible. Tru2way still requires a cablecard (and associated fee). Also these tru2way TVs are using "set back boxes" to add the tru2way capability. See this article:

http://www.finehd.com/hands-on-with-panasonics-tru2way-set-back-box

Comcast in the Boston area is fully tru2way compatible. Tru2way still requires a cablecard (and associated fee). Also these tru2way TVs are using "set back boxes" to add the tru2way capability. See this article:

http://www.finehd.com/hands-on-with-panasonics-tru2way-set-back-box

Thanks for the info; the article is not very reassuring for true2way and appears to be very limited. Talks about this has been going on for a few years. Odd that man walked on the moon in the 60’s but yet we can’t find a simple solution to connect one cable to the back of an HDTV and pick up the channels you pay for.

Thanks for the info; the article is not very reassuring for true2way and appears to be very limited. Talks about this has been going on for a few years. Odd that man walked on the moon in the 60’s but yet we can’t find a simple solution to connect one cable to the back of an HDTV and pick up the channels you pay for.

Well it works as a cable card tv where tru2way is not available so at least as long as cable card is supported you can use it that way.

I have a question on billing...what is the logic of say billing BEFORE the month?

The only arguments I can think would be this.

1) services like satellite and cell phones have contracts. If they break them there's a fee. Since there is no contract with cable they include this as a way of making sure people don't run off.

2) the only way to get programming outside of clear qam is to have a box. If someone is paying for programming they have a box. This could be to cover it if someone steals it...

any ideas?

Now that makes me laugh!!!!It shouldn't. Comcast is absolutely doing what they're supposed to do. They're not a charity. They're not slaves. They're a business. It is clear that many consumers regularly forget that.

I would say because of the ""Run 0ff" aspect:eek:

Has anyone on the Cape seen a HD increase?
I know there where some updates to be on Feb26-28

I'm still only pushin 47 HD

It shouldn't. Comcast is absolutely doing what they're supposed to do. They're not a charity. They're not slaves. They're a business. It is clear that many consumers regularly forget that.

Same goes for consumers. We are not paying charity money to Comcast. They cannot continue their monopolistic policies. Complain to your towns and FCC against the unwarranted rate hikes disguised as digital transition.

This is very good news, this is the guide cleanup that comes right before the roll out of the new iGuide....

Not always.

And these are supported and ready to go in the Boston area?

Have been for over a year.

Thanks for the info; the article is not very reassuring for true2way and appears to be very limited. Talks about this has been going on for a few years. Yes, it is disappointing. I expected by now we would have retail tru2way choices, but as noted the consumer market place didn't exactly embrace CableCARD, so things have moved very slow.

Also as noted, all tru2way devices work fine as standard CableCARD devices. The downsides are no PPV and no on demand; other than those two things, it's about the same.

Odd that man walked on the moon in the 60’s but yet we can’t find a simple solution to connect one cable to the back of an HDTV and pick up the channels you pay for.

Why should it be any different than if you had a DBS, or Fiber, or IPTV provider?

Same goes for consumers. We are not paying charity money to Comcast.True: We're paying them for getting what they offered us. And if what they're offering us is not worth what they're charging us, we consumers can decline the offers and do without what they're offering.

They cannot continue their monopolistic policies.Again: We have five competitors here in Burlington, and there is no significant difference between what Comcast offers us here and what they offer anywhere else. You're seeing offerings from Comcast fully reflective of a vibrant, competitive marketplace even though to you it seems like that is not the case.

Complain to your towns and FCC against the unwarranted rate hikes disguised as digital transition.Federal law passed in 1992 removed the authority of the FCC and franchise authorities to regulate the rates for anything beyond B1 (limited basic) service.

Some people often do pay more for up-and-coming technology in the interest of future-proofing their purchases. The problem is that more and more often, people aren't thinking ahead. They just care about what they want now, and getting it for the lowest price, now. If you don't pay the premium to future-proof your purchases, then you "deserve" to have to pay for that "lack of vision" later on.

And I don't blame them, often times the "future proofing" never takes place, or the item they bought is obsolete by that time anyway. Plus most people are just cheap. :)

Plus most people are just cheap. :)Absolutely, and that's really the driving force in the marketplace.

Any new HD coming at end of this month for this area already converted to digital from last fall's transition. I read that Virginia is adding FSC-HD and some others.

Earlier in the thread someone brought up that back then the picture was poor and they are right. This is why companies tend not to want to allow this as a digital copy can look well pretty darn close to another digital one.

More than "pretty darn close", it's an EXACT copy. It's just like copying a file from one computer to another it's just a data file.

Well no, I don't find the consumer culpable. Cable companies have never declared true support for Cable Card when it was first introduced. I recall all kinds articles at that time about it being poised to fail. If Comcast had said at that time that cable card will be officially supported people would have bought TV's with cable cards then.

Its the same story with Tru2Way today. I would go for it but what is to say that 2 years later it will be discarded for something else.

The missing piece here is for Cable companies to decide on a single standard and officially declare its support for near future

IMO the biggest problem is they have a huge infrastructure and it takes a long time to roll out any changes. They need to find a way to adapt, IMO or risk becoming an afterthought. Look what's happened to the "wired" telcos. We're not far off from true and complete digital convergence, Comcast will have to adapt or die.

Odd that man walked on the moon in the 60’s but yet we can’t find a simple solution to connect one cable to the back of an HDTV and pick up the channels you pay for.

Ever hear of an antenna? :)

Yes, it is disappointing. I expected by now we would have retail tru2way choices, but as noted the consumer market place didn't exactly embrace CableCARD, so things have moved very slow.

Also as noted, all tru2way devices work fine as standard CableCARD devices. The downsides are no PPV and no on demand; other than those two things, it's about the same.



Why should it be any different than if you had a DBS, or Fiber, or IPTV provider?

Trouble is most consumers are unaware of the cable card (or true2way for that matter) and it's function for it to be embraced. No downside for me, I only need cc for viewing expanded basic HD. No difference, just a general statement about the progression of technology as it applies to this real.

It shouldn't. Comcast is absolutely doing what they're supposed to do. They're not a charity. They're not slaves. They're a business. It is clear that many consumers regularly forget that.

If any business treats its customers with the same disdain that you appear to, they go out of business eventually. Unless of course, they have a monopoly on a needed service.

More than "pretty darn close", it's an EXACT copy. It's just like copying a file from one computer to another it's just a data file.



IMO the biggest problem is they have a huge infrastructure and it takes a long time to roll out any changes. They need to find a way to adapt, IMO or risk becoming an afterthought. Look what's happened to the "wired" telcos. We're not far off from true and complete digital convergence, Comcast will have to adapt or die.



Ever hear of an antenna? :)

No reception on the Cape except Channel 6 and channel 12.

If any business treats its customers with the same disdain that you appear to, they go out of business eventually. Unless of course, they have a monopoly on a needed service.

I have stopped responding to bicker long time ago. It is a wasted effort. He is obviously a Comcast troll.

Comcast is a monopoly for many people. Satellite TV is not competition since many cannot get the signal. OTA is also not a competition because the products do not compare. Comcast is the only avenue to get cable channels for me and many other people like me.

We're not far off from true and complete digital convergence, Comcast will have to adapt or die.What are you using as your prototype? It's very easy to say that a company isn't "adapting" but if no companies are "adapting" then perhaps your premise is without merit.

If any business treats its customers with the same disdain that you appear to, they go out of business eventually.I'm a consumer. I'm exhibiting the same disdain as you are, just with a different perspective.

Unless of course, they have a monopoly on a needed service.They're not a monopoly, and the only "needed service" is B1 cable, which is pretty-much dirt cheap, so there is nothing for you to be complaining about in that regard.

I have stopped responding to bicker long time ago. It is a wasted effort. He is obviously a Comcast troll.No, I'm not. I'm a rational, pragmatic person who looks at things from perspectives other than just what's good for me personally. I make no bones about the fact that I switched providers AWAY from Comcast, something which Comcast is probably not happy to see me post. That's tough on them.

Comcast is a monopoly for many people.That sentence is illogical. Monopoly has nothing to do with individual people.

I have stopped responding to bicker long time ago. It is a wasted effort. He is obviously a Comcast troll.

Comcast is a monopoly for many people. Satellite TV is not competition since many cannot get the signal. OTA is also not a competition because the products do not compare. Comcast is the only avenue to get cable channels for me and many other people like me.

I think that's good advice and I will as well. I really don't understand what his act is, and quite frankly, I could not care less. His contributions are so worthless I wish there was an ignore feature here.

I'm not accusing anyone of posting for comcast, but if they were, I wouldn't find it surprising- after all, they paid employees to fill seats at a FCC hearing in Cambridge a couple of years ago so that dissent wouldn't be heard:

http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2008/02/comcast-denies-crowd-shaping-crowd-delaying-at-fcc-hearing.ars

Then when they were caught and didn't do it again (wow, they actually showed a touch of shame for once!), they refused to show up at a subsequent hearing at Stanford.

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2008/april23/lessig-042308.html

So, simply take anything anyone says- for or against- comcast policies with a grain of salt. No need to get too wound up- this is supposed to be a users forum...

It's advance service work on the guide software, for future upgrades. For now, be sure to check your recording settings, locks, etc., as some of those settings may be affected.

Is this coming only for HD DVRs, or for non DVR HD boxes too?

God, I wish the HD box software gave us the option to block out channels we don't subscribe to. I just got my 2nd batch of HD channel expansion overnight- the channels are in no rational groupings, paid-for movie channels (that I don't get, but Comcast wants to make me look at them) are in several spots. Of course there's one "regular" HD channel in the middle of a bunch of premium movie channels.

For $8/month that I'm paying for this box (and refuse to rent additional ones), the functionality it has sure is a joke!

Is this coming only for HD DVRs, or for non DVR HD boxes too?For all boxes that use iguide.

God, I wish the HD box software gave us the option to block out channels we don't subscribe to.I've been pushing them for that, for years and years......

It's March. I live in Wellesley. Where are my new HD channels?

It's March. I live in Wellesley. Where are my new HD channels?

If your date is coming up you should see in your next bill what channels you will be getting.

If any business treats its customers with the same disdain that you appear to, they go out of business eventually. Unless of course, they have a monopoly on a needed service.

Dish
Directv
Fios
RCN

These are four entities in competition with Comcast. Plus an antenna.

Where does it say that cable tv is a needed service?

Dish
Directv
Fios
RCN

These are four entities in competition with Comcast. Plus an antenna.

Where does it say that cable tv is a needed service?

Not everyone has access to dish. We don't have FIOS and RCN. And Antenna has 10% of channels cable has - apples and oranges no competition.

When Somerville and Medford got their second batch of HD channels about three weeks ago, some of the promised channels did not appear. And while Channels 771, 772, and 776 (HBO Signature, HBO Family, and MoreMax) are still dark, the good news is that Channel 903, Turner Classic Movies, is finally here!

All the HBOs and MAXs tend to repeat each other's programming anyway so not having those three isn't the worst thing in the world, but TCM is unlike any other channel. Too bad the HD version didn't arrive when I was still unemployed. :)

The *bad* news is that TCM-HD is now airing "Heaven's Gate." (Actually, it's not that bad a movie.)

This is very good news, this is the guide cleanup that comes right before the roll out of the new iGuide version A28 which includes new features including remote dvr scheduling. The remote scheduling is something that I've been waiting for.

-Ken

This is exactly the news I came here to seek. I've been dying for remote scheduling for awhile now and I can't seem to find any info online as to when it will be available for our area. I know that the iGuide needs to be updated first and it looks like that might be happening soon. Can't wait.

What are you using as your prototype? It's very easy to say that a company isn't "adapting" but if no companies are "adapting" then perhaps your premise is without merit.

You omitted it from the post of mine you quoted. And certainly a large part of it is speculation on my part. And I didn't say they aren't adapting or aren't trying

The *bad* news is that TCM-HD is now airing "Heaven's Gate." (Actually, it's not that bad a movie.)

The really bad news is hardly any of their content is actually HD.

I've tried to stay out of this, but the thread has been hijacked for days seemingly and I've been brainwashed.

- Cable tv is a luxury item. It is not a necessity. It is not food or clothing.

- More competition is in no way a guarantee of better prices. I do live somewhere where I could switch to satellite, and almost moved to a town with Fios, and no matter how many times I priced out different options for services/number of boxes/etc. from all three options there was never a significant difference. How many gas stations are in your town? How different are the prices?

- Everything in the world has a price. Most people, myself included, wish most if not all of those prices were lower. So do you do? Decide what you are willing to pay for something. If the price is higher, don't get it.

- I am not blessed with the financial resources to fill my house with brand new state-of-the-art HDTVs and custom installs. I wish I was. If I was, I'd probably pony up and add a couple boxes to get the most out of these beautiful additions to my home.


For the record, I wish Comcast had lower rates and better customer service. My wife and I make do with one HD DVR in our primary viewing room. It would be nice to have a second HD box for our older plasma. And as blasphemous as it may be to say around here, we are both capable of enjoying a program in SD on the tube tv in the bedroom or said plasma.

And bicker1 certainly doesn't need me or anyone else to defend him and I've often not shared his opinion on many topics, but over the years he has proven to be quite knowledgeable and if nothing else he presents his arguments calmly and respectfully. I really don't understand the vitriol and name-calling so often found at AVS.

Chelmsford: I see new channels added by comcast but no guide information in Tivo. Here are the channels
784 - Travel HD
792 - TOON Disney HD
794 - Bravo HD
795 - CNBC HD
796 - ESPN News HD
797 - BIO HD
815 - PLNTGRN HD
834 - ETV HD
845 - WTHRSCN
860 - Cartoon Network HD
881 - CSNNEHD
904 - MGM HD

Just a couple of notes on your list of new channels for Chelmsford...

I am also receiving the following new channels:

788 Lifetime Movies HD
791 QVC HD

also...

845 has been there for a long time - not new
881 is an old listing for CSNNE that should be removed - it's actually on 852

Has anybody reported these new channels to Tivo yet, or should I make a phone call?

...we are both capable of enjoying a program in SD on the tube tv in the bedroom or said plasma...
And you were doing so well up until that point.

Mickey

Just a couple of notes on your list of new channels for Chelmsford...

I am also receiving the following new channels:

788 Lifetime Movies HD
791 QVC HD

also...

845 has been there for a long time - not new
881 is an old listing for CSNNE that should be removed - it's actually on 852

Has anybody reported these new channels to Tivo yet, or should I make a phone call?

I filled their online lineup change form 3 days ago. No updates yet.

http://www.tivo.com/setupandsupport/contactsupport/lineup_tool.html

Comcast had a little outage here earlier today for about 45 minutes. Lost cable and internet and interrupted Speeders for me, which is only aired weekly.

The really bad news is hardly any of their content is actually HD.

Hey, the fact the TCM-HD is using the correct aspect ratio with its movies is the most important improvement. And the picture's just fine, thanks.

And you were doing so well up until that point.

Mickey

eh, nobody's perfect. I've made peace with my shortcomings. :)

I would appreciate if somebody can point me to a real users guide for the Motorola HD set top box. This is the one with shapely shape :-) There is no model number either on the front or on the back. It is also the one without HDMI. I have tried to google and went to Motorola site but no luck.

I tried to play with favorite lists and now I have too many of them. I can not figure out how to edit them at all. How do I use multiple lists? I got an option to name the list during its creation but I can't find how to edit it later. Also how do I select which favorite list to scan? I wanted to create lists of NON-HD favorite, MUSIC favorite, HD favorite etc.

Since this box was picked up at the Comcast office I did not get any documentation with it.

As of yesterday, I am also noticing some discrepancy in SD and HD channels. For some HD channels, I get "not authorized" message but I get the corresponding SD channel fine.

- Vikas

Hey, the fact the TCM-HD is using the correct aspect ratio with its movies is the most important improvement. And the picture's just fine, thanks.

Yes, they get that correct most of the time. I guess you're OK with labeling upconverted SD as "HD"? I'd like the real thing.

I would appreciate if somebody can point me to a real users guide for the Motorola HD set top box. This is the one with shapely shape :-) There is no model number either on the front or on the back. It is also the one without HDMI. I have tried to google and went to Motorola site but no luck.

If there's no HDMI then it has to be one of the older models, DCT6200 or DCT5100. Here's a link to Moto's site page for the 6200 (http://www.motorola.com/business/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=5b7e9e3eeed46110VgnVCM1000008406b00aRCRD&vgnextchannel=13f053735ddc8110VgnVCM1000008406b00aRCRD). You can search for the 5100 if you want but nearly everything is identical on both. By the way the model # is on the bottom of the box.

I tried to play with favorite lists and now I have too many of them. I can not figure out how to edit them at all. How do I use multiple lists? I got an option to name the list during its creation but I can't find how to edit it later. Also how do I select which favorite list to scan? I wanted to create lists of NON-HD favorite, MUSIC favorite, HD favorite etc.

You actually want documentation for the iGuide for this, not the Moto box itself. Try searching google for something like "iguide setting favorites" with no quotes, that may give you what you're looking for. Or you could try checking out OnDemand under the "Help & Services" section for the how to's on using the box.

As of yesterday, I am also noticing some discrepancy in SD and HD channels. For some HD channels, I get "not authorized" message but I get the corresponding SD channel fine.

Depending on the package the HD version of a channel may not be included, even if you get the SD version of it. If you have a current channel card look at the back at the HD channels, next to each channel is a # which corresponds with a # at the bottom of card telling which package you need to receive the channel.

I thought the general rule with Comcast (Verizon too except for the grandfathered Essentials tier and WGN America (SD on local Prime HD required for HD) is if you get a channel in SD you also get it in HD.

The one exception on Comcast seems to be NECN when channel 6 is part of limited basic but you need Digital starter to get channel 810.

Speaking of NECN are we at Fios missing anything with no NECN-HD? The current NECN channel now has a blue line at the bottom of the screen on channel 115.
Is the actual NECN-HD actually the same thing but without the blue line?

Anyone know when the iGuide A28 update will be hitting the MetroWest area?

Yes, they get that correct most of the time. I guess you're OK with labeling upconverted SD as "HD"? I'd like the real thing.

Well, since TCM doesn't produce what you consider "the real thing," and Comcast cannot provide what TCM doesn't produce, I am satisfied with a full widescreen version of upconverted SD for now. I'm not hung up on labels.

Anyone know when the iGuide A28 update will be hitting the MetroWest area?

I've heard not for awhile. Still working out the bugs.

Well, since TCM doesn't produce what you consider "the real thing," and Comcast cannot provide what TCM doesn't produce, I am satisfied with a full widescreen version of upconverted SD for now. I'm not hung up on labels.

I think MGM is producing better than upconverted SD. I've noticed on a lot of older films the quality is actually so good that you are seeing the film grain and people are assuming this is SD. I could be wrong, i'm no expert but I think that is what is happening.

-Ken

Well, since TCM doesn't produce what you consider "the real thing," and Comcast cannot provide what TCM doesn't produce, I am satisfied with a full widescreen version of upconverted SD for now. I'm not hung up on labels.

My issue is with TCM, not Comcast.

I'm supposed to get the next big group of HD channels on Thursday but yet all the analog channels are still on.

I'm supposed to get the next big group of HD channels on Thursday but yet all the analog channels are still on.

Ken,

Did the date move? I thought we had to wait until the 24th.

Has anyone gotten the myDVR scheduler to work in the Comcast iPhone app? I got a push message saying it was available, but when I try to set it up, it gives me error messages. Does it need the new guide to work?

Has anyone gotten the myDVR scheduler to work in the Comcast iPhone app? I got a push message saying it was available, but when I try to set it up, it gives me error messages. Does it need the new guide to work?


Yes, it needs the guide to be launched to work.

Yes, it needs the guide to be launched to work.

Thanks L Supreme, I thought that might be the case. I wonder why I received the message saying it was available. I had to input my zip into the guide section of the app (where the myDVR resides), so the system knows what town I'm in. Oh well, I'm definitely looking forward to trying it out!

Thanks L Supreme, I thought that might be the case. I wonder why I received the message saying it was available. I had to input my zip into the guide section of the app (where the myDVR resides), so the system knows what town I'm in. Oh well, I'm definitely looking forward to trying it out!

The Comcast mydvr website says "congratulations" no matter what...its very lame. I hear they are still working out bugs in the iguide upgrade.

-Ken

Ken,

Did the date move? I thought we had to wait until the 24th.

Yeah my bad. I was trying to will the date closer.

My issue is with TCM, not Comcast.

*sigh* Yes, but as you well know, it does no good for the consumer if a channel broadcasts in HD but the provider does not carry that signal (e.g., Fox Soccer Channel and Speed). There are two parts to the equation, and I'm simply noting that Comcast has fulfilled its role.

You may be a glass-half-empty person, but at least the glass is not completely empty anymore.

*sigh* Yes, but as you well know, it does no good for the consumer if a channel broadcasts in HD but the provider does not carry that signal (e.g., Fox Soccer Channel and Speed). There are two parts to the equation, and I'm simply noting that Comcast has fulfilled its role.

You may be a glass-half-empty person, but at least the glass is not completely empty anymore.

No, I was excited about getting the channel at first just like you. Then I realized it was just another empty promise, another channel calling itself and its programming "HD" when very, very little of it is in fact HD. Their web site doesn't even acknowledge they have an HD channel.

I'm not a "glass-half-empty person" person at all, just not one to celebrate adding another empty promise to the HD lineup. They've got all kinds of great content available, making it even more frustrating.

It shouldn't. Comcast is absolutely doing what they're supposed to do. They're not a charity. They're not slaves. They're a business. It is clear that many consumers regularly forget that.
I see. So because they are a business we are not allowed to criticise them or to complain about their behaviour?

My issue is with TCM, not Comcast.

No, I was excited about getting the channel at first just like you. Then I realized it was just another empty promise, another channel calling itself and its programming "HD" when very, very little of it is in fact HD. Their web site doesn't even acknowledge they have an HD channel.

I'm not a "glass-half-empty person" person at all, just not one to celebrate adding another empty promise to the HD lineup. They've got all kinds of great content available, making it even more frustrating.

I dunno who "promised" you anything. Your expectations haven't been met, but that's a different issue. TCM certainly has been clear on the matter:

http://support.tcm.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=73

Anyone know why 771, 772, and 776 are not showing up in Medford? It was on the "You're getting these channels in February" list but I still don't receive them. I also didn't notice them being on a different channel.

I see. So because they are a business we are not allowed to criticise them or to complain about their behaviour?I wouldn't say "not allowed". However, it's a bit like someone complaining about black bars above and below, when a 1.85:1 film is presented on a 1.78:1 HDTV screen. That's the way that specific film should be presented, so yes, you can complain that the film doesn't fill your entire HDTV screen, but that complaint, itself, isn't going to stand.

Anyone know why 771, 772, and 776 are not showing up in Medford? It was on the "You're getting these channels in February" list but I still don't receive them. I also didn't notice them being on a different channel.

Maybe comcast forgot about those adds *in my opinion* try giving them a call and tell them where are those promised channels.

FYI: I see the initial 12 new HD channels in Watertown today, as advertised, with the exception of MGMHD; a feed of WBZ (SD) is on that channel (904). TiVo doesn't know about them yet, but either that'll resolve itself quickly or I'll file a report with them.

I noticed my DCX3400 w/ tivo loaded did a in the last 12 hours or so (when i went home for lunch it was in 480i like it did a reset) so the channels are probably on there now, anyone know what channels got added?

Im in Portsmouth NH

I noticed my DCX3400 w/ tivo loaded did a in the last 12 hours or so (when i went home for lunch it was in 480i like it did a reset) so the channels are probably on there now, anyone know what channels got added?

Im in Portsmouth NH

Concord, NH just got:
784 Travel HD
788 Lifetime Movie HD
791 QVC HD
792 Toon Disney HD
794 Bravo HD
795 CNBC HD
796 ESPN News HD
797 Bio HD
815 Planet Green HD
834 E HD
860 Cartoon HD

On my Tivo HD with Cablecard. No channel guide info yet.

Concord, NH just got:
784 Travel HD
788 Lifetime Movie HD
791 QVC HD
792 Toon Disney HD
794 Bravo HD
795 CNBC HD
796 ESPN News HD
797 Bio HD
815 Planet Green HD
834 E HD
860 Cartoon HD

On my Tivo HD with Cablecard. No channel guide info yet.
File a report with Tivo. I got the channel guide 5 days after I filed a report.

Comcast turned off the rest of the analog channels in Chelmsford this morning (above channel 22). I also thought that they had encrypted all the digital as none were showing on my QAM TV. However after rescanning the TV all reappeared. They moved many of the digital channels from the channel 77 area to channel 26 region. I think we will have the unencrypted extended basic for at least a few more months.

-Ken

Anyone know what Verizon looks for to decide if a town is ready for FIOS?
Obviously there's the contract negotiations but beyond that.

Comcast turned off the rest of the analog channels in Chelmsford this morning (above channel 22). I also thought that they had encrypted all the digital as none were showing on my QAM TV. However after rescanning the TV all reappeared. They moved many of the digital channels from the channel 77 area to channel 26 region. I think we will have the unencrypted extended basic for at least a few more months.

-Ken
Lowell, same problem. I go to watch tv and none of the qam channels work. I will try connecting directly to the tv, rather than the pc, see if I get anything.

In other news, more comedy central shows get pulled off hulu.
This sucks

Lowell, same problem. I go to watch tv and none of the qam channels work. I will try connecting directly to the tv, rather than the pc, see if I get anything.

In other news, more comedy central shows get pulled off hulu.
This sucks

Did you read my whole post ? Rescan and you will get all the qam digital back (for now).

Did you read my whole post ? Rescan and you will get all the qam digital back (for now).
Had tried that, got nothing but locks (encrypted)on all channels. Only channels I didnt lose were the locals. This was on my htpc with w7.

Still want to plug it into the tv and see if it can decode those channels.

Had tried that, got nothing but locks (encrypted)on all channels. Only channels I didnt lose were the locals. This was on my htpc with w7.

Still want to plug it into the tv and see if it can decode those channels.

Dumb question, but maybe your htpc only has an analog tuner ?

I dunno who "promised" you anything. Your expectations haven't been met, but that's a different issue. TCM certainly has been clear on the matter:

http://support.tcm.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=73

Link doesn't work, but I think this topic has consumed enough posts in this thread already.

Got the Automated message from comcast that an update is going to be made on the 23rd and to double check the parental guides, as they may be affected. This is in Arlington. Can't wait. I hope after it's done I'll be able to activate the mydvr feature.

Got the Automated message from comcast that an update is going to be made on the 23rd and to double check the parental guides, as they may be affected. This is in Arlington. Can't wait. I hope after it's done I'll be able to activate the mydvr feature.

More good news !! I think you will be able to access the mydvr feature about a week or so after this cleanup.

Got the Automated message from comcast that an update is going to be made on the 23rd and to double check the parental guides, as they may be affected. This is in Arlington. Can't wait. I hope after it's done I'll be able to activate the mydvr feature.

Got the same message - I don't have a Comcast DVR. Are they calling everyone?

Got the same message - I don't have a Comcast DVR. Are they calling everyone?

this cleanup affects everyone. It affects your favorites and parental locks.
Glad you got the call in Chelmsford, I haven't gotten the call yet. When is this supposed to happen here ?

Dumb question, but maybe your htpc only has an analog tuner ?
it has a qam tuner. I was getting the basic digital channels plus the locals. Searched around the web and it was already planned by comcast to encrypt the qam channels.
Comcast has been transmitting the digital signals unencrypted. That means
people with TVs that have built-in digital tuners haven't had to use the
adapters yet. Some people with bare-bones $14 cable service (and a TV with
a "QAM" tuner) have been getting expanded basic channels for free.

'But not for long. Late last month, the FCC authorized Comcast to use the
free converter devices as descramblers. That's a green light for the
company to start encrypting signals, which it began doing a few weeks ago
in Spokane. The rest of Washington will follow soon, meaning all
expanded-basic customers will truly have to use converters soon.
This is to expand everywhere and somewhere I read that MA was started in March.

Connected the TV directly to the wall and it detected all the channels, and all but the locals were still encrypted.

Guess my free ride is over, for now.

it has a qam tuner. I was getting the basic digital channels plus the locals. Searched around the web and it was already planned by comcast to encrypt the qam channels.

This is to expand everywhere and somewhere I read that MA was started in March.

Connected the TV directly to the wall and it detected all the channels, and all but the locals were still encrypted.

Guess my free ride is over, for now.

It's odd that the expanded basic channels are encrypted in Lowell but they aren't in Chelmsford since we are both on the Lowell head end.

Got the Automated message from comcast that an update is going to be made on the 23rd and to double check the parental guides, as they may be affected. This is in Arlington. Can't wait. I hope after it's done I'll be able to activate the mydvr feature.

Does this indicate an upgrade to iGuide A28?

It's odd that the expanded basic channels are encrypted in Lowell but they aren't in Chelmsford since we are both on the Lowell head end.
I know, I would have expected both towns to get the hammer at the same time.

This morning all channels, including locals that I was seeing yesterday, are gone now.

I guess I have to pull out the uhf antenna out again.

I know, I would have expected both towns to get the hammer at the same time.

This morning all channels, including locals that I was seeing yesterday, are gone now.

I guess I have to pull out the uhf antenna out again.

After they do the last drops of analog channels but before the second wave of HD launches they move QAMs around... so expect to possibly rescan a couple of times before the next HD launches.

After they do the last drops of analog channels but before the second wave of HD launches they move QAMs around... so expect to possibly rescan a couple of times before the next HD launches.

yeah its weird stuff, all the extended basic QAM are still available for me but ALL the HD locals are now gone....they will be back as Comcast can't legally encrypt the locals at all.

Does this indicate an upgrade to iGuide A28?Sort of.

The current work is related to the new iguide in a broad sense, but it will still be sometime before all the bugs are worked out of the new version.

For everyone in the Fall River/New Bedford area, I just received my bill with the additional channels(HD) list. I'm not home so I can't give a complete list but its same as what others have posted for the areas who have already gotten the additions.
First wave on: 3/25
Second wave on: 4/21
It also states which level of subscribed service is needed for each channel(starter, preferred, etc.)

Sort of.

The current work is related to the new iguide in a broad sense, but it will still be sometime before all the bugs are worked out of the new version.

No to hijack this, but anyone know about the guide on a Panasonic TV? - none of the new channels are showing up.

After they do the last drops of analog channels but before the second wave of HD launches they move QAMs around... so expect to possibly rescan a couple of times before the next HD launches.

Yes you are correct, I just did another qam rescan and everything came back. locals, HD locals and extedned basic SD.

-Ken

No to hijack this, but anyone know about the guide on a Panasonic TV? - none of the new channels are showing up.

You have to be more specific. Does the Panasonic have a CableCARD, and are you using the internal guide, or do you have a Comcast supplied box?

You have to be more specific. Does the Panasonic have a CableCARD, and are you using the internal guide, or do you have a Comcast supplied box?

CableCard, Internal Guide - even before there were always channels missing,
but none of the new HD channels are showing (upper 700's).

Still no MGM (903) in Watertown (was supposed to be added 3/10).

Does *anyone* have it? If so what do you think of it?

Still no MGM (903) in Watertown (was supposed to be added 3/10).

Does *anyone* have it? If so what do you think of it?

MGM HD should be on 904... 903 has been TCM HD everywhere else.

MGM HD should be on 904... 903 has been TCM HD everywhere else.

Yes, I meant 904, sorry.

So to repeat the question, is anyone currently watching MGM, and if so what do you think of it?

Yes, I meant 904, sorry.

So to repeat the question, is anyone currently watching MGM, and if so what do you think of it?

Except for the commercials, I think it is fantastic. Original aspect ratio and clean film prints.

-ken

Still no MGM (903) in Watertown (was supposed to be added 3/10).

Does *anyone* have it? If so what do you think of it?

FYI, it seems to take a few days/week longer to get those last few channels like MSNBC, MGM, TCM, etc. Not sure why. As kenvt noted, it's a good channel but like many of the movie channels, they now have commercials. Same thing happened with Universal and others, they start out great and then eventually add the annoying channel bug, popup ads, commercials, etc. Such a shame.

MGM HD should be on 904... 903 has been TCM HD everywhere else.

Not yet in Wellesley either. I called customer support and they were absolutely no help. They acted like they didn't even understand my question. I really want the April batch of new stations.

Working on channel 904.

I don't know where else to ask this. I'm looking for some flat coaxial cables that can go in through a window.

Does anyone know where to get these in a brick and mortar store? I just struck out at home depot.

I know they are not highly recommended but I really have no alternative. Anyone have any ideas where to find these?

I don't know where else to ask this. I'm looking for some flat coaxial cables that can go in through a window.

Does anyone know where to get these in a brick and mortar store? I just struck out at home depot.

I know they are not highly recommended but I really have no alternative. Anyone have any ideas where to find these?
http://www.amazon.com/Parts-Express-FC200XL-Coaxial-Coupler/dp/B0002KR74A

http://www.amazon.com/Parts-Express-FC200XL-Coaxial-Coupler/dp/B0002KR74A
Oh I know where to get them online, I was kind of looking for a place to get them locally. Thanks though.

I was once told that Natick was supposed to get a batch of new channels on March 24, but knowing the reps, I'm not banking on it.

Finally got FIOS after years of unacceptable service and apologies from Comcast.

Want a good deal? Tell them you are switching to FIOS. My phone was ringing off the hook with "special" offfers for a "valued" customer.

Yes, still a bit bitter.

BTW-happy with the service. HD DVR and 25 up/down internet <$ Comcast, without service issues.

Finally got FIOS after years of unacceptable service and apologies from Comcast.

Want a good deal? Tell them you are switching to FIOS. My phone was ringing off the hook with "special" offfers for a "valued" customer.

Yes, still a bit bitter.

BTW-happy with the service. HD DVR and 25 up/down internet <$ Comcast, without service issues.

Funny you mention service issues as the one thing I've always recieved from Comcast is excellent service. I can criticize them, however, on just about every other heavy handed thing they do, including the new DTA disaster.

Good advice though. Like a slimy used car salesman, Comcast will drop their pants on pricing if you threaten to leave. Call the 800#, when you speak to a CSR ask for the cancelation department. Tell them you are being wooed by Dish or Direct TV and you can't afford Comcast any longer. My $187 cable/internet bill was dropped to $103/mo. for one year. One call and five minutes. Sucks that one has to do this to get the right price, but it works.

Though it wasn't always this way, these days they'll only "drop their pants" a few times, before they basically insist that you add new services to get a good deal. And word is that FiOS is the same way. The days of getting good discounts just in response to a verbal threat to switch providers are coming to an end.

Though it wasn't always this way, these days they'll only "drop their pants" a few times, before they basically insist that you add new services to get a good deal. And word is that FiOS is the same way. The days of getting good discounts just in response to a verbal threat to switch providers are coming to an end.

I think there is an ebb and flow to getting deals, depending on the economy, competition, and other factors. I also think that time of year might have something to do with it.

I just bought a network connected blu-ray player (LGBD570) and the HD movie streaming from Netflix and VUDU is just amazing. I think internet programming sources are a problem for Comcast and Fios as well.

I like their promos, which actually show some intelligence.

I think there is an ebb and flow to getting deals, depending on the economy, competition, and other factors. I also think that time of year might have something to do with it.Most folks noting this are seeing this as a year-over-year trend, not a seasonal trend. Perhaps it is a reflection of the economy improving. So when times are good, you'll pay top-dollar, while when you lose your job, you've got a chance to get a nice discount.

I think another factor is coming into play. RCN is not growing. Verizon has made it clear that they're no longer going to be expanding their footprint. And so on. All signs are that the subscription television market has become over-saturated, with too many suppliers chasing too little money.

I got an email this morning informing my I will be receiving a guide update on March 23 between 1am and 6am.

Also supposed to be getting our second batch of new channels on 3/24. Going to be a busy week in the Lowell area for Comcast.

Watertown here too, but no MGM. Everything between 899 and 918 is blank.

I got an email this morning informing my I will be receiving a guide update on March 23 between 1am and 6am.

Also supposed to be getting our second batch of new channels on 3/24. Going to be a busy week in the Lowell area for Comcast.

It's a good thing Comcast are busy because in Chelmsford Verizon is furiously working all over town installing FioS. The Comcast upgrades are making my decision on whether to switch or not more difficult. Probably will come down to money (no big surprise).

-Ken

Just got a notice that Verizon is going to be wiring my townhouse complex for FIOS on Monday! They had installed across the street a couple of years ago and I've been waiting patiently, now at last I'll have a choice and some competition for Comcast. :D

Scheduled for 3/25/10 which is This Thursday! Can't wait to see ESPNews in HD!

When is the new iGuide coming to the MetroWest area? Too many glitches in the TiVo software on the DCX box.

Can I see a picture of what the new iGuide looks like?

Scheduled for 3/25/10 which is This Thursday! Can't wait to see ESPNews in HD!

I have this channel in HD already and all I can say is what a waste....

I have this channel in HD already and all I can say is what a waste....

Haven't really seen the HD graphics before :p

and 30 days from the big second wave 4/21/10

When is the new iGuide coming to the MetroWest area? Too many glitches in the TiVo software on the DCX box.

Are you gonna keep tivo on your box or revert to the regular comcast software?

Tom morn between 1am-6am is my update in Milton.

I received an automated voicemail saying that the Guide update was coming to Boston (02127) on 3/23, but I have yet to see an email nor a message on the current guide/software. Tomorrow morning will be interesting. Anyone else get messages in Boston?

I received an automated voicemail saying that the Guide update was coming to Boston (02127) on 3/23, but I have yet to see an email nor a message on the current guide/software. Tomorrow morning will be interesting. Anyone else get messages in Boston?

The guide update we had this morning is just a cleanup. Some of my scheduled recordings for HBO went away and need to be reset. This guide cleanup comes usually a week or more before the A28 iGuide update which includes the remote dvr scheduling feature. So you will not notice much today.

-Ken

File a report with Tivo. I got the channel guide 5 days after I filed a report.

I have Comcast in Chelmsford, and I still don't have guide data on my Tivo for a bunch of the new HD channels we got weeks ago (E TV, Planet Green, and several others). Are you getting the guide data for all of your channels? It seems to me that they only added guide data for about half of the new channels. It's very annoying.

Well, not surprisingly, Comcast failed to update my guide as promised between 1am-6am this morning. Really not a surprise considering Comcast's history.

Well, not surprisingly, Comcast failed to update my guide as promised between 1am-6am this morning. Really not a surprise considering Comcast's history.

There are some known bugs with the upgrade & rumor has it they're trying to fix them before launching it. Although they could always just launch it as is & hear more people complain about the buggy upgrade. Personally I'd rather wait a little longer for some cleaner code. But that's just me.

Well, not surprisingly, Comcast failed to update my guide as promised between 1am-6am this morning. Really not a surprise considering Comcast's history.

If you got the same notice we did (Chelmsford), they never said they were updating to the new version of the guide. They were doing some clean up activities (in preparation for the new guide) that could impact some settings such as parental controls and future recordings.

If you got the same notice we did (Chelmsford), they never said they were updating to the new version of the guide. They were doing some clean up activities (in preparation for the new guide) that could impact some settings such as parental controls and future recordings.

BSTNFN is correct, the notice was for a guide cleanup. No area has gone through the update.

I chatted with a rep today and they said it was prep for the actual Guide update that would happen later this week (at least here in Boston). They said the update should be complete by 3/30. Anyone else have other info?

Right from my World Of More Notification bill sent March 3rd

Fall River's additions for 3/25

Travel HD - 784
Lifetime - 788
QVC HD - 791
Disney XD HD - 792
Bravo HD - 794
CNBC HD - 795
ESPNews HD - 796
Bio HD - 797
Planet Green - 815
MGM HD - 904
E! HD - 834
Cartoon Network HD - 860
Tru TV HD - 902
HLN (CNN Headline News HD) - 843
Turner Classic Movies HD - 903


Fall River Additions for 4/21

HBO (Latino/Comedy/Zone HD) 773-775
MAX (Action/5Star/Thriller/WMAX/Outer) - 777-779 780-782-784
Encore HD - 785
G4 HD - 786
Style HD - 787
Fox Business HD - 789
Hallmark Movie HD -790
Fuse HD - 793
IFC HD - 798
WE HD - 799
WBZ DT - 804
WHDH DT - 807
WSBK DT - 814
TV One HD - 816
NBA HD - 817
MYRI HD - 820
NHL HD - 822
MTV HD - 827
VH1 HD - 829
Tennis HD - 838
TWC HD! - 847
CBS College Sports HD - 856
Comedy Central HD - 858
CMT HD - 864
HBO2 HD - 871
SHO Showcase - 879
SHO Extreme - 880
TMC Xtra - 884
Big Ten HD - 885
EspnU - 900

Fall River's additions for 3/25

Travel HD - 784
Lifetime - 788
QVC HD - 791
Disney XD HD - 792
Bravo HD - 794
CNBC HD - 795
ESPNews HD - 796
Bio HD - 797
Planet Green - 815
MGM HD - 904
E! HD - 834
Cartoon Network HD - 860
Tru TV HD - 902
HLN (CNN Headline News HD) - 843
Turner Classic Movies HD - 903


Fall River Additions for 4/21

HBO (Latino/Comedy/Zone HD) 783-785
MAX (Action/5Star/Thriller/WMAX/Outer) - 777-779 780-782-784
Encore HD - 785
G4 HD - 786
Style HD - 787
Fox Business HD - 789
Hallmark Movie HD -790
Fuse HD - 793
IFC HD - 798
WE HD - 799
WBZ DT - 804
WHDH DT - 807
WSBK DT - 814
TV One HD - 816
NBA HD - 817
MYRI HD - 820
NHL HD - 822
MTV HD - 827
VH1 HD - 829
Tennis HD - 838
TWC HD! - 847
CBS College Sports HD - 856
Comedy Central HD - 858
CMT HD - 864
HBO2 HD - 871
SHO Showcase - 879
SHO Extreme - 880
TMC Xtra - 884
Big Ten HD - 885
EspnU - 900

Very Nice! This is the same list of channel additions I received notice of :) I'll be sure to check on them tomorrow.

I know this is not the thread but it's all local people. Has anyone had a HDTV calibration done by someone in Bristol County or recommend someone.

I know this is not the thread but it's all local people. Has anyone had a HDTV calibration done by someone in Bristol County or recommend someone.

Check out Gregg Loewen from lionav. http://www.lionav.com/services.php
he's located in Maine but covers all of NE. He's very knowledgeable with a variety of displays.

Added @ 12:30am

Travel HD - 784
Lifetime Movie Network - 788
QVC HD - 791
Disney XD HD - 792
Bravo HD - 794
CNBC HD - 795
ESPNews HD - 796
Bio HD - 797
Planet Green - 815
MGM HD - 904
E! HD - 834
Cartoon Network HD - 860
Tru TV HD - 902
HLN (CNN Headline News HD) - 843
MLB HD - 818
RedZone - 899

Not Added: Turner Classic Movies HD - 903

26 days and counting until Wave 2!

I chatted with a rep today and they said it was prep for the actual Guide update that would happen later this week (at least here in Boston). They said the update should be complete by 3/30. Anyone else have other info?

No new channels in Boston--at least none that show up on my Comcast Tivo unit (DCX-3400).

My HD Tivo in Concord, NH is showing many new HD Channels this morning along with guide descriptions. But there is no video on any of the channels. Channels that were scheduled for 4/6/10 release according to my letter from Comcast. Channels such as Comedy Central HD, G4 HD, TruTV HD, etc. Did Tivo jump the gun or are they coming early? Anyone else seeing this on their Tivo or any other device in MA or NH?

My HD Tivo in Concord, NH is showing many new HD Channels this morning along with guide descriptions. But there is no video on any of the channels. Channels that were scheduled for 4/6/10 release according to my letter from Comcast. Channels such as Comedy Central HD, G4 HD, TruTV HD, etc. Did Tivo jump the gun or are they coming early? Anyone else seeing this on their Tivo or any other device in MA or NH?

Looks like Tivo jumped the gun if they are scheduled for 4/6

Possibly, but the odd thing is it has all the guide data for the next ten days. Where does that come from? You think they it would be specific to our area? We for instance in NH have NH channels in addition to many Boston channels.

We've got tons of new channels in Chelmsford... Here is our current HD lineup - I count 100 channels!

773 HBO Latino HD
774 HBO Comedy HD
775 HBO Zone HD
777 Action Max HD
778 5 Star Max HD
779 Thriller Max HD
780 WMAX HD
782 Outer Max HD
784 Travel Channel HD
785 Encore HD
786 G4 HD
787 Style HD
788 Lifetime Movie Network HD
789 Fox Bus HD
790 Hallmark Movie HD
791 QVC HD
792 DisneyXD HD
793 Fuse HD
794 Bravo HD
795 CNBC HD
796 ESPNews HD
797 Biography HD
798 IFC HD
799 WE HD
802 WGBH PBS HD
803 WBPX HD
804 WBZ CBS HD
805 WCVB ABC HD
806 WFXT FOX HD
807 WHDH NBC HD
808 WLVI (CW) HD
809 WMUR ABC HD
814 WSBK (IND) HD
815 Planet Green HD
816 TV One HD
817 NBA TV HD
818 MLB HD
821 National Geographic HD
822 NHL Network HD
823 Discovery HD
824 Disney HD
825 Nickelodeon HD
826 ABC Family HD
827 MTV HD
828 Palladia
829 VH1 HD
830 FX HD
831 TBS HD
832 HGTV HD
833 TNT HD
834 E! Entertainment HD
835 USA HD
836 Lifetime HD
837 A&E HD
838 Tennis HD
839 HD Theater
841 FoxNews HD
842 CNN HD
843 Headline News HD
846 Universal HD
847 Weather HD
848 VS/Golf HD
849 ESPN HD
850 ESPN 2 HD
851 NESN HD
852 Comcast SportsNet HD
853 NFL Network HD
854 Food Network HD
855 Spike HD
856 CBS College Sports HD
858 Comedy HD
859 AMC HD
860 Cartoon HD
862 Syfy HD
863 Animal Planet HD
864 CMT HD
865 Versus HD
866 Science Channel HD
867 TLC HD
868 Cinemax HD
870 HBO HD
871 HBO2 HD
872 History HD
873 Starz Edge HD
874 Starz Kids & Fam HD
875 STARZ! HD
876 Starz Comedy HD
877 Showtime HD
878 Showtime 2 HD
879 Showtime Showcase HD
880 Showtime Extreme HD
883 TMC HD
884 TMC Xtra HD
885 Big Ten HD
899 NFL RZ HD
900 ESPN U HD
901 MSNBC HD
902 Tru TV HD
903 TCM HD
904 MGM HD

We've got tons of new channels in Chelmsford... Here is our current HD lineup - I count 100 channels!

773 HBO Latino HD
774 HBO Comedy HD
775 HBO Zone HD
777 Action Max HD
778 5 Star Max HD
779 Thriller Max HD
780 WMAX HD
782 Outer Max HD
784 Travel Channel HD
785 Encore HD
786 G4 HD
787 Style HD
788 Lifetime Movie Network HD
789 Fox Bus HD
790 Hallmark Movie HD
791 QVC HD
792 DisneyXD HD
793 Fuse HD
794 Bravo HD
795 CNBC HD
796 ESPNews HD
797 Biography HD
798 IFC HD
799 WE HD
802 WGBH PBS HD
803 WBPX HD
804 WBZ CBS HD
805 WCVB ABC HD
806 WFXT FOX HD
807 WHDH NBC HD
808 WLVI (CW) HD
809 WMUR ABC HD
814 WSBK (IND) HD
815 Planet Green HD
816 TV One HD
817 NBA TV HD
818 MLB HD
821 National Geographic HD
822 NHL Network HD
823 Discovery HD
824 Disney HD
825 Nickelodeon HD
826 ABC Family HD
827 MTV HD
828 Palladia
829 VH1 HD
830 FX HD
831 TBS HD
832 HGTV HD
833 TNT HD
834 E! Entertainment HD
835 USA HD
836 Lifetime HD
837 A&E HD
838 Tennis HD
839 HD Theater
841 FoxNews HD
842 CNN HD
843 Headline News HD
846 Universal HD
847 Weather HD
848 VS/Golf HD
849 ESPN HD
850 ESPN 2 HD
851 NESN HD
852 Comcast SportsNet HD
853 NFL Network HD
854 Food Network HD
855 Spike HD
856 CBS College Sports HD
858 Comedy HD
859 AMC HD
860 Cartoon HD
862 Syfy HD
863 Animal Planet HD
864 CMT HD
865 Versus HD
866 Science Channel HD
867 TLC HD
868 Cinemax HD
870 HBO HD
871 HBO2 HD
872 History HD
873 Starz Edge HD
874 Starz Kids & Fam HD
875 STARZ! HD
876 Starz Comedy HD
877 Showtime HD
878 Showtime 2 HD
879 Showtime Showcase HD
880 Showtime Extreme HD
883 TMC HD
884 TMC Xtra HD
885 Big Ten HD
899 NFL RZ HD
900 ESPN U HD
901 MSNBC HD
902 Tru TV HD
903 TCM HD
904 MGM HD

Wow! thats awesome, My area's total HD count after 4/21 will = 98

We've got tons of new channels in Chelmsford... Here is our current HD lineup - I count 100 channels!



It's great, but we're still missing Fox Soccer Channel and BBC America. :(

The comcast reps (chat and voice) are absolutely clueless in regards to the A28 Guide update. Does anyone have any info on the timing for Boston given the cleanup that happened earlier this week (3/23)?

Wow! thats awesome, My area's total HD count after 4/21 will = 98

yeah, and image quality will be substantially worse after this update is completely rolled out. Comcast is adding 25%more compression to their already crappy 3:1 compression ratio. (4:1)

The comcast reps (chat and voice) are absolutely clueless in regards to the A28 Guide update. Does anyone have any info on the timing for Boston given the cleanup that happened earlier this week (3/23)?

It will launch soon. All I can say, be on the lookout.

yeah, and image quality will be substantially worse after this update is completely rolled out. Comcast is adding 25%more compression to their already crappy 3:1 compression ratio. (4:1)

Before you make that assertion, RTFA. They are currently evaluating technologies that could allow 4:1 HDs. Doesn't mean they are going to do it and does not say anywhere that they are deploying it. Look before you leap.

yeah, and image quality will be substantially worse after this update is completely rolled out. Comcast is adding 25%more compression to their already crappy 3:1 compression ratio. (4:1)That is not the case. Rather, they are looking into 4:1 compression: There has been no plans set to actually apply it in a widespread or across-the-board manner. At this point it is a test. For all we know, beyond the test scenario, it'll only affect new HD channels, added after analog reclamation takes place, if anything at all.

Some folks are way too quick to criticize. :shakinghead:

It's great, but we're still missing Fox Soccer Channel and BBC America. :(

+1. Boooooooooooo :mad:

Xfinity!

We (FiOS) don't have BBC America HD or Fox Soccer Channel HD, either yet.

We (FiOS) don't have BBC America HD or Fox Soccer Channel HD, either yet.

That's why I'm thinking of moving to E* when I move to CT. :eek:

CT is at least a year behind MA (for Comcast)! It is split into 14 different "areas", 8 with SA equipment and 6 with Motorola, with one area having 16 HD channels and one having 60 and the others in-between!

E* looks a good bet for the foreseeable future :(

Here in central Mass all the new HD channels appeared the other day.

larry

edit: I just noticed I don't have the extra HBO, SHO, or Starz HD channels. They coming?

WTF? Comcast sends me an email saying new Guide and channels and now 5 days later than the date stated, NOTHING!?!

Are you gonna keep tivo on your box or revert to the regular comcast software?

Go with the Comcast software after the new iGuide is available here. All of the features of the TiVo software seem to be on the new iGuide, plus I should get less missed/corrupt recordings, software freezes, and get on screen caller ID back.

...
All of the features of the TiVo software seem to be on the new iGuide....

Can you provide the source of this info?

Can you provide the source of this info?

http://www.comcast.net/newguide/

WTF? Comcast sends me an email saying new Guide and channels and now 5 days later than the date stated, NOTHING!?!

You must've gotten a different email then I did. Yes, Comcast said they were updating our Digital Cable Guide to improve performance and pave the way for new features and listed the channels that would be affected by this update.

Nothing about any new features (just paving the way for them in the future) and nothing about new channels (unless you are talking about the analog conversion, but then, those dates seem to be pretty spot on for everyone so far).

http://www.comcast.net/newguide/

Thank you. The new iGuide seems to be better than the old one but doesn't offer the same (or similar) functionality as Tivo. :(

Thank you. The new iGuide seems to be better than the old one but doesn't offer the same (or similar) functionality as Tivo. :(

Perhaps you missed this but this is very Tivo like:


DVR Search & Record

Now you can create wish lists of your favorite actors, directors, keywords and titles. Just enter a search term today (ex: Eastwood, Clint) and your DVR can automatically search for and schedule recordings for programs relating to "Clint Eastwood" as they're added to your program guide in the future. Or simply select what you want to record now from the search results.

How long should I be waiting for Tivo to add programming information for the new HD channels? Or is this purely a Tivo issue? Thanks