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Summary and Updates on Comcast HD DVR Deployment -- All Areas

82K views 884 replies 210 participants last post by  jdougjones 
#1 ·
The purpose of this thread is to collect all the information, from whatever sources, about HD DVR launches on Comcast systems. Accuracy of information not guaranteed, of course, as timelines may change because of technical problems and other factors. Also, some sources (such as CSR's) may be questionable.


Deployment was originally planned to begin in fall 2003, but was delayed until between late January 2004 and June 2004 in most systems, and until Fall 2004 in the balance of the systems (mostly systems in Comcast's West Division-- Seattle, Portland, Denver, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Fresno, San Francisco and other western areas).

Comcast systems launching HD DVR's, with launch date(s) and projected HD DVR model:

1) Washington, DC (Prince George's & Montgomery Counties, MD): January 21-28, 2004 ; Motorola 6208



2) New Jersey: Unknown 2004 ;



3) Sacramento: Unknown 2004 (originally November 12; December 17; then, January 17, 2004); Motorola 6412



4) Fresno: Unknown 2004 (was November 12, then December or January); Motorola 6412



5) Maryland (Baltimore area): Unknown 2004; Motorola 6208 or Scientific Atlanta 8000HD ???



6) Nashville: Unknown 2004 (was November or December 2003); Motorola 6208



7) San Francisco Bay Area: March or April 2004 (was November 2003; December 17, 2003); Motorola 6208



8) Los Angeles: April 2004 ; Motorola 6208



9) Chicago: May 2004; Motorola 6208



10) Atlanta: May 2004 ; Motorola 6208



11) Chattanooga, TN: Summer 2004; Motorola 6408



12) Seattle: Unknown 2004; Motorola 6412



Further updates coming soon.



Rental cost for all areas: Varies, usually consisting of $9.95 for "DVR service" and $5 per month or more for the STB rental.


Digital cable subscription required.


Install cost of up to $22 or more. (Amount may vary by area.)


Self-installs (exchange current STB for HD DVR at local office) not available in most areas.


Also note: The "launch date" may be the date they start taking appointments via customer service, not the date you can actually get the DVR.


Non-HD DVR's are available in various areas: Arlington, VA (Scientific Atlanta); Ft. Myers, FL; areas of New Jersey.
 
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#27 ·
when I got my 5100 box, the guy showed up with the 5100 and started unhooking my 2000, thoroughly worked into my home theater.


me - "I just ordered a second box"

him - "that's not what it says here"


(he then started unhooking the box again, I had to physically touch him to get him to take his hand off of it)


me - "please, everything's hooked up. can I just get a second box?"

him - "I'm not authorized to do that"

me - "can I call comcast now? I can't stay home another day from work"

him - "hold on" (calls comcast) "okay, here's the second box, sorry about that"


He just left it at that point and I split the cable, hooked all the wires up and changed all the menu options. Haha!


Jason
 
#28 ·
WOW!!! This is great news!!! I can’t wait to get my new 6208 here in the San Francisco Bay Area.


I am currently using the Motorola 5100 via the component video output. Does anyone know if there will be an improvement in picture quality stepping up to the DVI output on the 6208? I have a Samsung HLN467W 46†DLP monitor and it really shines with my current DVD player via the DVI interface.


Has anyone heard if the 1394 ports will be activated? In Motorola’s marketing literature it says you can just add a 1394 hard drive(s) to expand the unit’s storage capability. Has anyone heard if this capability will be active? If it is active, I’m really impressed and excited because it would be very easy to add extra storage above the 80 GB that comes with the unit.
 
#29 ·
San Francisco Bay Area Update:


Just got off the phone with Comcast. They are NOT taking 6208 orders yet for the San Francisco Bay Area (Pleasanton, CA).


The person that I talked to said that they had received a memo stating that the units will be available before the end of the year. She also said that the staff have not been trained or briefed on the units yet. Therefore, she could NOT answer specific questions, such as whether the 1394 ports would be active or if external storage would be supported.


She felt the rollout would start in December and suggested that I call back on December 1st.
 
#31 ·
Im in Knoxville, spoke to CSR who says they were just told about the DVR in memo and that it will be after the first of the year before Knoxville rolls out this product.




She actually knew exactly what I was talking about and told me that Knoxville is typically one of the last markets to get new Comcast stuff.




Cipro
 
#35 ·
guess i just stumbled on the right rep.....i was browsing the FAQ's on the comcast site and it made it sound like VOD was available, so i called up and asked about VOD and PVR and they said should both release late jan 2004.....as with any issue i'm sure there are some reps that know alot, some that know nothing, and most in the middle and just know what they need to.....
 
#37 ·
I just spoke with a CSR for Comcast who stated knowingly that the release date for the HD-DVR in central california is Wednesday December 17th. He said that they had a CSR meeting yesterday to discuss this. He did not know if the DVI was going to be active at that time, although he did *know* what a DVI was. He sounded quite certain of his facts. So I guess we have a month to go.
 
#38 ·
That's too bad. I was hoping you guys could give us a preview and be "paying beta testers." So your release date will be same as ours.
 
#39 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by rodneyremington
I just spoke with a CSR for Comcast who stated knowingly that the release date for the HD-DVR in central california is Wednesday December 17th. He said that they had a CSR meeting yesterday to discuss this. He did not know if the DVI was going to be active at that time, although he did *know* what a DVI was. He sounded quite certain of his facts. So I guess we have a month to go.
Any idea if Central California would include the Monterey Bay Area? I've given up on trying to get an answer on anything out of Comcast, let alone anyone there who has a clue what I'm talking about.
 
#40 ·
Jive,


Is Monterey part of the Bay Area's DMA (market area), or does it have its own, separate DMA? Do you have HD via Comcast there yet?


Not all of California will have the 6208's on December 17-- for example, it is doubtful that Los Angeles Comcast will have them available by then. So further digging is needed for you to figure out if Monterey will have them by then. I will ask someone at Comcast who should know.
 
#41 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Jive,


Is Monterey part of the Bay Area's DMA (market area), or does it have its own, separate DMA? Do you have HD via Comcast there yet?


Not all of California will have the 6208's on December 17-- for example, it is doubtful that Los Angeles Comcast will have them available by then. So further digging is needed for you to figure out if Monterey will have them by then. I will ask someone at Comcast who should know.
Comcast is still jacking around down here in Monterey, or so it seems, regarding HiDef. My neighborhood has had fiberoptic cable underground for several years, but yet no HiDef via cable. I'm a bit disappointed in that, but surely there's bigger problems in life. They're dieing to get me to change to cablemodem, though.


I think what really irks me is how I can never get anything close to a straight answer out of them regarding HiDef availability, let alone rarely get anyone on the line who has a clue what the difference between Standard and High Definition is. I also don't think anyone I've talked to there cares if we switched over to sattelite and dropped cable altogether. It makes me feel sad for the Comcast principles and the stock holders (assuming they're a public company).
 
#42 ·
I dont know what to tell you about Nashville. I will call one time and someone will read the spec's off to me and tell me no later than Dec.15. Someone else on this forum called and was told 2nd quater 04. I have even been told that Comcast will not offer that feature:confused: . The last lady I spoke too said that havent been told anything. I know for a fact that they have meetings going over the 6208 and VOD. They are advertising in Nashville and the website has been updated to show PVR's. I wish they would give everyone the same memo and/or training.


Jerry
 
#43 ·
Jive,


Well, Monterey is considered part of the Bay Area for Comcast's purposes.


But, since you don't have HDTV there yet, it is doubtful that they will have any 6208's for you, as the servers at Comcast's headends serving your area likely will not be set up with the firmware to run the 6208's.


So, I would have to say you probably won't see the 6208 until your area gets HDTV from Comcast. But, I could be wrong, so I would check back closer to the launch date of December 17.


Call the technical assistance line (888-824-4146) for better information about what's available in your area. They aren't perfect there, but they are noticeably better than the CSR's at 1-800-COMCAST. And they actually answer the telephone directly -- no introductory taped messages (at least that's been my experience-- in fact, the first time I called it I was actually stunned that a live person answered the phone).
 
#45 ·
VJ: my present knowledge on this matter would say that you are correct, however I cannot say whether or not they will limit these box's initially to HD customer's only, depending on what the demand/supply is this may be the case. Obviously this is not meant as any type of scripture as I generally dont know what I'm talking about ;) But I would imagine that this could be a possibility.
 
#46 ·
If there isn't the right equipment/software on the headend the cable company is not going to be able to offer the 6208 to anyone (HD or SD). I think that was the point SonomaSearcher was making. If your cable company is not offering HDTV then there is a (good?) chance their headend won't currently support the 6208 ... the cable company may have to make some upgrades before they can offer it to anyone.
 
#47 ·
dt_dc got it exactly right. Thanks.
 
#48 ·
All -

I spoke with a very knowledgeable person at Comcast in Arlington, Virgina (DC Suburbs). We already have eight High Def channels, which you can get with a "Basic Cable" plan ($13.99), and only an additional $5 per month for the HD box, which works pretty well (only problem is drop out of digital sound on Fox, which means a manual selection of the analog inputs on my Denon receiver). Channels include both INHD channels, which are awesome. Arlington/DC is NOT getting the Motorola 6208 because we do not have a Motorola "head-end," that is, cable plant. Instead, we have a Scientific Atlanta head-end and equipment - I use the Scientific Atlanta 3100 for HD. They are currently testing a box in Arlington/DC - I do not believe it is SA, but couldn't get them to say which one (not Motorola, however) - that will supposedly give us Motorola 6208 functionality - i.e., HD DVR/PVR. Arlington/DC already has DVR/PVR functionality equipment, but only for SD. My source suggested it would be several months before the box they are testing could be rolled out, if it tests well. I remain hopeful because several FCC Commissioners/Top FCC staffers live in Arlington, and Comcast is very sensitive to putting its best foot forward in this particular market.

Best,

Steve E.
 
#49 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Jive,



Call the technical assistance line (888-824-4146) for better information about what's available in your area. They aren't perfect there, but they are noticeably better than the CSR's at 1-800-COMCAST. And they actually answer the telephone directly -- no introductory taped messages (at least that's been my experience-- in fact, the first time I called it I was actually stunned that a live person answered the phone).
Thanks. I called this number and did actually get to talk to people who knew what they were talking about.


The bad news is that they still won't give any projections regarding HDTV in Monterey. Everything is in place as far as fiber optic cables and local broadcasters putting out the signal. You know what they're waiting for?..... ENOUGH PEOPLE TO CALL IN AND REQUEST IT! Jeez.....I've been HiDef capable in all respects for two years and I still can't get the service yet. I must be the ONLY one who gives a crap around here.


I mentioned that from the information as provided that I probably shouldn't expect it for another year, and got no argument from ComCast. I do know that the day I finally do pull the plug on cable and invest/commit to Sattelite, will be the day ComCast will announce HD service in my area. Murphy's Law applies a lot in my little world.
 
#51 ·
dt_dc, Sonoma: I can assure you that even in an area that hasn't launched HD yet the 6208 would still be usable, now whether Comcast would launch it in said area would of course be another question. But the box controller (the computer that talks to all the DCT's) doesn't really change at all when new services are added just the supply equipment for said services.


Jeremy
 
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