Moxi HD DVR - Page 26

That's the bare minimum for today's drives. Western Digital advertises 12x for the low-power 5400rpm "Green" drives, which are found in a number of cable and satellite DVRs. Modern hard drives are never the bottleneck in a DVR, because each MPEG HD stream consumes a maximum of 19.4Mbit/s (2.425 MB/s), and usually much less.

The bottleneck in a DVR is the CPU and memory. Unlike the hard drive, those components must deal with uncompressed HD streams, which require up to 50 times the bandwidth. The BCM7400 in the Moxi is spec'd to buffer and record up to four HD channels, while it decodes two different HD channels for display. Dish Network uses the same chip in their ViP722K and [upcoming] ViP922 DVRs to output different channels to two separate TVs from the same box.

The triple-tuner Moxi can record and independently buffer three HD channels simultaneously, plus one more analog channel when the USB dongle is connected. While doing that, it can also playback a HD recording while streaming two other HD recordings to MoxiMate extenders elsewhere in the home.

If you are feeling lucky, Crunchgear is giving away a 3-tuner Moxi next week.

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/12/11...r-moxi-hd-dvr/

Man, I have autopay so I don't even look at my bill but today I went online and see I'm charged $10.95 dvr fee, plus $7.47 for each of the two dvrs I have with TW (Carlsbad CA)

Yikes, that's $37 a month. I've been wanting to get the Moxi for a long time and I think I'm going to order the three tuner with mate to replace both dvrs. I spoke to a tech guy just now and he said secure digital isn't rolled out yet here in North County so for now I wont need an adapter, but when I get one (a few months from now) it will be a Motorola.

Anyway, I'm kinda excited now. We had 2 moxi's a few years ago that I liked but both overheated and were replaced by TW with these motorolas that I really don't like.

Has Moxi fixed the overheating issue? Can I count on this box lasting?

Dave

The old Motorola boxes were a very different, PC-style design.

With the newer boxes, Moxi adopted the specialized Broadcom SoCs used by most other cable and satellite DVRs. Overheating is not an issue.

You can probably expect the hard drive to fail in 3-4 years, but by that time, Moxi may have the means in place to allow for end-user drive replacement. If not, the cost of a drive replacement after the warranty expires is $75 labor + parts.

DVRs here with Cox are $23/mo each. I only have one now, but I'm pretty sure I will have a Moxi 3-tuner with 2 Mates early in the new year. I just found out about Moxi and it's the wrong time of year for me to shell out over $1,000 to get the setup and add wireless to the Mates. I just spent a bunch of money, so I need a couple of months to get well.

Thanks bfd And Doubledaz yeah, same thing here. We just got back from vacation and Christmas and all. But I only need two rooms, and no wireless, so I'm going for it
Dave

What a rip-off, and I though Comcast charging me $8.95 for their DCH3416 was tough to swallow. I feel for you guys. (Plus they charge me less than $3 for all 5 cablecards I have-2 Tivo S3's and a TV)

It has been a long (really long) time since I posted in here. Did anyone ever figure out how to retrieve recorded information from the MOXI for playback on a computer or other HD device?

No. That's not a feature Moxi offers, nor is it currently planned.

If that feature is important to you, then you need to look at TiVo.

My new Moxi MR-1500T3 runs cool as far as I can tell. -- Dan

The current temperature can be viewed in the menu (select "Settings", then "Diagnostics", then "Hardware Status".) I'm not sure exactly what temperature is being reported -- probably the SMART status of the hard drive(?) I've never seen mine go above 38 (centigrade), which doesn't seem bad. There's an exhaust fan in the rear and the air coming out doesn't feel particularly hot. It feels a lot cooler than my Motorola DCT3416.

With respect to the disk drive at least, it's worth noting that the connection between temperature and failure is far from clear; one surprising study shows with older drives it may even be better to run warmer.

BTW, is anyone else having problems with the online scheduling feature with Moxi? Nothing is showing up in mine (see attached image) and it's been like that for several days, on different computers and under different browsers. Guide info on the DVR itself seems fine; weird.

My online scheduling looks fine.

No problem here either using FF 3.5.5. Try clearing your browser cache and cookies.

Yeah I was being charged $30 a month for my Moxi and Mate, now its $3 for my cable card. Figured I've saved $140 in cable bills since I got the Retail Moxi and Mate in August. I had figured it out that I had to own the moxi for 3 years before I break even. Hopefully it lasts longer than that.

One thing I have noticed is that my external hard drive will lose its connection status with the moxi. It is an internal drive with an external enclosure so it doesn't have a powersave feature. I've lost a handful of recordings because I won't notice that the external has lost its connection and it will fill up the main hard drive.

I figure the end cost of a 3-tuner Moxi and 2 Mates with wireless adapters to be about $1,200. When and if Cox ever deploys a multi-room setup, I figure my minimum cost will be $47/mo ($23 for the DVR and $12 each for 2 HD receivers). We pay $2 for a cablecard, so the net cost would be $45/mo. At that rate, I could pay for the Moxi setup in just over 26 months. Of course, if I compute based on current cost of $21/mo, it will take over 57 months, probably not very cost-effective that way.

Right now the other TVs use clear QAM and my daughter watches a lot of stuff online vice the TV. We don't watch much TV in our bedroom, so I could probably get by with just a 2-tuner and one Mate, but I like the idea of the 3-tuner. Perhaps by the time I am ready to commit, they will offer a 3-tuner with 1 Mate package. Then, when my daughter moves out I could just move the Mate. Things were a lot easier when there weren't all these options. Plus, I'm always concerned the next best thing will be released right after I commit.

If I purchase the Moxi 3 tuner model will a single tuning adapter work for all three tuners such that I could record SDV on any and/or all of the tuners simultaneously? If not, what setup would I require?

Also - what about the TWC supplied Cablecard(s)? Will a single multi-cablecard take care of all 3 tuners?

Are there specific brands/models of tuning adapters I should ask for from Time Warner Cable in North Carolina?

I'm about ready to purchase the 2 tuner Moxi w/dual Mates. But couldn't glean the above information from the forum - so thought I'd ask the questions.

Just trying to get my info together before starting down this path...

The info in the thread has been very helpful.

I, myself, also did these type of calculations. In the end, I based my decision on this: Life too short to do these type of calculations.

If it seems reasonable and it will make you happy.. spend the money.. ..

Besides we all be dead by 2012

The 3 tuners on the MOXI are limited to how many channels your SDV can tune to at a time. if I recall correctly.. the SDV on the market are limited to 2.

As for cable cards.. M series will allow for the 3 tuners

I could live with that - only if I can be sure that when I setup shows to be recorded the Moxi will not allow me to inadvertly setup 3 recordings during the same timeframe that all require SDV. If not, then obviously once in a while I'd miss a show just because it ran out of SDV resources. That is NOT very user friendly.

I have doubts that the Moxi technicians have refined it that much but I thought it worth asking the question. I have inquired directly to Moxi on this issue and hope to hear back within a day or two.

Anyone know?

You won't have a choice what TA you'll get. There are only two - Motorola and Scientific Atlanta. The Motorola is the only one which will allow the 3-T Moxi to utilize all three tuners for recording.

Since you are in NC you'll likely be on SA hardware which means you'll get a SA adapter. That means you can only use two tuners in the Moxi even if you get the 3-T model.

If you don't care about losing SDV channels you can just add a CableCard and retain the use of all three tuners. But TWC dump a lot of channels on SDV here now so that will mean you will lose a lot of HD content now and in the future.

As soon as you plug in the TA, the Moxi deactivates the third tuner (except in hardware diagnostic reporting) and acts as if it only has two. There is no way to access the third tuner.

They do offer the 3 tuner Moxi with one mate for $799.

Do I get a commission for saving you $200?

http://moxi.com/us/moxi_two_room_bundle.html

Duh, I knew that, must be the cold medication or another one of those senior moments.


My undying gratitude.

They do... the original bundle was one a 3 tuner, one mate for 800. They now list a 3 tuner, 2 mates bindle for 1000.

Not that I am egging you on in any way !

My understanding is that there ARE some tuning adapters in use that DO allow for more than 2 tuners... it all depends on what your local cable op gives out.

Stupid question, how do you know that it lost its connection? I am not sure if I have lost my connection but I am afraid to mess around with it. When I go to the External Drive section it just says that I can hook up an external drive. It doesn't say that a drive is already connected. Does this mean that my drive is disconnected?

Edited to add: Nevermind, I pulled my ESata cable and reconnected it. I was disconnected for some odd reason. I went from 95% full to just 24%! I wonder what made it disconnect??

Yeah, I just had a senior moment.

I'd pull the trigger now, but I've simply spent too much money this month, and not just on Christmas, that doesn't even count. I'd also like to see what comes out of CES next month before I make a final decision. I know there is always new and better stuff coming, but there is no pressing need right now to replace my cable DVR. I want to be very sure I'll be happy with the Moxi for the next 5 years.

Thats how I can tell. I know I have about 30% full and I have a couple of shows that I know are on the external and if those shows don't show up, then it is disconnected.

I know though they won't want to trouble shoot it because its technically not a "DVR certified" external drive.

I'm thinking of giving a Moxi a try. Have a couple of questions.

My situation is that I've been using Tivos for several years... currently have 2 Series 2 that are ending contract next month, and one Tivo HD that is lifetime. I tried to buy a Tivo HD XL this past week and after trying 2 from Amazon, both had what appears to be a widespread problem with not being able to restart without a power cycle. I had bought lifetime on it, but ended up getting a refund and now thinking about a Moxi.

Of the features it lacks, I care little about the Tivo on the Go thing... more worried about the setting recordings for keywords. For example, I record all yankees games and one of my questions is to ask how that might be done with a Moxi? Yankees games come on MLB Extra Innings during the week, but on Fox, ESPN, or the networks on the weekends. Tivo seems to find them fine, but I'm concerned that it would be a nightmare with Moxi since MLB Extra Innings can be on any one of a dozen channels.

That brings me to question number 2. Time Warner has pretty much hosed me with multi-room viewing because of their setting everything to copy once. Moxi seems to solve that problem, but I don't know that 2 tuners will be enough to satisfy my household needs. Can a you do multi-room with 2 Moxis rather than 1 Moxi and 1 Mate. This would give me 4 tuners. Then if I added a Mate, I assume the Mate could watch anything from either of the Moxis. So can both of those work (Moxi to Moxi, or Mate to 2 Moxis)?

For question number 3, I'm looking for ideas. Time Warner has inconveniently set the MLB Extra Innings channels to copy never. That means I can't even record them and watch them on the same DVR. You can record it, but if you don't finish watching it within 90 minutes of the time it started, then it deletes it (on a Tivo). Games last longer than that so its impractical. This is Time Warner being ridiculous, but so be it. The only way to date that I can see that working is to keep a Tivo Series 2 around and pay Tivo about $150/year to keep it active so I can record SD Yankees games, even though I've already paid Time Warner more than that to access them. So if I go with a Moxi, is there some way I could use the streaming ability to get my Yankees games from another source? Any change of using the Moxi to access MLB's subscription program?