Atlanta, GA - Comcast - Page 2

Strange... in Seattle they've combined my AT T cable and broadband bill into one - we are mostlikely not going to get the name change? Or? Hmmm...

I read through this thread....VERY good information. I had just recently purchased a 34" wide HD tube and started looking into OTA and exactly what I would need in terms of the STB.

Now after reviewing this thread, I probably want to not go with OTA and wait for AT&T/Comcast.

Now to my newbie question. I see mention of hardware that I am not familiar with here. Would I have to buy a STB and AT&T/Comcast will provide me with a different HD STB so I can receive HD? Or will the box provided by AT&T be an all in one solution that I will not have to purchase an HD/STB? The big question is...what if anything would I have to buy to get HD/DTV from AT&T/Comcast?

Thanks in advance for the input. Also...if anyone has a number I will gladly call and bug them for HD over cable in Atlanta.

They will provide probably a Motorola 5100, which is an integrated HD cable STB. There's a link somewhere in this thread to other places where you can get more info on this STB, but in short, it has component video and S video outputs plus DD 5.1 coax and optical outputs for sound. However, what we really want is the 5200 w/ the firewire and DVI options, plus a very large PVR disk to record HD on it. We have to ask for it so they know we want it.

You won't have to buy anything unless you want to get the OTA stations that are not included in the initial line up. For example, if you wan to get CBS or ABC now, you'll have to use a separate OTA STB. However, this should be temporary as they claim they'll have all the networks in HD before next summer.

Well, Comcast screwed my parents over. They were told that the boxes would be available today and when they went to pick one up, the morons told them they had no idea what they were talking about. It is pathetic that I can get HD service throught my cable provider in Columbia, SC but people in Atlanta are STILL behind in the cable systems. I feel for all Atlantans. I am really happy I moved away.

Merry Christmas!!

THANKS lcaamano

Well done jdp. I called today also, and pretty much got the same deal. Took down my information and flagged my account as being interested in HD for the Atlanta area......now we wait.....

They were friendly enough....

When I called today, I used the "I'm subscribed to digital cable and HBO and I cannot see channel 880" line. It took about 20 seconds to get to the "Ah, you want HDTV" line. This time though, she was ahead of me. When I said "How do I know when it's available?" she said, "oh we recorded your request on the 4th and then again on the 6th. Don't worry, we will call you" "yeah, right" I thought.

This getting to be fun. Let's see what I get when I call on Thursday.

Squeeky wheel.

You would think they would by hyping it some....I had no idea it was going to be offered till I found this thread.

Hopefully soon.

Is funny....remindes me of years ago when I was bugging them...they were Media One at the time...for high speed data. DSL wasn't an option in my area at the time, MO was offering a cable connection....bugged and bugged and bugged and it finally came.... ;-)

Have you noticed how the PQ has degraded since they added the HD channels? I saw it first as ghosting from channel 2 into fox while watching 24 comparing to the OTA digital signal. I've never seen ghosting on cable before. Then my kid was watching Arthur on PBA, which normally looked great, and now it had terrible ghosting. This morning I compared the analog signal from OTA with cable and cable had terrible ghosting.

I have digital cable btw. I wonder if they are doing some extra compression to the non-HD channels to accomodate the HD channels.
They only have 750mhz for everything, internet, music channels, ppv, network channels, cable only channels, and now a few HD. 750 mhz can only accomodate a maximum of 125 6-mhz channels, which shows why we won't have 125 HD channels any time soon.

Seems they are operating under the "quantity before quality" rule.

That's a lot better! It seems I won't need the 165 for OTA sooner than I expected.


Excellent!


I called repair to tell them about the ghosting. I'm only seeing in ALL the time on PBS channel 16 (just look at PBS logo with a dark background). I saw ghosting from WSB to WAGA FOX last Tuesday but not since. (WSB is channel 3 and WAGA is channel 4 on their cable line up).

When I called to get an appointment for the ghosting, she said, of we have the HDTV box for you, let's make sure they bring the box too. I couldn't believe that so I asked if it was the Moto 5100. She said, "no, it's the 2000L you requested." Ahhhhhh, no, that's for dolby digital and S-video. She said, "yes, we got those available now." I asked how soon they'll get the 5100s and she said pretty soon. So I asked her to cancel the request for the L box but I'm still getting a tech guy to coming in to check my signal strength to see if we can get rid of the ghosting.

The appointment is for next Wednesday. I'll call Tuesday to see if he can bring a 5100 for testing

Oh when we're still thinking he was going to bring the HDTV box, that is, before I asked for the model number, she said "he'll connect the box for you." I said, "no way jose! He's giving me the box and I'm connecting it. He would not know where to plug in the DD 5.1 audio or the component cables. " "Oh no, he can!" "Trust me, I'm connecting it."

The no increase over digital prices sounds great. Hope they stick to it.
Guess I'll be calling this afternoon.
Jason

Do keep this thread updated if you can....The first person in Atlanta with AT&T/Comcast digital cable who gets HD up and running should get a prize ;-)

Will be great to know when folks start getting HD.

Well, I called today and put in my request to replace my digital cable box with one that will receive HDTV signals. I called the change service number and the CSR knew what I was talking about but he told me that since I only had one box and I was requesting that it be replaced I needed to call the service and repair number instead. I called that number and told the CSR what I wanted and she said she needed to check with her supervisor. When she came back on the line, she said she had made a note in my file with my request but I may still need to call back after January 1 to remind them.

-Skip

I just called to inquire about setting up an appointment and got a clueless csr. He kept telling me that the s-video supported HDTV. I finally just asked him to make a note in my file with my request for the 5100. Maybe we should call for new service rather than change of service. Might get better support there. I'll try that tonight.

Jason

"S-video supports HDTV" ARRRRRGH.

I just got off the phone with a CSR, who informed me that they had no information, and that they are referring inquiries to an outside firm that is handling the beta and roll-out program. They said I should get a call very soon "because we are keen to get this rolled out quickly".

We'll see...

Added as an edit: I called the change/move number.

Have you guys been calling the moves/changes number repair number, or new business number to get ahold of a knowledgeable rep?

Jason

Disreagrd above post, just got off the phone with a moves/changes. She wouldn't give me any info beyond it's almost ready so.... keep calling!!!

Jason

Well, I'll be giving it another try today. Wish me luck!!!

Jason

Good Luck, keep us informed.

Since I already havd DirecTV, Dish and an antenna in my attic I had decided to wait for Comcast to add more channels before calling them, however if they have HBO-HD-W and Showtime-HD-W that will be enough more me to call them.

It would be nice to be able to get all the HD channels from just one source.