Seattle, WA - Comcast - Page 2

As soon as I heard about it I ordered the new box to replace our older box and they'll be out tomorrow. No added fee, so I'll be checking out the M's on the 11th!

I called Comcast to inquire about the Mariners HDTV capability.

Since I have internet and basic cable only (no digital cable or box) they tell me I have to subscribe to one of their digital packages to get the box and the Mariners. The least expensive package is $12/month more than the basic cable I get today. Plus, they want $16 one time to install the box (or I can pick it up at their store, install it myself for no charge).

I have not decided if I want to pay for a box or not to see up to 19 HD Mariners games (if I am even home to see them).

So, tell me, where is Otisburg?

I thought this package would be an extra charge, but it is included for "free"! Finally, something other than HBO-HD since last Fall ...

the comcast CSR i'm talking to right now read off the "white Paper" for this release, it will be broadcast in 1080i.

so, i'm probably going to sign up for digital cable so i can get this package.
any chance the motorola DCT5100 that they supply (in seattle) has the DVI output? the CSR is pretty confused about the hardware so I'm hoping someone here might know? also, i thought i read somewhere that the DCT5100 can also function as a cable modem for my highspeed internet service?

also
they have a promotional offer that is $9.99 over basic extended cable for the digital package, price moves to $11.99 additional after september. free installation. (basic cable $36.99 + $9.99 = $46.98)

also, she said that customers CAN NOT pick up the DCT5100 from their outlets (is this true?) and they are booked solid for installations all through next week, soonest I got was friday the 13th at noon.

Nope, the 5100 doesn't have the DVI output, and the cable modem option isn't enabled / available in seattle at this time (the installer that came to my house didn't even know it could work as a cable modem).

The new boxes have to be properly provisioned before service, as does the HDTV service (a separate "hit" in my case). I just had my old sidecar setup replaced with the 5100 a month ago or so, and it took a couple of "hits" to get everything working properly.

Rich

a couple of "hits"??
i'm not privy to your lingo
yo
but, thanks for the info
on the 5100

is this something the install person was able to do on the spot ("provisioned") or are you saying it took several appointments ("hits"?) to get the kinks worked out?

sorry for being cryptic.

A "hit" is when they call into the central office (CO) and have them send a signal to the box to reset it (starting new service). this can be done onsite by the tech (they'll call in) and only takes a minute or two. Provisioning is essentially a "hit" to enable new service.

One service call should be all you need for adding the service.

rich

dammit!

I'm getting the mariner's game in HD, but it's all stuttery...every 3 secs or so it breaks up or stutters!

This is why I took the antenna off the roof and got HD from comcast....ack!

Any one else having this problem? My other HD channels are fine, as are all of my other analog and digital channels (101 for instance)....

Rich

My reception over Comcast is just fine, no stutters at all.

It seems to be a regional thing...I'm in the shoreline area (northwest shoreline - near s edmonds)...there's another guy who's having the same problem as me...

Rich

that's me. It's like it pauses for about half a second and runs for a second and a half over and over.

My cable modem went out for a few minutes just now too. Hopefull because they are working on it

Picture perfect! It was wonderful, although I wasn't as pleased with the production.

1. The score bar was lower and the picture framed higher so they kept fading the score bar in and out to keep from cutting off heads. Kind of annoying.
2. Very few replays, had to keep switching to catch replays like Cameron's home run and Guillen's out on the double steal. A lot of the replays were an inning old during breaks.
3. No player stats.

These didn't keep me from switching back immediately to the gorgeous HDTV picture!

Finally- I get to experience what I paid for in my HDTV/Comcast setup. It was a beautiful image. Too bad the Mariners lost.

My main complaint pertains to the way the production people kept jumping back and forth between replays and live action, and at some times you had no idea if what you were seeing was a replay or live.

Looking forward to tonight's game.

Here's a quote from another thread re: the mariners last nite (started by one of the engineers of the broadcast....



so, it makes sense that teh commentary and video were sometimes out of synch....still looked great though (despite the stuttering).

Cheers,

Rich

Wow, what a great picture! I had no stuttering.

I liked the way they faded the score bar in and out ... most of the time there was a clean, clear picture, and they would put up the score card for a pitch. So you always knew what the situation was, and the clear picture made it feel like you were there!

The wife was impressed also. She wasn't as impressed with HBO-HD.

Anyone notice the half-page Comcast ad on the Mariners HD broadcasts in Thursday's PI sports section?

"Coming soon, PBS and other hi-def broadcasts not available anywhere else"

So does this mean we shouldn't be expecting ABC, NBC or CBS in HD from Comcast anytime soon? What does the "other hi-def broadcasts not available anywhere else" mean? MLB All star game?

I still have the old sidecar box, someone had said before that att would be contacting us.. and they never did.. but i also read some people weren't exactly pleased with their 5100 boxes.. Should i call in and get it or just stick with the sidecar? Am i going to get any wierd effects with the new box? (like the box does the stretching of pictures to fit my 16:9 tv? cuz my Pioneer 64sd5 does great stretching on its own)...

Will i definatley NEED that 5100 instead of what i've got?

Jinx,

I was eventually forced to upgrade to the 5100....my sidecar stopped receiving HD content altogether. In my local area, they made changes to the HD system that made the sidecar setup not work, and require a replacement.

As far as the difference? I now use the 5100 component output for both SD and HD content. I have the 5100 output 480i for the SD, and 1080i for the HD content (so I dont' have to switch inputs to watch HD content). The SD content via component is a little lower quality than via the composite connection (and I hear they're working on it), but I am willing to give up a small bit of quality for the convenience of not having to switch input for HD.

If you'd rather stay with your "old" setup (HD via component, SD via composite/svid) that's possible too with the 5100......

my guess is that eventually, you'll HAVE to get the 5100, but if you're currently happy, then I don't know that there's a real compelling reason to do so.

Cheers,

Rich

well cant really be unhappy cuz we are not even using the sidecare (no hdtv cuz they wont add any channels and hbo and showtime are rip off's) so were not out anything.. but it sounds like i will still able to output it out at 480i which would let my tv do the stretching, then whenever we switch to a 1080i channel it will automatically switch and then be widescreen or whatever the cable company is forcing it out at..

tho my tv doesn do 720p (i guess i didnt research every single thing before buying) so i asume the box would just upconvert it?

If there isn't any cons compared to the sidecare box then i'll just call them and get it switched before the 28th comes cuz we wouldn't wana miss the mariners game! (i didnt know they were actually doing it before so i missed the first 3 games)...

Seahawks exhibition games have been in HD the past few years, but I see they are on KCPQ (Fox) this year. Is there any chance an HD signal could be made available to Comcast this year? Even if it's a PPV broadcast, it would be a great way to promote Comcast HD and the Seahawks.

I don't know of any problems with the 5100 box. I love it compared to the old digital cable box! Still, I can't wait til they get ones with HD recording functionality.

The only complaint I have with the 5100 is the quality of the SD channels when output over component (I'm using 480i output over component to my plasma). The pq is grainy compared to the composite input of the same channel.

However, the added convenience of not having to change to a different input to view HD material is priceless...so I deal with the slight quality loss.

Also, has anyone else been seeing the comcast HD commercials touting PBS as "Coming Soon"?

Cheers,

Rich

Had Comcast Tech out today...some idiot put a filter on our line blocking channels 2-99. While he was out he replaced the sidecar setup with the 5100 and so far I like the channel switching a bit better than the black screen in between channels.

He said PBS was the next channel to come, and while he was here we saw the commercial for it. That was the first time I had seen it advertised other than on the print ad with the M's game schedule.

It cant be possible that our cable company would give us boxes that recording capabilities not to mention in HD recording capability can it?

There are HD vcr's and stuff but i dont know nuttin about them, but sometimes i feel like recording whatever i can just to watch it later in HD that and we are going to the mariners game on the 29th and i wouldn't mind recording it in case we are on TV (cuz now we will be able to ACTUALLY see our faces on the non blurry set!!)

The current 5100 doesn't have recording capability at all...it CAN have a firewire port that can be connected to a D-VHS machine for recording, but I've never heard of a 5100 where the firewire was installed/active.

The 6100 is the upcoming "recording" HD box...it will have internal HD's (like a tivo) and will be capable of recording both SD and HD content.....it's still in a beta phase and is not in use anywhere that I know of.

Rich

I'm down in the SF Bay Area in CA, but moving soon back to the Seattle area. What hardware do your boxes have concerning HD video output? Here, we have DVI although it has not yet been enabled. They've opted for DVI over firewire at this time. But it's sort of one or the other with the 5100's.

The 5100s being deployed by comcast in Seattle have YPbPr analog output only. No DVI.

And who knows if Comcast will deploy the DVR capable boxes (Mot makes several)?

Talking to folks in the cable industry they're still chasing the VOD and Interactive TV lemmings. Ten plus years of Interactive TV failures and the simple math that says there's not enough bandwidth to feed VOD to a metropolitain area has not yet sunk in. The only new TV technology that's been any kind of success in the USA is DVR and they are not exactly scrambling to deploy it in the STBs.

Does anybody know what kind of cable plant Gig Harbor has? (like 550 or 750, etc)

I'm under the impression that parts of the town have high-speed internet access through cable, but that doesn't tell me decisively the type of cable plant that's there. I'm moving into the area and am looking at Gig Harbor. I really need to have high-speed internet and would prefer to have HDTV access through cable.

I can't tell you about the cable, but be aware of the traffic on the Tacoma Narrows bridge if you look in Gig Harbor and commute to the east side of the Narrows. I have a couple of co-workers who live past Gig Harbor and commute to Federal Way. There have been plenty of days when a 45 minute drive is 2 plus hours due to congestion going over the bridge.