Rochester, NY - HDTV - Page 10

We are thinking right along the same lines.
Would like to see what you come up once you have it all speced out.

once I come up with a final design, I will post my config. I've been on vacation last 2 weeks of the year and have been doing allot of research on the subject (what else is there to do in the winter in Western NY). I'm pretty sure on my PC hardware equipment, but I've been trying to find a good HTPC case that will look good in my audio rack and not make allot of noise. There is allot of stuff out there. I'll keep you posted.

Turned on the TV in the bedroom and was checking what channels I get. I have the super basic $10/mo service and found that I was still getting Elmira channels on that TV. They were showing up qaround 112.X area. Won't try a rescan on that set. I may try it on my living room set and see what shows up.

I Just Got a Flyer in the Mail from TWC that Says their rates are going up on Feburary 1, 2010. They Will be listed in the attached Word Document. It Also Says Standard Cable Customers can get Digital Cable for the The Same Price as Standard Cable. If you get a DVR with Digital Cable you only pay $5 more a month for 12 Months

 

Time Warner Cable Rates.doc 19k . file

Hasn't digital always been the same rate as "Standard" with TWC? The flyer goes a bit further and says digital is same cost as with "Basic AND Standard" (I highlighted the "AND"). What the frak is "Basic AND Standard" anyway? I though you had either basic or standard. I called and asked and the CSR said they had fielded a lot of calls on this. It's basically a bit of misdirection and no different than their policy has been: no extra charge for digital cable over and above standard cable (which is already a high price). You DO NOT get digital cable for the same price as "Basic". I know we shouldn't expect it for $10, but the flyer wording was very ambiguous.

With the Current Cable Rates you pay $6.50 for Digital Programming. That on top of Standard Cable and Basic. With The New Prices Standard Cable Customers will pay what we pay now for digital so TW made Their Digital Package a part of Standard Cable.

So then. We are locked into a price agreement through June. Am I to assume that after that we will be paying $74.80 for one standard digital cable box ? I guess at that time we will go with the Watch and Surf at $111.95/month. We are locked in on the RR until June also at $29.95 a month.

GEESH!...TW charges for remotes........talk about revenue streams.

GEESH!.....Where have you been for the last 20 or so years? But they did reduce the price 1 cent/month.

One can always get a universal remote and save $0.30/month by turning the TW remote in.

Can anybody Tell me what package TW is referring to where it says Digital Basic Tier. I think that is their Digital Cable package without Premium Channels but i am not sure. If i an correct why does the right image says Digital Cable is $71 beceause that is the new Total Price for Standard Cable Customers.

I tried returning my remote and they told me that my rate would go up!

Was that because the remote is included in the package that you have? I suppose that returning the remote would take you out of the package.

Yes, that's what they said, even though it was a line item on the bill... I never know who to believe when I go there.

I'm on my second attempt at a Windows based media center. The first worked, but ended up being a failure when Vista ended up in a Windows Update circle of death. I just gave up and installed W7. Also, Linksys stopped supporting the media center extenders I have so they won't do h.264 although they have the power to do it.

The problem with a media center pc is that it runs windows, and sometimes the PC crashes, sometimes it reboots, sometimes the sound is funny, sometimes the display is jerky. Just when you think you've got it right, something else happens.

My setup is a dell c521 with 2 tuners in it for recording tv. I have my ripped movies sitting on a Home server, and ripped BD movies on another pc, all joined by libraries in the homegroup, eventually all the content except maybe the tv will sit on the home server. I have a new Dell Zino sitting upstairs running as a mc client, connected to the net via Wireless N. It was running fine, playing files remotely, but now it's not. I haven't figured that one out yet.

If I were you, I'd see what Microsoft is up to with Home server at CES. Maybe they'll have tuners in the next version of home server. Their strategy/implementation is still a bit fragmented, but they're getting there.

At the moment, I only use the Media center as backup of the TW dvr, but I hope to use it as a whole house dvr some day. The media center extenders I have will play the Windows 7 tv shows, but won't do most h.264 shows. I have old pcs running W7 that I plan to use like an extender. You can do everything but live tv, which is something I want. I have a Hauppauge HD-PVR 1212 that I can get to work with MC, but I can't figure a way to stream it to upstairs.

If I could find a way to get ESPN and other live cable sports, I would probably be happy with Network and Netflix, that would save me nearly $100 a month.

By the way, I've been putting W7 lots of old pcs. The latest was a 5 year old laptop and they run fine. You can get a new Zino with HDMI for around $250, very small, very quiet. That's a good place to start when paired with a home server.

Good luck,

Greg

I don't think it has shown as a "line item" for awhile now. TW used to provide additional detail some time ago that said the "package includes...." and included in that was .31 for the remote. That detail has not been provided for several months.

Maybe you have a different package and a different bill.

Satellite ................ TW remotes run from $2-$10 on eBay.

I tried to return it sometime last year, whenever they got rid of cable cards and gave me a box instead.

Now that The Daily Show & The Colbert Report are available in HD, it would be nice if TW would add the Comedy Central HD. But then I see that it is not available on DirecTV either (score another one for Dish, which does have it).

Dave - DirecTV has had Comedy Central in HD for over a year now.

Really?

The DirecTV HD Channel Line Up didn't show it.

Confirmed. Channel 249. It's part of the Choice package and above. This only exclused the bottom most package (i.e., Family)

Gotcha Lee. It's funny that they don't show it on the list that I linked. That's the list a potential new subscriber would see (to chose which package to get). It was easier to find on the Dish site.

Nice to know that both are still options.

Greeting gents. Im getting really close to ditching cable and just going OTA. Im willing to do a good quality outdoor antenna and have a few questions/comments.

- I assume holes will have to be drilled going into the house to connect the antenna? Can an existing cable line be used? Just checking.

- Ive run my address through antennaweb and a few others already. I have no trees in the way and no large structures. Im in Churchville, NY. So, it appears Im a decent area for OTA reception.

- For an outdoor antenna, the higher the better, right? So, putting it on my garage roof isnt a good idea... better off using the main roof of the house...right?

- How do antennas stand up to windy conditions? It can get windy here and with nothing to block it, the gusts can get pretty hairy.

Lastly, any recommendations for a good outdoor unit? The Winegards seem to get good reviews. Any others? I dont mind spending a little bit extra since if Im gonna do this I want to do it right the first time.

Thanks!!!!

Some searching may answer all your questions, but:

Rg-6 coax will work if it's in good condition. I've had a winegard HD7084P up for 5+ years and it is holding up well. I use a HDP269 preamp and rotor, get all locals, several Buffalo, and 1 Syracuse (sometimes more). Wind/bad weather will cause major break ups. Certain weather conditions will "duct" more signals in from distant cities.

Thanks - I did and will do some more searching but many times you get partial info, somewhat outdated info, not really what you wanted, etc, etc.

Appreciate the info.

I was looking at the 2010 Rates for TW and i am confused about the new Prices for Standard Cable and Digital Cable beceause Standard Cable will be $71 next month and Digital Cable is supposed to be the same price as standard. Can anybody tell me if this is true or not beceause i asked TW this same question and they only told me the new price for Standard. They Refused to tell me any of their Digital Cable Prices. Another Question, Does anybody know what channels come with the Digital Basic Tier that is listed in the TW Rates Image above.

This is just a (educated) guess, but I suspect that the price list is a bit screwed up and the "Digital Basic Tier" is the extra charge for a digital converter to receive the local basic HD channels (seeing that TW does not seem to recognize that folks can pick up the local HDs via a QAM tuner). I had a conversation with them a year or so ago and they told me that I could get basic cable with HD by renting the converter box.

Does anybody know if i can get HD Channels with TW Family Choice Package. I Plan on Getting it after the 2010 Rates take effect. I know some of you think this package doesn't exist so this link is proof that it does.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/north...ilychoice.html

I think a HD DVR is $5 more a month with a Digital Package and if somebody can confirm this for me i would appreciate it.

The Flyer i got from TW with the new rates listed says a DVR is $5 more a month with digital cable. The Family Choice Package is a Digital Package so i should be able to get a DVR for $5 more a month. Can anybody with Digital Cable tell me how much they pay for a HD DVR.

I looked at the Flyer again and I just noticed it says $5 a month for 12 Months. Do you know if the price for DVR Service will stay the same when the 2010 Rates take effect on Feburary 1 or will it go down. I know a regular HD box will be $7.30 when the 2010 Rates take effect but the new price for a DVR is not listed.