[NavinJohnson]

Is anyone else tortured by Motorola's HORRIBLE software in these 5200/6xxx boxes? Unfortunately, due to tall trees surrounding my property in Atlanta, I'm forced to go with Comcast cable and use these horrible, horrible converters. To use them is like stepping back in time. Among my gripes:


- The program guide allows almost as much space for advertising as the program guide itself.


- Only one time slot is shown at a time.


- You can't see a description of a program while browsing the program grid. You need to press the INFO key, which makes the program guide disappear to show the description of the program.


- There is no "picture-in-guide" or "picture-behind-guide" feature so you can keep your eye on what you're watching, but skim to see what else is on or coming up.


- It's response time is sometimes good, usually slow.


- When you pull up the guide, it always goes to the first channel in the list.


I could go on, but you get the idea.


Someone PLEASE help me understand how they (Motorola and/or Comcast) get away with offering such poor, dated technology, especially when Pioneer/SCIatl boxes' software is so superior?

 

[MrBeetle]

Not that it helps, but at least vent to the right area.


Blame TVGuide, not motorola. (Well, blame Motorola for using the TVGuide software...)

 

[NavinJohnson]

.... and Comcast for using Motorola equipment.

 

[miniz]

cut down the trees. get a satellite service quick!

 

[michaelc]

I've been where you are. After a month though, you get used to the box and it's little quirks (like moving ahead to the next half hour when there's only ten minutes left in the current half hour) I have a non-HD box hooked up to a ReplayTV for browsing 90 minutes in a screenful as well as PVR functions. Either that or if you have a computer nearby, sign up for a free TitanTV account too, as I've found that pretty useful in being able to cut the guide down to HD-only listings.


If it helps, in the TV Guide thing if the program you want info on is not on yet, you can just push select to get the information screen. You only need info if you want info on a program on right now.

 

[bac522]

Have you tried satellite? I'm surround by a ton of tall trees, but had no problem getting D* to work and being in New England my elevation on the dish is less then it will be for you in Atlanta. I think a lot of people give on on DBS because they look around and think the trees will be a problem.

 

[NavinJohnson]

That's what I thought. We had a guy come out to install a dish shortly after we moved in. After one look at our trees (er, our neighbor's trees that are to our SW) and walking around with his signal meter, he said "no way". We really tried to get him to think outside the box, but he couldn't come up with anything remotely acceptable/doable. It took me a couple days to get over that.

 

[igneous]

I believe if you had a general instrument box you'd hate it more. It has the same tv guide crap, as well as the slowest processor ever. Plus it has no serial port in the back, well it has an area for one, but they never put them in these boxes. I want the serial port to control the box through my htpc, instead of having to use an ir blaster

 

[V. Rossi]

In the Cypress, CA area, Comcast did some firmware upgrade and ended up disabling the DVI port on the Motorola HD receivers. What the hell kind of "upgrade" is that?! I can't even get definitive word as to whether they will reactivate it again, or if I will have to pay an extra $15/month to use their DVR HD box (which I don't need) in order to connect via DVI. These cable companies just give people reasons to go satellite.

 

[NavinJohnson]

That's f(*&in bullsh&@t. With more competition in the cable industry, we wouldn't have to put up with that. Although, it's impressive that Comcast has started rolling-out HD-DVRs. Question: is the program guide/navigation/ease-of-use any better on those (ie, like Tivo, perhaps)? I think I already know the answer (it's as counter-intuitive as they could possibly have made it).

 

[BBH]

I have to agree that the Motorola box is a piece of garbage. Coaxial and composite video only!!!


I am exploring going entirely to digital cable and dumping D* because I expect to buy a cablecard HD set one of these days. It might be the lack of S-video, but the Comcast stuff...the digital stuff...simply does not look as good as D*. The analog stuff below 100 is mediocre at best. I don't think S-video would even help there.


ALL the stuff on D* looks good. I guess I'm going to have to get someone in here for a full Satellite house-wide installation.


I picked up the digital boxes at the Comcast offices myself. Guess what the have in the lobby? An old 4x3 Sony displaying a CRAPPY coaxial feed picture. Wouldn't you think the MotherShip would have a 16x9 set blazing away with HD ???? (Pompano Beach, FLA BTW....)

 

[hometheaterguy]

But the new hi-def DCT's rock. I have one. S-vid, component, DVI...

http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/im...t6208_back.jpg

 

[MrBeetle]

Counting the weeks until my system starts installing the moxi box...

http://www.moxi.com/prodserv/moxi_overview.jsp

 

[evanhunter]

Quote:

Originally posted by hometheaterguy But the new hi-def DCT's rock. I have one. S-vid, component, DVI... http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/im...t6208_back.jpg

Yea but their is no digital out?

 

[NavinJohnson]

High-def DCT? What's a DCT?


Which cable companies are releasing the Moxi box?

 

[MrBeetle]

Quote:

Originally posted by evanhunter Yea but their is no digital out?

Huh?

http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/im...t6208_back.jpg


From the left...


Ethernet/USB/USB (Not used yet)

DVI (DIGITAL VIDEO!!!!)


Next, the RCA jacks. A stands for Analog. Top row:

Left A in - Right A in - SPDIF (DIGITAL COAX!!!) out - Composite in - Composite Out


Bottom Row:

Left A out - Right A out - Y/Pb/Pr (Component Vid)


Then, S-video.


DIGITAL OPTICAL OUT!!!!


FIREWIRE OUT!! (More digital)



...


Where is the lack of digital?

 

[hometheaterguy]

DCT is short for Digital Consumer Terminal (digital cable box).

 

[NavinJohnson]

Yes, I have two Motorola HD boxes, both with DVI, firewire, etc. Unfortunately, the EPG still makes me want to jump out the window. Amazing how advanced the hardware is, but the EPG is no better than what was available 15 years ago.

 

[MoxiGuy]

Quote:

Originally posted by NavinJohnson Which cable companies are releasing the Moxi box?

Moxi has deals (so far) with three of the top five cable operators: Comcast, Charter, and Adelphia. They are rolling Moxi out region-by-region, moving cautiously in these early stages. To date there are commercial deployments in Rochester, MN (Charter) and Ventura CA (Adelphia). We expect a number of other deployments to go live throughout the summer.

 

[NavinJohnson]

Wow, the moxi box looks very, very promising. The user interface is a work of art. I can only hope Comcast in Atlanta considers rolling these out here, and soon. I would pay a small fortune for such a box, either one-time, or as a monthly rental. Hopefully it can: a) automatically record anything with a certain keyword, b) let you play a recorded show while recording another and c) let you record one show while watching another live show (dual-tuner). If it did even ONE of these things, I'd be satisfied, though.