Comcast DVR Questions...

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  • ODogg
    Hall Of Fame
    • Feb 2003
    • 37953

    #16
    Re: Comcast DVR Questions...

    I really can't believe all the people in this thread saying Comcast DVR's are "great" or even "good". I have the dual tuner Motorola from Comcast and they are, to put it bluntly, garbage pretty much. I'm on my 5th tuner as they keep having problems and Comcast's solution is to give you another box. What kind of problems? Well let me see:

    1. Phantom programs showing up without a title on the box, with a record date of 1989, can't erase these and after awhile the more you get...leads to problem 2.

    2. Unbelievably bad response time the longer you own the box, the more you use it. Right now i've had my box for about a year so about 60-70% of the time each button press takes about 5 or 6 seconds, sometimes minutes, to go through. Yes I know I can exchange it to get back the instant response but then I gotta reprogram everything.

    3. Sometimes it simply does not record items. Although this is rare there are certain shows that my comcast box seemingly has a mind of it's own and refuses to record unless I program a manual record. 24 comes to mind. It got to the point where I made sure I was home when 24 was on so I could just watch it when it was on because the box seemed to never want to record it.

    4. The interface is archaic and clunky. The interface for this box really reminds me of the 1980's commodore 64 interface, it's sinfully ugly.

    5. The box needs reset every so often or it simply quits working, ie you'll turn to NBC and there is no picture. One way i've found around this is playing a program I have on my DVR, then stopping it and then the picture will be back again but I shouldn't have to do this. You REALLY do not want to reset because it takes the box literally 3 or 4 days to get back all your program listings.

    6. At $10 a month I think this service is overpriced as it's not as good as Tivo. A more fair price would be $6 I believe.

    I've heard that the new HDMI enabled boxes are better, the box I have is the DVI box, which I have a DVI to HDMI cable running to my tv, so maybe the people in this thread who have the newer HDMI boxes are having a better experience. Personally I think the best DVR service is Microsoft's now defunct offering of Ultimate TV...that thing worked great, the controls were instant, it was smart in it's recordings, even adjusting to added minutes on shows like E/R and etc and also webtv enabled so if you wanted to check something like the weather from your Lazyboy you could. If you have direcTV i'd recommend hitting up Ebay for an UltimateTV box as Directv still supports it, but the units just aren't sold new anymore.
    Streaming PC & PS5 games, join me most nights after 6:00pm ET on TwitchTV https://www.twitch.tv/shaunh20
    or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@shaunh741

    Comment

    • Kodiak33
      MVP
      • Aug 2002
      • 1093

      #17
      Re: Comcast DVR Questions...

      ODogg, I have the HDMI version, so maybe that's why mine is working fine...so far. I bought my parents a DISH DVR last Chrismas, and it was having some of the problems you were talking about for awhile (such as the box shutting down, etc.) Now it seems to work fine, it might have been a heat issue.

      Comment

      • mjb2124
        Hall Of Fame
        • Aug 2002
        • 13649

        #18
        Re: Comcast DVR Questions...

        Odogg - Interesting comments. While I don't have Comcast, I believe I have the same DVR through my cable company. I've never had those problems. Only issue I have is that if a TV show that I want recorded is pre-empted by another show (ie: President speech) then it'll record the Pres's speech because it's not smart enough to decipher what the program is - just that it should record at that time.

        Comment

        • jmw1137
          *t's g*nn* b* L*g*nd*ry
          • Mar 2003
          • 1119

          #19
          Re: Comcast DVR Questions...

          I've been using the HDMI version for almost 2 years...I've experienced a few problems like you mentioned but not all of them and not very often at all. IMO, the $10 I pay a month for it gives me good/satisfactory service so I'm not complaining.

          As far as paying an initial, I didn't pay anything either...we just pay $10 a month for it.

          Comment

          • koebner
            MVP
            • Jul 2002
            • 1956

            #20
            Re: Comcast DVR Questions...

            I've got 2 6412 dual tuners with HDMI and for the most part they have been decent but the HDMI port has quit on one,and occasionally the slow button response bug occurs.
            PS3/PS4 BradCompany

            Comment

            • SoMiss2000
              Hall Of Fame
              • Oct 2002
              • 20499

              #21
              Re: Comcast DVR Questions...

              Originally posted by ODogg
              I really can't believe all the people in this thread saying Comcast DVR's are "great" or even "good". I have the dual tuner Motorola from Comcast and they are, to put it bluntly, garbage pretty much. I'm on my 5th tuner as they keep having problems and Comcast's solution is to give you another box. What kind of problems? Well let me see:

              1. Phantom programs showing up without a title on the box, with a record date of 1989, can't erase these and after awhile the more you get...leads to problem 2.

              2. Unbelievably bad response time the longer you own the box, the more you use it. Right now i've had my box for about a year so about 60-70% of the time each button press takes about 5 or 6 seconds, sometimes minutes, to go through. Yes I know I can exchange it to get back the instant response but then I gotta reprogram everything.

              3. Sometimes it simply does not record items. Although this is rare there are certain shows that my comcast box seemingly has a mind of it's own and refuses to record unless I program a manual record. 24 comes to mind. It got to the point where I made sure I was home when 24 was on so I could just watch it when it was on because the box seemed to never want to record it.

              4. The interface is archaic and clunky. The interface for this box really reminds me of the 1980's commodore 64 interface, it's sinfully ugly.

              5. The box needs reset every so often or it simply quits working, ie you'll turn to NBC and there is no picture. One way i've found around this is playing a program I have on my DVR, then stopping it and then the picture will be back again but I shouldn't have to do this. You REALLY do not want to reset because it takes the box literally 3 or 4 days to get back all your program listings.

              6. At $10 a month I think this service is overpriced as it's not as good as Tivo. A more fair price would be $6 I believe.

              I've heard that the new HDMI enabled boxes are better, the box I have is the DVI box, which I have a DVI to HDMI cable running to my tv, so maybe the people in this thread who have the newer HDMI boxes are having a better experience. Personally I think the best DVR service is Microsoft's now defunct offering of Ultimate TV...that thing worked great, the controls were instant, it was smart in it's recordings, even adjusting to added minutes on shows like E/R and etc and also webtv enabled so if you wanted to check something like the weather from your Lazyboy you could. If you have direcTV i'd recommend hitting up Ebay for an UltimateTV box as Directv still supports it, but the units just aren't sold new anymore.
              agreed. Their crap. I've had them for 2 years and finally had my original hd dvr replaced after getting so frustrated with it.
              "Never trust a big butt and a smile."-Ricky Bell
              Check out www.sliderset.net



              Currently Listening: The D.O.C.: No One Can Do It Better (evidence that rap music used to be good!)

              Comment

              • ODogg
                Hall Of Fame
                • Feb 2003
                • 37953

                #22
                Re: Comcast DVR Questions...

                Originally posted by SoMiss2000
                agreed. Their crap. I've had them for 2 years and finally had my original hd dvr replaced after getting so frustrated with it.
                glad to see i'm not the only one as i was beginning to wonder if i just had the worst luck in the world with these boxes.
                Streaming PC & PS5 games, join me most nights after 6:00pm ET on TwitchTV https://www.twitch.tv/shaunh20
                or Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@shaunh741

                Comment

                • Chrono
                  MVP
                  • Jul 2002
                  • 728

                  #23
                  Re: Comcast DVR Questions...

                  Originally posted by ODogg
                  glad to see i'm not the only one as i was beginning to wonder if i just had the worst luck in the world with these boxes.
                  Well for me the 5th time was a charm. My first 4 DVR boxes had most of the problems you mentioned... some right off the bat, and others would show up after a few weeks of use. I guess the only plus is that it doesn't cost any money to have Comcast come and replace your unit... only your time.

                  Now I've had my latest box for over a year, and this one has been perfect (finally). Although oddly enough mine has no DVI or HDMI output which kind of stinks. My tv looks good enough with component cables that I don't feel like taking a chance with getting another one! Now that I have one that works, I LOVE it would hate to ever be without one again.

                  Granted I don't have much of a choice anyway, since my local comcast tells me they are out of DVR boxes and have been for quite some time. I'm getting a new HDTV for the bedroom, so i'm just getting a basic box which will give me Digital Cable and the HD feed.
                  LET'S GO FLYERS, YANKEES, DOLPHINS!!!

                  Comment

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