Comcast coming Wednesday to install DVR

[BillRG]

I just got a call from Comcast. I had my name on their waiting list.

I live in MA, 30 miles from Boston.

They quoted an additional charge of $8.75 per month for the STB and $15.95 instalation.

This was for a box with capability for 8 hours HDTV recording, more for SDTV.

I'll post the details after it is in and working.

Bill

[57U]

Sounds like the Motorola 6208. You may wish to do a search on this site for that model number if you wish. It has a single tuner, 80 GB HDD. It will allow you to record one programme while watching another programme already recorded, but it won't allow you to watch one programme while recording another.

[BillRG]

Yup - It was a 6208 which is in and working great. Mine was the eighth one he installed today.

I got the speech about the one tuner, with the two tuner model promised by August.

Now all I need is more gigabytes ;)

[57U]

You're right about the gigabytes. My SA8000HD has a 160GB HDD - good for about 20 hours of HD, but I was close to "full" in less than a week of recording and constantly viewing, deleting...

External firewire HDD will come in handy "soon"...

[mfabien]

External firewire HDD will come in handy "soon"...

Can you say more about this external HDD? What make and model are you thinking about, if it exists?

[57U]

I can't find the link right now, but there were some special HDDs being designed especially for this purpose. They would be formatted by the STB, so that you could not "read" the information, except from the STB. If I recall they were 160 GB HDD, don't recall the price. I don't believe they are available yet, but were announced.

[keith1229]

i have a question: does this 6208 have selectable aspect ratios (or different zoom functions for the picture). i have a 4:3 hdtv and sometimes i like to zoom the pic to fill the screen. with DIRECTV i could do it. with the 6200 motorola box from comcast, i can not (there is a service menu with the option but it does not work). if so i am going to get the DVR, otherwise i will pass. thanks

[sillygoose]

i have a question: does this 6208 have selectable aspect ratios (or different zoom functions for the picture). i have a 4:3 hdtv and sometimes i like to zoom the pic to fill the screen. with DIRECTV i could do it. with the 6200 motorola box from comcast, i can not (there is a service menu with the option but it does not work). if so i am going to get the DVR, otherwise i will pass. thanks

The only differences between the 6200 and the 6208 are the DVR capabilities. The aspect ratio functions will be the same.

[keith1229]

ok thank you.

[BillRG]

Here is a link for info on HDD

http://www4.maxtor.com/en/products/ata/consumer_electronics/forms/quickview_info_req.cfm

[robnix]

Here is a link for info on HDD

http://www4.maxtor.com/en/products/ata/consumer_electronics/forms/quickview_info_req.cfm

What exactly will they do to guarantee that I can't archive off that drive somewhere else? Besides the Broadcast Flag?

[57U]

The drive is formatted to be readable only by the STB.

[sillygoose]

The drive is formatted to be readable only by the STB.
I would guess it would be more than just a format thing, probably encryption as well. Then again they did think that not telling people about hitting the shift key was a sufficient protection for audio CDs.

[robnix]

I would guess it would be more than just a format thing, probably encryption as well. Then again they did think that not telling people about hitting the shift key was a sufficient protection for audio CDs.

It would have to be encrypted somehow. I looked around the web and some of the tivo groups, and found nothing substantial on it. It seems to me that it may be more of a marketing ploy to sell drives than anything else.

[bestcaster]

I too was on a waiting list and was called last Tuesday...they came out Friday and installed the 6208 box. However, rep on the phone said nothing about installation cost, and now I see on my account page under recent transactions that they charged 15.99 for installation. All he did was unplug connections from old box and put in new box. Even used old power cord. And he knew nothing about DVR features...told him I'll read up on it and figure it out myself. he said comcast puts the product out first, then trains techs. I also heard from Comcast VP that Discovery HD is coming very soon an dthe dual tuner DVR-HD boxes this fall.

[BillRG]

I am having one problem - Comcast says they are looking into it.

My HBO On Demand and STARZ On Demand no longer work. I can access all HBO and STARZ channels, and I can get at the free On Demand stuff such as HGTV, History Channel etc.

If I try to get an HBO On Demand movie, I get a message that I must subscribe to a package, and to check package details. When I check, it says the price is complimentary, but if I try to view it, a message points me at 1-888-COMCAST.

All of this worked with my HD Box but went away when it was swapped out for the DVR unit.

Anyone else run into this ?

[57U]

The DVRs utilize the "on demand" channels if I recall correctly. I'm not sure if there is a workaround - call your cable company.

[Freddy Basset]

Thanks for the heads-up on this... :wave:

I just called Comcast here in Jersey and ordered the PVR box. Only handles 7 hours of HD, but it's better than nothing. Next week, I'll see how it goes.

[BillRG]

Comcast just confirmed that I am not the only one with the On Demand access problem. They said that others had called in with the problem, but not everyone with the 6208 is experiencing it.

They are working on a fix.

Looks like a software problem - nothing like being an early adopter :)

Bill

[alanjm1]

Thanks for the heads-up on this... :wave:

I just called Comcast here in Jersey and ordered the PVR box. Only handles 7 hours of HD, but it's better than nothing. Next week, I'll see how it goes.


Where in NJ are you located? I called about a week ago and they told me they didn't have the HD-DVRs yet?

[BillRG]

Do some of these 6208's have more than 80 GB ?

I just checked and I had about 7 hours of stuff recorded, and it was claiming to be 54 percent full.

I am still waiting for them to fix the HBO and STARZ on demand access problem.

Besides that, I am extremely happy with the rest.

[57U]

No, 6208s have 80 GB HDD. The "8" stands for 80. I've also found that some HD programmes don't take the 9 GB/hr. I've recorded quite a few on my SA8000HD that are anywhere from 4.5-9. Remember that SD is significantly lower. SD analogue is about 2, while SD digital is perhaps 1-2.

Here's a sample of my findings...

Programme - GB per hr HDD space

Nature programme on Niagara Falls (PBS WS) - 6.1
Six Feet Under (TMN HD) - 4.7 (surprisingly low - not much action I guess)
Deadwood (TMN-HD) - 4.6 (Also surprisingly low)
Insectia (Discovery HD) - 8.6
Nature (PBS HD) - 6.9
Athabaska River (Discovery HD) - 8.3
Jay Leno (NBC-HD) - 6.0
Something the Lord Made (TMN-HD) - 5.2
Various other HD programmes I watched this past week - typically 7-8.5
Shakespeare SD Digital - 1.2
La Mancha Movie SD Digital - 1.7
F1 SD Analogue, other analogues - 2.4

[Freddy Basset]

Where in NJ are you located? I called about a week ago and they told me they didn't have the HD-DVRs yet?

I'm in Essex County. :wave:

[alanjm1]

I'm in Essex County. :wave:

I'm in Ocean County and I'm on a waiting list. Hopefully it won't be too much longer. Did they call you or did you call them when they got the DVRs in?
Keep us posted on your progress with this new box. thanks

[Freddy Basset]

I called them.
I'll report back here after I get mine.

[BillRG]

Just wanted to wrap up posting to this thread.

Comcast fixed my HBO On Demand problem by accessing my box remotely, while I turned it on and off and reported what I saw.

It is now working 100%

[alanjm1]

I called them.
I'll report back here after I get mine.

Thanks and good luck with it. Enjoy!

[Freddy Basset]

Hi folks,

Comcast came today and installed the new Comcast HD-DVR.

Even though:
1. The Comcast office gave their installer the wrong time window to arrive here (we were here anyway).
2. The office told him to install the wrong STB. He just happened to have a Motorola 6208 in the van. :smokin:

Good Comcast installer, very nice guy.

So the new STB seems just fine. Outwardly, it's a dead-ringer for the old one (Motorola 5100). Looks to me like they just dropped a harddrive in there.

I'm a 3-year Tivo subscriber and this DVR works surprisingly easily. But it's got a couple of quirks that need some getting used to.

Make sure to ask if the installer has a connections package. I got a large bag of all kinds of nice patch cords [WTH are those two orange RCA cables for?]

Finally, I'm wondering if this STB can also serve as a cable modem. ???

I think you'll like this HD-DVR very much.

-Freddy

[hawks066]

Bill.. When a box is new and put in your house the free stuff will work and the premium stuff will not work until it is put on your account. Right after the box is placed on your account and the job is completed the system should have sent data to the box to unlock those features. There is a way to do a manual reset but I don't want to create even more problems for you and it would require a call to customer care to have a "hit" sent to the box. If you are still experiencing this problem, call them back and ask for a tech to come out and fix it.

[57U]

WTH are those two orange RCA cables for?
Digital audio SPDIF coax? You'll only need one? Read the instruction leaflet?

[hawks066]

Yea we give out wiring kits for HD installations. The optical cable is decent, like the one walmart sells for 25 bucks. The S Video is nice and thick. THe component set sucks. But you can't beat free! LOL. There's also some y adapters, a set of composite cables, the orange spdif digital audio cable, and maybe a couple other things. It's a huge bag. We techs are trying to get to the point where we can just order specific cables because the whole kit usually goes to waste when all we need is the decent optical cable.

[Freddy Basset]

WTH are those two orange RCA cables for?
Digital audio SPDIF coax? You'll only need one? Read the instruction leaflet?

There was no paperwork with the box, but I got two orange cables, and yup you're right, the SPDIF jack on the box is orange. New color code for me. :D

I also got two RCA y-adapters, three composite w/audio, two Toslink, two s-video, and a nice 5' component w/audio. Yikes, really generous.

[alanjm1]

There was no paperwork with the box, but I got two orange cables, and yup you're right, the SPDIF jack on the box is orange. New color code for me. :D

I also got two RCA y-adapters, three composite w/audio, two Toslink, two s-video, and a nice 5' component w/audio. Yikes, really generous.

The Mortorola 6208 has digital optical outputs? I wasn't aware your old model was also a Motorola. I'm in Ocean County and I have the SA 3100hd which only has a digital coax audio output. If & when they get the HD-DVRS I wonder what model they will be? Perhaps the SA 8000hd?

[alanjm1]

I finally talked to someone at Comcast (via email) that answered my questions. Below is the email she sent me.

Dear Alan,


It is already in place. Though Comcast is one company, it has acquired
many smaller cable systems. Those systems that were originally set up
for Scientific Atlanta(SA)equipment have and will continue to use SA
equipment. Systems that were originally set up to work with Motorola
equipment have and will continue to be provided with Motorola equipment.
Your area has and will continue to use Scientific Atlanta products.
Your friend in Essex County may only have a single tuner Motorola DVR-HD
box. We have a limited number of these boxes to hold customers over
until the greatly anticipated dual tuner DVR-HD box is available.

Sincerely,
Michelle
Comcast Customer Care Specialist


So it looks like I'll be getting the SA-8000HD sometime this fall. Maybe
it might be worth the wait afterall.