Comcast DVR

[Anonymous]

Comcast is rumored to be deploying its DVR device in November in the Seattle area.  It will supposedly be priced at $9.95 a month and require some level of digital service.  Perhaps the digital light (the unadvertised $5.00 per month rental for the cable converter box) would work with it.  It may also have 2 tuner cards, enabling one to record two shows at once and watch a third.  Supposedly, 80 hours of harddrive, which I presume is a 40GB HDD and that the 80hours is at the lowest quality setting.  This is supposed to not be advertised heavily, but available in early to mid-November.  Not advertised heavily because they don't have a good supply of DVR boxes.  If they have a box shortage, though, you would think they would restrict to people with some more expensive level of digital service that is more than digital light.  

I think all the monthly subscription costs ($9.95 per month plus added costs for digital), coupled with the uncertainty whether/when it will be available, make it chancey.  I would appreciate other people's views.

[Anonymous]

My girlfriend has a Comcast PVR (made by Motorola) here in Washington, DC (Adams Morgan.)  Not sure if its the same one but The digital service that comes with it is lackluster at best (very poor picture quality relative to my DirecTV, although I suspect that is a function of how the neighborhood is wired.)  My biggest frustrations with the Comcast PVR is the on-screen program guide; the resolution is poor and cluttered with advertising.  What this means is that not a lot of information is available, only the first few characters of a show.  It is very frustrating when looking for shows.  I am building a MythTV PVR to try to win her over to an alternative.  I miss my DirecTV when I'm at her house!  BTW, some portion of the unit's HDD capacity is used to store pre-downloaded Pay Per View content; I haven't tried to figure out the unit's total capacity.

[Anonymous]

Comcast is rumored to be deploying its DVR device in November in the Seattle area.  It will supposedly be priced at $9.95 a month and require some level of digital service.  Perhaps the digital light (the unadvertised $5.00 per month rental for the cable converter box) would work with it.  It may also have 2 tuner cards, enabling one to record two shows at once and watch a third.  Supposedly, 80 hours of harddrive, which I presume is a 40GB HDD and that the 80hours is at the lowest quality setting.  This is supposed to not be advertised heavily, but available in early to mid-November.  Not advertised heavily because they don't have a good supply of DVR boxes.  If they have a box shortage, though, you would think they would restrict to people with some more expensive level of digital service that is more than digital light.  

I think all the monthly subscription costs ($9.95 per month plus added costs for digital), coupled with the uncertainty whether/when it will be available, make it chancey.  I would appreciate other people's views.

[jasahl]

If it's the same DVR the offer in the Philly area (Motorola DCT6412), it stinks.

The picture quality is horrible & many people (including myself) had problems with the picture freezing frequently.  It was tons of fun sitting down to watch a show you recorded only to find that it froze 10 minutes from the end.  Motorola may have fixed the freezing, but I had it for two months & they kept promising me a fix was coming so I finally sent it back, cancelled the digital service (required for DVR) since I rarely if ever watch those stations) and built my own.

I get a much better picture (almost indistinguishable from running the line directly into my TV set) with my HTPC running BeyondTV - and better yet, no freezing picture.  Plus I'm not shelling out an extra $20 for DVR ($9.95 for the digital package & $9.95 for the DVR).  Again if it's like the Philly area's Comcast, you will have to subscribe to the full digital package ($9.95) to add the DVR service, so if you currently have basic cable, you'll be shelling out an extra $20 (plus tax) a month.

[rspitz]

I'll be subscribing to Comcast in Washington, DC.  If I supply my own HD DVR (Motorola DCT6208), do I still have to pay Comcast the monthly DVR service fee?  Can I avoid paying the DVR fee and pay only the HD fee?

[BigBear]

I'll be subscribing to Comcast in Washington, DC.  If I supply my own HD DVR (Motorola DCT6208), do I still have to pay Comcast the monthly DVR service fee?  Can I avoid paying the DVR fee and pay only the HD fee?

I would be very surprised if they allow it. Comcast only uses equipment you rent directly from them even if the one you have is exactly the same type.

If you somehow manage to get service and use that box, when they send a “hit” down the line they will detect and disable it.