Comcast + TiVo: Act III
I never thought I'd be so happy to see Comcast's second-rate DVR interface.
(Credit: Matthew Elliott/CBS Interactive)If you'll indulge me, let me share with you the final chapter in my Comcast + TiVo tale. The latest glitch with the service has proven to be the final straw. Succumbing to mounting pressure from my wife, yesterday I canceled the service that put TiVo's software on a Comcast cable box. After a slow start and troubling summer, our long regional nightmare is over.
Because I was curious to try TiVo service outside a TiVo-branded box and wasn't all that enamored with Comcast's regular DVR service in the first place, I signed us up for the service nearly five months ago. After struggling with the service all summer, I almost threw in the towel last month but then it suddenly improved. TiVo's refusals to display live TV or record a show became less frequent, and the service seemed to speed up to where the lags in bringing up the guide, changing the channel, or initiating a recording were nearly tolerable. Toward the end of last week, however, we found ourselves locked out of the On Demand service and without the ability to record anything. I called Comcast and discovered that this was a problem with its TiVo service only. Before hanging up the phone, I scheduled a service call to return me to the old Comcast DVR service.
A technician came out yesterday afternoon, and he was hardly surprised with my decision. He shared my opinion that Comcast's TiVo service was underwhelming and problematic. After 45 minutes, he had swapped cable boxes and had me up and running once again with Comcast DVR service.
My two biggest gripes with the Comcast + TiVo service were its speed and reliability. Setting a recording took anywhere from 20 seconds to over a minute. With Comcast DVR, a recording is set almost instantaneously. Service reliability was the bigger issue; TiVo would regularly freeze up and required to be reset--a process that required me to pull the cable box out, unplug it, plug it back in, and wait 10 to 15 minutes for the service to return--and then re-enter the 30-second skip code for the remote. Other than encouraging me to read more, the only advantages I found with TiVo were its suggested recordings, its ad-free channel guide, and a better organized list of recorded shows, which grouped multiple recordings of a show and all HD recordings into folders.
In the end, I came to view TiVo as Floyd from True Romance (but without any of Floyd's honey-bear benefits). TiVo was always in the living room, and while it was always happy to share its oddball suggestions of shows it thought I'd like, it would frequently forget to record a show while I was out after it promised me it would. Often times, it felt like TiVo had lost the remote, preventing me from even turning on the TV. It got to a point where I told Floyd he better start looking for his own place.
Despite its rather unattractive interface that shows an ad at the bottom of the channel guide and only four channels per screen, I'm happy to have returned to plain, old Comcast DVR service. I'm shocked at how responsive it feels, and I'm sure it won't be long before I relearn to ignore the ad at the bottom of the guide.
Elaine
Cut & Shoot, TX
Personally, I don't have a Media Center PC in my living room because I spend all day using Windows and don't want more of it at the end of the work day. TiVo itself is a great service (on TiVo's own hardware, not Comcast's), but I don't want yet another monthly subscription cost in my life. So I use Comcast DVR, and when I was in New York years ago, I used Time Warner's DVR. Both aren't perfect, but they do what I need them to do with minimal fuss. And the hardware in my living room is kept to a minimum -- TV, AV receiver, cable box, DVD player.
And to elainecleo's comment RE: Why not Dish Network:
I don't want to add a dish to my house. And I don't want to have to worry about the weather affecting my reception. My only experience with Dish comes when I visit my father-in-law in Seattle. Granted, it's nearly always cloudy there, but his TV reception comes and goes based on cloud cover.
For me, Comcast's own DVR service is sufficient. It's fast and responsive. And it requires only the occasional reset -- once every month or two -- and not multiple times per week like Comcast's TiVo service.
My cable provider is Mediacom and I had their dual-tuner HD DVR for a few years because Tivo didn't have an HD unit that worked with cable at the time. I HATED the Mediacom DVR and the only thing I ever used it for was recording HD because my Series 1 Tivo couldn't, but I used the Series 1 Tivo to record everything else. Once the Tivo HD came out (the Series 3 was too expensive for me but the Tivo HD is much more reasonably priced) I snapped it up very quickly, dropped my Mediacom DVR, and I have no regrets at all. I'm even thinking of getting another one because I'm starting to run more into needing to record more than 2 programs at once.
As some others have also said, there's no On Demand but I could care less. Everything I record is On Demand. I already record more than I can watch without having any time to watch anything I would get through On Demand anyway. And I NEVER watch live TV, EVER (even TV show I'm home to watch or a live sporting event I set the Tivo to record it and wait 30 to 45 minutes before starting to watch so I can still skip commercials).
But mainly, Most of the major TV Shows that are on TV today, will also be on one of the 3 or 4 other Channels that they also provide tomorrow, even using their Basic Service! (No Box) A "New" show that airs on CBS Tonight will be on one or more different channels 3 or 4 times tomorrow! Plus most B List Cable shows are shown Multiple times on multiple Days! (Look at the schedule of upcomming shows!) If none of these times or Days they are showing it are convenient to you, then simply do what I do. I Record *EVERY Show I want to watch, and then view them tomorrow or at my leisure. So I may be a Day or so behind in my TV viewing, what's the difference?
It won't change the World.
To answer fire1fl's question: It depends on who you are. My parents had a tivo and loved it (with DISH). They wanted more tuners and switched to the DISH two tuner DVR. Years later they are OK with DISH, but miss the TIVO. They have a Media Center but have had a hard time with it, mainly because I didn't replace (ie, force them) to use it and they still use the DISH DVR for most things. I put a dual-DirecTV + DUAL ATSC OTA four tuner media center in my Girlfriend's parents house when they moved last year and they love it. For what they use it for it works great and suprisingly they have very few issues.
A standalone Tivo is a good solution for someone who isn't quite tech saavy and just wants something that works. If you have a Media Center that is working (they are not perfect), you probably would never switch to a Tivo, as the Media Center has more to offer a tech saavy person that the Tivo does (I'm not saying the Media Center is better, its just more expandable).
To Matt E: Vista Media Center is a great TV solution (not perfect by any means). You can use a Linksys DMA 2100 (for $110 on sale right now) in your living room to extend the Media Center Experience w/out having to put a computer in your living room. You don't see windows, you see a DVR interface that, IMHO, is better than just about anything else out there. And the interface is the only one that does HD native, unlike my Satelitte and Cable DVRs that had an SD interface even with an HD TV (use that extra TV space and resolution!).
I appreciate the answer and can well understand your reluctance to deal with Windows.
On the other hand, my list of equipment includes only a Media Center PC, AV sound system, and a television. With that setup I have recorded and play my entire CD collection, can watch DVD's (haven't added BluRay drive yet, but it should be easy enough), can use wireless internet connection for Pandora and Netflix downloads, and can do all the obvious networking tricks with other household devices (media sharing, printing, etc.). My next step is the addition of an antenna for digital TV through the Media PC's HDTV tuner, thus avoiding the cable *box* and monthlies. While I pay for cable and broadband all in one subscription, my only other cost is Netflix. To me, these are small price to pay for the variety of media available - and I haven't even searched for much more - although watching the occasional missed skit from John Stewart or episode of a TV series is easy on the net connection. I am, of course, getting ripped off for telecom, but the two are synonymous wherever there is no competition.
Meanwhile, because I mainly only use the MCPC for media, Windows is fairly transparent (hidden behind the "greenscreen") - although I'm glad I use it all the time during the day, so that I understand how to maintain, and backup, and as has been necessary once, cold reboot.
Those are the reasons for my preferences - but, of course, your usage is different.
Thanks for sharing this post. We appreciate the valuable feedback. I will make sure that your feedback is shared with the appropriate department for evaluation.
We apologize for all your troubles. Please feel free to contact us if you need further assistance.
Best Regards,
Mark Casem
Comcast Corp.
National Customer Operations
We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com
I appreciate the testing you did and the information you provided. I've been waiting for the real implementation of the Tivo software on a Comcast box for, oh, about three years ;-) The Tivo interface is waaay better than Comcast's. I think I missed the first part of your adventure but I'm assuming the main reason you did not just go with a Tivo box is due to cost.
I have been using a Tivo HD with two cable cards from Comcast for 8+ months and it has been outstanding. Yeah, it costs more, but the Comcast box/interface is too painful -- plus I had to listen to my wife's complaints along with my own frustrations. The Comcast cable card installation was painful (4 visits, total of 6 technicians) but they seemed to had gotten it ironed out as I haven't had a hiccup in months. Tivo HD rocks.
- by tkat November 14, 2008 6:40 PM PST
- Comcast s****s! Ive had 8 service calls the DVR in my bedroom cuts off an hour show at 56 min losing ending!!? my wife was livid then the other 3 rooms are fine ,actually look good but my bedroom has garbled sound, tiling & artifacts ripping thru the screen?? and 8 service calls? they changed boxes ,claimed it was my plasma ( we changed it out still same problem) when i insisted on a supervisor and maybe a new direct line to this room total silence. when they once more sent out a tech (who had helped me change out plasmas he wrote clint will cancell service unless supervisor calls or rectifies! well 5 days later nothing! i called direct tv thurs afternoon by friday noon all 4 rooms done in HD with DVRs perfect! my bedroom great wife even like their DVR better more HD channels less money!! free year of Showtime 4 months free HBO & Starz! still no word from Comcast supervissor LOL
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(24 Comments)I cancelled my Comcast services ($140.00 a month) now i pay $54.00 plus Tx Great customer service Comcast! And they want my internet biz & phone biz! Yeah Right!!!