Comments on: Why my cable DVR stinks

Are viewers better served by set-top boxes or dumbed-down terminals? TV providers look into it.

[baylorcadet09]

The DVR software is crap

I switched over from DirecTV to Time Warner when it finally came into my area and sadly had to switch to the HD Scientific America DVR. It seems to pixelate randomly during recordings and live TV and the software isn't at nice as DirecTV's HD Hughes DVR.

With the exception of the on demand capabilities built into Time Warner's box; the Hughes program seems to be a lot easier to use and you dont have all the pixelation problems.

I hope they come out with something new and better soon!

[Ipod Apple]

Hughes program seems to be a lot easier to use

http://www.analogstereo.com/infiniti_fx35_owners_manual.htm

[mrrbperry]

Cable DVR

Cable DVR are full of so many little bugs. Most of the time I have called Tech support, they are happy to announce that the problem in question is a "Known Issue" and the techs are hard at work to resolve. If Dish or Direct TV offered better Pricing on HD\ With DVR I would switch back in a minute. My Comcast Service is horrific!

[c.Lake]

It's the Cable Box that's the nightmare

It's the worst piece of crap that was ever made. Everything I turn the TV on, I want to boot-kick that MotorolaXXXX right out the window.

Comcast SAYS they are going to upgrade the interface? BUT THEY NEVER DO. For 3 years, nothing but talk and bullsh_t. Instead of the sound cutting out when you?re recording a program, NOW, after 1 year, the sound cuts out while you?re simply watching it. I guess I made the mistake of pressing the play button, dam what was I thinking. It?s good to know that $100 dollars a month buys such quality. This is the second box.

[Scott Gardener]

Yep, been there

Just moved from Pasadena, Texas to Rockwall, also Texas, and had to change cable providers. In Pasadena, it was Time Warner, and my wife and I had two DVRs, the same Scientific Atlanta models. We loved them when they worked, and they completely changed our viewing habits. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have been able to follow the Sci-Fi channel's lineup while working my hours. And, my wife made a ritual of programming the DVR every morning when she woke up. We rarely watched shows live while in Pasadena. But, the things were horribly buggy; I must have returned over the course of two years of use six or seven of the buggers, and when we finally moved, one of the two units I turned in was freezing whenever the program guide was scrolled to Encore West.

Our new provider Charter Cable has only just now gotten into the HDTV business, and we're on a waiting list for our second box--we're only allowed one right now. I was disappointed not only by this, but by the fact their "Moxi" HDTV DVR had no HDMI connector! It's designed for HDTV, and yet it relies on component cable connectors.

But, it hasn't crashed once. So, even if it's yesterday's HDTV, it works right, and I'll happily sacrifice bleeding edge for reliability in my daily life.

[pleximus]

This Guy Needs A TiVo

I've had a TiVo DVR for 4 years and it is what the author here needs. The whole beauty of TiVo is that it takes the complex and makes it simple. And - compared to other DVR technologies - it doesn't break.

[harmony4success]

I am on my fourth Time Warner Scientific Atlanta DVR this year! They had a technical glitch recently and when I went to turn on my DVR it froze. The end result - all my recorded programs were wiped out. It is just unbelievable how such a large corporation can keep alienating its customers with such junk! (not to mention the cost of sending their techicians out constantly to swop DVR's which they pass on to the customer with higher fees). When I requested a month credit for all the hassels, what did they give me - a $4.95 movie coupon! The first DVR they released many years ago actually had the capability of allowing you to set up a recording weeks in advance on any channel at anytime of your choosing. The new software means that you are limited to recording either a series, or whatever shows up on their short one week guide. So you are out of luck if you go on vacation for two or three weeks and want to just record a specific program. This piece of junk that calls itself a DVR does not even do what the humble VCR used to do! Amazing! Please please, can someone give me the name of a brand and model number that works with Time Warner's system, that is reliable, easy to use, and allows you to record two shows at the same time while watching another? Then I can dump this piece of garbage.