OldBoy

so, after binging on The Walking Dead (S4) (17 episodes (including finale of S3)) these past few weeks, i finally have my DVR @ 0%. It is somehow gratifying and my OCD is not going into overdrive anymore.

Anyone else ever do this and feel so good when you've gotten all caught up?

Cardsfan111

I answered no. However, I did have a DVR go bad a few weeks ago, so I guess I was at 0% then. I wasn't happy about it.

GuessWho

I'm at about 70% full -- mostly movies from HBO/Showtime/etc

dfmaverick2

I do feel good when I clear a large chunk of material off my DVR whether I watched it or not.

I don't think I'll ever get down to 0% since I keep a few odd items on there even though I've watched them before.

I have gotten my DVR down to about 4-5 hours of unwatched material, mainly "Legends", but once next week hits, my DVR is going to go bonkers with the new season.

Geofferson

Never done it and no clear line of sight either. Consistently sit at about 10-20% capacity.

devilshalo

I have a number of food network/cooking shows that will never leave my dvr unless I have to get an upgrade or change services. They're basically video cookbook episodes that I'll watch, much like finding a recipe on Youtube.

windom

Will never happen in my lifetime.

OldBoy

Deftones

impossible. too much kid stuff on mine for the children. will always be full of junk.

Trelach24

That literally has never happened to me, but mostly because I usually keep an important sporting event or two on my DVR.

DJariya

What's so exciting about having an empty DVR? I mean the purpose of it is to record movies or shows to watch at your convenience.

You're just going to complain later that you have nothing to watch. Fall season goes into full swing next week. Are you going to keep it at less than 10% full because of your crazy OCD that your DVR is going to crash?


For the record, I have a new Genie that I got in April and have plenty of space. I'm currently at 40% capacity. It's great that I can finally record movies, documentaries and other specials in addition to the shows I watch. My old DVRs were so limited with space.

Trevor

The happiest day of my life (after five minutes of anger) was the day my constantly at 90%+ DVR died.

I realized that it was controlling my free time and that there was stuff to do outside of my lazy boy. Said goodbye to cable and will never go back to the DVR life.

story

We have a cable card in our desktop that recorded cable tv and it was great. Then Comcast switched to Xfinity and took our perfectly working equipment out of the picture. In short, we couldn't use it anymore. Oh, we could buy THEIRS and blah, blah, blah, we cut the cord. Haven't DVR's anything since and that was 2010 or so, I think.

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JasonF

I think I have every episode of Batman on my DVR. I'm OK with that.

windom

Wasn't Xfinity just a new name for the existing Comcast service. I don't think there was any required equipment changes. I have Comcast and have two Cablecard tuners and a PC that I use to record. I'm curious as to what kind of tuner you had that isn't compatible with Comcast anymore.

My Other Self

I had their cable during the transition period and aside from the stupid product name change, nothing happened in regards to the equipment.

My biggest gripe was how small the Comcast DVRs are. You could barely fit a week's worth of shows and a couple of movies on there at once.

story

I can't remember the name of it, but it came installed with our HP tower at the time, maybe from 2007 or so.

Here are parts of an email I sent to some friends in October, 2010, when we cut cable and why, including the PC TV card fiasco:

* * *

They're switching their service from analog to all-digital format (they're calling it Xfinity) and you have to order these little converter boxes. In fact, all throughout September, a message intermittently scrolled across the top of the screen on every channel: "If you can see this message, the TV you're watching isn't yet ready for Comcast's digital network enhancements coming November 4." Then there are instructions on what to do. Now, the message is on at all times on all stations unless you "made the switch."

So we made the switch, ordered our free converter boxes. It ends up almost being like a VCR, where the converter box is set on "Channel 3" and then everything gets tuned through it instead of the TV like normal. Here's what happened:
1. We could no longer access the local network affiliate HD channels we had free access to before.
2. We had to use the converter box's low-function remote control to change the channel.
3. The converter box we hooked up to the computer's TV tuner effectively killed off our ability to record TV. We used to be able to record whatever, whenever with our computer's DVR and store it on the hard drive. It was awesome (especially with uncut, commercial free classic movies on TCM). Now, with everything having to pump through channel 3, we could only record channel 3. Let's say I want to record 30 Rock on NBC, channel 11. I have to use the TV converter box to turn to channel 11 and use my recording software to record whatever program is on channel 3. Well, that means recording a 4-hour block of CNN Newsroom. There is nothing wrong with my equipment. It all works perfectly. THIS is where Comcast's greed has rendered my equipment obsolete.

I called them to fix this and here's what happened regarding the three main issues:
1. I was told the regular converter box was free but I could order the HD converter box for a monthly fee. Yes, we would get a lot more HD channels (Comedy Central, etc.) but I'd end up paying for HD I was getting for free on my HDTV already. I don't like that.
2. I was told the new remote control is only for changing channels and the functions of our other remote are still there. Surely it's only a minor inconvenience. Hmm.
3. Can't fix this. There are some Comcast products I could purchase, if I'd like, including a TV tuner card. At least, they think. They're not sure. The tech CSR decided to try and reset the box without listening to me that he was resetting the wrong box. When he did, we lost signal and he couldn't reverse it. He said he's send a tech out to our place. I said no, connect me with billing; we're canceling. The CSR at billing said she's heard about the TV tuner card issue and would ask the tech support friend she went on break with about the issue and call me back. She never did.

I contacted Qwest about internet access. We got set up. I canceled Comcast, turned in our equipment yesterday. An hour or so later, a Comcast CSR called me back and asked why I'd canceled (as if all of this wasn't on my file) and I explained it all. He then asked for permission to tell me about the great Comcast deals he could offer. It was as if he hadn't heard a word I'd said. I said I'd only be interested in hearing them if they could resolve our issues. He tried to tell me about the deals. I told him I didn't want to be rude but I was going to have to hang up if he didn't understand that "no means no" and that if the company refuses to resolve our issues for free, then we have no reason to come back. He tried again and I said "goodbye" and hung up.

* * *

Maybe it could've worked out differently, I don't know. But looking back, I was pretty angry about how people were screwing up my situation because they weren't listening, there were broken promises, and a little bit of planned obsolescence / attempt at cornering the market at controlling how and when I would watch TV (with their equipment only). It all felt pretty manipulative and I don't miss cable TV at all.

We have a digital antenna hooked up to the PC tower now and it records TV but the signal is either really great or pretty terrible, as the PC is in the basement, so I don't really do it like I used to, anymore.

My Other Self

That was during the government mandated analog --> digital conversion, though. Everyone in the country that hadn't switched went through the same thing.

I'm the biggest anti-Comcast guy there is, but I don't know if they would be entirely to blame for your woes back then. There was a lot of issues with all of the major providers when the switch had to be made.

ChrisHicks

Just get one of these Tivos. Problem should be solved.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/1...how-ever-again

24TB of storage, 4000 hours of HD and it's "only" $5000.00.

Gooter

Voted no because my DVR will never be at zero as long as I have to keep copies of Thomas the Train, Dora, Princess Sophia, Chuggington, Paw Patrol, Dog With a Blog, and Austin and Ally on it.

madcougar

I haven't zeroed out my DVR in years. About 5 years ago I got divorced and signed up for Direct TV. When I did that I got the movie channels for free for 3 months and recorded a crap load of movies. So now my DVR is always at roughly 50% full.

slop101

You want to zero out your DVR, because you never know when it will die - and it WILL die!

JeffTheAlpaca

I don't think I ever cleared all the shows on my DVR and when I get close I usually end up with a new DVR like a Genie.

200 Hrs in HD is still not enough space for me lol

OldBoy

it's oddly cathartic to only have a few programs stored there now. very manageable.

starseed1981

Total first world problems here...but yeah, zeroing it out feels cathartic. I'm there now and with an armada of shows starting next week I don't think I'll see zero again til this time next year.