lotsofdvds

I've been thinking of picking up a TiVo unit since I'm getting increasingly annoyed with the Comcast Motorola 6412 DVR. Does anyone use both in one setup?

I'd assume that you can split the cable line and put inputs into both boxes. Would that then give you 3 (or 4) tuners to record? Or would the boxes conflict with one another?

And would splitting the cable degrade the signal that much? I already get a lot of macroblocking as it is.

Mr. Salty

I would assume the Comcast DVR is for digital cable, which means it has a proprietary digital tuner in it. The Tivo's tuner would be incompatible with the digital signal.

lotsofdvds

Tivo doesn't work with digital cable?

Jeremy517

Yes it does. You just have to use the IR Blaster to change channels on the cable box.

Mr. Salty

True, but I don't think that's really how he's wanting to hook things up.

Maybe it wuld help to know what exactly your complaints are about the Comcast DVR?

Josh H

Comcast is getting Tivo for their DVRs later this year. I'd just wait it out.

xVladx

Do you know about when they're going to be coming out with those, approx.? We probably going to be switching over to cable from a dish soon (moving to a place that's already wired for cable in about a month), and it'll be nice to be able to stick with a Tivo unit instead of having to go with one of the other DVRs.

Josh H

Comcast website just says most markets should have them by mid to late 2006, but nothing specific.

The Bus

What's wrong with Comcast's existing cable box?

Josh H

None of the cable company DVRs are as intuitive and powerful as Tivo.

i.e., I'm pretty sure the season pass option on the Comcast box is just a repeating recording...meaning it won't adjust and tape the show if it moves to a different day and time on that channel like Tivo. Not sure if it will adjust for shows like lost that sometimes run 5 minutes over. My directTivo would usually catch this and pad it itself.

And the interface in general isn't as clean in the comcast DVR.

1998Nole

My Comcast DVR adjusts for the time changes and day changes of shows. I did not have to do anything when Amazing Race switched days and time, it adjusted fine when Lost is 4 minutes longer I don't have to add time to the recording.. It is called a series recording on the 6412, on my first Comcast DVR it was just a repeat recording.

Josh H

Ah, guess they've updated it since the last time I used one. Has been a couple years.

My friend has one now, and I hate the interface, but obviously don't know how it adjusted for changes.

Just spoiled by the DirecTivo I had before moving in Dec.

lotsofdvds

Well for starters I am on my SIXTH Comcast box. The analog channels look like a DVD compressed onto a VCD. The boxes like to turn off Sunday mornings at 3am, interrupting my recording of the "classic" SNL that NBC airs at 2am. Whenever there's something rare that's not on DVD that's a priority record, that's the program that the box decides to skip over, etc. etc.

I went ahead and bought the TiVo. After rebate the 80 hour unit was only 50 bucks. And while I can only use it to record analog channels at the moment because of how I have it set up, I'll use it to transition away from Comcast's box.