Dear Comcast and/or Motorola and/or Microsoft
Dear Comcast and/or Motorola and/or Microsoft,
Last night, my college played Gonzaga in one of the biggest college basketball games of the year. I had dinner plans so I set your DVR up to record the game.
Being that this was a sporting event, I set the option to end the recording 30 minutes late, just in case the game took longer than the allotted two hours.
I got home, watched a crazy basketball game, and was preparing for the final four minutes when the recording stopped. The two hour mark had been reached.
And so thanks to your aforementioned worthless device, I missed a last second victory by my Washington Huskies. Oh, and 60 Minutes mysteriously didn’t get recorded last night either.
Get your damned device working already. It’s about to go out my window.
I love the high def.
But it has to be able to record a program instead of a time slot. I only missed the second half of Family Guy last week. If I missed the last four minutes of a good game, there would be pitchforks and torches.
Just keep repeating…
I love the high def…
I love the high def…
I love the high def…
Having no tv at all makes you dependable on others… but saves you a lot of frustration too… ;)
I hate Comcast with the fire of 1,000 suns. My high-speed internet at home has been up and down for the past 4 weeks. I have had 2 technicians out to fix the problem. One of them blamed it on another technician and said that the problem would be fixed within 48 hours.
It wasn’t.
The other technician said my cable box was wired wrong. It is acting up more now than it was before.
Now, if I want to use the internet, I have to unplug my modem, wait 60 seconds, re-plug, wait for it to re-authenticate and hope that it actually works (it usually does for about 2 hours, then craps out again).
My HD channels are also extremely pixelated. I keep threatening to quit them, but really can’t because I have no other viable option. Dish is way too expensive because of the high speed internet.
I HATE COMCAST. I told the customer service representative I was on the phone with the other night that he worked for the antichrist. He laughed and said, “yeah, but I get free cable.”
I feel your pain.
I got 8 minutes of “Lost” last week. The box apprently shutdown on it’s own deleting all recording info, as well. Yay!
The iTunes store got my money the next day.
I also cannot get series recordings to stick.
I concur about the general crappiness of said hd-dvr. From hanging up every now and then (followed up by a burst of all the pent-up commands my remote has sent in the meantime, somehow ending up asking me if I want to be reminded of an episode of the Golden Girls) to not recording episodes of a scheduled show because the day was changed to just general freakouts (in which the fast forward / play controls take on a mind of their own, and I end up having to hard reset the box). And that’s just software…
I started wondering who was lighting up a bong, or if I had a leak somewhere, when I realised it was the damn box’s cheap hard drive (which I swear has the volume of a megaphone and the recording space of a thimble). And seriously… what’s the deal with “you’ll need about 2 feet of open space above your box here… it doesn’t have any fans, so you can’t put anything remotely close to it, or it may go nuts” (or so my comcastic installer told me, despite the fact it freaks out anyway)?
And somewhat related… why am I paying so much extra for so few HD channels?
I use the good old trusty VHS method. It is hard to describe but basically this device uses reels of magnetic tape that store images and sound. It’s crazy really, but it works. Sure it may have distortion the more you use the same magical magnetic tapes, but once you get that bad boy rolling you’re gauranteed to see up to 6 hours of what was recorded.
Actually, I keep hearing more complaints then anything else about DVR solutions. The one from my cable company has irritating slow menus and video sometimes looks pixelated. That’s reason enough to avoid buying one for the time being. Besides, I am sure to be able to use my XBOX Media Center to record all my shows with the version that follows 360. But will it open my garage door?
I think the answer to your problems is – watch less tv.
Remember, TiVo is coming to Comcast in 2006 If only us Time Warner Cable subscribers were so lucky! I guess there’s always the fabled CableCard TiVo.
I’m stuck with Cox, and the Scientific American box we have is just as buggy. I’m thinking of switching to Tivo, since aside from having to purchase my own box, the service costs the same.
you should not have made dinner plans
Odd. I’ve had Comcast for going on five years now in Ravenna and Des Moines, and had maybe a total of 10 minutes of downtime, usually around 3 in the morning. I can’t vouch for their digital cable one way or another (I don’t have it), but the internet has been superb.
As for the lack of recording… someone needs to design a plugin for Front Row that allows the recording of HDTV content, and then we can dump those shitty boxes for good.
I have a DVD-R … I just don’t use it, also preferring the magic magnetic devices that load in a VHS machine. My favorite is when the news or President of the US or some such comes in for a few minutes to talk unexpectedly and then everyone misses the end of their stuff.
I watched the end of that game, it really wasn’t that good anyway — unless of course you are from Washington …
One Word, TiVO.
Im pretty sure this can record tv shows etc. for playback, and I suggest geting one ;)
Not so “comcastic” now is it ;)
I’m with Pat. Go Tivo!
I hate Comcast with the fire of 1,000 suns
Thank you, Shane, for the good two-minute laugh. That was funny.
I think the problem was you were watching the wrong game.
Your DVR was probably more interested in Sean Dockery’s amazing last second shot against VT :)
I, too, prefer the magic of “rust on a wire.” It just works better, or at least more reliably… if I remember to set it. But then that would be user error, not equipment malfunction. However, whoever designed my current unit to have to be set to record in a stand-by mode, rather than just program and go, I’d like to shoot.
I don’t get it, can’t you just go buy an HD TiVO and be done with it? Or is it not compatible with Comcast?
Can someone explain this a little further?
A thousand suns never burnt so bright.
Joshua: the HD Tivo is a DirecTV integrated tuner (for now)…not a standalone. So, for now at least, you can only get it with DirecTV. Tivo has a deal with Comcast, but not sure when that will bear fruit.
I have one (an HD DirecTivo) and it rocks. Never misses a program, even if it moves nights or adds a “special” episode in a different time slot, etc.
If the new DirecTV (non-Tivo) HD DVR isn’t as good, then I’ll have a decision to make: jump ship so I can continue to use HD Tivo, or stick with the “new” DirecTV HD DVR so I can continue to get NFL Sunday Ticket…
Imagine having Adelphia as your provider, and your only future is your provider become a wart on the ass of either Comcast or Time-Warner…
I just hope your dinner plans weren’t a secret McDLT run. =)
We have two Comcast DVRs and they are the buggiest little things. When they work, they’re just fine. But often out of nowhere it will get a mind of its own and decide to stop recording something even though it’s clearly set for a series recording. I have to manually record an episode and then it suddenly remembers that it was supposed to be recording that series.
The worst part of it is speaking to Comcast support. I wouldn’t mind if the person said, “yes, it’s a bug…we know about it…do this as a workaround…” but they always act like you’re the only one who has ever seen this issue and it must be something wrong with your box, turn it on and off, we’ll send a truck, how’s a week from next Thursday?
I’d love to have TiVo instead. But I have VOIP (Vonage) and no standard phone line. I’d have to connect them to the network wirelessly and the only wireless adapters require WEP encryption which I don’t want to use (network is WPA and I’d like to keep it that way).
Plus, Comcast DVRs do allow you to record two shows at one time or watch one show and record another which TiVo doesn’t. Like I said, when it works it’s pretty good.
Microsoft? A product on working properly!?!?! They better buy someone out quick…
I had Comcast when I was in Arizona. I always had problems with the picture and my internet connection was totally unreliable. Their solution was “Turn it off and wait, then power up the modem again”
I am using DSL now and have never had a problem.
I still use a VCR for recording one show a week and I am thinking of dropping cable television altogether. Trying to read more books.
Would definitely prefer pay-per-view for all shows. I think Steve Jobs is paving the way for this with the videos available at Itunes.
Is there a date for that HD TiVo yet? Since they are shipping to Canada now, I’m very interested in that box..
Mike, as I’ve been through this many times before .. one saving grace is that your team actually won. When this happens and your team loses it sucks even worse.
I’ve heard too many of these horror stories about the Comcast HD DVR. Dealing with all of the bugs you all are describing isn’t worth it to me. I would love to be able to record HD shows, but for now I’m just going to stick with my ReplayTV. It simply works–that’s all that matters.
What box do you have, Mike? I’ve got the 6412 running the iGuide, not the MS software, but I can’t imagine it’s an improvement. I’m on my third one — well, second, actually, if you don’t count the first one they gave me, which wasn’t the right (dual-tuner) version.
After falling in love with my DirecTiVo last year I can only hope the problems I have are with the iGuide software and that the Comcast TiVo service will fix it.
That said, I’m with the first commenter — box buffers remote commands and spits 10 out at once, think about the HD. Box doesn’t show a picture after turning it on until going into and exiting out of a saved recording, think about the HD. Box won’t let me choose which recording to cancel when I’ve already got two set for a time slot and want to schedule a new one, think about the HD…
Want to hear something really funny? My internet at home works great now, but all my HDTV channels are totally borked.
Answer this for me, Comcast:
Since most of your customers (like myself) are basically FORCED into using your service (because the alternatives are not any better and WAY more expensive), WHY DO YOU HAVE TO SUBJECT US TO THE LAME COMCASTIC COMMERCIALS? I mean, honestly. I hate you like Barry Bonds hates the new steroid policy, but refuse to leave because you keep giving me months of free service.
I’ve had quite the time w/ getting my dvr working. You can read about my experiences here.
Adam Morrison almost destroyed us. But the Dawgs finally did something they hadn’t done in their last 7 attempts; Beat the ZAGS!!! I am so pumped about this season. Appleby looks like a good replacement for Simmons, that freshmen guard is so strong, not to mention that Brockman will probably carry up deep into the tournament this year! Thank God! After we needed something to go right after this year’s football season!
GO DAWGS!!!
I really am thankful that I don’t have to worry about HD and Tivo and Comcast since I’m in the UK …. Well, apart from HD, which is what the whole hype is here at the moment (we’re a TAD behind the times) but to be honest, I doubt it will make me purchase a larger television set or watch tv for longer.
Unfortunately most of my hours go on researching, I love knowing one thing every day that someone else doesn’t so I go in search of these gems, which leaves me little time or desire to sit down and actually watch television, unless I have a HUGE pile of ironing to do, then I’ll put on a horror film and proceed to wet myself when people get spliced open.
Personally I think even the digital broadcasts can be of shocking quality and I know that over here, we use a program called “VideoPlus” to setup recordings and it can’t even get that right, I must have used it about six times and twice it didn’t record the end of my programs, I mean whats up with that?
Your contact form is broken under firefox.
I am trying to send you a message but it is not working. The Name cannot be filled in and as soon as I try, the page becomes all green…
you americans.
geez, what a rough life.. hi def, set top boxes, tivo… more channels than the average asian family of 2,3 thousand..
here in nz we only just have a tivo like service with my sky, no digital broadcast channels of note, and hd.. what is hd?
geez. ill trade you.
Dude…60 minutes…more like 47 min thanks to that weak ass Jets game…Howard, i’ll see you in “The City” next friday…
I agree Marc. Starting to lose interest RE ME.
Tough life.
Of course I don’t even have an interest in watching so I should shut the hell up.
A-fucking-men. I hate that cursed box with a passion and I’m seriously considering dumping Comcast all together for a Mac mini + healthy bit torrent subscription. If the fabled “media mini” becomes a reality at MacWorld this year, I’m definitely giving Comcast the boot.
If there’s ever been a fantastic reason for the government to step in and deregulate a monoplostic service that screws the consumer at every chance, cable TV is it. My tax dollars basically built the damn cable infrastructure, I should have some freedom of choice.
Ok, so I’m not actually in the Exorcist when I’m trying to watch tv? This is my 2nd DVR through Comcast. The tech came out, replaced the box, checked all the interior & exterior connections, and even had a truck sent out to check the connection at the pole. Yet still, when recording, I sometimes have 3 separate recordings for a one hour episode. Fast forwarding is a Nightmare, followed by getting it to actually stop and play again. It does have a very nice memory for all the buttons I’ve pushed in my futile attempts to get my show going again . . . . then i get seasick, watching it forward, rewind, pause, etc. And, lo and behold, no one else in my area has had any complaints about their DVR service :S By the way – I’m on the eastern seaboard . . . . this “Bug” must have quite a few legs on it ;)
My comcast DVR is such a piece of S—!!!
I am honestly more surprised when it works than when it doesn’t.
I stumbled onto this blog while looking for someone to ask at Comcast about more capacity for the dvr. A couple of HD programs, a movie or two and a football game in HD and you are maxed out. Does anyone know about this topic? Everyone I’ve talked to about it knows Zilch.
Also just heard that Directv is adding local hd channels in some areas, if so, goodbye comcast dvr!
Now here’s what you wrote: I hate Comcast with the fire of a thousand suns.
Now here’e what I read: WAWWWWWW! My toy doesn’t work! MOMMMMY!
Now don’t feel bad because I singled this poor soul out. You see, the truth is all of you Comcast customers are like this. The box won’t record. Blame Comcast. The time won’t display on the box. Blame Comcast. It’s very easy to blame the utility company for stuff that is not their fault. Personally, I tend to hate anybody I have to pay money to.
Was the box broken? Probably not. Did this poor schmuck program the box incorrectly? You bet. But he has the mentality that it couldn’t possibly be anything he did so he decides to call Comcast and blame them for this, just like the rest of you do. Same thing happens when your welfare cheques don’t arrive in time to pay the cable bill. That is somehow supposed to be Comcast’s fault too.
Come on America! Own up to it. You probably wait a grand total of 10 seconds when your cable is off before you reach for that phone. Nobody ever checks to see if the other channels are working or even if the same problem is occuring on another tv. You are an irrational people, like a bunch of meuling infants who missed a bottle feeding and are inconsolable.
Read a book, go for a walk, take up knitting because you know the problem always resolves itself later. Don’t act like they cut your life support because you have no tv. Especially when its something you probably screwed up yourself anyway.
But then again, you all probably blame the power company when you blow a light bulb.
tripleh: If you’d do a minute’s worth of research before spouting off at the mouth, you’d realize that yes, it *IS* the fault of the box. This box has thousands of complaints against it… it simply does not work. Don’t jump to conclusions about a subject you obviously know nothing about.
Comcast is about to file for bankruptcy, prepare to be boarded.
Wow where to start.
I swear this Comcast Motorola box is alive! It does whatever it wants. The picture constantly breaks up, especially during HDTV programing. It shuts off for no reason. It changes channels for no reason or the screen just goes blank. It also records every night at midnight a certain channel for an hour for absolutly no reason. The DVR settings say no programs are scheduled for recording, but it goes right on and records at midnight every night. When it does record something i want. It freezes or when i’m fast fwding a recorded program it just stops or jams. I’ve unplugged and waited a minute and plugged it in again. Doesn’t help in the least. It goes right back into it’s old habits. I haven’t even started with Ondemand yet. If it even works. Half the time it doesn’t. When it does and you choose to watch something Ondemand. Yep the picture breaks up or it changes channels for no reason.
Other than that Comcast. Great service!
The reason cable will never beat Satellite is because Satellite is more reliable system, with Satellite you’re getting the signal directly to your house. the only downfall our the storms, but i can live that. at least i know why the service is down.
Can’t say the same about Comcast. I have no idea what’s going on with this service, but I have an idea. If you keep connecting cables with cables and so on and son for miles and miles and miles, by the time it gets to your house. it’s chances of being faulty are very high, because it’s such a long cable. that its bound to have trouble spots, whether its a tear or a almost disconnected cable. it;s iffy at best.
My significant other won’t let me ditch this damn box because of the HDTV support, so I just bough a regular definition Tivo Series 2 DT model for the other room to maintain my sanity.
I hate, hate, hate Comcast and whatever moron created the software for this thing at Motorola or Gemstar. Still, Comcast should *never* have put this box into service with as many problems as it has.
Really Interesting.
I don’t have DVR, but I do have a Comcast with a Motorola cable box, and it acts just like the above.
I use my own software-based recording, so all I rely on the cable box for is to auto-tune taping. Now, my complaining might actually be my fault: I had recently moved from New Hampshire and used Adelphia. The differences?
– I could *gasp* set recording for more than 3 days in advance. (A whole week!)
– The cable box knew what programs to expect in the next week as well. (This @$!!#$ cablebox doesn’t even know what’s on 2 days from now. I kid you not. TWO DAYS. Funny, tv.yahoo.com does…and my *printed* TV Guide from the grocery store does. But a cable box? Same technology that also brings me my cable modem service at home with aforementioned tv.yahoo.com info? Of course not, silly!)
– If I set a recording up on a weekly basis, it, too *gasp* would reliably record as per instructions! If I set it to record at 12:30 at midnight for Tuesday, it would…actually tune the channel every Tuesday at midnight!
– my recording wasn’t interrupted by a moronic “you are now recording this” message. Carlos Mencia, I hope you’re reading this–if this doesn’t deserve a “DUH DUH-DUH!”, I don’t know what does. Why not have a constant message on the screen that says, “You are now watching TV”? If only other things in our life was like this. Like my milk carton having a huge notice: “YOU ARE NOW DRINKING MILK.” Or a huge sign on the steering wheel of my car: “YOU MAY OR MAY NOT BE DRIVING A CAR RIGHT NOW.” For this and this alone, I need to set a buffer time so that stupid message doesn’t interfere with my shows.
– I’m not limited to “record by show” times but rather “when do you want to tune”? For example, if I want to tune to Channel X at 12:17pm on Tuesdays, I can. Or 4:03am. Not “15m, 30m, 1h, 2h” only. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
– I wasn’t limited to …what? 5? recordings at once. (I think it was in the neighborhood of 10 or so).
Yes, I too get some signal interference and what not, but I honestly blame my connection more than everything else. Plus, it’s cable–it’s to be expected. It’s ironic that the only thing I depend on this box for is just to tune the channel at the necessary time…AND IT CAN’T EVEN DO *THAT* RIGHT!
tripleh: your attempts at trollery is amused. if you’re serious about your rant, read the above. I’m a pretty advanced user (how many others have written their own DVR software by hand?) Each night I literally need to check my box to make sure my recording has stuck. Week by week, it varies–sometimes it does, sometimes it didn’t. And issues like last night–where I went out of my way to check to see that my cable box would tune for the late night recording and confirmed it, only to find that it “forgot” to tune to the channel–isn’t user error.
Mind you, I also have two other tunes in the house. Same issues. And I just moved out here and had the problems out of the gate. So this isn’t a “the technology is old” or “you need a newer box” issue.
Based on my experience, and those posted above, this isn’t EEBKAC. This is buggy software being ignored by Comcast and/or Motorola.
So why is this important? For the posters above who recommend this weird magenetic tape solution…VHS, is it? Is that what the Old Ones spoke of in the First Times? Seriously, you need your box to tune to channels for a VCR to record (at least that’s my case–yours may vary). If you have the same problems as I do, moving away from DVR isn’t going to help anything. You’ll still get to see reruns of Golden Girls while House (or whatever your desired show) goes on being unwatched. (But at least your box won’t unexpectly drop all your unwatched shows).
Believe it or not, I’m seriously thinking of jumping to TiVo or even EyeTV…just so I have something reliable that will tune the channel for me. And I don’t feel up to researching how to use the serial connection and writing custom software just to auto-tune the box.
The cross-your-fingers-and-hope-for-the-best solution just isn’t cutting it.
I’m happy to say I have the minimum requirements needed to watch television. Unfortunately it has to be Comcast providing these minimum requirements . As I pen my displeasure with this company we are without cable service (7 hours) once again and my neighbor is without his so called “high speed internet service”. Hopefully the day is coming when they will no longer have a monopoly on this part of Washington State. This company is one of the worst I have ever dealt with. Thanks for listening to me.
I have some issues with comcast service, but generally able to work the out.
My biggest complaint is how us paying members are being subjected to unnecessary and repeated advertising every time i want to watch a news video. I dont have time for this and probably most others dont either. As paying customers, we should have the choice.
Hey Comcast, TURN IT OFF OR WE WILL TURN YOU OFF!!!
Im done!!
There’s a setting that allows you to let a recording finished 15 or 30 minutes late. Incase the game or award show or whatever you’re watching. Goes passed it’s original running time. Problem solved.
Some HD channels are pointless at this time, like MHD for example. They repeat the same programming over and over again. Starting at 3am to 8am. They run music videos in HD. Oh great! Wait a minute. You’re still showing the same videos you were running 4 months ago, not only that. Each hour is recycled hour from prevous weeks. So not only will the same videos appear, but they’ll be in the same order. Meaning its not random programming. It’s just something they keep looping. What a jip!
Ryan: Problem not solved. It doesn’t always work.
I have Comcast Digital service and the recordings on my Motorola DCT3416 I DVR have been erased for a second time. The first time, Comcast upgraded the software overnight and when I tried viewing my recordings in the morning they were all gone. Comcast told me there was no way of retrieving the recorded shows and that my box was defective and to return it and get a new DVR.
So I returned the DVR and got back the same model 2 tuner DVR. It has been running fine for 2 months and now again this morning the recordings are all gone. I was using approximately 40% of the hard drive and now it says 0% used and there are no recordings. Again I called Comcast and again they never heard of such a thing and told me there is no way to retrieve my recordings.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Vince
Vince: Here’s your help — Buy a Tivo.
Hello
Can anyone help me I have a Motorola DCR3416 I HDMI Dual Tuner DVR and the first one I had work like a charm for the 1st 6 months then I would be watching tv and I would reset on it’s own I took it back they gave me a new one and I have the same problem I disconnected it from my HD Tv put it on my regular 27 TV toshiba thru RCA Jacks and 10 min later SOS I am getting very fustrated with this my other cable box in my room and my kids work fine but this one reset anywhere I put just like the other hd box i had I have everything connect to a smartline ups 750 industrail bat with regulator and surge protector in all rooms.
thanks
David
Why does comcast require me to rent a box to get hdtv when my tv is a hdtv tv? I hate those boxes with their extra remotes. Sure makes satellite look more attractive.
I am in Comcast hell. My HD box has not been able to receive a signal since Monday. Today is Friday. The initial Comcast response was to tell us to switch out the HD box. Not as easy as that would seem. Comcast deliberately does not provide an telephone number for the retail outlets that carry converter boxes. A consumer can’t call the outlet first to find out if the replacement box is available. We have made multiple trips to our closest retail outlet to switch out boxes. You stand in line forever and then get to the counter only to be told that the location is out of boxes. Nevertheless, over the past 5 days, we have: driven over to the retail outlet for Comcast to switch out our HD box; driven back to the retail outlet for the cable required to connect the new HD box to our HD TV (the new box doesn’t support the same cables so a customer has to get a different cable when switching to a new HD box and of course, the Comcast employee who gave us the new box never mentioned that); spent at least 6 hours on hold for tech support (as of this am, the estimated wait to speak to tech support is 30 minutes); spoken with at least 15 different Comcast employees; and had a Comcast tech at our home yesterday for 3 + hours. The issue is the code that is sent to our HD box. That code has been incorrectly entered at the “central location.” The problem can only be addressed from that end. The service tech tested our equipment and then tried a new HD box from his truck and was still not able to receive a signal. Comcast’s current solution is to schedule yet another service call (with the usual 4 hour window). I finally got through to a executive assistant at Comcast headquarters who was going to contact the regional Comcast central office. I was told this office could cut through all the run around I have gotten so far. Alas, I have not heard back from anyone at Comcast. Comcast knows that the problem is not at my end so another service call is pointless. The HD box is not faulty. Supposedly incorrect coding can be instantly fixed. Not so, I am sitting here at day 5. I don’t think Comcast employs enough people to handle the service complaints. Everyone I have spoken to has been polite but just can’t help. I think that once Comcast has a customer on the hook the need to provide service to that customer is way way down on the priority list. My only alternative is to go to AT&T or Direct TV service. But no one in my area has had much success with either of those providers. I am at the end of my rope.
Well, as far as I can tell, most of you people want *magic* to happen, but you have to remember that this is TECHNOLOGY, and just waving your fingers at it or praying to God, to make it *work*, just isnt going to get it. Remember the old saying “Garbage in, equals garbage out!” you get out of it what you put in it, and all the bitching ranting and raving about your OWN screwups/faults ain’t gonna fix anything. The last comment is great, you are NOT gonna be able to find a “RETAIL” outlet that will let you swap your box, id10-t manual should be issued to this person… sheesh. Call your Comcast rep and tell them your prob, don’t be nice, they are idiots in the office, remember, they are only paid like $8/hr to answer your call, and no NO technical knowledge whatsoever, they are *supposed* to read a script off the screen and try to get you to answer that… Most of the call centers people are too stupid (lazy is another term) to do the job right. So, give your technicians a break, they bust their asses to try and fix what “handy men” fuck up by putting in cheap ass splitters and running their own lines (inducing TONS of noise for EVERYBODY) So, if you don’t like it, get Dish or DirecTV, they’d be happy to come out and drill holes in your house, and run wires all over the place, or just stop yer bitching!