Toadman
How do you like these Apples
join:2001-11-28
Medina, OH | Useless anyways!
The lack of support by both vendors and Cable operators have rendered cablecards useless. Why have one when the rental box costs the same? |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | Because the Series 3 TiVo beats the stuffing out of most cable provided DVRs? |
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fcisler
Premium
join:2004-06-14
Riverhead, NY
| Except i really don't want to spend $799 on a TiVo.
And then have to rent two CableCards.
My SA 8300HD does just fine...i can record two HD shows and watch a third previously recorded (or one of the recordings live), for under $10 a month.
My reason for wanting TiVo back in the day was to install a NIC and rip quality recordings off of the TiVo's HD. With the 8300HD and FireWire - I can do that now. |
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA | reply to Karl Bode
Especially in price  |
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NateDawg
@embarqhsd.net
|  reply to Toadman
said by Toadman  :The lack of support by both vendors and Cable operators have rendered cablecards useless. Why have one when the rental box costs the same? Cable cards are very useful. The answer to your question is TiVo. The latest "Series 3" TiVo requires two cables cards to operate, and has capabilities beyond ANYTHING that a cable box (HD DVR) could even dream of doing. I can stream video, photos, whatever, to my TiVo (and back) from my laptop, and the recording capacity is about 32 hours of High Definition recordings. You can download the majority of the HD shows you record to your PC, there is a web interface, etc.... Too much to list here....
The down side... the price. $599 is as low as I have seen it in the last week or so... usually $799. But if you can afford it...there is nothing better out there right now.
So, THAT is why I believe cable cards are very useful. 
fRoM dA dAwG pOuNd -------> nAtE |
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sporkme
drop the crantini and move it, sister
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-01
Budd Lake, NJ
 ·Optimum Online
| reply to fcisler
said by fcisler :My reason for wanting TiVo back in the day was to install a NIC and rip quality recordings off of the TiVo's HD. With the 8300HD and FireWire - I can do that now. Does that apply to encrypted content as well? Or does one have to "hack" the box like the old Tivos? |
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banditws6
Shrinking Time and Distance
join:2001-08-18
Naples, FL
·Comcast
edit:
May 11th, @01:39PM
| reply to Karl Bode
Seriously, if not for the price tag, I would replace my SA 8300HD with a TiVo Series 3 for software reasons alone. In my Comcast market, our 8300s are powered by SARA software, which goes to a fair amount of effort to degrade the user experience significantly. To wit:
•There's no ability to record something that airs in the future if it doesn't appear on the schedule (i.e., no recording by title).
•The device only has a week's worth of listings at any one time (could be Comcast's fault).
•The "record all episodes" functionality isn't intelligent. Even if a show you've set to record stops airing, it will continue recording whatever airs in its place until you manually delete the "all episodes" program. The guide knows the show isn't on anymore, but the scheduled recordings list doesn't.
•No ability to search listings for a show. You get a standard grid, or a cumbersome "browse by title" feature (in which you have to page through a week's worth of shows -- across all channels -- in alphabetical order). "Browse by title" also misses some programs that the grid view finds, so you can't trust it anyway.
•No "suggestions" (a TiVo hallmark that I've enjoyed quite a bit on my TiVo Series 2 -- it records programs it thinks you will like, based on other recordings you've programmed and ratings you've given).
The 8300HD is a flat-out excellent piece of hardware that's hampered by archaic software. At least Comcast will (should?) eventually offer TiVo software to us according to their recent deal with TiVo, but since they concentrate on their Motorola markets first, we'll likely be waiting for years.
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"I'll follow the law until it's just stupid." -Ted Nugent |
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fcisler
Premium
join:2004-06-14
Riverhead, NY | reply to sporkme
5C encrypted content will not stream - but I have not come across anything 5C in the shows I watch yet. |
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fcisler
Premium
join:2004-06-14
Riverhead, NY
| reply to banditws6
Yes...I have come across these issues, and they are annoying....
-You can manually schedule for as far in advance as you want...although no replacement for further scheduling.
-Also brings in the first point - they SHOULD provide you with more than a weeks worth of programming. It's easily doable...but why they don't is beyond me.
-YES! Very annoying. And then - if you hit stop and try and erase - it tells you it will stop all FUTURE recordings!
The rest of those points I have to agree on. Except the suggestions. I know what I like, and don't want anything to "suggest" something i want...but YMMV.
Either way...i'm satisfied with the 8300HD. My favorite part is that when it dies (i'm on 8+ as of right now) - i bring it back to cablevision and swap it out on the spot. |
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TheGhost
Premium
join:2003-01-03
Lake Forest, IL
clubs:
| reply to Toadman
Well, around here they do not (or at least did not) cost the same. Cable boxes are around $7 a month while the first cable card is free. Afterwards, the fee was less than a box.
Another reason to not have a box is that you don't have a box. It would be nice with a flat panel on the wall to not have to put a box there. |
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smcallah
join:2004-08-05
Home
| reply to banditws6
said by banditws6 :•There's no ability to record something that airs in the future if it doesn't appear on the schedule (i.e., no recording by title). TiVo has the same limitation, really.
TiVo doesn't have a list of every show ever just sitting on its hard drive. If it is a new show that has never been on before, or hasn't been on in a while, it will have to be on in the next 12 days for you to be able to record it. I don't believe SARA software can get a 12 day guide, so that does limit "future" shows quite a bit.
Now, you can use TiVo wishlists to catch something that hasn't aired yet that TiVo does not yet know about.
But TiVo can't see shows that don't appear on the schedule either, unless you already had a Season Pass setup for it if it was on in the past. |
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ifarrell
join:2000-08-10
Willow Spring, NC
 ·Vonage
| reply to fcisler
said by fcisler :Except i really don't want to spend $799 on a TiVo. And then have to rent two CableCards. My SA 8300HD does just fine...i can record two HD shows and watch a third previously recorded (or one of the recordings live), for under $10 a month. My reason for wanting TiVo back in the day was to install a NIC and rip quality recordings off of the TiVo's HD. With the 8300HD and FireWire - I can do that now. It's much less than $799 if you look around.
It can be had now for $599 or maybe less. |
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Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Pittsburgh, PA | reply to Toadman
Cablecards had better get useful by July 1st because a lot of cableco boxes will have them after that. |
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Phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Jacksonville, FL
 ·Verizon Wireless B..
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| reply to NateDawg
I suppose you love how well Video On Demand works with it too? Sorry, but even though I can record shows, I do enjoy my interactive sessions, especially considering a TiVo cost over $599. It should support VoD services if you ask me. Otherwise I can build a MythTV box and use it for many other things a TiVo can't do  .
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SIPPhone/Gizmo # 17476200648 / PIMPNET Chatline / Ran by Asterisk & Slackware 10.1. |
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BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Everett, MA
clubs:
·Comcast
·Comcast Formerly ..
| reply to fcisler
And when it start you be the first to complain about it.
How about the fact I love my mythtv box that has dual hd tuners in it. It would be nice to be able to get cable cards for my box so I can record more then the 2 channels available on my cable box.
Right now I record my locals from OTA, I would like to be able to use my myth box more as a whole house system , which killing cable cards will hurt.
This is why I am waiting on our own cable boxes with the downloadable conditional access system. I know there will be more people like myself who want more options whether it be a computer or a set top box.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" |
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fcisler
Premium
join:2004-06-14
Riverhead, NY
| said by BosstonesOwn :And when it start you be the first to complain about it. Absolutely not a single clue what you meant there.
All I was comparing was the fact that I DO NOT want to spend $599+ (whatever), when my DVR is around $10 a month - and if something BETTER comes out - i trade it up.
I also have a media center PC at home. The lack of true HD capturing (i know, the technical limits of capturing uncompressed HD video) makes me stick also with a DVR. Once i've recorded the shows, i can them play them back and capture then in all their HD beauty to my MCE.
Now once someone figures out how to use the firewire instead of the tuner to actually VIEW the program material (currently viewing is done via the tuner card in MCE, and when you record it uses the firewire) - i'll be set. |
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wifi4milez
In Need Of Garbage Pail Kids 1st Series
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·RoadRunner Cable
·BroadVoice
| reply to fcisler
said by fcisler :My reason for wanting TiVo back in the day was to install a NIC and rip quality recordings off of the TiVo's HD. With the 8300HD and FireWire - I can do that now. How do you get the content off the box?
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я люблю Денди! |
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fcisler
Premium
join:2004-06-14
Riverhead, NY
| FireWire (1394), a Mac Mini and CapDVHS (under windows) or the FireWire SDK under OS X also contains two utilities.
There's also a piece of software for OS X which you can schedule recordings.
For whatever reason, VLC will only allow you to open a capture device when within windows - which means you can view it live. |
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cabletech69
@npgco.com
| reply to Toadman
This is a true statement... We charge 5 dollars for a the digital box rental 10 for a dual-tuner dvr hd-box... Of course you have the fees for the hd and digital tiers however with the box you have the interactive guide and the motorola dct 6416 boxes can also provide internet using the ehternet port in the back of course most cable providers arnt going to use this feature it is there. With cable cards the tv that they are installed in need to have a built in cable modem to access the guide, and to order PPV with out having to call in to your provider to order this programming... We have cablecards in the field and as a tech i see lots of cablecard ready tvs that dont have cable modem tech built in, Rendering the card useless for some of the features people enjoy about having a digital box. Although the gov. is forcing cable providers to change the type of boxes we use to include cablecards at this point for security reasons,soon enouugh even with a digital box a cablecard will still have to be used |
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