Bye bye Comcast
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I just got a shipment of digital converter boxes from Comcast that permit me to receive channels 30 through 70, which used to be analog. Which means that all of my "cable ready" TVs, VCRs, DVRs, Media Center PCs, and other video devices are now disabled without the converter box front end. Most sadly is that my DVR and Media Centers are now useless because the converter box is now the tuner, but the DVR/MC has its own tuner which expects direct cable channels. So the DVR/MC has to be set to channel 3, and it now has no knowledge of what programming is on the converter tuner. :mad: :mad: :mad: I guess I'll just cancel my service and go to DirecTV. The programming is so much better there anyway. Is anyone else going through this ridiculous service change? p.s. I know this is a US issue, but I've seen a lot of discussions about the BBC service practices here too :)
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I just got a shipment of digital converter boxes from Comcast that permit me to receive channels 30 through 70, which used to be analog. Which means that all of my "cable ready" TVs, VCRs, DVRs, Media Center PCs, and other video devices are now disabled without the converter box front end. Most sadly is that my DVR and Media Centers are now useless because the converter box is now the tuner, but the DVR/MC has its own tuner which expects direct cable channels. So the DVR/MC has to be set to channel 3, and it now has no knowledge of what programming is on the converter tuner. :mad: :mad: :mad: I guess I'll just cancel my service and go to DirecTV. The programming is so much better there anyway. Is anyone else going through this ridiculous service change? p.s. I know this is a US issue, but I've seen a lot of discussions about the BBC service practices here too :)
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My cable ready devices haven't worked in years. With the DTV transition, I don't why anyone would expect analog transmissions to still work.
Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
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My cable ready devices haven't worked in years. With the DTV transition, I don't why anyone would expect analog transmissions to still work.
Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
Joe Woodbury wrote:
My cable ready devices haven't worked in years
Really? Are you on Comcast too? Our cable has been analog up until now. The point I meant to say was that this feels like a scam. With the transition to digital broadcasting, it seems like Comcast has deliberately switched their service over to digital in order to disable all analog TV devices as well. For the last year or so Comcast has been running ads saying that the digital transition won't affect their subscribers, and now they're converting to digital themselves and require a converter. And that, of course, disables any device that has it's own programming information lookup service and tuner.
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Joe Woodbury wrote:
My cable ready devices haven't worked in years
Really? Are you on Comcast too? Our cable has been analog up until now. The point I meant to say was that this feels like a scam. With the transition to digital broadcasting, it seems like Comcast has deliberately switched their service over to digital in order to disable all analog TV devices as well. For the last year or so Comcast has been running ads saying that the digital transition won't affect their subscribers, and now they're converting to digital themselves and require a converter. And that, of course, disables any device that has it's own programming information lookup service and tuner.
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I got Comcast nine years ago. In my area everything was encrypted and had to go through the decoder box. Switched to Dish five years ago and DirecTV two months ago. (I may switch to Comcast for my broadband and phone, but I'm not in the mood right now to put up with the inevitable days of failure, especially given how bad my townhouse was wired for cable many years ago.)
Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
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I just got a shipment of digital converter boxes from Comcast that permit me to receive channels 30 through 70, which used to be analog. Which means that all of my "cable ready" TVs, VCRs, DVRs, Media Center PCs, and other video devices are now disabled without the converter box front end. Most sadly is that my DVR and Media Centers are now useless because the converter box is now the tuner, but the DVR/MC has its own tuner which expects direct cable channels. So the DVR/MC has to be set to channel 3, and it now has no knowledge of what programming is on the converter tuner. :mad: :mad: :mad: I guess I'll just cancel my service and go to DirecTV. The programming is so much better there anyway. Is anyone else going through this ridiculous service change? p.s. I know this is a US issue, but I've seen a lot of discussions about the BBC service practices here too :)
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What are you blathering on about? "Cable ready" devices shouldn't be disabled by the change; what are you doing with the converters? You shouldn't need them; don't they convert digital to analog?
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I got Comcast nine years ago. In my area everything was encrypted and had to go through the decoder box. Switched to Dish five years ago and DirecTV two months ago. (I may switch to Comcast for my broadband and phone, but I'm not in the mood right now to put up with the inevitable days of failure, especially given how bad my townhouse was wired for cable many years ago.)
Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
Ah, that explains it. I've had DirecTV for almost two years, in addition to Comcast, and I really love it. Great programming, but still the same issue with being a digital service. With this fubar from Comcast, I have no choice but to drop their service entirely, throw my old DVR in the trash, and get one of DTV's DVRs. But my two Media Center PCs are pretty much just PCs again. So sad :(
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What are you blathering on about? "Cable ready" devices shouldn't be disabled by the change; what are you doing with the converters? You shouldn't need them; don't they convert digital to analog?
PIEBALDconsult wrote:
Cable ready" devices shouldn't be disabled by the change
Channels 30 through 70 are being switched to digital, so the analog tuners won't be able to decode the signals. I don't know what it will look like until they make the transition on June 8, but I'm guessing it will look like white noise, or such, on those channels.
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I just got a shipment of digital converter boxes from Comcast that permit me to receive channels 30 through 70, which used to be analog. Which means that all of my "cable ready" TVs, VCRs, DVRs, Media Center PCs, and other video devices are now disabled without the converter box front end. Most sadly is that my DVR and Media Centers are now useless because the converter box is now the tuner, but the DVR/MC has its own tuner which expects direct cable channels. So the DVR/MC has to be set to channel 3, and it now has no knowledge of what programming is on the converter tuner. :mad: :mad: :mad: I guess I'll just cancel my service and go to DirecTV. The programming is so much better there anyway. Is anyone else going through this ridiculous service change? p.s. I know this is a US issue, but I've seen a lot of discussions about the BBC service practices here too :)
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You only have 70 channels? I have 200, and there's still nothing worth watching on any of them. Quite a bargain, eh? :-D
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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I just got a shipment of digital converter boxes from Comcast that permit me to receive channels 30 through 70, which used to be analog. Which means that all of my "cable ready" TVs, VCRs, DVRs, Media Center PCs, and other video devices are now disabled without the converter box front end. Most sadly is that my DVR and Media Centers are now useless because the converter box is now the tuner, but the DVR/MC has its own tuner which expects direct cable channels. So the DVR/MC has to be set to channel 3, and it now has no knowledge of what programming is on the converter tuner. :mad: :mad: :mad: I guess I'll just cancel my service and go to DirecTV. The programming is so much better there anyway. Is anyone else going through this ridiculous service change? p.s. I know this is a US issue, but I've seen a lot of discussions about the BBC service practices here too :)
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Not sure why you got down-voted for this. AFAIK, this is kind of a big deal for folks who subscribed to cable and wanted to use DVR - there are devices out there intended to mitigate this annoyance, but support for them is patchy, and word is the cable companies will go out of their way to make your life difficult if you attempt to utilize them... IMHO, the future lies in Internet streaming on demand. DVR was a stop-gap, and a good one... but really, we're past that technologically - the only hold up is the distributors... and that too is fast becoming a thing of the past.
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You only have 70 channels? I have 200, and there's still nothing worth watching on any of them. Quite a bargain, eh? :-D
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
Back in the 70's we had three channels, BBC1 BBC2 and ITV. It took 5 seconds to decide there was nothing on. Then in the early eighties Channel 4 was born, increasing our channel count by 33% overnight. It took 8 seconds to decide there was nothing on. Today with all the Entertainment, Sport, News, Education, Sales, Porn, Films etc it takes half an hour to decide there is nothing on, and by the time you have gone through, they may be something worth watching but you missed 20 minutes of it!
------------------------------------ "Possessions make you poor, wealth is measurable only in experience." Sun Tzu 621BC
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Joe Woodbury wrote:
My cable ready devices haven't worked in years
Really? Are you on Comcast too? Our cable has been analog up until now. The point I meant to say was that this feels like a scam. With the transition to digital broadcasting, it seems like Comcast has deliberately switched their service over to digital in order to disable all analog TV devices as well. For the last year or so Comcast has been running ads saying that the digital transition won't affect their subscribers, and now they're converting to digital themselves and require a converter. And that, of course, disables any device that has it's own programming information lookup service and tuner.
QRZ? de WAØTTN
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What are you blathering on about? "Cable ready" devices shouldn't be disabled by the change; what are you doing with the converters? You shouldn't need them; don't they convert digital to analog?
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I just got a shipment of digital converter boxes from Comcast that permit me to receive channels 30 through 70, which used to be analog. Which means that all of my "cable ready" TVs, VCRs, DVRs, Media Center PCs, and other video devices are now disabled without the converter box front end. Most sadly is that my DVR and Media Centers are now useless because the converter box is now the tuner, but the DVR/MC has its own tuner which expects direct cable channels. So the DVR/MC has to be set to channel 3, and it now has no knowledge of what programming is on the converter tuner. :mad: :mad: :mad: I guess I'll just cancel my service and go to DirecTV. The programming is so much better there anyway. Is anyone else going through this ridiculous service change? p.s. I know this is a US issue, but I've seen a lot of discussions about the BBC service practices here too :)
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Both comcast and direct Tv are on my boycott lists, DirectTv requires a 2 year contract which it will not disclose to you! BEWARE!
Need custom software developed? I do C# development and consulting all over the United States. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane
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I just got a shipment of digital converter boxes from Comcast that permit me to receive channels 30 through 70, which used to be analog. Which means that all of my "cable ready" TVs, VCRs, DVRs, Media Center PCs, and other video devices are now disabled without the converter box front end. Most sadly is that my DVR and Media Centers are now useless because the converter box is now the tuner, but the DVR/MC has its own tuner which expects direct cable channels. So the DVR/MC has to be set to channel 3, and it now has no knowledge of what programming is on the converter tuner. :mad: :mad: :mad: I guess I'll just cancel my service and go to DirecTV. The programming is so much better there anyway. Is anyone else going through this ridiculous service change? p.s. I know this is a US issue, but I've seen a lot of discussions about the BBC service practices here too :)
QRZ? de WAØTTN
Can't say I love em, but one way to not get screwed again is Dish Network: their standard receiver includes two TV's and I think my DVR is a couple bucks-US/month, also built into the box. This converter can be their signal to analog or digitial - so if you're like me, you can keep using your big analog CRT-TV's until they're used up. One neat thing: I insisted on a no-contract deal (costing me one of their rebates). Why? If the boxes break, both Dish Network and DirectTV charge handsomely for repair calls. If you've a contract, you're stuck paying, whether its working or not. No contract? Take the crap out, the cable company (or other provider) is begging for me to come back. It's worked, too. In this regard, the cable company (CableVision, an alter ego of Time-Warner) is much more local and has its own fleet of vehicles and repair/install personnel - so repairs &etc. are 'free'. For now, however, only Dish Network gives me the 2 TV + DVR at so low a price.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"How do you find out if you're unwanted if everyone you try to ask tells you to stop bothering them and just go away?" - Balboos HaGadol"It's a sad state of affairs, indeed, when you start reading my tag lines for some sort of enlightenment. Sadder still, if that's where you need to find it." - Balboos HaGadol
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Back in the 70's we had three channels, BBC1 BBC2 and ITV. It took 5 seconds to decide there was nothing on. Then in the early eighties Channel 4 was born, increasing our channel count by 33% overnight. It took 8 seconds to decide there was nothing on. Today with all the Entertainment, Sport, News, Education, Sales, Porn, Films etc it takes half an hour to decide there is nothing on, and by the time you have gone through, they may be something worth watching but you missed 20 minutes of it!
------------------------------------ "Possessions make you poor, wealth is measurable only in experience." Sun Tzu 621BC
Mission accomplished! They got you to watch 30 minutes of ads instead of your former 5 seconds. :-D
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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Both comcast and direct Tv are on my boycott lists, DirectTv requires a 2 year contract which it will not disclose to you! BEWARE!
Need custom software developed? I do C# development and consulting all over the United States. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane
Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:
DirectTv requires a 2 year contract which it will not disclose to you!
I knew about the DTV contract up front, and in fact I'm coming up on my two years in November, so it will be negotiable soon. I've been really happy with DTV, with the exception that I was really surprised when my dish went out of alignment and the told me they'd would charge me for a service call. Huh? It's YOUR installation, why am I paying for your de-alignment? I managed to get out of it by having them install a second coax line in another room, and the did the realignment as part of that job. But still... It sounds like the bottom line is that I'll get a new DVR from DTV, throw my current one away, and the Media Center computers we have will just be channel 3 receivers, although they do receive local OTA digital broadcasting. But basically, they won't be able to do the DVR functionality either because their tuners need a direct feed. As Shog9 said, it looks like the days of direct tuning are over. I wonder what the future of Media Center is now?
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Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:
DirectTv requires a 2 year contract which it will not disclose to you!
I knew about the DTV contract up front, and in fact I'm coming up on my two years in November, so it will be negotiable soon. I've been really happy with DTV, with the exception that I was really surprised when my dish went out of alignment and the told me they'd would charge me for a service call. Huh? It's YOUR installation, why am I paying for your de-alignment? I managed to get out of it by having them install a second coax line in another room, and the did the realignment as part of that job. But still... It sounds like the bottom line is that I'll get a new DVR from DTV, throw my current one away, and the Media Center computers we have will just be channel 3 receivers, although they do receive local OTA digital broadcasting. But basically, they won't be able to do the DVR functionality either because their tuners need a direct feed. As Shog9 said, it looks like the days of direct tuning are over. I wonder what the future of Media Center is now?
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Is it all tuner cards that are being rendered unusable, or only the old analog ones? I know digital tuners cards exist.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains. -- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
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Is it all tuner cards that are being rendered unusable, or only the old analog ones? I know digital tuners cards exist.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains. -- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies