# Must get TiVo box now due to Comcast changes!



## RayChuang88 (Sep 5, 2002)

Help.

I just read in the _Sacramento Bee_ today that Comcast plans in my area to turn off most of its analog cable channels in favor of going all-digital by March 30, 2010. 

As such, I need to get a TiVo box as soon as possible, one that is MCard CableCARD compatible. I'm thinking of getting a TiVo Series3 box with a 500 GB hard drive (663 hours SD/70 hours HD) from DVRupgrade and getting the CableCARD from Comcast itself. This way, at least I can still watch all the SD channels and be ready for the jump to HD channels when I finally retire my 27" Mitsubishi CRT TV in favor of a flat-panel HDTV.

Any suggestions on what should I do next?


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Series 3 is not M-card compatible. You need a TiVoHD for that.


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## RayChuang88 (Sep 5, 2002)

Whoops!  What I'm planning to get is a TiVo HD box with the DVRupgrade to 500 GB so I can store 70 hours HD and up to 663 hours SD.


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## jjberger2134 (Nov 20, 2002)

Why do you need to get a TiVo box ASAP? I see you have been a member of the forum for 7+ years, but do not know what TiVo you are currently using.

If you currently have an S1 or S2 model, you do not "need" to upgrade. Why spend the money? Especially on a model, that may be outdated by the time you are ready to upgrade to a HDTV. You can simply get a cable box (or DTA) from Comcast and attach that between the TiVo and the wall. If you do not have a TiVo at all, and want to take the plunge then that is a different story.

After taking a quick look at DVRupgrade.com it appears that you are in looking at the TiVoHD. From your description, you are said you are looking for a "TiVo Series 3" box. The original S3 is *not* compatible with M-cards. The TiVoHD is technically part of the S3 line, but its name is usually referred to as the "TiVoHD". The TiVoHD can use an M-card. Just wanted to clear up any confusion with the names of the different models.


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## chipbandit (May 15, 2007)

series 3 will require two cable cards both could be single stream or multi stream but the series 3 will need 2 the tivo hd and hdxl both i believe can use only one cable card and get two channels at once


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## RayChuang88 (Sep 5, 2002)

(sheepishly) I actually don't have a TiVo box because I haven't needed one for connecting to Comcast. But now that Comcast is going full digital for Extended Basic service I *DO* need to get a TiVo HD box with a Comcast-provided mCard CableCARD at least by middle March 2010. I can afford this since I'm getting my refund from the IRS and California FTB very soon. 

It should be noted I don't need On Demand or the cable guide, though.


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

RayChuang88 said:


> (sheepishly) I actually don't have a TiVo box because I haven't needed one for connecting to Comcast. But now that Comcast is going full digital for Extended Basic service I *DO* need to get a TiVo HD box with a Comcast-provided mCard CableCARD at least by middle March 2010.


what do mean by "for connecting to comcast"? 
I don't get why you think that digital cable somehow requires a Tivo.


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## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

stevel said:


> Series 3 is not M-card compatible. You need a TiVoHD for that.


Yeah it is. You just need 2 M-cards vs. 1 on the other HD TiVos.


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## mattymatt (Sep 29, 2005)

I would agree you _need _a Tivo (who doesn't?) and you really _should _get a Tivo HD ...but you don't absolutely need to use a Tivo to get all the digital Comcast channels  You just have to put up with some (IMHO) crappy equipment, remotes and overall poor experience.

You can get a really good deal on Tivo HD or XL if you've been a Tivo customer for awhile (about 6 years for me) with upgrade on Tivo.com right now. I got a Tivo HD for $150. Both Tivo and Amazon were out of stock on 1TB external drives, but will get one (hopefully by Olympics time. If not, I may have to crack it to put in the 500GB drive I put in the old Tivo.)

When Comcast did the same analog to digital change to us (WA) last January, it reduced me to being able to only record channels 2-30 (above that were digital, requiring cable box/adapter.) I tried their box and crappy remote, and tried to get my Tivo S2 (Toshiba w/DVD) to recognize and change channels--without success. Your mileage may vary, but be warned. Then Comcast had the gall to raise our rates on top of that. At the same time I took a pay cut (better than losing job though) which made it easy decision to drop Comcast.

I actually just backed down to basic cable (government mandated to $12/mo) as that cost was basically built in to our broadband with them. Losing the Daily Show, Colbert and assorted soccer and basketball games was hard, but I never watch those live, so if I can't record them it's like they don't exist. (except online--but quality of Comedy Central online is weak enough to not be worth it.)

This Christmas we finally got an HDTV (Panasonic 50" plasma for $699 at Best Buy--not bad; they also offer discount on Tivo but wasn't as good as Tivo.com) and loved watching the local channels in HD. Comcast then sent us a flyer with offer for new level of "Digital Economy" or something like that. Included Comedy Central, CNN, History, etc. Basically same as digital starter without sports channels. Bit of a problem getting the M-card set up (Comcast installer was clueless kid--neither he nor phone operator knew what channels were in the package we'd just ordered.) Eventually got the right lineup figured out and it's been working great.

So, get that Tivo HD, get Comcast to install an M-card, stay on top of them to make sure you get what you paid for, then enjoy!


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## Johncv (Jun 11, 2002)

RayChuang88 said:


> Help.
> 
> I just read in the _Sacramento Bee_ today that Comcast plans in my area to turn off most of its analog cable channels in favor of going all-digital by March 30, 2010.
> 
> ...


Do you have a TiVo now? If not, what is your current finance situation, do you have an eight month emergency fund should you find yourself out of a job. If not, then you should not even be thinking about buying a TiVo or even an HDTV. Start saving your money, just rent a DVR from Comcast. I know it not a TiVo, but it will record your shows.


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## RayChuang88 (Sep 5, 2002)

Johncv said:


> Do you have a TiVo now? If not, what is your current finance situation, do you have an eight month emergency fund should you find yourself out of a job. If not, then you should not even be thinking about buying a TiVo or even an HDTV. Start saving your money, just rent a DVR from Comcast. I know it not a TiVo, but it will record your shows.


I currently work as a _permanent_ employee for the State of California at the Franchise Tax Board--not going to get laid off anytime soon with the tax filing season now really starting to ram up.  And thanks to a lot of careful saving of money, let's say I have a pretty nice financial cushion.







I am thinking of going with the Comcast-provided DVR/digital box, but the interface of that unit leaves a bit to be desired.









By the way, the reason why I need it now is because as of March 30, 2010, Comcast will turn off all the analog cable channels above Channel 30. That means I'll get only the local channels and the local public access channels directly tuned by my TVs and VCR's (all the Extended Basic channels are going to be Channel 30 and above but in digital form). I'll check with Comcast customer service how much will it cost to go with their digital box plus DVR and two DTA's to make it compatible with my kitchen and family room TV's.


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## Johncv (Jun 11, 2002)

RayChuang88 said:


> I currently work as a _permanent_ employee for the State of California at the Franchise Tax Board--not going to get laid off anytime soon with the tax filing season now really starting to ram up.  And thanks to a lot of careful saving of money, let's say I have a pretty nice financial cushion.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Good for you, maybe you can get a break on my state taxes. I work for the Department of the Navy so I am in good shape too. 

I would go with Comcast DVR box for now and wait for the new TiVo box, also I would wait on the HDTV till they come out with HDMI 4.1, or till your TV dies on you.


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## RayChuang88 (Sep 5, 2002)

Johncv said:


> Good for you, maybe you can get a break on my state taxes. I work for the Department of the Navy so I am in good shape too.


Don't you wish.  If you need official help, contact your tax preparer (make sure they're certified by the Franchise Tax Board! There are too many shady tax preparers out there) or call (800) 852-5711 8 am to 5 pm weekdays. Do it now while the season is still relatively quiet.

But anyway, I've decided to get a TiVo HD box and get the mCard CableCARD from Comcast for the family room TV (soon to upgrade to 40" HDTV flat panel!) and a DTA box (for full Channel 2-99 access) for the kitchen.


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## Johncv (Jun 11, 2002)

RayChuang88 said:


> Don't you wish.  If you need official help, contact your tax preparer (make sure they're certified by the Franchise Tax Board! There are too many shady tax preparers out there) or call (800) 852-5711 8 am to 5 pm weekdays. Do it now while the season is still relatively quiet.
> 
> But anyway, I've decided to get a TiVo HD box and get the mCard CableCARD from Comcast for the family room TV (soon to upgrade to 40" HDTV flat panel!) and a DTA box (for full Channel 2-99 access) for the kitchen.


If your going to buy a TiVo get the XL one, it THX certified and come with one TB hard drive. Yes, you will use one TB of drive space. I also assume the THX TiVo will sound better.

As for taxes, been using Turbo Tax for years, never had a problem. Always receive a refund from the FED, but end up paying the state and it probably
cost the state more in paperwork then the tax collected.


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## cwerdna (Feb 22, 2001)

RayChuang88 said:


> I'll check with Comcast customer service how much will it cost to go with their digital box plus DVR and two DTA's to make it compatible with my kitchen and family room TV's.


IIRC, Comcast provides 2 or more DTAs w/o any extra free. I've used the Comcast DTAs mentioned at http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=412029 w/my Series 1 and Series 2 TiVos for almost a month when I was in temp housing.

I now use a TiVo HD w/Verizon FiOS and a single M-Card.


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## cwerdna (Feb 22, 2001)

Johncv said:


> If your going to buy a TiVo get the XL one, it THX certified and come with one TB hard drive. Yes, you will use one TB of drive space. I also assume the THX TiVo will sound better.


Although I agree the 160 gig drive in the TiVoHD is too small, the XL is a rip. One is better off buying an approved external drive or hacking the TiVoHD once the warranty is up and replacing the internal drive w/something larger.


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## Johncv (Jun 11, 2002)

cwerdna said:


> Although I agree the 160 gig drive in the TiVoHD is too small, the XL is a rip. One is better off buying an approved external drive or hacking the TiVoHD once the warranty is up and replacing the internal drive w/something larger.


I agree with you that a 160 GB drive is too small, but the point is the XL is THX certified. Which I believe is a better deal. If I had know that TiVo was bringing out THX certified HD TiVo I would have waited and purchase that model.


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

Johncv said:


> I agree with you that a 160 GB drive is too small, but the point is the XL is THX certified. Which I believe is a better deal. If I had know that TiVo was bringing out THX certified HD TiVo I would have waited and purchase that model.


Which goes to show you P. T. Barnum hit it right on the nose. (My opinion - YMMV.)


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## cwerdna (Feb 22, 2001)

Johncv said:


> I agree with you that a 160 GB drive is too small, but the point is the XL is THX certified. Which I believe is a better deal. If I had know that TiVo was bringing out THX certified HD TiVo I would have waited and purchase that model.


Please tell me what makes the THX certification better. It doesn't mean squat to me.

If you've ever seen the original release of Highlander on DVD, its picture quality was *HORRIBLE* despite it being "THX certified". (I haven't watched the movie, I've just popped in the the my roommate's disc. It also was the first disc he bought when he got his DVD player. It made him at first think "so what? What's the big deal about DVD? The PQ sucks...")

It's cited by many such as at http://www.dvdmg.com/highlander.shtml and http://forums.highdefdigest.com/1808092-post9.html as being about the worst PQ feature film ever on DVD.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Johncv said:


> I agree with you that a 160 GB drive is too small, but the point is the XL is THX certified. Which I believe is a better deal. If I had know that TiVo was bringing out THX certified HD TiVo I would have waited and purchase that model.


You would not find a significant difference between the quality of the TivoHD and the TivoHD XL, the XL simply was sent to, and passed THX testing, going consensus is that the Tivo HD performs quite very similarly.

The big selling point for most buyers of the TivoHD XL isn't the THX certification, but the larger hard drive that would let a user have that and a 1GB expander for 2TB of storage all without having to open the box or void a warranty.

If you really felt you needed THX certification the Series 3 had it, and it's an awesome box (IMNSHO)

Diane


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## Johncv (Jun 11, 2002)

cwerdna said:


> Please tell me what makes the THX certification better. It doesn't mean squat to me.
> 
> If you've ever seen the original release of Highlander on DVD, its picture quality was *HORRIBLE* despite it being "THX certified". (I haven't watched the movie, I've just popped in the the my roommate's disc. It also was the first disc he bought when he got his DVD player. It made him at first think "so what? What's the big deal about DVD? The PQ sucks...")
> 
> It's cited by many such as at http://www.dvdmg.com/highlander.shtml and http://forums.highdefdigest.com/1808092-post9.html as being about the worst PQ feature film ever on DVD.


THX has nothing to do with picture quality, it all about sound quality. THX certified mean that the device meet THX test for best sound output.


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## RayChuang88 (Sep 5, 2002)

By the way, I'm still leaning towards getting a TiVo HD with the 500 GB hard drive upgrade from DVRupgrade (they include a better remote and the Wi-Fi adapter for US$399). Comcast customer support told me once the transition completes on March 30, 2010 they plan to dramatically increase the number of HD channels available on Digital Basic tier serivce to over 50, probably by this summer.


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## reubanks (Feb 19, 2006)

Why not get the HDXL with a 1TB drive and better remote for $399 from Fry's and buy the wireless adapter from someone either locally or off of Ebay? (or try to find it on closeout at the local Radio Shack...)

Randy


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Johncv said:


> I agree with you that a 160 GB drive is too small, but the point is the XL is THX certified. Which I believe is a better deal. If I had know that TiVo was bringing out THX certified HD TiVo I would have waited and purchase that model.


I don't know for sure, but I'd be willing to bet the TivoHD would pass the audio output portion of the THX cert. I wouldn't be surprised if the HD and XL had similarly designed boards.
However, the hard drive and fan could be a factor (see below).


RoyK said:


> Which goes to show you P. T. Barnum hit it right on the nose. (My opinion - YMMV.)


I wouldn't go _that_ far. I give the THX cert. _some_ merit. It's a benchmark test and it involves more that just audio output of a device.



Johncv said:


> THX has nothing to do with picture quality, it all about sound quality. THX certified mean that the device meet THX test for best sound output.


It also has to do with the ambient noise that the device generates.



RayChuang88 said:


> By the way, I'm still leaning towards getting a TiVo HD with the 500 GB hard drive upgrade from DVRupgrade (they include a better remote and the Wi-Fi adapter for US$399). Comcast customer support told me once the transition completes on March 30, 2010 they plan to dramatically increase the number of HD channels available on Digital Basic tier serivce to over 50, probably by this summer.


Sounds like you are set on buying a Tivo. It's not a bad decision (IMO). I've been really happy with my Tivos. 
And if you ever regret only getting 500GB (and I bet you will  ), it will be easy to upgrade it yourself. :up:


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## RayChuang88 (Sep 5, 2002)

reubanks said:


> Why not get the HDXL with a 1TB drive and better remote for $399 from Fry's and buy the wireless adapter from someone either locally or off of Ebay? (or try to find it on closeout at the local Radio Shack...)
> 
> Randy


I can actually get a 1 TB TiVo HD XL for US$399 at Fry's?


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## dswallow (Dec 3, 2000)

RayChuang88 said:


> I can actually get a 1 TB TiVo HD XL for US$399 at Fry's?


http://www.frys.com/product/5716272?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG


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