Time Warner Cable (credit, cost, install)

[byebyenortheast]

I know... Yet another TWC thread... Anyway,

I've had TWC for about 13 months. Today my DVR completely died. This is the 3rd time in 13 months that I had to have the DVR replaced (which makes it the 4th time I've had to program the DVR).

I swapped the DVRs this morning and asked about getting a new box - not used, not a refurb. They told me that new boxes are not available. When I connected my replacement this afternoon it has no sound from the HDMI connection.

Has anyone had these problems on such a frequent basis? Is TWC that bad or do I just have bad luck?

Does anyone know where I can get a new box rather than used/refurb? Or maybe it's time to go back to satellite a get a better HD lineup????

[adlnc07]

If you have a clear line of sight the to satellite, I'd say it's worth a shot. I'm sure you could get a pretty sweet "new customer" deal as well. I'm holding off to get HD until next year when a HD Directivo is supposed to be released. I'm really tempted by all the flat screen TV deals though - but I do love my Tivo.

[saturnfan]

The issue with the DVR is the trash software that crashes constantly. Hardware is not normally the cause.

Spoke with TWC tech support to see if we might want to try again after going back to analog w/o box several months ago.

Software still being patched. Still unstable.

[Exit MA Now]

My TWC DVR runs flawlessly. No crashes and no glitches. Just pure sweet HD recording and playback. No more commercials. We love it.

[geoff2v]

Originally Posted by byebyenortheast

I know... Yet another TWC thread... Anyway,

I've had TWC for about 13 months. Today my DVR completely died. This is the 3rd time in 13 months that I had to have the DVR replaced (which makes it the 4th time I've had to program the DVR).

I swapped the DVRs this morning and asked about getting a new box - not used, not a refurb. They told me that new boxes are not available. When I connected my replacement this afternoon it has no sound from the HDMI connection.

Has anyone had these problems on such a frequent basis? Is TWC that bad or do I just have bad luck?

Does anyone know where I can get a new box rather than used/refurb? Or maybe it's time to go back to satellite a get a better HD lineup????

I don't know that you'll have any luck getting a new box. I'm not sure how they allocate, but I presume they don't give out new boxes to new customers and refurbs to current customers; it's all (I presume) mixed together in one stock, and you get what you get.

I have some difficulties with my DVR as well. The problem is that TWC switched the software which runs the boxes to this Navigator system which is (if you care) OCAP-compatible. Basically, instead of being written directly to the box, it's written in Java and runs on top of a Java interpreter. Along with not being written directly to the box, making it pokier, it's buggy as hell. So, I think you're stuck until you go with DirecTV or until TWC fixes its boxes. Or you could always get an HD TiVO (though you'd lose out on some of the HD channels until the come out with one of those SDV [Switched Digital Video] converters.)

The biggest advantage of TWC for me -- really, the only one, besides not needing to install a dish -- is that you can now get ESPNUHD on the basic HD package; with DirecTV, you need the sports package. Just my two cents...

[dansdrive]

Go back to Satellite. Lower cost and better equipment, its as plain as that.
Once you go Satellite its pure delight!
No more TWC helpless support!
No more raising the rates after the teaser period is over.
The ole Bait and Trap trick.
More HD options on Satellite.

[dave in jersey]

Originally Posted by adlnc07

If you have a clear line of sight the to satellite, I'd say it's worth a shot. I'm sure you could get a pretty sweet "new customer" deal as well. I'm holding off to get HD until next year when a HD Directivo is supposed to be released. I'm really tempted by all the flat screen TV deals though - but I do love my Tivo.

Why are you waiting? I have 2 DTV HD DVR's and they work great. We had 2 DTV SD Tivo units before the 2 HD DVR's, and I don't see much of a difference between the Tivo units and DTV DVR's.

I still have the 2 DTV Tivo receivers if anybody is interested in them.

Dave

[Andy64]

The issue with sound from HDMI cable probably is related to setting you need to change: Devices, then Audio Digital output, make sure it's set to HDMI. I have the 8300HDC and while its not the greatest, I dont have much trouble with resets unless there is a power blip (it seems very power quality sensitive), I see periodic video freezes (channel switch usually fixes that), but generally its been ok. I had this since we moved here in late January and havent had to replace it. I had the same box back in NY running different software and it was rock solid so long as the input signal was good quality, perhaps you may have a week signal on the outlet you have it connected to. Good luck whichever way you decide to go from here.

[bobbis]

Make sure you get a credit each month that box dosen't work right. Why should you have to pay for something you can't rely on? They know there's a problem with these boxes/software and they still put it out there. Amazing.

[adlnc07]

Originally Posted by dave in jersey

Why are you waiting? I have 2 DTV HD DVR's and they work great. We had 2 DTV SD Tivo units before the 2 HD DVR's, and I don't see much of a difference between the Tivo units and DTV DVR's.

I still have the 2 DTV Tivo receivers if anybody is interested in them.

Dave

I had an R15 (non-HD) DVR from Directv that was a complete piece of junk. I have heard that the HD DVR's are better, but I'm sticking with Tivo. I bought my Directivo used off Craigslist so I'm sure you could sell yours if you wanted - there's more than a few people like me who love them! I did have to put a new hard drive in mine last year for ~$100, but now I can record more TV than I'll ever get around to watching.

I also have a slight problem with the location for an HD dish - I can't put it where my SD dish is due to trees (HD has an additional satellite). So for now I'm just going to wait for the HD Directivo and hope that my tree problem is miraculously solved (without a tree falling on my house!).