Comcast dropping all analog channels above 26 (Smyrna, Mableton: live, versus, move to)

[xavier132487]

So, can they do it before 2012 if they choose to?

Yes, they can. They just have to be fully digital by 2012.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by billl

How do you figure? The standard digital package is the same price as expanded basic. And they're giving away two converters to every customer.

I'm not going to have to pay any more to Comcast (except maybe for the cablecards my new TiVo will need), but I am going to have to sink some money in to new hardware.

Bill

You're assuming there's no tit-for-tat between comcast and the hardware manufacturers.

[noah]

I am not sure but I know Comcast charged us a monthly fee for a digital box.

Are we talking about digital or High def? Seems to me that it is High Def everyone cares about.

Originally Posted by billl

How do you figure? The standard digital package is the same price as expanded basic. And they're giving away two converters to every customer.

I'm not going to have to pay any more to Comcast (except maybe for the cablecards my new TiVo will need), but I am going to have to sink some money in to new hardware.

Bill

[billl]

Originally Posted by noah

I am not sure but I know Comcast charged us a monthly fee for a digital box.

Are we talking about digital or High def? Seems to me that it is High Def everyone cares about.

I switched to digital service (which still includes all the expanded basic analog channels) about 2 months ago. I received one free converter box and I am not being charged monthly for its use. I don't know how they will handle the second one.

Digital starter only includes standard def digital and analog channels plus hi-def signals of local broadcast stations (which I believe Comcast is required to carry by law). But I was getting those hi-def signals even before I switched to digital service. If you want hi-def for cable channels you have to pay extra.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by PeteyNice

ReplayTV! The greatest DVR ever! I still have a 5080 hooked up in a guest room. It still skips commercials like nobodies business. Your Replay came with an IR blaster (or if you don't have it any more you can get them cheap on eBay). That will allow the Replay to control the channel on the cable box and work fine.

Yeah, I bought a lifetime 5040 in March 2003, and I've loved it ever since. I also run DVArchive on a few PCs downstairs and use VLC (this special version on Windows which skips commercials on ReplayTV recordings) to view the recorded shows on the PC, either streaming from another PC or from the ReplayTV itself. It's very slick. And I just started using Poopli recently.

I do have the IR blaster somewhere, so that might be a thought... Thanks for reminding me!

[kd2pm]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

I knew this was coming eventually. Sad. It'll blow my ReplayTV out of the water, too, so it looks like it's time to switch to digital and rent a new DVR.

Has already come....I finally saw that I lost all the channels above channel 31. I cant record HGTV, SCIFI or anything in the upper channels.

I loved my replay TV. I had the 5100 series that had the commercial skip. What to do...What to do..... Guess I dont have too many options. I had read that the DTA's that Comcast are using dont work well with the older DVR's that use the old IR codes. I wanted to get one of the DTA's and use my IR on my Replay TV...this sucks.

[kd2pm]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Yeah, I bought a lifetime 5040 in March 2003, and I've loved it ever since. I also run [URL="http://www.dvarchive.org/"]DVArchive[/URL] on a few PCs downstairs and use [URL="http://www.videolan.org/"]VLC[/URL] (this [URL="http://replayguide.sourceforge.net/vlc/latest/"]special version[/URL] on Windows which skips commercials on ReplayTV recordings) to view the recorded shows on the PC, either streaming from another PC or from the ReplayTV itself. It's very slick. And I just started using Poopli recently.

I do have the IR blaster somewhere, so that might be a thought... Thanks for reminding me!

You may want to check some of the other forums. I am reading that the DTA's that comcast is handing out use a new protocol that replay TV may not be able to send using its IR blaster. If thats the case, Comcast is definitely trying to force out the other DVR vendors and make us use their DVR

[AtlantaGuy21]

Comcast is doing there own transition to open up more avaiable room for more features. There working on allowing people who live in Like California and moving to say GA and keep there same programming and cable packages

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by kd2pm

I am reading that the DTA's that comcast is handing out use a new protocol that replay TV may not be able to send using its IR blaster. If thats the case, Comcast is definitely trying to force out the other DVR vendors and make us use their DVR

They're doing nothing of the kind. The problem is that they cannot provide backward compatibility forever. Every cable company is doing the same thing, and satellite companies have been 100% digital and requiring a decoder box for years now.

When the cell phone companies went all digital earlier in the decade, were they "trying to force out" analog phones? In a way yes, but only to allow better service and provide the majority of customers with increased quality and range. Technology moves on....quickly. Sometimes people don't like change, or maybe as in your case you made a purchase of a device that locked you into one technology and now its changing. Every hear of Super Betamax? I used to own one.

There are plenty of people who have Tivo and are still able to use it with Comcast via a D/A decoder or DTA. Maybe your device will also work in the same way. If not, you can buy a Tivo if you're dead set against the Comcast DVR.

Personally, I like the Comcast HD DVR and have 3 of them. If one breaks (which hasn't happened in the 7 years I've had them) then I get a replacement. If the technology changes, then I'm covered. Yes, it costs me $30/mo for all three, so I do pay more than buying 3 Tivos, but I get dual tuners and the other things I mentioned, and I have no upfront costs, so when you compare it's not that much different over a 3 year period. DirecTV, Dish, and U-Verse HD DVRs are all comparable from a cost perspective and are required to record those services.

To me the cost isn't a big deal, and if you lock into a 3rd party as you did, then be prepared that you may have to shift gears when technology changes, along with the associated costs.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by kd2pm

You may want to check some of the other forums. I am reading that the DTA's that comcast is handing out use a new protocol that replay TV may not be able to send using its IR blaster. If thats the case, Comcast is definitely trying to force out the other DVR vendors and make us use their DVR

Nah, that was a rumor, but it isn't correct.

My ReplayTV 5040 is currently able to control the Pace DC50X DTA that the nice folks at Comcast provided as the Digital Adapter units in my area, and the combination works very well. ReplayTV apparently did a very good job with their tech. The IR Blaster codesets can be extended.

I just had to install a new set of IR codes using a method described in this thread:

IR Code for Comcast DC50X DTA? - Page 2 - AVS Forum

We also have a DVR from them (Motorola DCH3416), and it isn't all that bad either, though it's closed off from the world while the ReplayTV is open, and it's also somewhat dumbed down as far as recording options are concerned.

It's also nice to be able to share shows over the LAN and the net and make requests through Poopli, etc., and I still can with my ReplayTV, but with the new DVR I can also record and watch HD shows, and I like that too.

Your 5000-series ReplayTV can probably be made to work. Mine works now. Don't lose hope.