gren25 said:

lol, how do you like the sa 8300 hd-dvr, thats what I have, it looks good on dig. channels but anolog is bad. thats why I'm thinking of switching to dish or direct just don't know which one yet
Well - it's love hate. It's my 1st DVR and we love it. As a matter of fact the wife to be is now addicted to it. I need to pick up a Tivo or something before I get rid of it - lol.
The Bad:
I've got some kind of ground loop problem so all channels have an audible hum. This is the only device that has the problem and all devices are on the same UPS.
The 'jump to live' at the end of a recording is REALLY annoying.
In general, the HD looks good but like anything else it depends on the content. I got the non-HD looking a lot better when I got the box setup to do the SD stuff at 480p.
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My main hangup is with Cox. I'm paying $70/mo for the cheapest digital cable package offered + HD & DVR. This blows.
I've pretty much come to accept that HD is stupidly overpriced from DBS & cable providers. Even Dish with Top120 + the HD pack and a DVR with all the fees and whatnot end up around what I'm paying for Cox.
I'm probably going to go back to analog cable (90% of what the family wants to watch it on there). My FTA setup is good for getting me music channels and whatever video content happens to be in the clear. FTA has been a lot of fun to play with.
If Cox does as they plan and eliminate analog cable, I'll probaly get into a dish dual tuner setup. That makes for a really slick TV solution for the kid's rooms.