Comcast DVR Belongs in a Dumpster

[Sean Mota]

http://www.powerpage.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/powerpage.woa/wa/story?newsID=14507

The Comcast DVR (a Motorola DCT 6412) has more bugs in it than a picnic basket left out on a summer day. And I left TiVo for this?!

I recently converted from a TiVo DVR to a Comcast DVR when I upgraded to digital HDTV. I couldn't stay with TiVo because; a) it can't record shows broadcast in High-Definition and b) it is far too clunky and slow to control the TiVo from the Comcast box (infrared transmitters, anyone?). My hands were tied. Because I wanted HDTV and a DVR I have only one choice - Comcast. (Before you ask: I have a collection of 100-foot trees obscuring my southern exposure, so satellite is not an option.)

In March the company automatically downloaded a software fix from Motorola to all of their customers using Motorola DCT 6412 DVRs. I can confirm that, not unlike Apple's Mac OS 10.3.9, the Comcast DVR update has only made it worse. Now I can't record a single program reliably enough to watch and have reverted back to watching (shudder) live television. Some of the problems I've had:

- Freezing. 75% of recorded shows on my new Comcast DVR are interrupted by heavy digital artifacts and pixelization, what's worse is that the audio drops out every 15-20 seconds essentially make the recorder useless. Unless you like to play "guess the missing word" every 15 seconds.

- Spontaneous auto-shutoff. Imagine you're watching a really dramatic show (like Fox's 24) and you've paused it a few times so that there's program stored in the buffer. Last night my Comcast DVR spontaneously shut down at 10pm erasing the program buffer I had been saving the end of 24 on. Buh-bye.

- Missed recordings. Shows scheduled to record never do, or record the wrong channel, or programs can't be found in the guide to record. There's nothing worse than checking to see who was on SNL the night before only to find out it didn't record at all.

- Mute bug. The Comcast DVR will often be stuck in permanent "mute" mode preventing you from getting audio. The only fix it is to reboot the DVR and this is inconvenient if you are in the middle of recording a program.

Comcast claims that the problem is in Motorola's software and that there's no ETA for a fix. If you call them to complain they'll credit you the US$10 monthly DVR fee, but that doesn't help much when you just want to watch a recorded episode of 60 Minutes or 24.

I can honestly say that I initially enjoyed the ability to record HD programming on my Comcast DVR but that was its only real benefit over my TiVo. The program guide, scheduling, user interface are all far inferior to TiVo. Comcast's lack of wish lists, season passes and suggestions is woeful in comparison. Now that the thing CAN'T RECORD a program it is essentially useless.

Comcast: clean up your act and recall all of these defective Motorola DCT 6412 boxes and give all your customers a full refund. If you're having issues call 1-800-COMCAST. If anyone from TiVo wants my business back, get in touch. All I wanted was to watch 24 last night, and apparently that's too much to ask from the nation's largest cable company.

 

[Bruce]

Ok, I have had the 6412 ( I now have two of them ) for about 3 months now, I do not have any of these problems at all, the only slight drop outs ( audio ) were with Channel 7 here ( Detroit-ABC ) but they were happening OTA also ( I have a Samsung-165 also, watched Alias on it, recorded it on the 6412, drop outs were at the same time.

Lets do this case by case:

"- Freezing. 75% of recorded shows on my new Comcast DVR are interrupted by heavy digital artifacts and pixelization"

Not mine, I wonder if he means his locals or HD/SD Cable Channels, locals could be breaking up due to multi-casting which will happen OTA also, not the boxes fault.

"- Spontaneous auto-shutoff."

Never has happened yet on mine.

"- Missed recordings."

I go to the guide, find the show, hit record, it is set to go when the show is on, never has missed yet except for human error.

"- Mute bug."

It mutes ? If I mute it, I will use the TV remote if sound is coming out of the TV or on the pre-pro, this one makes no sense at all.

 

[jeslevine]

I have had two of the 6412s for 1 2 weeks, and have not experienced any of those problems. In addition the firewire port on the 6412 is active so you can archive HD broadcast through it

One thing nice about it is you don't have to shell out 700 to 1000 bucks for an HD DVR that might be obsolete when mpeg 4 comes out

 

[GEBrown]

Request a Replacement!!!

Sean,

If you've read any of the many Motorola DCT6412 threads on other newsgroups, you should not be surprised.

Yes, apparently there are some bad 6412's out there, but not every one is faulty. You can simply call Comcast and request a replacement.

Other environmental issues that are known to adversely affect the 6412's are bad / fluctuating power and heat.

I have two 6412's - admittedly only for a week - but so far I have seen only a single lock up on one.

Hope this helps

 

[RAJH]

Maybe I am one of the lucky few but my experience with the Comcast DVR has been great.

I've had my DVR for about 1-month now and I love it! I have not experienced a single problem recording programs. The only problem I have noticed is an occasional second or so delay when changing channels.

Because of the DVR I've watched more movies on Comcast in the last month than I did in the last 6-month watching VOOM.

 

[BFG]

I think this guy wrote a report about how awesome cable dvrs were because you didn't have to shell out a grand for an HDTIVO, I guess he changed his mind

 

[zombie]

I get the mute bug. TO make it happen i need to turn off the box and turn it back on. Almost everytime i do this (accidently turn the box off) i lose audio until i unplug the unit (and plug it back on of course).

 

[bcshields]

I have one from Scientific American. Misses timers.. repeat timers delete... and while it's recording.. oh my.

Say you have a 1 hour show you're 15 minutes into it's recording and you want to watch from the beginning. You have to go into the DVR menu, select it, then REWIND it. and if you don't catch up to live, you'll have 15 minutes left when the show stops recording, and brings you back to live. Then you have to go to the DVR menu again, select the show, then FAST FORWARD to the point it shut you off at.

Pain in the rump.

 

[Kentstater72]

6412

I have had the 6412 since November and my wife and I love it.
But it is obvious that there are bad units and also bugs.
I was very fortunate.

There is a fix for the mute situation(I call it a situation because it is debated that it is there for a reason) at he AVS forum. It is a long and tedious thread but it covers most of your questions.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=464986&perpage=20&pagenumber=28

 

[Sean Mota]

I emailed the author and this is his reply.

wrote it last night.
just swapped the box for a new one at the comcast office and will
update the story tomorrow.

 

[tdigden]

I've had it a few months. I had to hard reset it once to get to my recorded programs. Besides that the guide is slow, sometimes takes a few seconds to respond but tolerable. I don't care for the analog channels. But I got more HD so I can deal.

 

[andrzej]

I've had mine for ~2 months, and I haven't experienced any of the described problems. Actually, I like it a lot. Comcast in Boston is not Voom but at least I can watch tons of Red Sox in HD. And record it in HD when I am away!

 

[jgantert]

I've had mine for ~2 months, and I haven't experienced any of the described problems. Actually, I like it a lot. Comcast in Boston is not Voom but at least I can watch tons of Red Sox in HD. And record it in HD when I am away!

Strange, here in Baltimore, when the O's play the Sox in Boston, we DONT get it in HD!!! Strange.

Still don't like my SA8000HD, but I'll get used to it I guess. Sometimes it sounds like it is a lot better than the Moto boxes, but most of the time it sounds worse.

-John

 

[Sean Mota]

He updated his article:

http://www.powerpage.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/powerpage.woa/wa/story?newsID=14507

Update:
I spoke with a Comcast engineer that explained that "Volume Lock" is a feature and not a bug. This thread on SatelliteGuys.us discusses "some speculation that the "mute" function is to protect people who might turn their DVR off but leave their audio system on from being blasted when a show comes on at off-hours... (the) sure fire work-around is to simply leave the 6412 box on all the time." A better fix is to simply turn off the Volume Lock feature. You can do this by pressing the "Cable" button (on the DVR remote), then hold the "Setup" button until the Cable button blinks twice. Then enter 993 and click Volume Up.

Comcast claims that the problems are in Motorola's software and that there's no ETA for a fix. If you call them to complain they'll credit you the US$10 monthly DVR fee, but that doesn't help much when you just want to watch a recorded episode of 60 Minutes or 24.

I can honestly say that I initially enjoyed the ability to record HD programming on my Comcast DVR but that was its only real benefit over my TiVo. The program guide, scheduling, user interface are all far inferior to TiVo. Comcast's lack of wish lists, season passes and suggestions is woeful in comparison. Since the Motorola DVR Comcast is supplying can't seem to record a program without errors, it's essentially useless.

Comcast: clean up your act and recall these defective Motorola DCT 6412 boxes and give customers a full refund. If you're having issues with your DVR call 1-800-COMCAST. If anyone from TiVo wants to earn my business back, get in touch. All I wanted was to watch 24 last night, and apparently that's too much to ask from the nation's largest cable company.

 

[Sean Mota]

One question for you all: Does it have name based recording or not?

 

[bratboy]

Well here in Denver I recieved a 6200. When I called and asked about the 6412, which is what I was origonally told I'd get, after some checking it turns out they say because of ppl haveing trouble with the 6412 they went back to 6200's and are expecting a newer model soon.

Anyway for the most part it seems to work okay so I cant actually complain I guess. Sure would like to have active firewire tho and not sure if it is on the 6200.

 

[spahoose]

Couple of issues

I've had the 6412 for about a month now and the only issues I've had so far are one lock up and no sound on analog channels thru HTS. I didn't have this problem with the digital box. Also, I've got my system wire both thru the 6412 and a direct line to tv and there is a large difference between the two sounds. The sound thru the box sounds very compressed. There is also about a three second sound delay between picture and sound on all digital channels. The picture quality on analog channels definetly sucks, very grainy.

 

[bcshields]

One question for you all: Does it have name based recording or not?

Mine does... for all my b*tching about the box, it does have NBR.

 

[jgantert]

Mine does... for all my b*tching about the box, it does have NBR.

What exactly are you refering to by "named based recording"?

My box (8000HD), I can select a show, and select "all episodes". For example, lets say I choose Simpsons on FOX, Sunday @ 8pm. I haven't actually tried it yet, tho. Either of two things could happen:

1. It could record all of the new Simpsons episodes on Sundays at 8pm.

2. It could record ALL of the Simpsons episodes on anytime.

Anyone know which it is?

-John

 

[andrzej]

What exactly are you refering to by "named based recording"?

My box (8000HD), I can select a show, and select "all episodes". For example, lets say I choose Simpsons on FOX, Sunday @ 8pm. I haven't actually tried it yet, tho. Either of two things could happen:

1. It could record all of the new Simpsons episodes on Sundays at 8pm.

2. It could record ALL of the Simpsons episodes on anytime.

Anyone know which it is?

-John

You can do both with 6412. You can also schedule recording only new episodes no matter their schedule time or channel. So, yes, "name-based recording" is possible and actually works on 6412.