Comcast SA/Cisco DVR vs. Motorola DVR?

[RocketFoot]

I just got Comcast Triple Play and they gave me an SA/Cisco 8300HD DVR. I originally wanted the Motorola unit that they had pictured on the website and I was a little upset when I got this clunky looking thing! But the more I research, the more I think it doesn't matter...

Comcast said I could go to my local field office and request a different box...subject to what they have on stock. I'd like to know what the pro's and con's are for each unit before I decide to tempt fate and change boxes.

 

[jayn_j]

Why not set up a list of what is important to you, and I'd be happy to do a checkoff on the Motorola Box.

Features Motorola 6412:

• 20 day guide
• custom favorites list
• 30 second skip (must add custom remote pgm)
• 15 second back skip
• 1 day front and back skip in guide
• Firewire port (a definitely techie feature that needs care and feeding, but it does allow
• dumping to external devices/computer)
• 1080i (not that the content gets close these days)
• 2 tuners will record two events at once
• special guide to see scheduled recordings by day
• VoD
• VoD selections are locally archived for 24 hours.
• USB port for pictures.

Bugs and "features"

• can lose audio and occasionally video over HDMI at powerup. Leaving unit on helps.
• guide button ALWAYS goes to full guide.
• Pressing custom list always takes you to the lowest channel in the list.
• Buffer is small and variable. Never can tell how far back you can rewind or pause. Often it is 10 minutes or less.
• Loses scheduled events. Leaving unit on helps.
• Timers are sometimes unpredictable, ending 1 or two minutes early.
• Guide is often slow, taking up to 5 seconds to come up.
• Even in the guide, it often takes seconds to react to a button push
• VoD has limited DVR functionality, limited to pause and 2x FF/Rev.
• Button response in VoD is horrible, making it impossible to freeze on a particular point.
• tuner swap is hard to find and sometimes unpredictable in action.
• no PIP function, although buttons ae on the remote
• Off button gives warning if either tuner is recording (again, leave it on)
• runs HOT. Needs to be on top of equipment stack.
• Custom list runs strange when Comcast adds channels, often losing channels in custom list.
• Menus are often non-intuitive
• USB port is very limited and does not show full resolution pictures. Uninportant because every other device seems to have a USB port these days.
• Cannot handle New Episodes Only well and will record a cable show every time it comes on in the first week unless you leave it on the HD.
• Even then, it will attempt to record an entire recap marathon. Since the HD isn't that large, it will quickly fill. You need to manually go through and say "skip this one". This means that I monitor the scheduled recording screen daily. Add to that needing to look for dropped scheduled recordings, means I spend too much time on maintenance and also need to keep a paper list of what I am recording.

That's what I remember right now. Probably missed a couple.

 

[RocketFoot]

Impressive reply! Thanks!

I like the ability to add an external HDD on the SA/Cisco but I do miss the skip ahead button from the Dish system. (Programmable on the Motorola) Over all, I would like to keep the unit that is reliable, fast and expandable.

I like the looks of the Motorola over the SA, but the smaller package of the Moto may be the underlying cause of the running hot problem.

 

[jayn_j]

Over all, I would like to keep the unit that is reliable, fast and expandable.
[\QUOTE]

That would be the DISH 722. It would be a no brainer for me, if it wasn't for the neighbor's line of 100 year old Maple trees.

 

[RocketFoot]

Over all, I would like to keep the unit that is reliable, fast and expandable.
[\QUOTE]

That would be the DISH 722. It would be a no brainer for me, if it wasn't for the neighbor's line of 100 year old Maple trees.

Haha...that's what I used to have! Loved it, but got a better deal with Comcast Triple Play. Maybe they will bring Comcast Tivo to my area soon, it seems to have a few more features and a nicer UI!

 

[jayn_j]

Haha...that's what I used to have! Loved it, but got a better deal with Comcast Triple Play. Maybe they will bring Comcast Tivo to my area soon, it seems to have a few more features and a nicer UI!

Yeah, I remember that.

Big thing to me is that Comcast HD has gotten noticably softer over the last year, while DISH has gotten crisper with the change to MPEG-4. The Comcast HD channels are not much better than DISH SD these days

 

[RocketFoot]

Yeah, I remember that.

Big thing to me is that Comcast HD has gotten noticably softer over the last year, while DISH has gotten crisper with the change to MPEG-4. The Comcast HD channels are not much better than DISH SD these days

Yes, the Comcast PQ is noticeably worse than Dish...Not so bad on my Sony 42" LCD (720p) but noticeable none the less! I would have never switched, but the $150 p/m from Comcast was far more appealing than close to $300 I was paying p/m for Dish, Verizon phone and Verizon 6mbs up DSL.
I definitely like the 16mbs up with Comcast! Big plus there!! LOL