What do you use to replace the Cable Company's DVR box?

[drozwood90]

Sounds like asking for less cost for the service only works for those of us spending high amounts of $$ per month on the service.

My bill is a constant $15 / mo for internet (384 u / 768 d), phone = 0, cell phone = $80 for 3 phones (We are thinking of switching to Sprint from Verizon...we won't get less cost, but we will get 3x the minutes, unlimited text, unlimited internet, N/W starting at 7, instead of 9...all for $5 more per month), TV = 0.

When I was on DSL, I tried that "want to pay less due to what's offered out there" and I was only successful in getting more speed for the same price...but then after a year, they upped the price on me to match my speed. I went from $21.99/mo. (so long as I had a voice line) to $89 / mo. without a voice line. I will say, they (I later found out) put me on their TURBO speed...I went from 768/1.5 to 1.5 /5...which I did not need. I wanted the lowest cost with a download speed of about 768k. I called complained...basically that's why I'm now on cable...which is odd, when I was with Verizon DSL I did not have ANY of these issues. I had 768 / 1.5M for $13/mo. No phone line, no taxes, no surcharges. Just data. I moved to Rochester, was forced to use Frontier ( I called tried to get Verizon), they required a voice line. Then they stopped requiring that and upped the price. It was $21.99/mo. for 768 / 1.5M with a voice line (voice was $20 + taxes), $35 for the SAME DSL line without the voice. yes, I am a dumb sheeple...I love to pay more for the same thing.

So far, my voice line and DSL modem has gone out more times then my cable modem. Sigh...I guess Rochester has better Cable modem.

The cable co. (at first) did have a hard time admitting that the 384/768 plan existed (it's not on their website, but it's something I used in the past). They kept trying to up sell me...for $5 more per month, you can get 768 u / 1.5m d!! Do it!!! ... well, I don't need that. I just want to jump on and check Cocoontech (brown nose alert!) without the wait of dial-up, I want to get into my server from the internet, and I want to watch Hulu...which runs perfectly fine over 768k. So, what's my incentive? If I call, they up my speed (don't get a lower bill) then when that "runs out" I have to call complain to get back to where I was. The wife and I never really do anything that needs TONS of bandwidth.

Oh well...to each their own!

--Dan

 

[damage]

Sounds like asking for less cost for the service only works for those of us spending high amounts of $$ per month on the service.
--Dan

i wouldn't say i spend high $ amounts. sometimes it takes a couple phone calls or online chats. i am on the 2nd lowest directv tier for $53.99 + $6 dvr fee but with discounts i pay $16 less per month. i did not take their free hd offer. every year when my promo ends, i call up & ask them for a new one and they always do. one year they gave us 2 free directivos as well as the discounts and they always give free movie channels.

for internet, i have comcast (no bundled tv or phone) which normally runs $59.95, but i'm getting it at a big discount i mentioned earlier.

both my wife & i have the old 500 min sprint SERO plan for cell ($30 for 500 min, unltd internet, sms, mms). we had coverage issues @ home so i was able to get an extra 100 mins, an airave femtocell free with monthly service waived and 7-7 nights & weekends and an additional 10% discount. i tried to get their "pick 3" free and i think they flagged my account to not give me any more freebies

 

[CraigH]

I'm a bit confused. If you have Comcast and want to create your own PVR, it really can't be done? But if you have satelite tv and just a receiver you could do it

 

[ewelin]

I personally use SageTV to timeshift TV. I'm on basic analog cable right now, but will be switching to DirecTV since they are forcing everyone to have set top boxes. Depending on what your needs are for timeshifting vary the solution for you. For us almost all of our tv viewing is timeshifted, about the only thing we watch live is sport events. So I currently have tv-tuner cards in my WHS box running sagetv. I then have a custom built HTPC in my living room as a sage client, and I plan to add a sage extender in our bedroom shortly. This allows us to watch/record 3 programs at any given time. Plus the server/client structure of sage is great to allow for viewing content through several rooms.

 

[sic0048]

I'm a bit confused. If you have Comcast and want to create your own PVR, it really can't be done? But if you have satelite tv and just a receiver you could do it

No, it's just that the way you capture cable is potentially changing while the method for recording Satellite has basically stayed the same.

For encrypted signals (which include all Satellite signals and any encrypted QAM cable signals) you must use the broadcasters set to box to decrypt the signal. You then have two choices on how you can record that signal. First, you can take a composite or S-video output and use just about any analog capture card to record the output. Of course these recordings will be in 480i resolution. Second, if you want HD quality recordings you need to use the Hauppage HD-PVR. This device takes the component output from the STB and records it in HD quality. (If you have DishTV there is one other method using a modified STB - called the R5000 modification - which allows you to record in HD quality).

If you have cable, and the provider broadcasts in unencrypted QAM (clear QAM), then you can use a QAM capture device to record those shows. Comcast was broadcasting a lot of their lineup in clear QAM in some areas. This is beginning to change and they are encrypting more and more of their broadcasts. However, most other cable providers already encrypted most of their digital shows. About the only thing that will be broadcast in clear QAM in the future is you local network shows. If you get anything else in clear QAM, consider yourself lucky and also on notice. You'll probably loose those "extra" channels sooner rather than later -and without notice either. But a lot of people that have Comcast are upset now because they had gotten use to receiving clear QAM and they realize they won't be soon.