4th HD DVR in 2 weeks

[Joe Pelonio]

I'd like to know if anyone has had a similar problem or has a suggestion for something that Comcast is missing.

My daughter bought a Vizio 26" HDTV 1080p so I went to the Comcast store to swap her old DVR for the HD version. Two hours in line and I got it and installed it with the HDMI cable provided.

Everything worked fine until the first time she turned off the TV, when turning it back on the message "no signal" was displayed and the DVR box was frozen, neither the remote nor the buttons on it would do anything. The box had to be unplugged to reset it.

The first technician that came decided that the new box had not been "flashed" before being given out and replaced it with one on his truck, an older, larger one. After he left, and she turned off the TV later, same problem as before.

Repeat the above with two more service calls and DVRs, all different models.

I did an experiment yesterday, after they mentioned on the phone the possibility of lost signal power. I connected her box direct to the wall outlet coming into the house, with no splitters. Same problem. I also switched from HDMI to the cable with the red, white, and yellow plugs, again it froze.


They are coming out again today. Meanwhile I am looking into Direct TV.

[Myk Rian]

Makes me wonder if the TV is doing it.
Maybe sending a pulse to the DVR.

[Joe Pelonio]

Makes me wonder if the TV is doing it.
Maybe sending a pulse to the DVR.

Myk,

I called them too. Comcast says that the DVR and TV talk to each other when using the HDMI cable, but Vizio says that particular model does not
send anything back to the DVR. I don't know who to believe, but when I used the composite video which would not communicate back, I still had the same problem.

[Zach England]

Perhaps you are a walking source of EMI?

[Joe Pelonio]

Perhaps you are a walking source of EMI?

Watch it or I'll freeze your computer!

[Randal Stevenson]

Stupid question, does she have the HD/digital cable, or is she still set up for the older cable?

[Joe Pelonio]

Yes, around here the cable system is HD capable when it comes into the house, and just requires the right box or DVR. That does give me an idea, I might have them look at the green box outside that we and the neighbor are connected to.

[Joe Pelonio]

They came back.

He turned on the TV and found it frozen with the message "dul" on the box.
That told him that it was the box, so he went to the trick to grab another (5th one). He didn't have one with the HDMI connection so he used a big fat Component video cable. I can see a definite improvement in the picture quality, for some reason. He tried turning the TV off and back on several times and so far it's working. He agreed to call this afternoon to check on
it before he quits for the day.

Oh, and he admitted that the technicians sometimes forget to mark a bad box so they get recycled back onto the shelves to send out to someone else.

[Pat Germain]

I'm thinking the satellite TV option is your best bet. But I'd personally recommend Dish Network for multiple reasons. If your daughter tells either satellite provider that she's dumping cable, they will likely give her free installation and a free HD DVR.

I have friends with Comcast DVRs. I don't know about your daughter's box, but my friends' boxes really aren't DVRs at all. They just interface to a server back at Comcast. And boy are they s-l-o-w! The capacity is also so limited it's laughable. And the so-called "High Defnition" digital cable doesn't really look that great.

FYI, you won't get a true HD picture from the component cables. You must have a digital signal for true HD and the component cables aren't digital. (Although, as I said, the Comcast HD picture isn't very good anyway.)

[Joe Pelonio]

I have looked into the option of satellite, in case this is not fixed in the next week or two and it would save us some money, but we have a lot of tall trees facing SE so it may be a problem. The only channels we wouldn't get that we enjoy now are CBUT (from Canada) and the PBS out of Tacoma, both of which are my source for Red Green (and other good programming).

[Joe Pelonio]

FYI, you won't get a true HD picture from the component cables. You must have a digital signal for true HD and the component cables aren't digital. (Although, as I said, the Comcast HD picture isn't very good anyway.)

When I asked the tech he said there was no difference, but as I said the picture looks better than it did with the HDMI and much better than with composite. I did some research and found this article which seems to make it even more confusing. I plan on visiting a friend with satellite before deciding whether to switch, so far this latest box is working.

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messa...79/122868.html

[Tim Morton]

FYI, you won't get a true HD picture from the component cables. You must have a digital signal for true HD and the component cables aren't digital. (Although, as I said, the Comcast HD picture isn't very good anyway.)

HD stands for High Def....not High Dig....Component video cables are very capable of transmitting a High DEF picture. In fact i would say it is nearly impossible to tell the difference between a picture viewed thru an HDMI cable and one that is viewed thru component video cables. I say nearly....because you can tell that there is a difference, but i dare you to pick the one that is better.

HDMI is still kind of a quirky interface.....it works perfect on my Samsung DLP thru all my boxes....but yet it is finicky on my other oleva TV that just has a HD-DVR....and yet on my neighbors systems his DLP will not work with HDMI, but his wife's Oleva which is almost identical to my wife's will work perfect with HDMI.

I would not get too concerned about HDMI vs Component....especially on a 26" set...i would however make sure you have set the cable box up properly for HD picture....if i remember comcast boxes come set up to run only 480i out of the box...you need to go into settings and add the rest manually.

[Rod Torgeson]

Joe ....I know this doesn't help your current situation, but I have Dish Network. On October 21, 2009 I had them come out and install a new dish for HD along with a HD receiver. When the tech left everything worked fine. ON 11-21-09 the tech came out and installed a new receiver as the 1st one would not work anymore. When the tech left everything worked fine. On 12-17-09 the tech came out to install a new receiver as the 2nd one would not work. IT seems as though my problem might be connected to a power outage. I don't know that for sure. The model I have is a 612. One of the techs told me that a Model 625(non HD) or a Model 722(HD) was a little more reliable. If I have another problem I will request one of those models. So far since 12-17-09 everything is working fine. Just a heads up if you decide to go with a satellite connection. Hope you get your problem resolved.

Rod<---in Appleton, WA

[Pat Germain]

HD stands for High Def....not High Dig....Component video cables are very capable of transmitting a High DEF picture. In fact i would say it is nearly impossible to tell the difference between a picture viewed thru an HDMI cable and one that is viewed thru component video cables. I say nearly....because you can tell that there is a difference, but i dare you to pick the one that is better.

OK, I see what you're saying. I was thinking the component cables were connected to a non-HD output. I wasn't aware the box had a HD Component output. Since the cables split up the color signals, I can see how they would provide a very good picture.

Of course, the signal you get from Comcast has to be good in the first place.

When considering satellite providers, I give the edge to Dish Network primarily because they offer dual receivers and DirecTV does not. I've had both and I also like the Dish interface much better. As I've said before, if you want a NFL of NHL package, you do have to go with DirecTV. I think Dish does have a NBA package.

[Tim Morton]

OK, I see what you're saying. I was thinking the component cables were connected to a non-HD output. I wasn't aware the box had a HD Component output. Since the cables split up the color signals, I can see how they would provide a very good picture.

component is component...there is no specific "hd" or "non-hd" component output.

Maybe you are confusing component (red/green and blue cables) with composite(single yellow cable)? And lets not forget s-video ( the 4-pin connnector)...composite and s-video wil not carry HD resolution....you can use them both with an HD tv...but you will not get to 720p (HD).