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Tivo vs Charter DVR
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Posted by: striderA91

Just wanted to offer my review of Charter DVR and how it compares with my Tivo S2 40hr SA. Seems to be the growing trend for cable companies to offer their own DVR capabilities, and Charter released DVR two weeks ago in our area (Glendale/Burbank) so I decided to try it out.

The Charter DVR is a Scientific Atlanta 8000 Explorer - Digital Cable box and DVR. Very big box. Interesting I/O on the back - complete with 2 Firewire ports, but no Ethernet/USB. Disappointing. I have it hooked up to my receiver via S-Video and then monitor out to the TV via S-Video. Cable out of the wall is split into SA Explorer and Tivo.

DVR software is clunky. I love the Tivo interface as it is very elegant. DVR does not have Wishlists, Season Pass, etc. There is no feature to search for show by title, etc. You have to go into the Guide, find the show and then program to record that show. You then have to change the settings to record the show and keep it for multiple days/never delete, as well as how many episodes to keep. There are no Tivo suggestions and it will no overwrite old recordings. It will warn you when your DVR is getting full and you have to go and delete. It takes some getting used to. There is no first run only record setting, or anything along those lines. Very basic.
Navigation when playing back a recorded show is basic as well. Fast forward or rewind only...no go to start or 30 second skip. There is no jump back/forward when you stop fast forwarding or rewinding - so you have to be quick.

To the DVR's credit it does have 2 built-in tuners so you can record and watch a show at the same time from the box, or you can record 2 shows and watch a recorded show. This model offers PIP which is cool when you are recording and watching live - you can switch between the 2. This model has 30-50 hours of recording all at 1 quality level (like DirecTivo, so I don't know why they give the range unless it is variable somewhat). The screens are faster to load (channel guides, etc). Also, no subscription service so no need for phone line or broadband to get channel info, updates. However, my fee is 9.95 a month instead of 12.95 for Tivo (at the time of this writing). Downside is that I don't own the box so if I ever return it (since you rent these) I will need to save all the episodes to VCR or rig it to my computer to output and save.

The jury is still out in my house. I like the multiple tuners, as well as the integration which makes changing channels faster (digital cable box are SLOW to change channels in the first place and when you add the IR link - it is very slow) and the space. I miss the Tivo screens, sound effects, menu elegance, playback and record navigation, etc. Video quality is the same for both units (in my location, may be different for you). Charter did inform me that they will be going all digital next year so that will be nice, and they will be offering a HD DVR soon.

I know the direction will be these integrated boxes (cable and satellite) so my wish would be either a Tivo that can tune digital/analog (with multiple tuners) or licensing the Tivo interface (which probably won't happen due to costs). I will probably stick with the Tivo, but I am giving myself a month.

- jason

Posted by: Dan203

quote:
Originally posted by striderA91
I know the direction will be these integrated boxes (cable and satellite) so my wish would be either a Tivo that can tune digital/analog (with multiple tuners) or licensing the Tivo interface (which probably won't happen due to costs).

There is actually a new OpenCable standard being enforced by the FCC that should allow companies like TiVo to build boxes that can work with any digital cable source even without getting the cable companies to license their technology. The deadline for the conversion is July 1st of this year, however many people believe it will be next year before we see any actual products based on the technology.

Dan

Posted by: ccwf

Hopefully, Charter sent out the fix for the leap year bug in your area. Apparently, some cable companies have been slow to roll that out.

Posted by: striderA91

Not familiar with the leap year bug...what is that? It sounds scary :)

Posted by: ccwf

I believe if you have the SARA software, the SA8000 stopped being able to record a week before Feb 29th. If you have the Passport software, only Feb 29th itself is screwed up by the bug.

Posted by: striderA91

Ah, ok. Well, I'm not sure what I've got. There is no nice status screen like on the Tivo with all of the config and specs. I guess we will see!

Thanks!

Posted by: devdogaz

I thought Charter was going to be using the Moxi boxes from Motorola. What happened to that deal we heard so much about?

Posted by: Markman07

Charter cable in Rochester, MN just released the box last week. It is a Motorola BMC9012 with MOXI. Myself and a few others will share some information very very soon.

BMC9012 Info Here

Posted by: bkdtv

strider,

Thankfully, the SA8000 is only a temporary solution. Charter realizes the box is crap too, which is why they are making the move to Moxi. More information on the Moxi can be found in this thread.

We're still waiting for the reviews from those in Rochester, Minn. :)

Posted by: Kapeman

Thanks for the info, but a more telling (and more fair) comparison would be between the cable box and the directivo (or other 2 tuner Tivo device).

From what I saw the only advantage was the dual tuners. My DirecTivo already has that.

Posted by: Markman07

Yes my first impression would be it isn't going to make me drop Directv. I got one because we don't get our locals via Directv yet but more importantly it was a new toy, I mean, DVR that I wanted to check out after hearing all the news on it. (and it is available in my area! :)

Posted by: QZ1

quote:
Originally posted by Dan203
There is actually a new OpenCable standard being enforced by the FCC that should allow companies like TiVo to build boxes that can work with any digital cable source even without getting the cable companies to license their technology. The deadline for the conversion is July 1st of this year, however many people believe it will be next year before we see any actual products based on the technology.

If the release dates don't change, there are a number of CableCard HD DVRs set for this year. However, they all appear to be single tuner DVRs.

Late Q3:...............Motorola HDT500R (160GB HD DVR)
Sept.:...................Sony DHG-HDD200 (25 hr. HD DVR) $800
Nov.:....................Sony DHG-HDD100 (12 hr. HD DVR) $700
Later this year:.... Mits. HD6000 (120GB/12 hr. HD DVR and Firewire)

Also, in Late Q2: Motorola HDT300, which is a CableCard HD tuner only.

Posted by: kyote

I knew I should have checked here first! Dang it!

I had a series 1 tivo and switched to the charter dvr (SA 8000) after they told me it was just as good as tivo and had dual tuner. SWEEET!

It's not. It suxors. :( The suckage is so bad I can't begin to say how much suckage was going on. First, the season pass is a joke. It was recording every single episode of law and order that came on. Second, if you have too many season passes it would start deleting the old ones and replace them with the new ones without telling you. ARGH! Also, it would just stop recording for no reason and you'd have to unplug it completely from all power and then start it up again. Finally, i gave up and called DirectTV this week and ordered the 100 hour series 2 tivo and will get it next week.

To the charter employees credit, they were only told it was as good as tivo and none of them had any first hand knowledge of just how good tivo is. To my negative credit, i should have done more research before jumping the gun like I did. What was I thinking believing the cable company could come up with a product just as good? BAH!

Jas
http://www.blastednews.com

Posted by: Markman07

Our Charter is using Moxi and we don't have that model! Is that what you are reporting on?

Posted by: kyote

No, It's the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000. I strongly dislike it.

quote:
Originally posted by Markman07
Our Charter is using Moxi and we don't have that model! Is that what you are reporting on?

Posted by: jones07

quote:
Originally posted by kyote
No, It's the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000. I strongly dislike it.

Would you have disliked it as much, if you have never seen a Tivo in action ?

Reason I ask is. Cable users that never had a Tivo or any DVR. May be more then satisfied with the Explorer 8000 suckage . Most cable user fell in this demographics

Posted by: srenfrew

It seems that charter in my area has a new HD DVR. I am going to pick one up today to try out. Has anyone tried this yet? Not sure of the model number.

-SR

Posted by: kyote

I probably would have been less annoyed. It's a very annoying box just because it's so limited and very unfriendly. If I think of it in terms as one step above a VCR then it's not so bad, however, knowing what a good DVR is capable of then it makes me very very annoyed.

So, in answer to your question. I wouldn't have disliked it as much. But I would still dislike it. It's just not very friendly at all.

quote:
Originally posted by jones07
Would you have disliked it as much, if you have never seen a Tivo in action ?

Reason I ask is. Cable users that never had a Tivo or any DVR. May be more then satisfied with the Explorer 8000 suckage . Most cable user fell in this demographics