Who has Comcast HD service?

[SpeedGeek]

Anyone around here in the ATL have Comcast for HD+DVR service?

I'm currently using DirecTV for HD+DVR, and BellSouth DSL+Phone. That's running me $200 a month, and I'm not super thrilled with either:

DirecTV - LOVE the picture quality, like the set top box receiver, etc. The problem is I have a couple trees that are right in the way of their sat line of sight, so I spend a LOT of time in the summer pruning back trees and such just to keep signal, and even then I don't even pick up 1 whole sat. sure I could move the dish out onto a pole in the yard... for $100+... Plus I only have the local + all the non-pay channels + HD service and it's costing me $100/mo.

BellSouth - OMFG I hate them with a passion! I have their "PCData" DSL (fiber to the curb, Ethernet jack on the wall). When it first came out, it kicked cable modem's butt. But now, 8 years later, I'm still stuck at 1.8Mbps down, 256K up and they can't offer me anything higher.

I was thinking about U-Verse, but it's not offered in my area yet, and from what I've seen at a friend's place, I wasn't impressed AT ALL with the video quality.

I looked into Comcast and if I go with their max package - Phone, Internet (top level, like 20+Mbps down,2Mbps up!!!), and HDTV + Sports package + movie channel package it's the same as I'm paying now. I'd just really like to see what the TV picture quality is before I commit to doing it.

Anyone have Comcast HD service? Mind letting me stop by some time in the next 2-3 weeks to take a look and see what it's like picture quality wise?

[Gmoney]

don't in the ATL area but I do have the service -and love it! amazing internet speeds and i dig the tv choises and the price - just hope you naver have to deal witht hem - customer service sucks.

[SpeedGeek]

Yeah, that's why I got away from cable back in the late 90's. Got sick and tired of calling them because the service was out because some idiot along the way splicing the signal too many times, and after being on hold for 2 hours, being told "Ok we can have a truck out to you in 3 weeks." UNACCEPTABLE!

I'm not thrilled with the idea of going back, but the alternatives aren't stellar either.... Better cust service, but cost more and perform worse.

[Gmoney]

i have had it for 3 years and only had to call twice - that was for billing issues after the cheap peroids would end - it was a pain but for price and quality i am happy.

[Sanchez]

I like my Comcast service. The modem speeds will blow you away, even if you don't get the top of the line package. They use a technology called "powerboost" that allows a modem to temporarily burst up to speeds much higher that what it's configured for, so you'll probably see 20 mbps even on the 12 mbit tier. The TV will look better, too. All HD is not created equal. The cable plant has more bandwidth than a satellite link, so there's less compression.

The one thing I hate about Comcast is their DVR. TiVo spoiled me. The Motorola boxes Comcast uses suck. The interface is terrible, and the box is just slow. I'm going to ditch it and get a TiVo series 4 next month.

[SpeedGeek]

I assume Comcast uses Cablecard that you put into the Tivo4 to do that?

[TroyBoy30]

I assume Comcast uses Cablecard that you put into the Tivo4 to do that?

I thought everyone ditched cablecards?

you won't be able to access on demad with a tivo. I have a scientific atlanta dvr and it works just fine.

Oops: TiVo Premiere won't have Comcast On Demand

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/03/oops-tivo-premiere-wont-have-comcast-on-demand/

TiVo Premiere hands-on (update: video!)

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/02/tivo-premiere-hands-on/

[flygirl]

Im in atlanta and I have comcast...no problems and no compaints so far

[SpeedGeek]

Eh, my biggest beef with Tivo is having to pay for the service every month... which is BS. Yeah, you can spend $300 (ro is it $400?) for the "lifetime of the unit" thing.. but if the drive dies in 2 years (like it did on my parents Series 2 last month) you're SCREWED.

I'm sorry, that whole model is just flawed and rediculous. Sell the hardware. Don't screw me with a monthly service bill on top of it and I'll think about it. I've been plenty happy with the DVRs that Dish and DirectTv have given me over the last 6 years.

[TroyBoy30]

the $299 Premiere will do 45 hours of HD recording on the 320GB internal drive, while the $499 XL will do 150 on 1TB and adds in THX certification. The bad news? There's still no support for tru2way, so you still won't have access to your cable company's video on demand service

comcast charges you for dvr rental as well as a monthly fee for the service

[jkhonea]

I've got the Comcast Triple Play and love it. HD+DVR, two boxes, top speed internet, telephone, right about $170 per month for everything. Push 35-45 mbps downloads and 4-11 mbps uploads. Also had great success with the customer service on the few times I've had to deal with them. Never any problems they haven't fixed with very little headache.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

I'm on Comcast for internet and HD + DVR, love it. Never had issues, good internet speeds with my laptop and 360 networked. I agree, the DVR is slightly slow sometimes, and clunky compared to the interface on some, but it's also very functional, and you get used to it quickly. Troy, what is a scientific atlanta dvr, and how would I get one?

[TroyBoy30]

most of comcast uses motorola boxes. I live in canton where adelphia was purchased by comcast. Adelphia used scientific atlanta boxes and comcast has no intention of changing. I would actually prefer a motorola box. It has a slightly better interface then my box does. The motorola will allow you to do thing like a series recording that mine won't. I simply get recording options of 'anytime on this channel', 'on this day at this time' and 'on this day at anytime'. I have to find the air time for new shows and set to that or deal with all the dups. The one thing I hate is since you can only record two shows at once, i have so much set up that sometimes I have to record everything for a show to get the newest episode because I had a conflict with another recording when trying to set the right air time. That's one thing I like about uverse, being able to record 4 shows at 1 time or 2 hd shows at once. I would really like to build a media center pc instead!

I have a explorer 8300hd dvr and SA is now part of cisco

http://www.cisco.com/web/consumer/support/settop_8300hddvr.html

[SpeedGeek]

John,

Mind if I stop by sometime this weekend to check it out? Picture quality is REALLY important to me, so I want to be sure I'm liking it (and the DVR) before I punch the ticket on the setup. Just give me a PM and let me know if there's any time this weekend that works for you guys. I only need like 5-10 minutes with it...

--Mike

[Sanchez]

Yes, the TiVo box uses a multi-stream cablecard. It's $1.50/mo from Comcast. It's one-way, so you cannot access Comcast's On Demand services. That isn't a deal breaker for me because I've never found anything I want to watch on there.

As for the service cost, the Comcast DVR is $15.95/mo. If you pay $700 for a TiVo + lifetime service, you break even on that after about 4.5 years. I didn't think my first series 1 TiVo would last nearly that long, but now I kick myself for not getting the lifetime sub because it's been running pretty much continuously with no problems for about 8 years now.

[TroyBoy30]

how long is a tvo warranty? they offer extended?

[jkhonea]

Mike, you're more than welcome to come by. Only thing I know of going on at this point is a get together tomorrow afternoon but should be home all Sunday. I've got a good bit of work to get done. You can also see the net and check my upload and download speeds.

[jkhonea]

By the way, since I was thinking about it, here's the speed test I just ran.

http://results.speedtest.comcast.net/result/34124682.png (http://speedtest.comcast.net/)

[MX Tuner]

I live in Woodstock and have Comcast HD and LOVE the picture. I don't do TiVo or and DVR recording but the picture quality is unreal. You're welcome to come by and check it out if you'd like. We've been very happy with Comcast. The internet works well- I get no complaints with the wired PC or the wireless laptops downloads.

[eddie98]

I had Comcast for about 3 yrs DRV/Internet and like it. I dumped them about a year ago and was glad. The DRV box I had couldn't hold a lot of HD programing and that was bothering me. Also their prices kept going up. I went to DTV and I think the picture quality is better than Comcast. The tivo I have can hold a lot of HD programing(I have about 30 hrs of HD saved right now).
Plus that triple play throws in a home phone and I do't need one.
I would stay with DTV

[Benson v3.0]

I have Comcast and love it. I have their 10meg internet connection and we frequently run 3 computers all at one time on the net, all while playing Xbox and never notice a drop in speed.

The on demand selection is nice too. At any given time there's 40-50 movies you can rent for free on "on demand".

[banderso]

Was in Belgium a few weeks ago.
They have 100meg connections, 70Euro per month.

I got a laugh from them telling them I have 3meg.

What is holding up the show in USA????

[Benson v3.0]

Was in Belgium a few weeks ago.
They have 100meg connections, 70Euro per month.

I got a laugh from them telling them I have 3meg.

What is holding up the show in USA????

Same way in Japan. Our speeds are slower than dial up compared to theirs.

However, this country doesn't censor what we can and can't see on the internet like those other countries. ;)

[MX Tuner]

When we upgraded our tv, it has an HDMI input that our old one didn't. The old one had the RBG cables. The HDMI picture is MUCH better than the old set up. Same old Comcast HD receiver, just the single cable hook up made a big difference in the picture quality.

[chris]

I have comcast HD with tivo series 3 using a cable card and hdmi. Love it and has great picture quality.

[wallypiper]

Charter has just upped the ante again, speeding up internet connections for their top three tiers.
Tested at about 30m earlier. Down to less than 20 now. I guess my neighbors woke up.

[SpeedGeek]

Ok, went to Honea's today.. Picture quality was good and the HD DVR was no better/worse than what I've got now with Direct. Just called and submitted my order. Should be getting installed on the 15th.

[TroyBoy30]

When we upgraded our tv, it has an HDMI input that our old one didn't. The old one had the RBG cables. The HDMI picture is MUCH better than the old set up. Same old Comcast HD receiver, just the single cable hook up made a big difference in the picture quality.

well duh! :lol:

[MX Tuner]

Glad its obvious to you. There are those who don't know about things like that and ask on forums, just like the original poster did. I'm merely trying to point out something that helped my picture quality since the OP was specifically asking about it.

Wait until you say something I think is obvious and I'll say "Well, DUH" to you to. Way to be condescending, dork. If I want to know how to waste money on a pool cue, I'll ask you. That's about the only subject you've shown you know anything at all about.

[SpeedGeek]

MX, I just love all the people who run out and get HDTV's and then insist on hooking them up with COMPOSITE or CO-AX and don't see the point in getting HD service of any sort...

WTF was the point then?!?!?! You'll spend $1K+ on the TV and then hook it up using the WORST POSSIBLe quality video connection or not watch HD quality content??? I can't decide if that's being cheap or just crazy!

[MX Tuner]

Some people don't know and are trusting the sales person (never heard that one before) to give them accurate and correct advice. That could be considered ignorant.

Or you'll see someone ask a question on an internet forum, get 8 different answers and believe the person who gives them the answer they *want* to hear, not what they *need* to hear. That could be considered stupid.

[TroyBoy30]

Glad its obvious to you. There are those who don't know about things like that and ask on forums, just like the original poster did. I'm merely trying to point out something that helped my picture quality since the OP was specifically asking about it.

Wait until you say something I think is obvious and I'll say "Well, DUH" to you to. Way to be condescending, dork. If I want to know how to waste money on a pool cue, I'll ask you. That's about the only subject you've shown you know anything at all about.

there's these cool things called the internet and google that allow you to educate yourself in about 20 seconds! :up:

it's not rocket science!

http://www.ramelectronics.net/howto-av.ep

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

there's these cool things called the internet and google that allow you to educate yourself in about 20 seconds! :up:

it's not rocket science!

http://www.ramelectronics.net/howto-av.ep

Troy, you're just being a pedantic nerd now. (I do the same thing, that's why I feel ok calling you on it haha) He thought he was helping. Things like HDMI vs Component vs Composite would never even occur to half the people out there. You'd be amazed how many people come into my store and don't know they can't get HD via Coax. One lady bought one of the new digital converter boxes, plugged her TV into it (without plugging the box into the wall, or having a cable/satellite subscription) and thought she would then get EVERY CHANNEL. You can only educate yourself if you realize you're missing information. Just sayin'.

[TroyBoy30]

idiots are a totally different subject

[Gatorchad]

Was in Belgium a few weeks ago.
They have 100meg connections, 70Euro per month.

I got a laugh from them telling them I have 3meg.

What is holding up the show in USA????

There are a number of things holding up the show, but ultimately bandwidth is not free. If everyone was willing to pay $95 (70 Euro) for internet service, we would be a lot closer to 100meg services than we are today. Most consumers are happy with thier 5, 10 or 15meg service for under $50/month.

[Musicman]

To answer your original question, Comcast is much more compressed than DTV or Dish. That's because you have a direct separate connection to the sattilite rather than squeezing tons of data down a wire. All Comcast connections are shared so they have to compress more. I have comcast and like it which is a good thing since there are too many trees for me to use DTV.

[jkhonea]

To answer your original question, Comcast is much more compressed than DTV or Dish. That's because you have a direct separate connection to the sattilite rather than squeezing tons of data down a wire. All Comcast connections are shared so they have to compress more. I have comcast and like it which is a good thing since there are too many trees for me to use DTV.

Hey, good to see you back. How you feeling?

[banderso]

There are a number of things holding up the show, but ultimately bandwidth is not free. If everyone was willing to pay $95 (70 Euro) for internet service, we would be a lot closer to 100meg services than we are today. Most consumers are happy with thier 5, 10 or 15meg service for under $50/month.

True that !!!
I got rabbit ears... on the TV, that is...
I cannot believe people would spend $150 a month on cable, etc...

Last movie I saw in a Theater, Star Wars....

[MX Tuner]

Bill, don't you need to go take a nap or something?

[banderso]

Bill, don't you need to go take a nap or something?

Just woke up, wat did I miss ?


smilie face.

hahahaha

[Ibleedgreen]

When we upgraded our tv, it has an HDMI input that our old one didn't. The old one had the RBG cables. The HDMI picture is MUCH better than the old set up. Same old Comcast HD receiver, just the single cable hook up made a big difference in the picture quality.

In some cases HDMI is not the best picture. Some will argue component still beats it. Personally I use HDMI because it works well and it's easy.


well duh! :lol:

Instead of explaining the difference lets see if Troy can google us the correct answer.!?!

[TroyBoy30]

what's the question?

those some that claim component beats hdmi would be a small minority. there are also people that prefer vinyl over cd. Doesn't make either right or wrong. On paper hdmi is better. Maybe your eyes see something different. Until you claim svideo is better than hdmi I guess you can ASSume you are right. Why you feel you need to make asinine comments to defend your friends honor is beyond me.

[Sanchez]

To answer your original question, Comcast is much more compressed than DTV or Dish. That's because you have a direct separate connection to the sattilite rather than squeezing tons of data down a wire. All Comcast connections are shared so they have to compress more.

That's actually not true. Since video is a one way stream and everyone who tunes to a particular frequency sees the same signals, it doesn't matter how many viewers there are. It's just like satellite in that regard. The fiber lines used by cable companies have a much higher capacity than wireless links, though. The modulation scheme used by cable companies gets over 10 times the capacity per mhz, so there's less need for compression.

[SpeedGeek]

Ok, they came out and installed yesterday...

Phone - Haven't messed with it at all.. We know it works, but that's about as far as I got. I'll have to set up the voicemail and call forwarding to my cell and all that still.

Internet - Again, works... Took a little fudging to get my Airport Extreme router to talk to it, but it's working now. I'm not getting anywhere near the 50Mbps down, 20Mbps up that I ordered... Most speed tests I ran showed about 23-25Mbps down, and 2-5Mbps up. I'll keep an eye on this over the next couple days and if it doesn't get better I'll call and complain.

TV- Working. Had a small issue that I had to call back in for last night as the HD-DVR unit wasn't playing any of the Movie channels (HBO, etc.) and wasn't displaying some of the HD sports channels (VersusHD) which they were able to fix over the phone. Yeah, I don't like the menus and such on the DVR. It's functional, but it's FUGLY. It'll do though. I DO miss that there's no "skip ahead 30 seconds" button on the remote, but there IS a skip back 5 seconds. WTF? The picture quality is pretty decent, maybe not QUITE as good as Direct, but close. The DVR unit is a LOT quieter (the DirectHD DVR unit's hard drive was constantly making noise, even when the unit was turned off that you could hear.)

Now I just need to rebuild my HTPC (need to install Windows 7 upgrade over the Vista install), get the sound working again, and reinstall a fresh copy of SageTV and then hook it up to the SD Comcast box that I got for the 2nd room. Then I should be good to go. Probably will take care of that next week when I have a little time in the evening.

So I'll probably call DirectTV and AT&T this weekend and tell them to disconnect their crap and take it back!

[impalanar]

Internet - Again, works... Took a little fudging to get my Airport Extreme router to talk to it, but it's working now. I'm not getting anywhere near the 50Mbps down, 20Mbps up that I ordered... Most speed tests I ran showed about 23-25Mbps down, and 2-5Mbps up. I'll keep an eye on this over the next couple days and if it doesn't get better I'll call and complain.

This is how that phone call is going to go:

http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/528499984_smvzj-L-2.jpg

[SpeedGeek]

This is how that phone call is going to go:

http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/528499984_smvzj-L-2.jpg

Maybe so. I get the whole "up to" but if I am nit even getting what the tier below is advertised to be why should I be paying for the upper tier???

[impalanar]

Maybe so. I get the whole "up to" but if I am nit even getting what the tier below is advertised to be why should I be paying for the upper tier???

I never said you were wrong to complain. I am simply pointing out how the conversation is probably going to go.

[SpeedGeek]

Yeah... I'm sure... But I'm good at that sort of thing ;) Keep going up the chain until I either get them to come out and redo the wiring to the street to get me a better signal, or lower my bill since I'm not even getting the advertised max speed of the tier below me.

As the tech said, the speed will fluctuate over the course of the day/time, so I'm going to watch it for a week or so and check it at different times of the day to see what I'm getting.

[jkhonea]

Mike, also check and make sure they brought the right modem for the house. They brought the wrong one to me initially and lowered my speeds. They were back out the next morning with the right modem. Could possibly be the problem.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Also also.. If you can, I'd recommend a full install of Win7 instead of the upgrade to Vista, I've heard bad things on that; No personal experience though.

[eddie98]

The DVR unit is a LOT quieter (the DirectHD DVR unit's hard drive was constantly making noise, even when the unit was turned off that you could hear.)

Really, I have DTV and have never notice it being loud or even making some kind of noise. You must have super hearing :D.


I DO miss that there's no "skip ahead 30 seconds" button on the remote, but there IS a skip back 5 seconds. WTF?

I love my 30 sec FF. When the races are on, press it 4 times and it's right back on the races. Usually it's about 2 mins of commercials.

[Sanchez]

Internet - Again, works... Took a little fudging to get my Airport Extreme router to talk to it, but it's working now. I'm not getting anywhere near the 50Mbps down, 20Mbps up that I ordered... Most speed tests I ran showed about 23-25Mbps down, and 2-5Mbps up. I'll keep an eye on this over the next couple days and if it doesn't get better I'll call and complain.


You might try a speed test with the PC directly connected to the cable modem. You might not see full speeds on a wireless link. Also, I don't think Comcast has a 50/20 tier. AFAIK, the max is 50/10.

[Musicman]

Not bad, all things considered.

[Musicman]

In some cases HDMI is not the best picture. Some will argue component still beats it. Personally I use HDMI because it works well and it's easy.

"Some" would be dead wrong. HDMI supports 1080i. Component tops out at 720p. If the set is 1080 the difference is huge. I have mine hooked up both ways because the menus on my Yamaha receiver don't work through HDMI. The picture is so inferior on component that even my normally TV-picture-clueless wife immediately notices the difference.

[petrel800]

Ok, they came out and installed yesterday...

Phone - Haven't messed with it at all.. We know it works, but that's about as far as I got. I'll have to set up the voicemail and call forwarding to my cell and all that still.

Internet - Again, works... Took a little fudging to get my Airport Extreme router to talk to it, but it's working now. I'm not getting anywhere near the 50Mbps down, 20Mbps up that I ordered... Most speed tests I ran showed about 23-25Mbps down, and 2-5Mbps up. I'll keep an eye on this over the next couple days and if it doesn't get better I'll call and complain.

TV- Working. Had a small issue that I had to call back in for last night as the HD-DVR unit wasn't playing any of the Movie channels (HBO, etc.) and wasn't displaying some of the HD sports channels (VersusHD) which they were able to fix over the phone. Yeah, I don't like the menus and such on the DVR. It's functional, but it's FUGLY. It'll do though. I DO miss that there's no "skip ahead 30 seconds" button on the remote, but there IS a skip back 5 seconds. WTF? The picture quality is pretty decent, maybe not QUITE as good as Direct, but close. The DVR unit is a LOT quieter (the DirectHD DVR unit's hard drive was constantly making noise, even when the unit was turned off that you could hear.)

Now I just need to rebuild my HTPC (need to install Windows 7 upgrade over the Vista install), get the sound working again, and reinstall a fresh copy of SageTV and then hook it up to the SD Comcast box that I got for the 2nd room. Then I should be good to go. Probably will take care of that next week when I have a little time in the evening.

So I'll probably call DirectTV and AT&T this weekend and tell them to disconnect their crap and take it back!

I wish you the best with Comcast in the Atlanta area. When I had them for TV and internet, I suffered so many outages, fuzzy picture, piculated picture, and just blank screen that I pretty much just called and complained constantly. It got to the point that we had so many credits we hardly had a bill to pay monthly, while that may sound cool, it was a crap shoot if you wanted to watch a program. I always thought they were trying to jam way too much bandwidth down much too old cable. This was a couple years ago, so I don't know if it's any better. I wish you the best with your purchase.

[jkhonea]

I've had Comcast cable for several years and been very happy with it. Since I've had them for telephone and internet, really been very happy. They've been consistent and customer service has actually been very positive.

[wallypiper]

Charter this morning: http://www.speedtest.net/result/751568718.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

I pay for 16. It does slow down at peak demand periods but never really below the 16 I'm paying for. The cable TV also suffers some signal issues at various times, not always. I use a signal amplifier on the incoming line upstream of everything.

I realize this doesn't help you much since if you have Comcast you can't have Charter. But it's a point of reference for what the technology is capable of doing. What kind of HDDVR do you have. Mine is MOtorola DCH6416. The menus definitely look like something from a 1985 PC running DOS, but they work well enough once you learn to navigate them.

[invader]

Re: forward skip on comcast:

You can enable it. It's already a function of the box, just not on the remote. I programmed my red "c" button to skip forward (also, the skip forward function on the Harmony One remote works just fine).

Skip

1. Press the “Cable” button at the top of the remote to put it into Cable Box control mode.
2. Press and hold the “Setup” button until the “Cable” button blinks twice..
3. Type in the code 994. The “Cable” button will blink twice.
4. Press (do not hold) the “Setup” button.
5. Type in the code 00173 (for 30 second Skip).
6. Press whatever button you want to map the skip

[TroyBoy30]

I've had Comcast cable for several years and been very happy with it. Since I've had them for telephone and internet, really been very happy. They've been consistent and customer service has actually been very positive.

+1


Re: forward skip on comcast:

You can enable it. It's already a function of the box, just not on the remote. I programmed my red "c" button to skip forward (also, the skip forward function on the Harmony One remote works just fine).

Skip

1. Press the “Cable” button at the top of the remote to put it into Cable Box control mode.
2. Press and hold the “Setup” button until the “Cable” button blinks twice..
3. Type in the code 994. The “Cable” button will blink twice.
4. Press (do not hold) the “Setup” button.
5. Type in the code 00173 (for 30 second Skip).
6. Press whatever button you want to map the skip

this for the harmony one remote or the comcast remote?

[invader]

+1



this for the harmony one remote or the comcast remote?

Directions are for the Comcast remote. The Harmony has it built in (>> button with the bump on it).

[invader]

I've had Comcast cable for several years and been very happy with it. Since I've had them for telephone and internet, really been very happy. They've been consistent and customer service has actually been very positive.

I also have their Premier package with HD and 2 DVRs with full cable internet as well. $140/mo. Internet has been spot on, aside from the occasional resetting of the crap modem (replacing it with a Moto surfboard here shortly).

[TroyBoy30]

Directions are for the Comcast remote. The Harmony has it built in (>> button with the bump on it).

hmm will have to try it. I usually just fast forward

[Sanchez]

Re: forward skip on comcast:

You can enable it. It's already a function of the box, just not on the remote.

Awesome! That's one of my biggest gripes about the Comcast box vs my old TiVo.

[invader]

Awesome! That's one of my biggest gripes about the Comcast box vs my old TiVo.

Yeah, coming off of Dish it was mine too. It's about a 1 minute skip forward, vs. the 30 sec skip back.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

"Some" would be dead wrong. HDMI supports 1080i. Component tops out at 720p. If the set is 1080 the difference is huge. I have mine hooked up both ways because the menus on my Yamaha receiver don't work through HDMI. The picture is so inferior on component that even my normally TV-picture-clueless wife immediately notices the difference.


Component video can carry 1080P. HDMI carries 1080P, not 1080i. Well, technically, it does 1080i too, but it's a lesser spec. Not saying you're not right about the actual quality.. but in theory, both cables work for the same applications. (Minus the fact that HDMI carries sound, and supposedly internet with the new TVs obviously)

[Hooligan]

I'm in Cumming and I have Comcast HD/DVR and internet. Very satisfied with both.

[SpeedGeek]

Component video can carry 1080P. HDMI carries 1080P, not 1080i. Well, technically, it does 1080i too, but it's a lesser spec. Not saying you're not right about the actual quality.. but in theory, both cables work for the same applications. (Minus the fact that HDMI carries sound, and supposedly internet with the new TVs obviously)

Correct, Component can do 1080P. Component has been around for a long time and was the original HD (in fact, it predates HD... ) interfaces.. It is perfectly good at carrying 1080 just like HDMI. The biggest difference (and the reason for the change) was that Component is analog signalling and has ZERO copy protection. The MPAA was throwing a fit over copy protection needs so Intel came up with HDCP (High Def Copy Protection) which requires HDMI interfaces and digital signaling. If you don't do end-to-end HDMI, you get degraded video quality. Adding in 5.1 stereo, etc was just little nice extras they were able to add in.

Is one better than the other? Eh, not really, not in terms of video quality. However, you won't find a TV or set top box made after this year with Component jacks on it, so it's effectively a dying standard.

[TroyBoy30]

Originally Posted by invader http://www.georgiasportbike.com/../images/BP-Brown/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://www.georgiasportbike.com/../showthread.php?p=6803#post6803) Directions are for the Comcast remote. The Harmony has it built in (>> button with the bump on it).


yea it don't work on mine!

[invader]

yea it don't work on mine!

Odd. Works on the Atlanta Scientific downstairs and the Motorola upstairs. Same "comcast" remote with each. Also worked on the 2 atlanta scientific boxes at my last landlords house as well. Maybe the age of the box has something to do with it. All 4 boxes in question that I've used it on have been <2 yrs old.

re: harmony
It may also depend on the harmony used. I use the 'one' and the >>| button to the right of play (with the bump) automatically does it.

[TroyBoy30]

Odd. Works on the Atlanta Scientific downstairs and the Motorola upstairs. Same "comcast" remote with each. Also worked on the 2 atlanta scientific boxes at my last landlords house as well. Maybe the age of the box has something to do with it. All 4 boxes in question that I've used it on have been <2 yrs old.

re: harmony
It may also depend on the harmony used. I use the 'one' and the >>| button to the right of play (with the bump) automatically does it.

not talking about my comcast remotes. talking about my harmony one. that button does nothing for me

[haus en heimer]

"Some" would be dead wrong. HDMI supports 1080i. Component tops out at 720p. If the set is 1080 the difference is huge. I have mine hooked up both ways because the menus on my Yamaha receiver don't work through HDMI. The picture is so inferior on component that even my normally TV-picture-clueless wife immediately notices the difference.


What does a DVI connection support, 1080i? My TV is older than HDMI but is a 1080i tv. It has componet and a DVI connection for video.

[SpeedGeek]

DVI does WAY more than 1080.. At least 1920x1200... Bigger than that requires Dual-link DVI. It's an issue of the signaling frequency vs number of bits to display each pixel. More pixels = more bandwidth needed.

[SquireSCA]

Also also.. If you can, I'd recommend a full install of Win7 instead of the upgrade to Vista, I've heard bad things on that; No personal experience though.

You would be correct, and a you can easily do a format and clean install of Windows 7 with the upgrade disc. Quite easily in fact.

[SquireSCA]

So, any regrets?

I have DirecTV with 2 HD receivers, one of which is an HD DVR, and I have HBO and Starz super pack, HD package, etc... Costs me $114 a month.

I already have Comcast for internet, and I have the 12mbit service for $63 per month.

I have no phone line at the house.

So I talked to Comcast today and they said that I can bump up my internet speed a level or two, get the same package that I have with DirecTV, and get a home phone line, for $149 a month.

So for basically a $25 per month savings, I can get faster internet and a phone line.

So far the cons seem to be that DirecTV has more HD channels, their DVR interface is much nicer, and they may have a very slight edge n picture quality?

I currently have a Samsung 50" HD Plasma(1080i) using HDMI for everything. I do plan to get a larger flat panel in the next year or so, probably a 3D LCD panel, 55-60".

Does anyone that had DTV and went to Comcast HD regret the move? What did you find to be the pros and cons?