Here’s a quick first look at the Comcast + TiVo interface that’s recently become available in the Boston area.
Pros: Way better than the alternative Comcast DVR interface from 1982, it’s TiVo, dual tuner + HD for about what you’d pay per month for TiVo except you don’t have to shell out $299 up front for the TiVo HD box, Comcast OnDemand feature is intact.
Cons: It’s way slower than “real” TiVo, no home networking or Internet features
We also found out from sources that the required technician visit is a temporary measure to make sure installations go smoothly. In the near future, it’ll be a software push upon request. You’ll just need to pick up a new TiVo remote at your local office. Actually, you don’t need to pick one up because the regular Comcast remote works.
Also, the networking features will be here in a later software update, except for things that would otherwise cut into Comcast’s revenue, like downloading Amazon Unbox movies and things like that. So you’ll be able to share videos and photos across the network and maybe view Internet video, but you’ll not be able to purchase videos or movies from anywhere besides Comcast.
If anyone has any questions, please let me know and I’ll try to dig up the answers.
In addition to the remote, you must have one of the newer Motorola boxes, yes? Mine is the older style with a number of dents in the front of it that match the toe of my shoe. I think you mentioned this in your post earlier today: “The box is one of the newer Motorola boxes, either the 3416 or the 3412.”
Yes, exactly. Must be the 3416 or 3412 from Motorola. If you don’t have one, they’ll bring one. The tech said that the 3416 is “faster” than the 3412 so make sure to ask for that one if you don’t already have one.
Unfortunately the “guide” is *nothing* like the TiVo style of guides. Instead, it’s the same terrible Comcrap style that uses horizontal scrolling. Way less efficient than the regular TiVo. I used to be excited about the prospect of Seattle Comcrap customers getting this upgrade but then decided to simple buy a TiVo HD at Costco for $250. Popped in a single dual-channel cable card and now have the experience I was seeking all along. What do I forfeit with this configuration? Only the lamo On Demand service which, can you believe, now shows ads inside the free movies? Thanks for the review – too little, too late. But, peanut butter on hot dogs sounds intriguing.
I assume you are talking about the grid view (as shown in the video above) vs what I’ll call “list” view (the two-column text view)? I believe your TiVo box can show either one. Like you, I hate the grid view, very inefficient use of space; but at least the TiVo software on the Comcast box shows more rows of data on each screen than Comcast’s software does. The question is whether you can switch views on the Comcast box like you can on a real TiVo?
As for the speed of the box, I have a 3416 which, from the post above, is the faster box. I’m in Chicago, so no TiVo software for me, but Comcast’s software is dog-arse slow on that box. I sometimes wait over 5 seconds for a button press to register. Hopefully TiVo’s software is better optimized than that. I’ll be curious to hear a comparison from someone who has an HD TiVo and can make a direct comparison with the Comcast implementation.
Actually as luck may have it, Comcast accidentally downloaded the TiVo software to my second box as well so I have it running on both the 3416 and the 3412. It’s definitely faster on the 3416.
I suggest your video presenter shampoo before appearing in videos.
Whaaa?! I did, like an hour before. My hair gel got the best of me, sure, but that happens almost every day. One slip of the hand and it’s all over the place. If you’re looking for beautiful, well-groomed people in videos, might I suggest something besides technology blogs — maybe like E! or the Bravo network.
Can you enumerate the ways it is worse than a real Tivo and more like a regular Comcast DVR?
Like does it miss button presses or respond to them kind of randomly like a Comcast STB?
Does it crash or not record something ever?
Obviously I’m worried than since its just a new face on the same Comcast drivers and such, that it will have many of the same characteristics of the wonderful Comcast DVRs…
- Does it have only a 15 minute live TV buffer like Comcast’s normal box, or does the upgrade make it 30 minutes like a real TiVo?
- Can you “undelete” deleted programs?
- Can you step through a recording frame-by-frame, and freeze frame on any frame, or does it jump all over the place like Comcast’s software.
I like that they put a picture-in-picture on screen when you are in the TiVo menus ( I wish TiVo boxes did that). But I’m still wondering if this is just a TiVo facelift of the Comcast software, or the real deal?
- There’s definitely more than a 15 minute buffer. It’s at least an hour, maybe more.
- You can NOT “undelete” deleted programs. Good catch, I hadn’t thought of that.
- You can’t go frame-by-frame but there’s a slow-motion feature and the eight-second jump back button is intact. It also does the fast forward compensation, which moves the recording back a couple seconds when you press play coming out of the commercials.
There have been a couple of instances where I’ve been fast forwarding and pressed the play button to bring it back to normal speed and it hasn’t responded for maybe 3-5 seconds. It hasn’t crashed yet or missed recording something, but I’ve only had it for a couple days now. It’s definitely WAY better than the old Comcast interface, though. It seems like TiVo actually had a big hand in the software, not just Comcast slapping a TiVo interface on top of what was already there.
I find video on demand is still way too slow in its infancy to produce high quality.
Does it support Multi-Room viewing? Can you watch Tivo recorded programs in another room?
Can you go right to your favorites list? My biggest gripe of the current DVR is I cannot go right to my favorite list. I have to click on GUIDE them FAVS.
has this entry been CONSTANTLY appearing in my rss feeds both in bloglines as well as originalsignal.com for literally months. if you guys have a deal with them to pimp it at least have the common decency to disclose that. its really quite irritating to have to see this “first look” over and over and over again.
You serious? I’m using Bloglines and it’s not showing up in my feeds. I can also assure you that we have NO such deal with Comcast, otherwise I would have gotten in quite a bit of trouble for writing this post:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/02/07/recommendation-rescinded-comcasts-tivo-interface/
yeah man… i really don’tunderstand it… i’ve read it time and time again…
i’m sorry if i was a lil over the top the first time i posted…it was a long day :) meant to post about this before but never got around to it
i’ll keep an eye on it and see if it replicates itself again … its really, really odd.
here’s the other side that i was talking about too http://gadgets.originalsignal.com/
I hope you did rescind your recommendation. Read my scathing reivew @:
http://topwebscams.com/website/Home/tabid/36/EntryID/3/Default.aspx
Worst product ever.