WesSalmon.com

Well at least I’m glad I didn’t invest in HD-DVD at all.

Toshiba to announce HD-DVD pull-out Tuesday

Ouch.

Today I finally got my Tivo Series 3 up and running with all its cablecard powered HD goodness.  Comcast sent out someone to configure the cards which was part of the process that I dreaded the most.  I had read a number of horror stories from the Tivo forums about all the problems people were having with getting cablecards working in their series 3 boxes.  Much of the problem seems to be due to many cable company techs just not knowing what they are doing.

For example, my Tivo came with a specific set of instructions for “cable installers” to use when configuring the cablecard(s).  The instructions specifically state that if you’re using 2 single stream cards, you need to install and configure the first one in slot 1, then after it is configured and working, you configure the 2nd one.  However, the Comcast tech this morning promptly jammed both cards into my Tivo and was perplexed as to why the machine was giving him errors.  When I explained the instructions I had read and handed them to him, he shrugged me off as some stupid end user.  Ten minutes later, he decided to try and install just one card at a time and what do you know, the first card worked.

The problem once we got a single card working was apparently a faulty 2nd card and of course, he didn’t bring spares.  He then left to go get another card and returned 45 minutes later with 2 other technicians.  My living room Tivo install was starting to look like a state highway construction job as the main tech pulled out the working single stream card and dropped in a new multistream card (of which you only need 1 to have access to dual tuner functionality) as the other two watched.  He then called the home office and had them “hit” the new card to activate it and 10 minutes later my channels started working.  Hazzah!

The whole ordeal took about 2.5 hours all told but as of now it looks like everything is now working properly with my new Tivo which makes me happy.  I’ll be dropping off the Comcast DVR at the office ASAP before the damn thing burns my house down or something.  I’m actually surprised it has lasted over 2.5 years.

Now I should never again miss another Family Guy.

… and Comcast’s piece of shit DVR is to blame.  I put my Tivo on the shelf almost 3 years ago in favor of Comcast’s DVR, mainly because it supported HD recording.  For the most part the experience was passable with a few annoyances, but the alternative of analog + over-the-air HD recording with Tivo was never appealing enough to get me to switch back.  When the original $800 TivoHD unit came out, I was all but certain to be stuck with the Comcast DVR for a long time to come. 

Then last night, after recently being “upgraded” from the Microsoft built software to Comcast’s own “iGuide” software, the DVR committed the ultimate sin … it failed to record the Family Guy season premiere.  That is unforgivable and I will now promptly go out and purchase the “cheap” version of the Series 3 TivoHD unit and badger Comcast for 2 cable cards (or 1 “M” card) and be done with their awful iGuide software for good.