Author |
Message |
Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 2:24 pm
Naja, we have cable tv in every room, so I don't think that would work very well for us,even if I could understand it. Brenda, all I know is that I got a letter and a phone call from Comcast saying that we were going digital and tvs without a digital box would only get channels 1-20 (currently they get 1-100). So if I want 1-100 on all tvs that didn't currently have a DVR, or had the OLD converter box, I had to get new ones. That actually means that I'm losing a lot of channels. The old converter box got 1-999, but won't work. The new digital boxes only get 1-100. Only on the two TV's with DVRs can I get all the damn stations I'm paying for.
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Brenda1966
Member
07-03-2002
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 4:01 pm
I'm even more confused now. LOL. My cable went digital long ago and I got the new box -- I have channels all the way up to 999. Some of my favorite channels are in the 100's and 200's. I haven't received any call or letter from comcast, other than my bill. But I'll be paying attention.
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 4:06 pm
Okay, my letter says: Order digital equipment for all your TVs today. Expanded Basis channels (25-48) will be broadcast exclusively in digital format, you will need to order digital equipment for all your tvs to continue receiving these channnels. Afterward the enhancement, TVs without digital equipment will receive only channels 2-20. You can get a digital adaptor, two free, add'l units for $1.99 per month. Or you can get the digital set top box, (7.45/month) to receive all the channels you currently get with a set top box. So that's what I know. For more info go to: comcast.com/digitalnow
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Naja
Member
06-28-2003
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 4:09 pm
Brenda, it's not that Comcast is suddenly going digital. All of us with digital boxes have had digital for years with comcast. It's just that for some reason they are calling this new change their "Digital Transition". I guess because now everyone needs at least a digital box to get more than local channels. There are thousands of posts about it all in the "Digital Transition" area at the official comcast boards. You have to log in with your primary comcast user name to read the posts. I have read every single one of them since I go there daily. http://forums.comcast.net/comcastsupport/board?board.id=CTV_Digi_Tran
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Brenda1966
Member
07-03-2002
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 4:19 pm
Their descriptions are about as clear as mud. "Customers may be affected if they: •Subscribe to Comcast Standard Cable or Digital Cable; and, •Have a TV connected to a Comcast service without a Digital Set Top Box. Customers who subscribe to Comcast Basic Cable are not affected. " So, my bill says "Standard cable -- includes Basic and Expanded Basic". So, I think it doesn't apply to me, since I have basic cable?? And haven't received the call. I have the Sundance channel, bio channel, etc. Plus I pay for the preferred package? Digital converter and remote.
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Whoami
Member
08-03-2001
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 4:20 pm
If you have a TV that is connected to cable only (with no set top box), then you need their converter. In other words, if the coaxial cable that comes from the wall goes directly to your TV, then you need their new converter. If you already have a cable box (which you need for the Expanded Basic service and above), then you are ok. I'm irritated with Comcast over this too. When the Federal digital conversion thing came about, I called them and mentioned our two TVs that were connected only by the analog cable, and they said we were just fine. Now a few months later, they're pulling this. My take on it is, they found out several customers had TVs set up this way (probably from getting many phone calls like mine), and didn't like the fact that they had no clue how many tvs a customer had their cable connected to (even though it was legal to do so). So they decided to scramble the signal so now in order to get Expanded Basic on any tv we have to have a box (and now they can keep track of us better). That's the skeptic in me. They say they are "enhancing" their digital service and that's why we now need the boxes. Something tells me I'm not gonna see any "enhanced" service what so ever. Like I said, I think this is all about them deciding to scramble the signal so we have to have one of their boxes (in one form or another) on every TV and they can keep track of us better. Yes, your bill will say you have Expanded Basic, and your primary tv will have a box and everything is hunky dory. But if you have a tv in, lets say, the kitchen that is connected to only the coaxial cable, then you will lose all channels higher than 24 (on that tv) when their transition takes place, unless you put a converter on it. To try and put it simple: Any tv you have in the house that currently has a set top box of some sort will be ok. Any tv you have in the house that is connected directly to the coaxial cable coming from the wall, and has no set top box of any sort, will be affected.
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 4:21 pm
Brenda, here is a good FAQ page from the Comcast site: http://digitalnow.comcast.com/FAQs.aspx?map=all_faq_map
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 4:23 pm
Brenda, the box you have that gets 999 channels will still work. But unless you have a Cablecard in your other tvs, you will need a digital adaptor on ALL of them to get anything more than BASIC cable, including your extended basic cable channels (lifetime, disney, animal planet, etc).
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 4:26 pm
GAL, I just called to check on my digital adaptor order and apparently it was screwed up, in queue, but placed incorrectly and would have never shipped. Nice customer service there. I'll call back the other sales area (because the gal who fixed this order couldn't do anything about changing my subscription plan) and complain and see if I can get some discounts. I do call every six months and they give me some new deal, alternating between a cable tv deal and an internet service deal. apparently, I could get a much better deal if I bundled my phone service in, but cable goes out so often where I live, then I'd have no internet at all!
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Brenda1966
Member
07-03-2002
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 4:28 pm
I think I just learned something -- if get a new digital set top box, then I can set it to change the channels again! Looks like a call to comcast is in my future, when I have an hour to spare. 
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Brenda1966
Member
07-03-2002
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 4:39 pm
I'm with you Whoami -- seems like a way for them to see how many TV's we are using and devise a plan to charge us for each one. I dont' like relying on their equipment because it seems to go bad often. As if I don't have enough wires already! Now I need to add another box to my TV upstairs so I can watch one channel while I record another. And another remote to go with it. And another item to plug in and pull electricty. It's just getting to be a bit much! I wonder why they haven't called me yet.
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 4:50 pm
Whoami, that's exactly what I thought too, that they are just trying to find a way to charge for every tv. Sucks. Brenda, FWIW, I just called them, got right thru and it only took ten minutes to get my screwed up order fixed. Well, I think it's fixed. No guarantee.... And yes, the new full settop boxes will change the channel for you so your VCR will record. Or you can do what I do, and that is record it to the DVR, and then download to tape if I want to watch elsewhere. Pretty easy, easy enough for me to do it!
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Brenda1966
Member
07-03-2002
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 5:03 pm
I don't have comcast's dvr. I have resisted! I have my own as I like to burn dvd's to keep. I do need to call about getting a better cable box. I need the one that can change the channel. That's an awesome feature. I'm sure I'll have to take the box to comcast office and exchange it.
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Naja
Member
06-28-2003
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 5:04 pm
I think you must have had an uninformed person on the phone, Karuuna. There is no set top box that will automatically let your vcr use it's own tuner and change the channels the same way as when it was hooked up without any box. Just take a peek in the official forums. You need an IR blaster or something similar.
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Brenda1966
Member
07-03-2002
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 5:07 pm
Naja, the cable box changes the channel on itself. That's the feature I lost and am trying to get back. How annoying that I have the one model that doesn't do that feature!
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 5:12 pm
Naja, what Brenda said. You actually use a 'record' feature on the cable box and choose the program to record (ti doesn't actually record on the box however). You ALSO have to set up your VCR on channel 3 to record at the same time. The cable box changes the channel and runs the program at the scheduled time. Your VCR records it. Then if you are still not home, the cable box will change to run a different channel at a different time; and if you set your VCR to record at that time period, you record it also.
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Naja
Member
06-28-2003
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 5:17 pm
So you guys are saying you have to set the cable box and the vcr separately for the same thing? If so, what a pain! I know I would forget one or the other. Like I said, my old first edition tivo I keep upstairs that is pretty much as old fashioned as a vcr by now uses the IR blaster so that I don't have to do that. I only set the tivo and it sends infrared signals to the cable box to change the station, like a remote control does.
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Brenda1966
Member
07-03-2002
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 5:20 pm
Yes, you have to set the "timer" in the cable box, and then the timer on your recording device. It's really not so bad. I have resisted tivo as well -- just another monthy fee I don't want.
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 5:37 pm
I don't think it's that hard actually. On the cable box, you simply use the television show guide to navigate to the show you want to record, and select info, then record. Then you set your VCR as normal. Setting the cable box is pretty simple.
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Whoami
Member
08-03-2001
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 5:56 pm
Don't count on your order being fixed Karuuna. I ordered my two boxes several weeks ago, and hadn't seen hide nor hair of them, so I called them last week. They said the person I'd talked to only ordered one box for me, it was on my account, but not ordered to ship. So this new person "cancelled" the original order, re-ordered 3 boxes for me (cause I'd determined since then I really wanted 3), and said it would ship out shortly. So, the other day I get two boxes via UPS, one larger than the other. I'm thinking, OK, the large box has 2 devices in it, and the smaller box has one." I open them up, and the smaller box has two converters in it. I'm thinking wow, if this has two, what is in the large box? They said something weird at the end of our phone call that had me wondering if they were gonna send a full on digital box (where you can get On Demand and stuff), and I thought, well, if that's the case I'll put that one in Mom's room, so she can have an on-screen menu. She'd resisted one so far cause the remote is too intimidating to her. LOL. So anyway, I open up the larger UPS box, and it has 3 more converters in it!!!! Idiots! They sent my original order of two (which was supposed to have been erroneously ordered as one, and was also supposed to be cancelled), PLUS the updated order of 3! So, I used the three, and set them up a little while ago, and went on-line to activate. I got a message saying to wait up to 45 minutes for them to activate. Waited an hour....nothing. Sigh. Called them and got them activated. The lady was like rapid firing questions at me about each tv, "is there a picture, can you see anything, da da da da da." I told her she's gonna have to wait for each TV, cause she's sending me all over the house to each room each TV is in, and I can't move as fast as she thinks I should instantaneously answer her questions. Yeesh! So now I have to figure out a way to get out of the house again to drop the two extra devices they sent me off at their local center here. That sucks big time. It took me a month before I was able to get out of the house for the last set of errands I just got accomplished on the 12th. Now I have to figure out how to do it again very soon or they'll charge me for the damn things.
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Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 6:14 pm
Like Whoami said, don't count on your order being fixed Karuuna. It took me two weeks and endless banging of my head against the wall to get a simple wireless router sent to my house. I went through five different service representatives and countless emails. Each of them told me the order was fixed, and each time it was not (until the last girl I spoke with - the only voice of reason, who worked in our regional office.) Do not talk to anyone at corporate they will make you want to set yourself, them and all of your household appliances on fire.
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 6:28 pm
Aiiiyyyyyyiiiii! I'll call again to see if they got it fixed. they really are terrible, aren't they?
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Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 6:57 pm
Yes. They don't care about us.
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 7:00 pm
So is Dish or Direct any better? don't you have to a box for every tv for them?
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Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Monday, March 15, 2010 - 7:01 pm
Nope, they're not any better from my experience.
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