Tivo/DVR Options with Adelphia?

Hi All,

We have adelphia analog and want to add a Tivo/DVR. From the adelphia website, it appears that their DVRs are for digital only. Can anyone confirm this? So a Tivo unit is the only choice?

Any recommendations, comments would be appreciated before we purchase. We plan to maintain the adelphia analog for now (wait until the comcast switchover happens...) and would like to be able to record/watch simultaneously (which I think means we need the new dual tuner Tivos).

thanks

 

The motorola boxes on adelphia/comcast are the motorola boxes - they are ok boxes, and can record 2 shows on 2 digital channels at once. That being said, they are quite slow sometimes and for those use to tivo and season pass recording, are a little frustrating to use. As for the Dual tuner tivo's, it is a little misleading - the dual tuner only allows you to record 1 digital channel and 1 analog channel - you cannot record 2 digital channels at once with them.

 

When I contacted Adelphia last February about this, I was told that their DVR box was only available if you got the HD service. This may not be true now that they are changing over to ComCast.
If it is still true, then it would be a large incremental cost over what you're paying now.
Their DVR box is a Motorola DCT6412. You can find out quite a bit of information on it on Wikipedia and AVS Forum.
I used it for 8 months and finally got too frustrated with it and downgraded to the plain HD service without the DVR. I went through five units in 8 months. They have a tendency to lock up unexpectedly and the only cure is to unplug it. Unplugging the box resets it, but it also loses all program guide info and you have to wait a while for it to start reloading. It takes about 20-30 minutes to get enough program information to see the upper channel info. It takes 48 hours to completely load the full two weeks of program info.
The DVR functions are OK, but are not as complete and user-friendly as a TiVo (I have two).
If you just want to record analog channels, you can get an analog TiVo fairly inexpensively. The service can be pricey, tho. As an existing customer, TiVo keeps sending me offers of low-priced TiVos (no discounts on the service). If you're interested, I can send you the next offer I get.
The new digital TiVo is way too pricey for me. Even with an existing customer discount, and the offer of converting my existing lifetime service, it still is more money than I'm willing to part with.

--- John B.

 

Thanks all.... I'll call adelphia/comcast(?) tomorrow to see if they off a DVR for analog. I was getting excited about Tivo but holy cow their monthly service fee is expensive. For that money, the kids can read to themselves at night so I won't miss the Office ;-)

 

My experience with the 6412 boxes is that the delays start small (5-10 seconds) and grow longer until eventually the box locks up and won't respond to any keypresses on either the remote or the front panel. This takes weeks to develop.
On the AVS Forum there are many who experience the same thing, and many who have never had the problem and are still using their original box. The consensus is that Motorola has QC issues and can't manufacture a consistently reliable DVR. Many of their non-DVR boxes are solid and reliable, but the key is they don't have dual tuners, hard drives, or an HDMI interface. I suspect the problem is one or more of those elements. Personally I lean towards the HDMI support as that requires some processing power to encrypt two separate data streams (video and audio)on the fly.
The 6412s are known to run hot, and I made sure that my boxes were not crowded by other devices or shelves. Mine never felt hot to me.

--- John B.

 

Wahoogeek...
There are TiVo alternatives for folks who don't want to buy a monthly service. They involve re-purposing an old PC as a DVR, adding a video capture card and some DVR software. I've seen a few articles on the web, but I can't attest for how well they work. It might be worth your while to check it out and see if it meets your needs. Judging by your nickname, you're probably techie enough to enjoy rolling your own.

--- John B.

 

Hmmm ... I just think you wanted to display that large flat-screen. Show off ...

 

Yeah, I've been poking around the web to learn how I can turn my old Dell into a dvr (byopvr.com, etc.). Called comcast/adelphia today, their DVRs are for digital only.

thanks all.