Cox & Tivo Premiere

[stageidea]

If you have ordered or planning to get the new Tivo Premiere it will not currently work in Tulsa.  Cox Tulsa currently only has S-Card support which is pretty dated at this point.  I read that they haven't even made the S-Cards in three years.   Somewhat frustrating as the newer Tivo's and newer DVR's  (such as the Moxi) do not support S-Cards.. 


http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=445703

[nathanm]

If you have ordered or planning to get the new Tivo Premiere it will not currently work in Tulsa.  Cox Tulsa currently only has S-Card support which is pretty dated at this point.  I read that they haven't even made the S-Cards in three years.    Somewhat frustrating...

Yeah, it's annoying to have to pay for four cards instead of two for my existing TiVos.

[sgrizzle]

If I remember correctly, can you not still hookup a digital cable receiver and use the infrared adapter to control it?

I had tivo but switched to cox's DVR because at the time it was technically superior and far cheaper. At this point it takes something like 3 years to come out ahead from a financial standpoint with Tivo and I'm not sure the company will last that long. The premiere is just a little spit and polish above the last version and not enough innovation to merit the cost. You can build an HTPC for a little more, do more, and have no monthly fee.

[nathanm]

If I remember correctly, can you not still hookup a digital cable receiver and use the infrared adapter to control it?

I had tivo but switched to cox's DVR because at the time it was technically superior and far cheaper. At this point it takes something like 3 years to come out ahead from a financial standpoint with Tivo and I'm not sure the company will last that long. The premiere is just a little spit and polish above the last version and not enough innovation to merit the cost. You can build an HTPC for a little more, do more, and have no monthly fee.

None of the HD boxes work that way. It would have been possible for TiVo to make a box that used firewire, but few cable companies support it and it would have been rather expensive to pay for both the cable company's box and the tivo and still be left with only one tuner.

TiVo is cheaper for me than the Cox DVR. The HTPC is by far the most expensive, although it is true that you pay for the guide data up front (like buying lifetime service for your TiVo), rather than monthly.

My HTPC cost me $547.28, before putting any hard drives in it. That's without CableCARD tuners and without Windows 7. Windows 7 Home Premium is another $179.99. A CableCARD HDHomeRun isn't even available yet, but presuming it ever is released it'll probably come in around $150-200. I could buy two TiVos for the price of all that Or a TiVo with lifetime and still have enough left over for a bunch of Blu-Rays.

[stageidea]

I am just annoyed that they have decided not to support modern DVR's in our area.  I have decided to submit a complaint to the FCC as it is my understanding that Cox is actually supposed to support Multistream CableCARD due to FCC regulation.  

I agree that the Cox DVR is certainly cheaper but I feel the Tivo experience it worth it.  I have used all of the media centers and Tivo still has the leg up on the others.  I have used in the past, HTPC with Windows Media Center, XBMC, and Boxee.

[sgrizzle]

I am just annoyed that they have decided not to support modern DVR's in our area.  I have decided to submit a complaint to the FCC as it is my understanding that Cox is actually supposed to support Multistream CableCARD due to FCC regulation.  

I agree that the Cox DVR is certainly cheaper but I feel the Tivo experience it worth it.  I have used all of the media centers and Tivo still has the leg up on the others.  I have used in the past, HTPC with Windows Media Center, XBMC, and Boxee.

My DVR runs off of an M-Card, so they do support them.

[nathanm]

My DVR runs off of an M-Card, so they do support them.

In their own boxes. The problem is that they're refusing to give them to people who use third party boxes.

[stageidea]

It is currently available in Oklahoma City and Wichita.  I wonder why we aren't allowed to use it in Tulsa.   Maybe we just don't have enough competition in the area..  

I was going to give up and wait for the Ceton card to come out later in May but I think it only allows Multistream CableCARD as well.

[nathanm]

I was going to give up and wait for the Ceton card to come out later in May but I think it only allows Multistream CableCARD as well.

You are correct about that. Most every new device only has one slots and requires an M-Card for full functionality. I do think it's a bit silly how CE manufacturers are removing the ability to even use S-Cards, though. Sure, it's no fun having only one tuner, but it's better than no tuners as an interim solution.

[Mike 01Hawk]

My HTPC cost me $547.28, before putting any hard drives in it. That's without CableCARD tuners and without Windows 7. Windows 7 Home Premium is another $179.99. A CableCARD HDHomeRun isn't even available yet, but presuming it ever is released it'll probably come in around $150-200. I could buy two TiVos for the price of all that Or a TiVo with lifetime and still have enough left over for a bunch of Blu-Rays.

$550 BEFORE HDs and an OS?   I'd like to see your build sheet.

I could easily build a turn key HTPC w/ 1 OTA Tuner, Remote, and a 1.5tb HD for under $450.  

Then $210 each for as many extenders as you want (Acer Revo Refurb $160 + $30 remote + $20 OS)

You'd be a FOOL to spend $180 on Win7 when you can get a key for sub $30 (as little as sub $10 in the past) off ebay.

I said screw you to Cox TV in 2009, it's great not blowing $85 a month on stuff I don't watch.  So a HTPC was an easy decision in my case.

OTA
ESPN360.com
NCAA.com
Hulu.com
EZTV for backlog TV shows I didn't catch on first airing.

They all have me covered.

[sgrizzle]

Woot has a PCI-E QAM tuner card for $20 today.

[nathanm]

$550 BEFORE HDs and an OS?   I'd like to see your build sheet.

I could easily build a turn key HTPC w/ 1 OTA Tuner, Remote, and a 1.5tb HD for under $450.  

Then $210 each for as many extenders as you want (Acer Revo Refurb $160 + $30 remote + $20 OS)

You'd be a FOOL to spend $180 on Win7 when you can get a key for sub $30 (as little as sub $10 in the past) off ebay.

OK, I'll show you what I bought (sorry, newegg invoices don't paste that well):

.      1     

    CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5 - Retail
    Item #: N82E16820145184

    Memory Standard Return Policy    

    $89.99

.     1    

    Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Model BX80571E7400 - Retail
    Item #: N82E16819115206

    CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
Intel (800)-628-8686 Please Verify Processor matches order Prior to installation. IMPORTANT: Always pack you CPU well for return. We will refuse your RMA if we received it as DAMAGED!    

    $116.99

.     1    

    Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX12V V2.2 Intel Core i7 Compliant Dual 80mm Fans Full Cable Sleevings Power Supply - Retail
    Item #: N82E16817153023

    Standard Return Policy    

    $41.99

      1    

    DFI LP JR GF9400-T2RS LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9400 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
    Item #: N82E16813136064

    Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
DFI (510)-623-5010    

    $139.99

    Antec Silver Aluminum / Steel Fusion Remote Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - Retail
    Item #: N82E16811129053

    Limited Replacement Only Return Policy

    $139.99

Please point out the significant savings available in November of last year. Do keep in mind that I need the CPU speed to transcode HD video (an i5 or i7 would have been better for that, but even more expensive). An Atom/ION board doesn't meet that requirement.

And yes, I would be a fool to have a properly licensed Windows installation. It isn't worth $180.

[Mike 01Hawk]

Ahhhhhh.... I read your post as if you were looking into getting a HTPC right now.

Carry on. LoL   

[nathanm]

Ahhhhhh.... I read your post as if you were looking into getting a HTPC right now.

Yeah. You made a great point earlier about how once you buy one relatively expensive one, extenders or whatever can be had super-cheap. If you're willing to run Ubuntu and MythTV (or XBMC if you just download shows and/or get 'em on DVD/Blu-Ray), you can get a reasonably decent Atom/ION for $200 or so. That is certainly cheaper than another TiVo, although it doesn't come with tuners.

I do like my HTPC, though. Nice little LCD that can be used for navigation with the TV off, for music or whatever, I've got 2.5 TB of hard disk space currently with about 56 films in HD and another 107 in SD, plus gobs of TV shows and documentaries (only about 1.8TB used at the moment, although I'm going to move another 1TB out of a broken TiVo into the HTPC soon). The only downside is that it won't play HD audio codecs..yet.

It's much better than wandering over to the Blu-Ray cabinet and pulling one out and messing around with the PS3. Everything's in one nice place. Now if only I could get she who must be obeyed to let me can the cable, or at least everything but basic. $150/mo was just high for cable+internet, $185 is getting ridiculous. I can think of much better things to do with $1500/yr than pay for TV. I'd rather have a new digital camera, dontchaknow? 

[stageidea]

I thought everyone would like to know that persistence pays off. After contacting multiple Cox, Tivo Reps, and the FCC I have finally received an M-Card for my Tivo.  I was also told that I am the first to receive one in the Tulsa area.