Thanks a bunch, comcrap

so, since i've switched to comcast a month ago, i've consistently had a crappy picture, or had it go jumbled in the middle of watching TV, screwed up scheduled recordings, had the box freeze up multiple times taking 10-15 minutes to reboot and work again each time. but, i could justify it since it saves a good bit of money.

until last week, they decided to "upgrade" my box software to this new xfinity junk. the guide now only shows 4 channels at a time, using the bottom row for ads now, that i have to scroll over to get to the next page of channels. to make the new "service" even better, they also lost nearly all of my scheduled recordings, so i have to go back and setup my recordings all over again. final straw was tonight when it has completely borked BBC America and wtih it all of the top gear episodes showing tonight. along with the new james may road trip show.

i'm just about done with this crap

They really messed up the "James May Road Trip" ie: "Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure." The first clue to that should have been the name change. Was that necessary? And then some unfortunate editing.

Still, solid show.

Osterkraut wrote: Still, solid show.

wouldn't know, i have an hour and a half of jumbled screen that won't play or fast forward

Cable is much worset than satellite. I never have my satellite go off, but my cable always went out or had poor quality.

I've had excellent service from Comcast.

Switched to Verizon Fios two years ago and have never regretted loosing Comcrap one bit.

switched from Comcrap to AT&T U-Verse, best decision ever!

I refuse to go with Comcast. A- because of crap like that, and B- I do just fine with Qwest fiber optic and DirecTV. I only ever lose the travel channel and Food Network. Everything else (Including the 6 hours of top gear I watched last night) is crystal clear.

{cough}Hulu!{/cough} {cough}BitTorrent!{/cough} {cough}Youtube!{/cough}

Ugh... I should really have that looked at.

ReverendDexter wrote: {cough}Hulu!{/cough} {cough}BitTorrent!{/cough} {cough}Youtube!{/cough} Ugh... I should really have that looked at.

That's great and all, but at the end of the day when my brain is mush from working and errands, all I want to do is sit down and turn on a TV. I don't want to search through YouBoob, download potentially illegal torrents, or deal with crap. I just want to watch something. Instant gratification.

Javelin wrote:

ReverendDexter wrote: {cough}Hulu!{/cough} {cough}BitTorrent!{/cough} {cough}Youtube!{/cough} Ugh... I should really have that looked at.

That's great and all, but at the end of the day when my brain is mush from working and errands, all I want to do is sit down and turn on a TV. I don't want to search through YouBoob, download potentially illegal torrents, or deal with crap. I just want to watch something. Instant gratification.

Thats why netflix streaming + Xbox = win

In reply to Strizzo:

Sounds like you have a bad piece of equipment. I'd call and tell them you want a new DVR. If the picture is breaking up, they need to check the signal and make sure to tell them what channels it happens on. It could be the DVR.

Also, using the page up and down buttons help scroll through the guide faster than going up and down with the cursor buttons.

I'll be brutally honest, I know people with Comcast, AT&T, Dish, Direct TV, and they all some sort of issue with their service.

DukeOfUndersteer wrote: switched from Comcrap to AT&T U-Verse, best decision ever!

i swtiched from u-verse because comcast is less than half of what att was. $35/month for basic DSL is obscene

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

yes, i use the page up/down buttons and don't have to scroll over the ads, but that doesn't change the fact that i'm paying them to put ads on my tv

Javelin wrote:

ReverendDexter wrote: {cough}Hulu!{/cough} {cough}BitTorrent!{/cough} {cough}Youtube!{/cough} Ugh... I should really have that looked at.

That's great and all, but at the end of the day when my brain is mush from working and errands, all I want to do is sit down and turn on a TV. I don't want to search through YouBoob, download potentially illegal torrents, or deal with crap. I just want to watch something. Instant gratification.

Huh, that's what we do. Turn on the HTPC, TV and Receiver with the universal remote, grab a beer/glass of wine/snacks, sit down. Once its booted (less than 30 seconds), with the remote, select Hulu Desktop or a pre-recorded show from the file server and watch away. Can also watch over the air HD signals through the TV Tuner card (and basic cable channels, but they're mostly crap)

Not too mention, firing up Firefox and watching ESPN3.com or ALMS.com streams.

Need some music? Fire up Pandora and stream away, or load MP3's ripped from our CD collection.

Games? Its a pretty powerful PC, so load up some games and go at it.

Just because you choose to not understand some basic technology doesn't mean it doesn't or can't work.

The fact that this was built and configured in a bout a day from spare parts with the configuration taking another day, tells me that it isn't that hard to pull off. If you're interested, I can show you how to do it and give you a hand doing it yourself if you'd like.

Strizzo wrote: In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid: yes, i use the page up/down buttons and don't have to scroll over the ads, but that doesn't change the fact that i'm paying them to put ads on my tv

I guess I've had it long enough now that the ads don't bother me. Most of the ads are for stuff on On Demand.

Still not as obnoxious as the ads the TV stations put in the corner or bottom of the screen while in the middle of a show.

turboswede wrote: Just because you choose to not understand some basic technology doesn't mean it doesn't or can't work. The fact that this was built and configured in a bout a day from spare parts with the configuration taking another day, tells me that it isn't that hard to pull off.

I do understand it, please do not insult me. Obviously it's not as simple as you are making it sound since it took you, somebody who obviously has a deep understanding of the technology, two full days to setup.

When you have a wife and kids who want to watch too, and not just a bachelor pad, the TV just plain has to work. One remote, channel up/down and done.

That doesn't mean I wouldn't love to have yet another PC in my house (already have 4) to hook up to the TV and do the streaming stuff (especially since I moved into the 2010's with an actual HDTV w/ HDMI inputs), but there needs to be at least one way of making it work without the PC.

Also, you still have to pay for high speed internet to have the capability to stream that stuff anyways. With Comcrap's screwy price structures, it's pretty much a wash for us to have basic cable + HS 'Net versus just HS 'Net. I think the difference is less than $10/month.

Dump it. I did. I don't miss it, and actually wish I could block out the memory of what it was like. Now I don't have to pay $114 a month for insanely slow Internet and a terrible TV picture which I then had to watch commercials on.

There's no thought involved. Believe me, I work hard all day, and just want mindless entertainment, too. I turn on a PS3, and either stream Family Guy or Trailer Park Boys episodes through Netflix, or watch whatever DVD from Netflix I happen to have. Slightly more thought to boot up BitTorrent and download a Top Gear or Justified or Southland or one of the other shows I watch. Easy.

$114?! I'm only paying $67/month for Comcrap high-speed internet and digital cable with the non-DVR/no On Demand box. No wonder you are all switching, I would at $114, too.

Also, I don't have a PS3 or a heXBox. I take it a PS2 won't do any of this.

I had to unplug my modem, reset the internet, and start over DAILY for 5 years.

I keep calling and telling them to come back and they come back over three months and replace EVERY wire and connector. Still no changes......unplug modem, reset......Finally a comcast genius says to run a monster cable across my backyard..........I haven't unplugged the modem in 10 months.

The worst part was one QC manager gave me his card and told me to call him and he promised me he would get this right. I gave up after leaving 7 voice mails looking for him. That guy was the bozo of comcast.

Didn't meant to insult you, but I think you're being a bit technology adverse without fully understanding the gains made in combining home theater and PCs. Not just in functionality, but more importantly in usability.

The wifey uses ours and the other three HTPC's in the house just fine, thanks. She's not very technically savvy, but doesn't have a problem turning one on and watching TV or streaming content from Hulu.

BTW, it took me as long to install and setup my home theater system. Most of the time spent on building the system was installing Windows which meant I wasn't actively working on it, just walking by with a beer in my hand, clicking OK and rebooting after various updates were installed. That was also for the first one, the next three went much faster and were done in a few hours. Like I said, I'd be willing to show you how to do it on your own, just find an old P4 or better desktop and add a few parts to it and it will work pretty well.

Now, you can also buy ready to go systems (Boxee box, Windows Media Center HTPC, PS3, Xbox 360, etc) that can do quite a bit of the above right out of the box, including HD content.

You can also mod an original XBox to do some of this minus the HD content. They can be found cheap at the local thrift stores.

If I ever upgrade to a 360 and/or PS3 I will totally try it. See my above post on still having to pay for high-speed internet though. Right now I am paying less than $10/month for the cable TV after paying for the required interwebz.

But if you decide to ditch the TV you must have a good and fast internet connection. Some of us don't have the option of anything better than a slow DSL.