and it supports on demand?

I basically hate the current moxi box, that said....

So after ripping out all the moxi boxes, due to overheating, poor software etc. and putting in the Motorola 6412 DVR style instead, do you think that Time Warner in our area is going back to that Moxi box?

Did they go with a standard ir set, or keep the same POS ir codes that were clunky to say the least? If it is a complete redesign then it will be nice to see, the old GUI was usually a love/hate relationship. Verizon Fios is making big inroads with their cable tv system using the Motorola box with a redesigned GUI in our area, which control-ability and ease of use is good.

I'm glad that competition creates innovation and re-design of poor products.(but not always) but with any cable/sat provider you get what they give you.

[Link: cepro.com]

looks interesting . .
but without true 2way with cable . .who knows.

i like the face that they might integrate zwave and home autoamtion etc . .

Add a red reset button to the front of the moto comcast box and it would be a start.

It will, 2 way is being beta tested right now and should be worked out in the coming months. I hated the old moxi and I will tell you everything about this box is different.


Again, beta testing.

The new Moxi is sexy!

Directv no dual live buffers. For intergration it may be the best but the dishnet 722 is a better box to use.

The real reason cable boxes "suck so much!??!?!" They are built to meet the lowest system requirement, as 99% of customers just want a box they don't have to pay for.

If you doubt this, I would say that much less than 0.1% of systems are installed by a CI. This is why cable companies practically don't care what CI's say about the boxes. The cable companies sell to customers, and their customers are not CI's! Adding IR inputs, involve an extra connector and a couple amplifiers on the PCB. Several dollars in parts. Even with the thin margins in the electronics industry, that will be $4 or so to every consumer, for a feature that the 0.1% installed by CI's might care about. The pretty GUI is likely a better feature for the masses, but that takes lots of development time, and probably a better processor. TiVo did a great job on this, how has it paid off for them...

Think about this, TiVo, the company in the DVR industry that holds almost all the patents has had a horrible time just trying to stay in business. (If you doubt this, they just won their action against Dish, and I believe DirecTV is allowing TiVo to make DirecTV boxes again, as DirecTV DVR's infringe on several TiVo patents.) I believe these are the things that have kept TiVo in business.

My point is that a company like TiVo that created a market, is not valued enough by consumers to pay any premium for their product. We don't see consumers grabbing stock of the new TiVo HD DVR's, there is no shortage. It is because customers don't want to pay several hundred dollars for a box, they'd rather pay a small amount to the cable company each month, for something that per the title of this posting: "suck so much!??!?!"

I see this everyday at work. I talk to our customers in the far east very often, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and China. They have the same request for the top three features: 1. Lower Price, 2. Cost Down, 3. Less Expensive. This is the reality of the electronics industry today. Customers expect more for less money every day.

Customers are not yet at a place where the majority can differentiate between a Hamburger and Filet Mignon, so the market is offering Hamburger. The few companies like TiVo that offer Filet, still can't seem to get preferential treatment by the CI's. By law cable card must be offered to customers, making solutions like TiVo work very nicely, yet every day we see CI's push other solutions based on the cable boxes that suck so much.

In my mind, the real question is: Why don't the CI's push solutions like TiVo that offer so many real benefits to customers and installers?

A. Most of the Scientific Atlanta 4200 and later boxes have an IR port on them. They have always been disabled but the expense has already been built into them.

B. Number 1 service calls by the typical CI have to do with cable box or satellite IRDs for which we make no profit. The last thing I want to push is something where I make no profit but which has a high rate of service calls.

C. Till the most recent HD Tivo it was a disaster trying to reliably connect one. It required 2 emitters ( one from Tivo and one from the control system ) or you had to let Tivo control the box with all of the delays associated with channel changes managed by the DVR.

D. I cannot tell you how many issues with telephone downloads I had to deal with.

E. The best implementation of Tivo was by the satellite company who integrated the GUI into the box so that it was transparent. Still Tivo connectivity issues to Tivo home but since guide data came in via the D* data steam those issues never cropped up.

F. ReplayTV was so much better but they had no clue how to market and their choice to go with hardware manufacturers as opposed to Tivo's decision t go with content providers determined who survived.

G. Cable cards have only recently become reliable. But Tivo is currently direct to customer only. Do you like selling products for which you make no money but assume all liability?

H DVRs are the most difficult device to integrate since most customers what to watch the recorded programs on more then just the TV they are connected to.

I. Almost every client I've had has purchased cable or satellite DVRs, even if they cost them 2 to 3 times more per month. MSO's have an economic incentive to sell a better mouse trap since they have recurring revenue and an economy of scale. CIs do not. Tivo is no more expensive to the cable MSO then their current designs--to wit the Comcast test of their new Tivo DVRs.
J. Tivo licenses that link to each unit and when the unit breaks you need to purchase an other license. Hard drives fail. Cable and satellite rent you the DVR so a failure is on them and there are no licenses to repurchase

Alan

two things . .

1. how much would it cost to add discrete power commands ?

2. this may very well be the reason why they will loose customers . .
many new services are popping up that are similarly priced, but with more features.

just look at the netflix box , not near ready for prime time, but the box is 99$ and gives you access via subscription to movies and tv shows . . . sure nothing live . .
but time will only improve devices like apple tv and netflix boxes..

bottom line costs do not always = best business model.
especially when the competition heats up . .


ps - why does directv offer boxes for custom installers thats rack mountable with rs232 control ?

just glanced at the cable box and some of the comments and I laughed pretty hard at

"Sigh. Not a day goes by I don't dream of smashing to pieces the POS cable box we got from TWC"

90% of my warranty calls are usually solved by having the customer reach to the back of the cable box and unplug wait 10 seconds and replug.

Another 8% result in me driving to their homes and unplugging and replugging the cable box in

bastard cable boxes

still cant get over the lack of discrete power commands on SA boxes . .
and the disabling of ir port on rear how stupid.

My new way to solve this issue is to spec as many TiVo HDs as possible for every job. The worst thing that happens (rarely) is that the cable cards need to be reset from the central office.

Cable boxes suck because they're built by the lowest bidder. Period.

they suck because they're made to be easy for your grandma to operate.

they are not easy for grandmas to operate . .
they are clumsy !