RSSTiVo On Comcast Delayed Yet Again
By Ed Oswald | Published October 10, 2007, 12:29 PM
Comcast's seemingly never-ending delays in getting TiVo service to its customers continued Tuesday, as the company admitted it was behind schedule in rolling out service to customers.
Since the announcement that the two companies had partnered to offer DVR software to Comcast subscribers in March 2005, the release date has been repeatedly delayed. Often, little if any reason was given for the delays, although TiVo assured investors the service was on its way.
Now nearly a year-and-a-half late, TiVo is facing the prospect again of explaining to restless investors why Comcast is once again late to the party. In midday trading, the company's stock was already down over 1.5 percent after falling about 2 percent on Tuesday.
"We're waiting for word any time now that the first non-Comcast employee will begin to get the service," Reuters quoted CEO Tom Rogers as telling investors at a conference in New York, adding the rollout was "slightly behind schedule."
The cable operator had been beta testing the service internally, and originally planned to offer it in portions of Massachusetts and New Hampshire during the month of September.
Rogers apparently gave little reason as to why this latest delay had occurred.
Some investors may take consolation the fact that he also reported during the conference that its relationship with DirecTV is set to improve under that company's new leadership. Whether that heralds the return of set-top boxes for customers of DirecTV is not yet known.
I have used both Tivo(6 years) and Comcasts DVR(2 months). Comcast's DVR is free(Tivo HD costs 299). Comcast's monthly fee is way lower. The only plus I see with Tivo is that it offers more information on an episode, and updates the schedule more frequently. The latest firmware upgrades on the Motorola DVR have fixed most, if not all, lockup issues. Tivo also requires a phone or network connection(which requires a router that many people don't have). If you have an older Tivo model from last year or before, you cannot watch TV at the same time you are in the menus, like you can on the Motorola. The Motorola DVR also uses the digital subchannels for the local or basic channels, removing the need to convert the signal to digital, like Tivo does, which can result in loss of quality.
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|Most, but definitely not all. I also had to return the other one for dying slowly; it dropped channels, one group at a time for a month, then died fully.
The reason I have them isn't because they're better -- it's because they're a better value prop than would be TiVo.
Kind of OSX v Windows... it's not because Windows is necessarily better...
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|They must be trying to dump off the rest of their SA boxes. I had four of them before I got fed up and got a Tivo. Comcast is just more proof that monopolies should never exist. Their continued existence is nothing more than corporate welfare.
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|There is nothing like a Tivo. Everything else is just a crappy DVR, even MCE for Vista.
Unless you have used a Tivo for over a month you would not understand how far superior the software is to any other DVR out there.
Tex
www.GamerTex.com
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|Isn't the point of a DVR to watch recorded programs? How is Tivo better? The GUI on DirecTV's HR20 is idiot proof and incredibly simple. Comcast's DVR is a joke, it locks up and freezes constantly.
I dont get the Tivo mystique. It's a DVR like anything else.
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|It's Comcast. What do you expect? Late with HD, late with internet speed, but quick to bill. They're the cable company... what can you expect? Awful service in a monopoly.
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|Tivo WHO? I use MCE for Vista and am quite satisfied.. If I want to record a show I will use the main family room TV's DVR from Comcast. No need for a TiVO.
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|Who would want to use one of Motorola's DVR cable boxes in favor of TiVo? That's just silly. Motorola's DVR boxes are slower than the Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player. I do agree that MCE under Vista may be a good alternative to TiVo if your computer has cable card support.
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|I have used TiVo, SA DVR (TW & CC), MS MCE 2005 and MS MCE Vista. All I can say now that MS MCE Vista now has HD capabilities via cable card support there is no comparison. Once I went to MCE 2005/Vista I will never go back to a STB from either TiVo or CC. Being able to record in HD and surf the internet, chat with IM, read RSS feeds views sports scores at the touch of one button and then turn around and stream videos/DVD’s, music and pictures to other computers, Xbox 360, or an extender blows away the competition. O BTW no monthly fees………
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