Comcast Cable Boxes

[jmsalt1]

I am in the process of setting up a media room in my basement and was wondering which of the HDTV cable boxes offered by Comcast in my area is the best. I'm not sure which of these to specify but I don't need the DVR functionallity as I have one (Motorola DCX3400) in our main living area and don't want to pay for two. The options for an HDMI ready box (they say all these are 3D ready which really does not matter to me right now) are:

Samsung RNG 150
Pace RNG 110
Cisco RNG 150
Motorola DCX3200M P2 (The manual says "Dolby® Digital Plus is supported by the HDMI interface and provides 7.1 channels and beyond of enhanced-quality audio." Not sure about this with the others.)

I was able to verify that all of them would be compliant with the Harmony RF remotes I am looking at. Does anyone have advice on which of the above might be better than the others. I gravitate toward the Motorola for some reason. Any advice / experience out there on these?

 

[Guinness6]

I have a Comcast Motorola DVR, works great, although its not the latest edition. The cable guy that set it up was ready to install the latest one, but after talking to him a bit he hooked me up with the older box (got it from another technician's van a few blocks away). I can't remember why, but he said the latest version lacked something. (hope that helps???)

Anyway, I'd recommend just talking to the cable guy. Most of them know what they're talking about.

 

[Hi Ho]

Most of them know what they're talking about.

That's funny... My experience is the exact opposite. In fact, I spend a good chunk of my work day fixing the mistakes made by Comcast installers.

I have no experience with the Samsung or Cisco boxes but I deal with with the Pace and Motorola boxes on a daily basis. I would take the Motorola without question if it were between the two. The Pace boxes are finicky, especially with HDMI.

With that said, none of the boxes are very good. The software is just crap (at least in Western Washington). They are years behind Dish and DirecTV in terms of the GUI and DVR recording capacity. The Comcast remote is not well designed, especially for power on/off.

 

[jmsalt1]

Thanks guys. I tried to get the Motorola DCX3200 P2 sent to me by Comcast because the local walk in only had the Pace RNG 110 available. Instead of sending me the DCX3200 P2 they sent me the big clunky DCX3200 which is the older version, without a power cord to go with the box. I really can't stand Comcast but don't want to switch over to AT&T UVerse. So tomorrrow, it's back to the local customer service to return the DCX3200 and hope they happen to have a DCX3200 P2 available or I will have to pick my poison between the DCX3200 and the Pace RNG 110. I can't stand going in to that place. Their customer service is so horrible they can't even notify you when the box you actually want might become available. You just have to stop in and hope for the best. Frustrating!