Replacing leased Comcast cable box

[josko]

I'd like to get rid of my leased Comcast cable box/DVR. Can I replace it with a purchased tuner/DVR, or is there proprietary or unique decoding content in those leased boxes?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I'd like to get rid of my leased Comcast cable box/DVR. Can I replace it with a purchased tuner/DVR, or is there proprietary or unique decoding content in those leased boxes?

Currently Basic channels are not encrypted, Premium are - but this is changing soon. All channels will be encryped "for your convinience" (don't get me started on this)

Ether way you go (TiVo box) or custom HTPC based solution, you'd still will need to lease CableCard from Comcast - thou it's typically a bit cheaper - $6-7/month

Supposedly there are some TiVo boxes on the ebay with lifetime TiVo service builtin, thou I don't know if its true, Normally TiVo service is an extra monthly charge

There also solution like this one http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/18/hdhomerun-prime-cablecard-tuner-hands-on/ - but I don't know how good is it....

HTPC & Cablecard is possible (and very good solution), but it's extremely technical... If you want to cut the cord and have it easy and cheap way look for streaming boxes like Boxee Box and Roku

 

[j_garcia]

They freaked out when I told them I bought my own modem...off of the recommended list on their very own site. It was a few dollars cheaper than leasing it from them for a year, so I can't see paying them more for something I can own.

I cut the cord from Comcast cable years ago because they just kept raising the price. Now they are doing that to the internet, but since I ONLY have internet, it isn't nearly as bad

 

[markw]

Try it first. Assuming you have a "cable ready" TV, plug in the direct feed from the wall and see what your internal tuner picks up. This will give you a pretty good idea of what a stand-alone tuner/DVR will do.

Odds are that if they went all digital, you're still gonna have to pay them a monthly service fee per box, and that's only if you can get one that works with their encryption and they allow it.

The good old days of analog cable where you could plug it into almost any TV abd get basic channels are long gone.

 

[j_garcia]

Those days are long gone, but you can get an antenna and pick up whatever local HD broadcasts are in your area like days even longer gone by Just won't likely be that many.

 

[Hi Ho]

I'm using a Ceton infiniTV 4 CableCard tuner in my PC and my Xbox360 as a Media Center Extender. It is an awesome solution as the Media Center interface is 1000x better than any cable box and I have 4 tuners with the ability to add more. I only pay $3/month to rent the CableCard.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I'm using a Ceton infiniTV 4 CableCard tuner in my PC and my Xbox360 as a Media Center Extender. It is an awesome solution as the Media Center interface is 1000x better than any cable box and I have 4 tuners with the ability to add more. I only pay $3/month to rent the CableCard.

Yea, that's pretty much the solution I advised to my manager and he's currently using it. Still even Ceton cards are no half the original price, they are still pain in the rear to implement (with cablecard), but like we both said - end result is really good

 

[Hi Ho]

Yea, that's pretty much the solution I advised to my manager and he's currently using it. Still even Ceton cards are no half the original price, they are still pain in the rear to implement (with cablecard), but like we both said - end result is really good

I had no problems getting mine setup. I popped the card in, installed the drivers, and activated the CableCard. The CableCard activation was the most troublesome because it took over an hour for it to fully activate but since then it's been smooth sailing.

 

[markw]

What programming do you get, and how much does it cost?

 

[Hi Ho]

I get all the programming that I pay for with my cable subscription including HD. I had Dish but I switched to a internet/TV bundle with my local cable company because it saved me almost $50/month and they finally had most of the HD channels that I wanted. I didn't want to deal with the crappy cable company DVR so I went with this solution and I do not regret it at all.

This video shows how it all works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV0kJTYrvyg

I didn't take that video but that's basically exactly what I have setup.

 

[Hi Ho]

Here's a quick video I made myself. As you can see, it takes a little bit of time for it to boot up when turning it on and changing channels isn't the fastest but I watch almost everything recorded so it really makes no difference to me.

Windows Media Center DVR on Xbox360 - YouTube

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Ben's Bargains - Ceton InfiniTV 4 Quad-tuner Card $170 at Newegg