Comments on: Time Warner Rolling Out Whole-House DVR

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http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-66384 Anonymous Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:22:00 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-66384 Strange, because HDMI is a strict spec. standard. When you connect the HDMI cable, is the screen black, is there a message, or nonsense? Any audio coming through?

Strange, because HDMI is a strict spec. standard. When you connect the HDMI cable, is the screen black, is there a message, or nonsense? Any audio coming through?

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-66383 Void Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:16:00 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-66383 We have 4 WH DVR units, multiple problems, had a total of 8 boxes in two months. They claim the box doesn't support HDMI output with most TV's, but I've seen problems with both HDMI output on 3 different vendors HD TV's as well as multiple problems with the dang Component output.... I don't have any issues with non-TW HDMI working with my HD TV's.

We have 4 WH DVR units, multiple problems, had a total of 8 boxes in two months. They claim the box doesn’t support HDMI output with most TV’s, but I’ve seen problems with both HDMI output on 3 different vendors HD TV’s as well as multiple problems with the dang Component output…. I don’t have any issues with non-TW HDMI working with my HD TV’s.

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-54516 Craig Johnson Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:42:53 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-54516 That is correct. They are initially listed by their MAC address but you can customize the labeling once you figure out which is which. I did that by looking at 'scheduled recordings' info on web interface and reminding myself what I had scheduled on each when in front of them. The MAC is likely listed on the back of the box but I'm lazy like that ;)

That is correct. They are initially listed by their MAC address but you can customize the labeling once you figure out which is which. I did that by looking at ‘scheduled recordings’ info on web interface and reminding myself what I had scheduled on each when in front of them. The MAC is likely listed on the back of the box but I’m lazy like that ðŸ˜‰

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-54507 Dana Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:12:55 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-54507 Thanks so much for the info, Craig. That all makes sense. I assume that when you go to http://dvr.timewarnercable.com you see two DVRs displayed and you select which one you want to program?

Thanks so much for the info, Craig. That all makes sense.
I assume that when you go to http://dvr.timewarnercable.com you see two DVRs displayed and you select which one you want to program?

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-54455 Craig Mon, 14 Feb 2011 20:50:45 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-54455 Apparently the tech visit is required b/c they have to put a filter on the line outside of your house. This keeps the inter-dvr traffic in your house. If filter wasn't applied your DVRs would talk to your neighbors. I don't have a playback-only STB, we got 2 WHDVRs. But you can't sched. recordings from one to the other. That is, if I'm in my bedroom, I can't schedule something to record on the living room DVR. However, the scheduling via web works pretty well. http://dvr.timewarnercable.com I don't think you can just pause live playback on one then pick it up on the other. Has to be recorded (not just buffered). As you say though, you can hit record then go to the other room and pick it up. And yes, if you have content in buffer and hit record the buffered is included in the recording, assuming is same show. Just like before. The boxes have all of the usual connections, not just HDMI. Viewing what it recording on the other is near instant. No waiting. A few other things that occurred to me after my first post... 1. the guide/show list/navigator is all the same as before, though it is more responsive. I hope that is due to faster processor and not just b/c the hdds are basically empty 2. before I said that the only thing that was box specific was the ability to delete. That's not the case. Series recordings and % full and other things are box specific. A more true statement is that the only thing that is *not* box specific is the list of recorded shows. 3. the WHDVRs are branded as cisco; explorer 8642HDC

Apparently the tech visit is required b/c they have to put a filter on the line outside of your house. This keeps the inter-dvr traffic in your house. If filter wasn’t applied your DVRs would talk to your neighbors. I don’t have a playback-only STB, we got 2 WHDVRs. But you can’t sched. recordings from one to the other. That is, if I’m in my bedroom, I can’t schedule something to record on the living room DVR. However, the scheduling via web works pretty well. http://dvr.timewarnercable.com

I don’t think you can just pause live playback on one then pick it up on the other. Has to be recorded (not just buffered). As you say though, you can hit record then go to the other room and pick it up. And yes, if you have content in buffer and hit record the buffered is included in the recording, assuming is same show. Just like before.

The boxes have all of the usual connections, not just HDMI.

Viewing what it recording on the other is near instant. No waiting.

A few other things that occurred to me after my first post…

1. the guide/show list/navigator is all the same as before, though it is more responsive. I hope that is due to faster processor and not just b/c the hdds are basically empty

2. before I said that the only thing that was box specific was the ability to delete. That’s not the case. Series recordings and % full and other things are box specific. A more true statement is that the only thing that is *not* box specific is the list of recorded shows.

3. the WHDVRs are branded as cisco; explorer 8642HDC

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-54122 Dana Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:36:43 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-54122 Thanks for the report, Craig! Did you have to have a truck roll? (and hence the $50 fee?) Can you schedule recordings from the playback-only STBs? If you stop playback of Recorded TV, can you go to another TV in the house and resume from that point? When you have watched a channel for 20 minutes and you press record, does all of that 20-minute buffer get included in the recording? I assume that you got new playback-only STB's, right? Are there component inputs on the new DVR and STB, or is it HDMI only? Finally, when you playback content recorded on the other DVR, does it immediately stream, or does it have to buffer a sizable amount/all of the show before playing back?

Thanks for the report, Craig! Did you have to have a truck roll? (and hence the $50 fee?) Can you schedule recordings from the playback-only STBs? If you stop playback of Recorded TV, can you go to another TV in the house and resume from that point? When you have watched a channel for 20 minutes and you press record, does all of that 20-minute buffer get included in the recording? I assume that you got new playback-only STB’s, right? Are there component inputs on the new DVR and STB, or is it HDMI only? Finally, when you playback content recorded on the other DVR, does it immediately stream, or does it have to buffer a sizable amount/all of the show before playing back?

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-53984 Craig Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:43:46 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-53984 Just got ours installed today. I haven't been home to experience yet but info from phone conversation w/ phone support yesterday and field tech today is... You can get one 'whole house dvr' and multiple playback only STBs. Or you can get multiple 'whole house dvr's. Each WHDVR has 2 tuners and 500GB of storage. We went w/ 2 WHDVRs. Show list is supposed to be aggregate of what's on both. Can view shows from either on either. Only per unit restriction is delete. You have to be on the box that the content is on in order to delete it. So, combined we have 4 tuners and 1TB of storage. (and a higher monthly bill and a freakin' $50 install fee :(

Just got ours installed today. I haven’t been home to experience yet but info from phone conversation w/ phone support yesterday and field tech today is…

You can get one ‘whole house dvr’ and multiple playback only STBs. Or you can get multiple ‘whole house dvr’s.

Each WHDVR has 2 tuners and 500GB of storage.

We went w/ 2 WHDVRs. Show list is supposed to be aggregate of what’s on both. Can view shows from either on either. Only per unit restriction is delete. You have to be on the box that the content is on in order to delete it.

So, combined we have 4 tuners and 1TB of storage. (and a higher monthly bill and a freakin’ $50 install fee

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-53741 Dana Tue, 08 Feb 2011 22:04:40 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-53741 Wow! If they are stable, that's a good use of $9. Good luck!

Wow! If they are stable, that’s a good use of $9. Good luck!

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-53740 Kurvelle Tue, 08 Feb 2011 22:01:52 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-53740 I just ordered my stand alone whole house DVR today. They guy I talked to said it just lauched yesterday. I'm in Charleston, SC. I currently have 1 HD DVR and 2 HD boxes, I'm swapping them out for 1 main player and 2 play backs and it's only costing me about $9 more per month.

I just ordered my stand alone whole house DVR today. They guy I talked to said it just lauched yesterday. I’m in Charleston, SC. I currently have 1 HD DVR and 2 HD boxes, I’m swapping them out for 1 main player and 2 play backs and it’s only costing me about $9 more per month.

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-53436 Dana Sun, 06 Feb 2011 03:10:03 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-53436 Other sources? This is gogoraleigh, baby. Consider this story: broken!

Other sources? This is gogoraleigh, baby. Consider this story: broken!

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-53435 Tom Grelinger Sun, 06 Feb 2011 03:04:58 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-53435 This is the only place that I saw that TWC planned to roll out Whole House DVR standalone in February. Does anyone else have sources that indicate this will happen? We have honestly been holding off getting Signature Home when the only thing that we really wanted was the Whole House DVR (we already have 2 HD DVRs).

This is the only place that I saw that TWC planned to roll out Whole House DVR standalone in February. Does anyone else have sources that indicate this will happen? We have honestly been holding off getting Signature Home when the only thing that we really wanted was the Whole House DVR (we already have 2 HD DVRs).

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-53239 Joe Seale Thu, 03 Feb 2011 21:42:53 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-53239 @Dana Holy AV Club, Batman! You've got quite the set-up.

@Dana Holy AV Club, Batman! You’ve got quite the set-up.

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-53036 Dana Wed, 02 Feb 2011 18:10:06 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-53036 Joe, No. I have an HTPC running Windows Media Center along with 4 extenders (by Linksys and DLink). It has a Ceton 4-tuner CableCard card as well as an Avermedia analog and QAM tuner. What that all means is that we can watch and/or record on 6 channels at once, and we can watch anything recorded (SD or HD) from any room in the house. We can stop a recorded show in one room and go to another to finish watching it. Finally, unprotected content (anything recorded on something below 100) can be offloaded to my DroidX and watched during lunch somewhere. There are a ton of other little features. I love it, but it isn't for the faint of heart. It is complicated and unstable, and they don't make the extenders anymore. XBox360 is the only available extender, but a strange choice for the kitchen, for example. I'm really hoping this Samsung unit is steady-eddy. I've heard that some of the Samsung DVRs deployed last year (don't know the model number) were also unstable. I really think that hardware is 90% of TWC's problem.

Joe,
No. I have an HTPC running Windows Media Center along with 4 extenders (by Linksys and DLink). It has a Ceton 4-tuner CableCard card as well as an Avermedia analog and QAM tuner. What that all means is that we can watch and/or record on 6 channels at once, and we can watch anything recorded (SD or HD) from any room in the house. We can stop a recorded show in one room and go to another to finish watching it. Finally, unprotected content (anything recorded on something below 100) can be offloaded to my DroidX and watched during lunch somewhere. There are a ton of other little features. I love it, but it isn’t for the faint of heart. It is complicated and unstable, and they don’t make the extenders anymore. XBox360 is the only available extender, but a strange choice for the kitchen, for example.

I’m really hoping this Samsung unit is steady-eddy. I’ve heard that some of the Samsung DVRs deployed last year (don’t know the model number) were also unstable. I really think that hardware is 90% of TWC’s problem.

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-53031 Joe Seale Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:00:22 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-53031 @Dana Do you use the Signature package? Thoughts? I've been holding out for the AT&T offering to be available.

@Dana Do you use the Signature package? Thoughts? I’ve been holding out for the AT&T offering to be available.

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-52893 Dana Tue, 01 Feb 2011 02:58:24 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-52893 Alright! That sounds like a big upgrade, Tony.

Alright! That sounds like a big upgrade, Tony.

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-52886 Tony Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:44:52 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-52886 Dana, I went by Time Warner today and swapped out a SA box for a Samsung. They only had the SMT-H3270's in stock. Same operating system but runs much smoother with less lag.

Dana, I went by Time Warner today and swapped out a SA box for a Samsung. They only had the SMT-H3270’s in stock. Same operating system but runs much smoother with less lag.

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-52860 Dana Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:43:25 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-52860 Thanks, tito! I just swapped my 1TB drive in my Media Center for a 2TB drive and love it. I know it is sad to say, but we were actually feeling a bit constrained with the 1TB

Thanks, tito!

I just swapped my 1TB drive in my Media Center for a 2TB drive and love it. I know it is sad to say, but we were actually feeling a bit constrained with the 1TB

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/comment-page-1/#comment-52856 tito Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:03:25 +0000 http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2011/01/31/time-warner-rolling-out-whole-house-dvr/#comment-52856 i think you got your GB and your TB mixed up in the third paragraph. otherwise they've made phenomenal leaps in compression technology.

i think you got your GB and your TB mixed up in the third paragraph. otherwise they’ve made phenomenal leaps in compression technology.