[mythtv-users] Chicagoland services - Comcast, WoW, DirectTV, Dish...

Donald Webster fryfrog at gmail.com
Tue Apr 3 18:41:23 UTC 2007


I don't think you'll get HD from a DirecTV or Dish.  I don't mean they
don't *offer* HD, I just mean you won't be able to get a signal from
it to your MythTV in HD.  Svideo is certainly possible, but thats no
fun when you are shooting for HD.  I have a tickling memory of someone
mentioning specific DTV recievers where firewire could be hacked in,
but... who knows.

Cable at least offers the *chance* of firewire, and if you already
have cable it is probably worth the $5-20 bucks it'd cost to rent an
HD tuner from the cable co for a month to see if a) they have firewire
(its an fcc requirement) b) have firewire enabled and c) that it isn't
5C'd on all the channels you care about.

I use that method with a pair of Comcast's HD DVR (should have been HD
tuner, but they were out).  My setup is a *little* flakey.  For
instance, today about 2 out of 15 recordings failed with 0 byte files.
 And there were probably some that didn't tune.  Others have fantastic
luck with firewire, some probably worse than mine.

The only real, works great solution is HD OTA... and that only nets
you like 6 or so channels (depending on your area of course).  Its a
big suckfest :(

On 4/3/07, Andrew Close <aclose at gmail.com> wrote:
> hey all,
>
> i've decided to make the jump from over-the-air SD to (arguably)
> better quality (possibly HD) service.  from what i understand i have
> the choice of the four services listed in the subject.  i know there
> are pros/cons to cable vs satellite, but i haven't really seen them
> quantified.  i didn't see anything on the wiki regarding services and
> what you can('t) do with them.
> DirectTV looks appealing because it's fairly cheap and they'll be
> adding 100+ HD channels this fall; but that doesn't do me much good if
> i can't record them...
> can anyone point me to some unbiased reviews regarding satellite vs
> cable?  or can you share your experiences?
> i do plan on being HD capable in the next couple months, i'm
> researching displays now.  my current hardware limits me to SD (AMD
> XP1500+, PVR-250, PVR-500) but i'm looking at adding more power and an
> HD capture device (or two).
> any suggestions or do's & don'ts regarding services and the hardware needed?
>
> thanks a bunch
> andy
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