TimeWarner HD & PVR really suck compared to Tivo & Direct TV

We just moved into our new house and I figured I would give TimeWarner HD cable and their DVR a try. Mind you I'm coming from a Direct TV HD and a Tivo (non-HD tivo).

Now, the cable modem from TimeWarner is just fine. 5-6MB down, 700k up. Fine. However, HD on TimeWarner cable here in Brentwood really looks like crap. I have a 1080p LCD from Samsung and you can really see the bitmapping of the screen. Basketball looks horrible. Like really bad unless folks at standing still--which they don't do a lot in the NBA. Is this because they are compressing the signals or is because I'm on a slower block do you think?

The PVR is beyond horrible. The software looks like it was written in 1983 in DOS and the latency is sad. Oh, did I mention the thing hangs all the time?!? Tivo is a Mercedes this PVR is like a broken down Datsun.

As I was about to write this blog post I found my pal Walt over at WSJ HAD THE SAME EXACT EXPERIENCE with Comcast's Cable service.

My thoughts:

If anyone at the cable companies is listening: PLEASE USE TIVO'S SOFTWARE. Make it happen. You guys are never gonna make as a good a unit as Tivo.
Tivo if you're listening: GIVE THE CABLE COMPANIES A GOOD DEAL so they will use your software.
DirecTV: I'm sorry I ever doubted you. You may not have the channels but your HD signal is amazing. I love you.

Tags: 1983, comcast, datsun, direct tv, DirectTv, directv, dos, hd, hdnet, hdtv, mark cuban, MarkCuban, mercedes, nba, pvr, pvrwire, timewarner, tivo, twx, walt mossberg, WaltMossberg, wsj

Dec 29th 2006 1:32AM
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1. Jason - seems like Walt Mossberg has the same opinion :) He had a detailed review yesterday of this (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116726248529661013.html)

Posted at 3:30PM on Dec 29th 2006 by Mrinal

2. As their new tagline states, it's not Tivo unless it's a TiVo.

I know that TiVo signed deals with Comcast and Cox to bring their software to those companies' DVRs, but that has yet to happen.

Posted at 3:41PM on Dec 29th 2006 by Scott-O-Rama

3. I was disappointed by Time Warner's DVR too, so I built my own using Snapstream's BeyondTV software: http://www.snapstream.com The only problem is it won't work with HD from Time Warner, but it works great with over the air HD (so now I don't have to pay for HD either). You might want to look into it.

Posted at 3:41PM on Dec 29th 2006 by Bill Erickson

4. What model did you get from TimeWarner? I've had fairly good luck with mine, which is from BrightHouse (formerly TW). It's made by Scientific American and the software does look like DOS, but it had a lot more functionality until TiVo came out with their Series 3. It's also about a thousand dollars cheaper. It may all depend on your area and what kind of compression they are using, not the box. That's the advantage of DirectTV, it looks the same everywhere.

Posted at 4:22PM on Dec 29th 2006 by Jon Gales

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