Which Comcast HD Cable Box?

Looking to switch to digital with HD. Which box is recommended? I know you get sent whatever is available but I also know I can work the local outlets for an exchange.

I recently returned to Comcast and they installed a Motorola DCH3416 (HD Dual Tuner DVR). It's a lot nicer than the old HD cable box I had with them last year.

Originally Posted by Mr. Wolf

I recently returned to Comcast and they installed a Motorola DCH3416 (HD Dual Tuner DVR). It's a lot nicer than the old HD cable box I had with them last year.

Dual tuner?

Originally Posted by SBMongoos

Dual tuner?

Yup!

TV have PIP but not two tuners?

I have it hooked up to 2 LCD monitors: 3008WFP (component) and S2209W (HDMI).

ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner (DCT) + Comcast CableCARD PCMCIA card = HTPC goodness

Here's some information about this setup here and here.

I'm trying like hell to find an ATI DCT or perhaps an internal DCT card. They seem quite elusive. Most sites I read about CableCARD tend to warn heavily about needing to use a pre-approved OEM machine, the most commonly suggested being the S1 and various other prebuilts.

Originally Posted by Mr. Wolf

I have it hooked up to 2 LCD monitors: 3008WFP (component) and S2209W (HDMI).

About the dual tuners - how is it remote controlled if, say, a box is in the living room with it's television and you want a second tuner to hook up to the bedroom television?

Originally Posted by Azhar

About the dual tuners - how is it remote controlled if, say, a box is in the living room with it's television and you want a second tuner to hook up to the bedroom television?

It's not for that. Its for recording one show and watching another. It may allow two recordings at the same time, but knowing how CPU limited most comcast cable boxes are, I sort of doubt it.

Originally Posted by Ryokurin

It's not for that. Its for recording one show and watching another. It may allow two recordings at the same time, but knowing how CPU limited most comcast cable boxes are, I sort of doubt it.

you can record 2 HD shows and watch a recorded HD show at the same time.. i do it all the time when i have 2 shows set the record at the same time and i want to wait til they are done recording to watch them.. ill just watch an older show i recorded a few days back while the 2 others are recording.. doesn't cause any issues..

i have the motorola DVR HD box.. not sure on the specific model but its about a year old.. the only real issue these boxes have is that if they get to hot the hard drives die easily.. i had to take the glass door off my entertainment center because my onkyo receiver was heating the cabinet up to 65C+ and the box would lock up and freeze then restart.. would do this til the hard drive eventually dies or i opened the cabinet..

also with the dual tuner you can switch between 2 recordings as they are recording..

also note the HDMI and DVI ports are disabled for west coast customers and comcast will not enable them unless you force the installer to do it.. because once the installers gone your screwed.. ive tried to get them to enable the DVI port on my box and comcast refuses to enable it..

Originally Posted by Azhar

I'm trying like hell to find an ATI DCT or perhaps an internal DCT card. They seem quite elusive. Most sites I read about CableCARD tend to warn heavily about needing to use a pre-approved OEM machine, the most commonly suggested being the S1 and various other prebuilts.

Dell usually has them in stock and cannonpc.com always does. There's also eBay.

Originally Posted by sirmonkey1985

you can record 2 HD shows and watch a recorded HD show at the same time.. i do it all the time when i have 2 shows set the record at the same time and i want to wait til they are done recording to watch them.. ill just watch an older show i recorded a few days back while the 2 others are recording.. doesn't cause any issues..

i have the motorola DVR HD box.. not sure on the specific model but its about a year old.. the only real issue these boxes have is that if they get to hot the hard drives die easily.. i had to take the glass door off my entertainment center because my onkyo receiver was heating the cabinet up to 65C+ and the box would lock up and freeze then restart.. would do this til the hard drive eventually dies or i opened the cabinet..

also with the dual tuner you can switch between 2 recordings as they are recording..

also note the HDMI and DVI ports are disabled for west coast customers and comcast will not enable them unless you force the installer to do it.. because once the installers gone your screwed.. ive tried to get them to enable the DVI port on my box and comcast refuses to enable it..

You can enter the box's maintenance mode by hitting the power button on the remote to put the box to sleep, then hit the menu button (also on the remote) while it's off to get into the maintenance mode. Of course, do this while the television itself is on so you can see the maintenance screen.

This is also the only way to turn on closed captioning on Comcast boxes too since component and HDMI cables will grey out your television's built-in subtitle selector.

Originally Posted by danman

Dell usually has them in stock and cannonpc.com always does. There's also eBay.

Woohoo! Thanks! Gonna order one next payday.

Sure, here's the link - http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...B&sku=A2438651