Best non DVR HD box

[Bigdog]

We have 2 8300HDCs which work OK (will deal with them as a trade off for the recording ability) but we also have a non DVR HD box, a Pioneer BD-V3510HD box on another TV that is terrible. The guide takes forever to come up and navigate through, etc.  Is there a better non DVR HD box from Time Warner that we should trade this in for?

Thanks

[Jack 1000]

We have 2 8300HDCs which work OK (will deal with them as a trade off for the recording ability) but we also have a non DVR HD box, a Pioneer BD-V3510HD box on another TV that is terrible. The guide takes forever to come up and navigate through, etc.  Is there a better non DVR HD box from Time Warner that we should trade this in for?

Thanks

Pioneer got out of the digital cable boxes some years ago, and now all that is left are the Pioneer legacy boxes in the field.  For TWC in this area, the non DVR boxes are all SA models that have more memory than the Pioneer.  You may want to swap out your Pioneer box for a new SA box.  The new Navigator guide seems to work better on boxes that have more memory.  The Pioneer boxes have the least amount of memory.  I am assuming that the box is at least 5 years old.  I would swap it.

Jack

[kevbeck122]

SA3250HD gets my vote... possibly the 4250HD if they have it.  The 4250HDC was alright when I first got it, but then it just got really bad.  It didn't respond to the remote, guide was slow, I saw "Please Wait" a lot, etc.

[Bigdog]

Actually we just that Pioneer box about a month or 2 ago when we moved one of the DVR boxes to a new tv. I'll have to stop by TW and see if we can get a SA box for that one.


What are the differences between the 3250 and 4250 boxes? I'm going to assume the 4250 is newer but is one better than the other?

Thanks

[Jack 1000]

Actually we just that Pioneer box about a month or 2 ago when we moved one of the DVR boxes to a new tv. I'll have to stop by TW and see if we can get a SA box for that one.


What are the differences between the 3250 and 4250 boxes? I'm going to assume the 4250 is newer but is one better than the other?

Thanks

Generally,

With this type of technology, and the same manufacturer like that, you would want the higher model if you can get it for more memory.  Oh yea, and if you are going to pick up a new box and self install it, the unit will have Navigator on it and will take a LOOOONNNGG time to boot up, especially true if it has to get updates.  Time could be over 10 minutes.  There was a note when one person picked up his box from TWC, that on the first install from a cold boot, they had a slip that said, wait for 30 minutes the first time through.  (for updates) After that, boots shouldn't be so bad.  I'm told still about 2x as long as the Passport software, but the graphics and scroll speeds are much better on the SA models the Pioneers or the Pace's (with Navigator.)

Let us know when you get it, and how long the boot up/install took.

Jack

[Bigdog]

Well I got a SA 3250 (that is all they had in Cedarburg) when I stopped there the other day. I called the automated activation line it didn't work so had to wait on hold for almost a half hour for them to re-activate it and then about another 20 mins of rebooting and who knows what while the display was counting down in hex.  Anyway it did finally come back and works better than the Pioneer box. I still wonder what the difference between the 3250 and 4250 boxes are.

[kevbeck122]

The main difference is that the 3250 has a DVI port and the 4250 has an HDMI port.  HDMI is pointless on the box anyways, since Navigator is too buggy for it to work right.  Supposedly there's a fix coming soon.

[Bigdog]

Thanks for letting me know the difference. The TV it's on doesn't have DVI nor HDMI, just component as it's HD input so I guess it doesn't matter.  I do have 2 8300HDCs connected to different TVs via HDMI and have seen weird color flashing on occasion which usually requires rebooting of the box.