Guide To Keeping or Swapping a TWC Box

[Jack 1000]

Helpful Guide To Keeping Or Swapping a TWC Box

Here is my little helpful guide to decide whether to keep or swap a box:

Is your box working ok?  There are several things to consider:

1-4 are reasons why you should keep your box:

1.) If your box is working ok for recording and playback, I would say hold on to it.  You never know what you are going to get in a swap, and so many of them are refurbished anyway.

2.) All C-model boxes and Samsungs have the latest version of the Navigator software, (called ODN Navigator) so you are OK with that. The ODN models of the boxes will get new updates and feature sets.  The non-C boxes and boxes that are not Samsungs, are generally faster, and run an older version  of the software called, MDN-Navigator.  These boxes are less likely to be updated because they are being phased out, and are ALL REFURBISHED!  However, the SA-8240 and the SA-8300 are very fast and responsive!  Keep that in mind.

3.) If you ARE having cable problems, always request in a tech service call to have the drop pole line checked for signal levels, and all cables inside/outside the home.  Pixiation and frequent reboots are frequently caused by cable line/drop pole signal issues, which a new box WILL NOT FIX!  The signals and lines must be fixed to resolve the issue.

4.) Do you still have a legancy SA-8000, 8240, or 8300 no-C box, TWC subscribers and you are running out of recording space?  You can add a Western Digital Drive Expander (Best drive expander) and keep your older, BUT OFTEN FASTER legacy box!

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Some reasons why you might want to swap your box. (But keep 1-4 in mind above.)

5.) If you do a lot of recording, the older boxes fill up very quickly, because they only have 160gb of storage. Many of the newer boxes have anywhere from 300GB-500GB of storage, at least double the recording capacity.   The models with the larger storage are the:

Samsung 3090,(320GB-Note that there are some rare 160GB models out there) Samsung 3270, (320GB) Samsung 3272,(500GB) Cisco 8640HDC,(320 GB) and Cisco 8642 HD. (500GB)  (Drive expanders, generally WILL NOT WORK.)

6.) The newer model (ODN) Samsungs are faster than the newer and older model ODN Cisco boxes.  But some of the Samsungs can be finicky with HDMI cables.  If you have or swap for a Samsung box, and you have HDMI issues happening three times or more since its install in a short period of time, switch to Compoent Cables.  (Change your box's video and audio settings to reflect this.)

Jack