Milwaukee HDTV User Group

I have finally decided to leave TWC and switch over to DirecTV.  I've always had cable and internet with TWC, and not too long ago switched my phone over to them.  However they then continued to raise my price every few months, and the last two times when calling customer retention they wouldn't budge.

So for the first year I'll be saving around $75 / month over TWC, and once that first year is over I'll still be $20 less than TWC.

I have a few equipment questions.  The install isn't set until next Friday - but do they have different models of HD DVR equipment?  What are the differences?  Should I hope for one over the other?  Do they all have antenna inputs that will allow me to pull OTA channels through the receiver if I choose?

Also I have our main HDTV in the living room, then in my bedroom I have an older EDTV - so I was thinking I would get an HD box for that TV so I could watch some HD content on it.  But they stated if I get a 2nd HD box then I would be able to pull the recorded content off the main DVR, so they would have to charge me $10/month for whole home DVR.

I didn't think it was worth it since that TV only gets used when the Brewer games go into extra innings or they are playing out West and we turn the TV on while we lay in bed.  But does anyone know if I'm able to pick up a used HD box for that TV?  If so would I be able to watch HD content - and if so would it also be able to pull the recorded shows off the DVR?

I'm considering switching to DirecTV, from TWC once again.  I had a couple of questions about their HD DVR that the person on the phone wasn't able to answer for me.  First does anyone know what is the model number of the HD DVR they will be giving out to new customers?

And then is both the HDMI and component outputs able to be used at the same time?  And more specifically will the component output work if the HDMI is connected to a TV that is off?

The TWC 8300HD shut off the component output if the HDMI was connected to a TV that was off.  This is an issue for me with my slingbox, because if I want to sling the output of the box to my phone or laptop, I don't want to have to have my TV physically on for it to work.  So my work around for TWC is to have the TV hooked up via component as well, since the slingbox has a pass through for component.

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks,
Nick

I've got a TWC 8300HD and had around 10-15 recordings on it as of Sunday night.  I watched one of the shows that was recorded earlier in the evening on Sunday and then went to bed.  When I got home from work Monday I turned it back on to watch a few more of the shows and I noticed it looked like it did back on the previous Tuesday night (4/17).

All the shows recorded from 4/17 - 4/23 were gone!  No where to be found.  And all (or at least most) of the recordings that I've watched and deleted during that week were back on the list.

The dates that showed up for the recordings were correct though.  An example would be the recording from 4/17 showed as 'Tuesday' and a recording from 4/15 showed '4/15' rather than 'Sunday'.

I've pretty much given up on the recordings that disappeared, but I wanted to know if anyone else has had this problem or have any idea why it happened?  I would like to make sure I don't have this problem in the future!

I currently have TWC and I'm using the 8300HD box.  I'm thinking of switching for one main reason - amount of HD channels.  Just like everyone else I would like more.

So I'm looking at Dish and DirecTV.  I was leaning a bit towards DirecTV because they are talking of all the new HD content they are brining this year.  

I gave them a call and asked them a few questions.  One thing that would be an added benefit over TWC is being able to record 3 things at once (2 from the satellite and 1 from OTA).  They said this was not possible - you can just record from the 2 tuners.  

So I asked if there was anyway to record the OTA - they said no and asked why I would want to.  I told them to record CBS - and when the checked my zip code (Brookfield 53045) - they said they had CBS in HD.  That surprised me because I've heard on here they don't and there website even says they don't.  Am I correct that they don't?  Is there any way to record it with DirecTV?

Also does anyone know if Dish has CBS in HD and if you are able to record 3 things with their DVR (2 via satellite and 1 via OTA)?

However my main concern about going with satellite is picture quality.  I've heard many people talk about DirecTV and saying some HD stations are considered "HDLite."  How does PQ compare among DirecTV, Dish, and TWC?