Any further Time-Warner "Navigator" software news?

[MDR]

Just an update. Well they dumped Navigator on me last night. Off to a great start it trashed my 8300HD. It caused all sorts of noise(disk kept clicking like mad and when that stopped it made a horrible buzzing noise.) Then it would just hang saying "Mystro" initializing. The phone rep. could even hear it across the room when she tried resetting it remotely. Of course they said I needed a new box. Went to the local office to exchange it and the rep. was very familiar with the problem saying a lot of the 8300HD's got trashed (even hers) by this new improved product.
Unfortunately I now have an 8300HDC. Spent the entire day just going thru and setting it up. Yes the interface is rather ugly but overall it functions ok so far. My rev. level is in my signature.
Of course the real test will be recording(which I will do tonight).
Yes it is a little slower than Passport, but not as bad as I was led to believe by following the forum. It's a question of becoming familiar with the new interface. Some things are nicer, other aren't and everyone will have their own personal likes and dislikes.
So I'll see how it functions over the next few days and see how well it does it's primary purpose of recording and playing back reliably. That's my big concern!

[kevbeck122]

Is this true about the 1/4 pic size for everyone? Or only when PIP is activated?

Jack

That happened to me when I used HDMI on an HDC box, but not through component.

[wireblsam]

Got it this morning on one of the 3 8300HD's...

It already has missed one scheduled recording (The Office tonight).  The Recording Log says "The set-top was unable to record this program".  It recorded 30 Rock in the slot before and nothing else was recording at that time.

Luckily the other 2 Passport DVR's recorded it just fine.

[cdnelson]

About the 1/4 size update...something changed on my box with the last update...which happened when???   Under the display settings I can now "choose" which resolution I want by default (I never had the choice before).  It was set at 1080i...I flipped it back to "automatic" and the 1/4 size screen problem went away.

So apparently they're still making changes to Navigator?

[Jack 1000]

About the 1/4 size update...something changed on my box with the last update...which happened when???   Under the display settings I can now "choose" which resolution I want by default (I never had the choice before).  It was set at 1080i...I flipped it back to "automatic" and the 1/4 size screen problem went away.

So apparently they're still making changes to Navigator?

I found out that Navigator is an open-sourced project.  For that reason, they will always be able to update it.  Maybe this is some good news as at least the potential is there for them to work out the bugs.  I just wish they had qualified open-sourced people (i.e Mozilla Firefox) who would know how to debug this thing before release.  This would result in a faster and more reliable interface.

I did hear that a high-resolution graphics guide is being developed for Navigator, but it will not be released until reliability problems are worked out.  But Navigator updates are going to be an ongoing thing.

Jack

[LoadStar]

I found out that Navigator is an open-sourced project.  For that reason, they will always be able to update it.  Maybe this is some good news as at least the potential is there for them to work out the bugs.  I just wish they had qualified open-sourced people (i.e Mozilla Firefox) who would know how to debug this thing before release.  This would result in a faster and more reliable interface.

"Open source"? Kind of doubt that. The difference between Navigator and Passport is that TWC likely owns the source to Navigator, while Passport's source is owned by Aptiv Digital.

[Jack 1000]

If anyone has higher up connections to the TWC Wisconsin areas being Navigated, please post a schedule here.  (I mean in terms of city by city in Wisconsin.)  Is it also known:

1.) How many boxes are being done per night?

2.) How many locations are done at night?

3.) Do they do this from a main outside drop pole, or inside from the main office, or both?

Jack

[markd]

I highly doubt that anyone with connections to TWC would admit that here

FWIW, I'm in Bay View and still have Passport running on both of my 8300HDs.

[basshive]

I would not call it open source. It is an open platform to be developed on.

[PWFD81]

I highly doubt that anyone with connections to TWC would admit that here

FWIW, I'm in Bay View and still have Passport running on both of my 8300HDs.

Your lucky!  I wouldn't have DTV coming today if I still had passport!  I know DTV is going to be better than TWC and I will get WAY more HD but everything is set up so nice now.  My wife and daughter are not happy about learning new channel numbers. Yea, I know that sounds funny.

[Jack 1000]

I have a feeling that more areas will be converted this week.  Do you think that TWC is looking at the end of the month for a complete changeover?

Jack

[PWFD81]

The TWC Tech at my home a couple of weeks ago said April 30th TWC will have all boxes updated.  Not sure if he was in the know or not but he was right about my 8300HD DVR's getting updated.  Now I'm just sitting back with DTV and ALL the HD channels I could want.  I should have made the swith long ago.  DTV Rocks!:rock:

[Jack 1000]

The TWC Tech at my home a couple of weeks ago said April 30th TWC will have all boxes updated.  Not sure if he was in the know or not but he was right about my 8300HD DVR's getting updated.  Now I'm just sitting back with DTV and ALL the HD channels I could want.  I should have made the swith long ago.  DTV Rocks!:rock:

April 30?  $hit!!!!  You know this sounds like a B-Grade Horror Movie!

" April 30th....It's coming.  If you see it on your cable box, there's nothing you can do!  Your only question for survival is can you escape to a dish?  Can you do it in time?  There's nowhere else to go....nowhere  to hide, and it's coming to get YOU!" IT WILL SEEK OUT YOUR CABLE SYSTEM AND DESTROY YOUR SANITY!"

"BEWARE OF THE NAVIGATOR!!!"  :bang: :bang: :bang:

It seriously sounds like this little tag line could be a great sales pitch for Direct TV and Dish Network!  Navigator is going to make them even MORE FAMOUS!! hahaha!  Could you imagine what would happen if the Dish guys started demoting Navigator, showing all its problems and than started showing off the speed and reliability of the satellite guide?  It looks like TWC is looking to alienate customers, not attract them.

But for a lot of people, Dish is not an option.  Thanks for the um.....warning.

Jack

[PWFD81]

April 30?  $hit!!!!  You know this sounds like a B-Grade Horror Movie!

" April 30th....It's coming.  If you see it on your cable box, there's nothing you can do!  Your only question for survival is can you escape to a dish?  Can you do it in time?  There's nowhere else to go....nowhere  to hide, and it's coming to get YOU!" IT WILL SEEK OUT YOUR CABLE SYSTEM AND DESTROY YOUR SANITY!"

"BEWARE OF THE NAVIGATOR!!!"  :bang: :bang: :bang:

It seriously sounds like this little tag line could be a great sales pitch for Direct TV and Dish Network!  Navigator is going to make them even MORE FAMOUS!! hahaha!  Could you imagine what would happen if the Dish guys started demoting Navigator, showing all its problems and than started showing off the speed and reliability of the satellite guide?  It looks like TWC is looking to alienate customers, not attract them.

But for a lot of people, Dish is not an option.  Thanks for the um.....warning.

Jack

I love your reply!  I do wonder if Dish or DTV know about how the Navigator is pushing us to there service?  Not to bash TWC anymore than I already have but DTV was a great switch for me.  I love all of the HD choices and the speed of the menue and guide.  DTV just does it right!

[Jack 1000]

Just got Navigator on my 8300HD DVR (No C)

A couple of observations:

The scrolling speed is indeed a bit slower, but it doesn't seem to be as bad as I was led to believe.

All recordings at least in my Record List carried over.

Favorites were listed accordingly.

Amazingly, I seem to like the idea of having the local news, weather, and sports consolidated in one place.

The downside is that my Closed Captioning still does not work, but considering the armaggedon that I was expecting for months and months, this is hardly a big deal.

I had to change my Banner Duration from Long to Medium.

Here are the things that I don't like:

1.) The graphics look crappy.  I only have an SD set, but they just aren't as pleasing to the eyes as Passport was.

2.)  TW needs to add a "View This Channel Now" prompt when browsing in the guide!!!  This is asinine not to have!

3.) I never really used Series Recording, so I can't say how well or not well that is going to work.

4.) The loss of the C button to instantly tell when Title searches are scheduled over the next few days.

If Passport was an A, I'd give Navigator a C.  It's way too early to do specific details.  If we get a better title search and view this channel now as an option, that would be a big help.

Right now I would say, not great, but not horrible either.  I am even shocked that I am saying this.  We'll see what happens when I start recording things.

Oh yea, it did reboot when I made a settings change, but it only took about 4 minutes, not the 10 that I have been hearing about, which surprised me.

Jack