UltimateTV vs Comcast’s HD/DVR
**Updated**
I have gotten a lot of comments and questions internally at Microsoft because I offered to sell my UltimateTV boxes after switching to Comcast’s HD DVR (Motorola DCT6412 III) about a month ago. I switched to Comcast because I have had a rear projection HD TV for a few years and never did anything other than occasionally play Xbox Dragon’s Lair 3d (one of the few Xbox HD games) in HD. DirecTV’s option was to get their HDTivo box, which you can get around $450 per box, and I didn’t want to buy two of them. Comcast’s boxes are “free” and I get local HD signals without an OTA antenna.
I have blogged about it before, but what I really want is Windows Media Center Edition (MCE) in a closet somewhere and stream the content to Xbox/Xbox 360/ Extenders at each of my TV’s. The problem is that until recently, you had to work with external tuners connected to MCE via IR blasters, what a mess. There is a “firewire hack” that is available now from some creative folks at www.thegreenbutton.com, but from reading the description, you still can’t do Live HD programs. While this isn’t a huge problem for me since I rarely watch Live TV, it might be an issue for my family. So, I still wait for all the integration to happen.
In the meantime, I wish I still had UTV and it supported HD. UltimateTV turns 5 years old next year, and it is still the best DVR interface. Here is a chart of my observations.
Feature |
Advantage |
Comments |
HD Signal |
Comcast |
This isn’t as straight forward as you may think, especially with the limited content in HD. HBOHD is still not 1080, it is probably closer to 480. Local HD looks great. |
Dual Tuner |
UltimateTV |
Comcast makes you push the “swap” button before you can watch another channel, why? |
Integrated Guide |
UltimateTV |
UTV allows me to hide channels that I don’t receive or want. Comcast seems to group channels based on popularity rather than type. I want all the kids channels together, all the movie channels, etc |
Recording a Series |
UltimateTV |
UTV = Hit record twice and it is done. Comcast makes you walk through several unnecessary steps |
FFWD/RWD |
Tie |
UTV has much better and faster (up to 300x) FFWD and 30 sec skip ahead, but there is a bug that makes UTV stick occasionally. Comcast doesn’t go as fast, but it doesn’t stick as much (still sticks)! |
Repeat vs New Algorithm |
Comcast |
Comcast’s guide information seems to be better and will only record new shows if you tell it to. UTV seemed to record a lot of repeats. |
Reliability |
UltimateTV |
**Update: We have UNPLUG both our HD/DVR’s at least twice a week because there is no picture or sound. The guide still works, but won’t tune channels. Also, after an unplug, it downloads the guide data which seems to have a stutter effect on HD signals until it finishes (1-2 hours). I have already had to have both of my Comcast boxes replaced, which when you have all your shows setup to record is a massive pain. The one downstairs is now saying some kind of error and to call support. We routinely loose sound an/or picture causing us to put the Comcast boxes in “time out” for a while until they start to behave. |
Annoying things |
Comcast (not a category you want to win) |
Comcast has this “mute feature” that when you turn off the box and it is recording it assumes you want to still record and “mutes” the sound. There is no way to unmute it other than powering the box off. Comcast support says that you should be able to go play the thing that you recorded to unmute, but this is dumb logic especially if you record other things in the night. At Comcast’s suggestion, I reprogrammed my remotes to not turn off the Comcast box, and it routinely looses sound or picture after a few days causing us to have to turn them off for a while. |
**Update: Sound |
UltimateTV |
While we sometimes get Dolby Digital on Comcast, it drives my receiver nuts. You can hear the receiver trying to auto-adjust to the signal because it is either too weak or confused. Click, Click, Click… I would guess that the Comcast broadcast pipe is just maxed out, and between picture and sound compression it just can’t stay consistent. What is the theoretical limit of combined band width of coax anyway? |
In short, I will live with Comcast knowing all these limitation because I enjoy the local channels in HD and the simplicity of the integrated guide. I don’t have to shell out $900 for a HDTivo that won’t be compatible with DirecTV’s local HD channels next year anyway. I can’t wait until MCE supports cable cards.