Another comcast digital tv question (Rant)

[CG]

Ok, I have a newer flat screen TV. We get all the channels up to 99 on our package. We have zero pay channels and no converter box. Cable straight to the back of the TV. The HD channels even come in in HD.

So when they do what ever that conversion is thats coming why will we lose channels? Im not understanding whats going to be different than we already have. Isnt this a digital signal we get now?

Comcast has been on our butts to get "The Box" ... I dont want "The Box". They called the other night, unfortunately Gail took the call and relented...Yeah send us the box thingy. I was thinking, fine, some little converter box I dont want...blah.

So it came yesterday and we opened it up. Damn its a big ol box we have to use to work the TV now with a bunch of remotes and little boxes for our other TV's. We have to install it and call them to activate it. I just feel like we've been hijacked into this thing. I hate having all this extra junk just to watch TV.

They say there are no extra charges (yet) I do not trust them at all. Im going to look into some other options for TV and high speed internet. My son has something from Verizon? He says its way faster than Comcast and he gets more TV channels for the price he used to pay for Comcast. ( I bet he has the dreaded box though LOL )

[bouncytruck]

My understanding is that comcast is dumping all their analog channels sent through the digital cable. It is a step further than the government mandated broadcast of analog channels and you will need the little converter box (it's not the full box). If you don't have the digital box you will no longer get the channels they are dropping. Right now, the little box is free, so I'd get it now. I'm sure they'll figure out a way to charge for it later.

[bouncytruck]

FYI, we used to have verizon internet and it was a complete joke. They oversold our neighborhood and we were unable to connect during prime time(from around 4 to around 9pm). Everytime I'd call, I'd have to go through the call center protocall of power cycling the modem, walking around the house to every phone port, etc. By the time I was done doing their protocall, it would be late in evening and the people would be signing off so we would get a connection. The call center person decided that they fixed the issue and closed the trouble ticket. I would call the next night and go through the same issue.

After two months of this, I finally got the problem "escalated" to where they sent a tech out to the house. He fussed around the connections to the house, then in the neighborhood said he fixed the issue. My mother-in-law was at the house that day when he came into the house to check his work. He didn't know how to turn on a mac, so he couldn't test the connection, decided it he had fixed the problem and closed the trouble ticket.

Of course, when I got home that night, same issue, same call to the call center, same steps through their protocall and same end result. They would not escalate the issue again because it was "fixed" at the end of every call. I canceled every service I had with verizon (home phone, internet and mobile) and switched to Comcast for internet, home phone and TV and we changed our mobile plans to t-mobile.

It was clearly an issue of greed on verizons part for over-selling with circuits that couldn't handle the traffic. Most of my neighbors were experiencing the same issues and most have dropped verizon's internet because of it.

I haven't had any issues with Comcast's internet or phone service yet. We are having some issues with our digital cable at the moment (http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=338636)

[CG]

I understand the analog channels are being switched to digital signal. But if we get channels like 4 5 7 11 and 13 in HD our TV does receive and play digital signals correct?

I was talking to my son about it and he said we cant get HD...I said oh really, how come we have two channels for lets just say 4. One is obviously regular TV, smaller picture and low quality sound. We turn to the next channel 4 up and we get the same program full screen and high quality stereo sound.

So by that reasoning (in my head anyway lol) if you send me a channel that was analog, and now its digital it should come through just fine because we already receive and play digital channels.

Now about Verizon. Its not DSL that he has, its called Verizon FIOS. He said he gets 200 plus channels (no pay channels) internet that runs at, I think he said 20MBS, all for 105 bucks a month. Much faster than his old cable. Lets him work at home (Designs and maintains websites), able to send large files over the internet very quickly and easily....BUT it needs a box LOL.

Forgot to add a picture of the Comcast box...bout 12 inches wide...(yeah Im a whiner heh)

[leftcoast66]

Any way you look at it, I think your gonna need a box. If its any consolation, my dad was the same way, hated the idea, and procrastinated until he didn't have the cable until he finally put his box in(He's in covington,wa) and now actually likes the new remote a lot since he can see what's playing and doesn't need a guide to figure out some of that stuff. Doesn't have HD though, so can't help with that stuff sorry.

[70GMCer]

The bottom line is that in order to get HD thru Comcast, you will need the HD box. They charge me $7.95 a month for that box.

Just because your picture changes size & the sound is different, doesn't mean you are getting the HD signal.

You will not need a box for regular Digital cable channels. However, if you want Comcast On-Demand, with more regular Digital channels then you will need the non HD cable box for $4.95 per month.

I have 2 flat screen HD Tv's, the main one in the living room is where I have the HD box & get the HD channels + more.

The bedroom has no box & I get a total of 75 regular digital channels. Different channels have different size screens at times & also different sound quality. Even on HD channels, the screen size will change if the program is not being transmitted in HD. This is most always true with commercials.

Like all the cable, Satellite & Telephone companies, their going to get you one way or another. I've did the math on where I could save and get about the same service, and they are all about the same price in the end.

Keep in mind that I don't care for Comcast that much, but at lease they don't make you sign up for a year or more contracts like the others do. I can quit them when ever & no extra fees.

[awesome98]

If you have a newer flatscreen TV then you don't need a converter box.Newer flatscreens have built in digital recievers.Comcast could easily give you a digital signal without a box,but they charge you about $8.00 a month for each box you have in your house.Your going to lose all your channels except your local's,which will still be in HD even without a box.If you have any questions pm me.I've sold direct tv,dish network,comcast,u-verse,wow,ironicly while working for the same company

[JON67]

You are absolutely getting HD signal over the air right now.

your coax cable is acting as an antenna and you are getting 4, 5, 7,9 11, & 13 in HD. the HD versions are the "dot" channels. 4.1, 5.1 etc

[CG]

Update...So today we lost a bunch of channels due to the Comcast change..blah, but we were still getting all the HD channels. I had to hook up the boxes they sent us. Now it takes two remotes for two of the TVs and three remotes for another one. This is what I really wanted to avoid. Plus when I called to get this crap activated I found out that we didnt have to have the big box after all, just the small converters.

I asked the rep if the big box is what makes the small boxes work, he told me no. But you cant get on demand or pay per view etc etc without the big box. I said don't you think we would have had that by now if we wanted that extra crap? We only get basic cable for a reason...Oh and now for some reason we get ZERO channels in HD.

Well on the good side maybe now that watching TV's becoming a pain in the rear Ill do something productive instead.

[JON67]

you aren't getting any channels in HD because you have to pay extra for that. since comcast is not broadcasting the "over the air" hd channels any more you can't get them unless you subscribe to a package.

[CG]

They told us it wouldnt effect the HD channels we already were getting.