Yes, There is Life After Voom

Amphicar770

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Supporting Founder
Dec 26, 2004
241
0
While I will hate to see Voom go dark, I have accepted the inevitable. Yesterday Comcast arrived at my house and I am pleased to assure everyone that while not quite the same, there is life after Voom and it ain't all bad.

Installer showed up on a Sunday withing the two hour scheduling window. Very pleasant and knowledgable. Even replaced all the connectors on the coax cables just for good measure.

Comcast is not Voom but it is a heck of a lot better than E* which I had previously. I am impressed with how the technology has advanced in the last 2-3 years.

I now have 2 HD DVR's and 1 HD STB. I have the Platinum everything package and I am still paying less per month than I was before. No commitment, I could drop in the morning without penalty.

In terms of PQ, the HD is as good as (and dare I say better) than even Voom. The digital channels look great, better than they did on E*. SD is SD but I can tell you that the locals are orders of magnitude better than on E* and I also get all of the local networks in HD.

The Video on Demand feature is AWESOME. I am really amazed at how much stuff they have made available via VOD and I can understand why this feature is seen as a satellite killer. No HD but again, the VOD PQ is very good even on the 65" RP.

This is my first foray into DVR's. One quickly comes to realize why so many people consider this a "must have" feature. No up-front purchase cost, no monthly "DVR fee", just the rental on the DVR box which is very reasonable. What is especially nice is that when the DVR becomes obsolete in 2-3 years they will just swap it out with a newer model. The dual tuners is also a great feature. The only shortcomings are no input for OTA and if you listen very carefully you can hear the hard disk churning.

The Guide is not as intuitive as Voom but you also have a lot more features and categories to work with. The ability to search for programming is a nice touch.

I will miss Voom and will leave one box hooked up until they go dark. No one comes close to Voom's HD offerings but Comcast does offer me more than E* or D* and it seems certain that even more is coming. According to the WSJ, CVC's move on Adelphia will be used as a bargaining chip with Comcast. If Comcast agrees to carry some of the Voom 21 offerings, CVC will step out of the bidding war. Thus, you may actually see Voom 21 on cable long before anywhere else.

So, in the end it is a trade off. I am giving up some things with Voom but gaining others. Kind of like breaking up with the girl who has a trust find but picking up the girl who is willing to ....! No commitment and no up-front cost either. Do not be afraid to come over to the dark side (cable), they have come a long way.
 
Yes, Amphicar770, you are luckier than some. I'm not in a Comcast area, but might go with them if I were. With my wonderful cable company, for a whopping $78 I can get 5 whole HD channels: NBC, Discovery, Fox, WB, and UPN, plus digital music.

If I wanted to have ESPN, HBO or Showtime in HD, the price would be more. They do have VOD, but no recorder and no plans to add one (or any more HD locals) anytime soon.

I'm just going to play with my OTA antenna until I can get NBC via OTA better than I've been able to so far (CBS and ABC are pretty reliable OTA), and then I will dump that $78 cable bill and do without until VoOm is reincarnated...Vicki :river
 
If you are going to stick with OTA and your hi-def tuner has firewire, you might look at JVC's HD VCR's. I have one of these and it is great for recording OTA HD. The movies that are available on D-VHS look incredible but unfortunately there are not many of them. I think the newest models also have a built in HD tuner.
 
I too had Comcast installed last week. While I was actually a bit sad to disconnect my VOOM box, I quickly got over it when I started using the Video On Demand and the DVR. The picture quality is not quite as good (in fact my wife commented that VOOM was better although she was not a big supporter), but there have been no hassels with the installation. The installer was on time and also commented that they are working on a whole house solution, as there are USB and firewire connections in the STB.

It is unfortunate that VOOM couldn't keep it going, but there are alternatives. Good luck all...

Mark
 
Amphicar770 said:
If you are going to stick with OTA and your hi-def tuner has firewire, you might look at JVC's HD VCR's. I have one of these and it is great for recording OTA HD. The movies that are available on D-VHS look incredible but unfortunately there are not many of them. I think the newest models also have a built in HD tuner.
Thanks for the info, Amphicar770. I'll look into that...I recorded some VoOm high def stuff off an ancient JVC VCR and my ancient 20" SDTV to take to some friends last weekend, and it looked fantastic (not HD...but pretty darn fantastic anyway!). A JVC HD VCR might be in my future! :D Vicki
 
I have to confess that the more I play around with the Comcast DVR and VOD features, the less I am missing Voom.

I never saw season 4 of the Sopranos. Thanks to VOD, I am catching up on it now.

My wife was watching a kids show the other day and decided it would be a good one to record even though it was fifteen minutes into the show. Talk about a pleasant surprise, the dvr is constantly buffering whatever you are watching. Thus, when she hit record, it actually recorded the entire program from the begining. Likewise, even when watching programs as they are broadcast, you can pause and rewind.

And YES, firewire is ACTIVE on the HD STB. This means I can also record using my HD VCR. This was a feature that E* had promised on their DVR. They never enabled it and later deleted the port entirely.

Yes, there is life after Voom. Not the same but with advantages all its own.
 
Amphicar770 said:
I have to confess that the more I play around with the Comcast DVR and VOD features, the less I am missing Voom.

I never saw season 4 of the Sopranos. Thanks to VOD, I am catching up on it now.

My wife was watching a kids show the other day and decided it would be a good one to record even though it was fifteen minutes into the show. Talk about a pleasant surprise, the dvr is constantly buffering whatever you are watching. Thus, when she hit record, it actually recorded the entire program from the begining. Likewise, even when watching programs as they are broadcast, you can pause and rewind.

And YES, firewire is ACTIVE on the HD STB. This means I can also record using my HD VCR. This was a feature that E* had promised on their DVR. They never enabled it and later deleted the port entirely.

Yes, there is life after Voom. Not the same but with advantages all its own.

Yes, Comcast is very good. I like the dvr. It is not a tivo, and has some rough edges, but it is pretty cool, with 2 tuners!

I just wish they had more HD on the VOD service. Only $5.99 movies so far.

I cannot get the firewire port to work here in Boston. Where are you located?

If they add UHD and TNTHD (Which there is talk of doing soon), it would be a fine service! I have DTV right now JUST for HDNET and UHD..

If the talk is right and Comcast adds some Voom-21 content, I'd be in heaven!


I DO NOT MIND PAYING PREMIUM FOR PREMIUM SERVICE AND FEATURES, and COMCAST DOES A GOOD JOB NOW! They used to be horrible.
 
comcast HD DVR

I must agree. While I am always hoping they will add more HD offerings (UHD, HDNet, etc.), I get quite a few channels here in Central PA for no additional charge.
But the best part is ---hands down--- the ability to archive to DVHS!!!
I never had VoOm, but their lack of DVR kept me from ever taking the plunge.
 

D* discount to former V* customers

This needs to be said of V21 Again and again and ....

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)