I think Comcast and Cox are the only cable VOD's supported by consumer Tivo's. Some of the cable branded Tivo's may too.
Had charter installed today
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True, you can't get On Demand on Charter from Tivo. But, like all On Demand, Charter's stinks. You're much better off streaming direct from the provider. I've never found anything worth watching on demand in the 10 years or so its been available. It's usually limited to a few episodes in SD and is full of commercials. No thanks. I typically record everything I want to watch. If I happen to miss something, I'll get it from the provider's site or some other streaming service (Hulu, etc.). You can get most everything on a Roku, often for free.
If you do switch to Charter, you can certainly start off with one of their boxes. But I suspect within a few days you'll find the horrible interface and lack of good On Demand content so frustrating that you will go running back to Dish.
Appreciate the information,if I do subscribe to Charter's Spectrum cable I definitely would not drop Dish until I have tried it for awhile,of course if I did drop Dish for awhile I could wait until I am eligible for the new customer discounts.
It's just that I see all this HD that Charter has and I know it will take Dish alot of time before they add HD on the Western Arc.
If Charter's DVR sucks,but the HD is good, I would probably look into the Tivo.
Again appreciate the information.Thanks!
I'm probably somewhat overstating how bad Charter's DVR is. Compared to other cable systems, Dish, DirecTV and Tivo, you'll think you've time traveled back to the 70s. However, it is functional. It has a guide that Stevie Wonder could read from 40 feet away, it records what you tell it to record, it has most of the basic elements a DVR should have. The interface is just 40 years out of date. With Tivo, you get a far better DVR for less money, sans On Demand, which isn't a big trade-off, IMO.
When I signed up for Charter, I had to take their free DVR to get the best deal. On the second day I tried to give it back, but they refused to take it without changing my package. So it sat in my closet unused for 2 years. Bottom line, even if you get a Charter DVR, you don't necessarily have to actually use it.
As for the additional HD, also consider what you actually watch. Even though Charter has 80 more HD channels than Dish, would you actually watch any of them? Many are foreign language, sports and premiums that I never watch anyway.
To give you a little taste, see below. Most markets have iGuide. A few still have SARA. And fewer still (test markets only) have New Spectrum on cable boxes only, not on any DVRs. Most of their guides are still 4:3 and can't even stretch to fill an HD TV. Moxi was a great system and had a great guide. But it's essentially extinct. So Charter has the capacity to deliver a good product. But they simply choose not to.
http://www.charter.net/support/tv/tv-interactive-programming-guide-tips/
When I signed up for Charter, I had to take their free DVR to get the best deal. On the second day I tried to give it back, but they refused to take it without changing my package. So it sat in my closet unused for 2 years. Bottom line, even if you get a Charter DVR, you don't necessarily have to actually use it.
As for the additional HD, also consider what you actually watch. Even though Charter has 80 more HD channels than Dish, would you actually watch any of them? Many are foreign language, sports and premiums that I never watch anyway.
To give you a little taste, see below. Most markets have iGuide. A few still have SARA. And fewer still (test markets only) have New Spectrum on cable boxes only, not on any DVRs. Most of their guides are still 4:3 and can't even stretch to fill an HD TV. Moxi was a great system and had a great guide. But it's essentially extinct. So Charter has the capacity to deliver a good product. But they simply choose not to.
http://www.charter.net/support/tv/tv-interactive-programming-guide-tips/
When/IF Charter ever actually gets the World Box or some other DVR that's decent and a channel guide that makes sense I'll sign up. I'm not up to parting with $500+++ to go with the Tivo solution to get what should be provided with it's TV service to begin with. I currently have the dated 722 & 722K with Dish. With splitters and some mirroring I'm feeding HD to 5 TVs and 2 projectors. I feel no need to increase my bill with Hoppers/Joeys especially with $600 in credits over a year plus free HBO & Max to stay with them.
Ed
Ed
Penny wise, pound foolish. I'm guessing those 2 DVRs are costing at least $20 in fees. In 2 years, you'd break even. Plus with Mini's you don't have to mirror. Every TV could watch something different.
It's certainly unpleasant to pay up front, but you save the most in the long run. But I can understand keeping your current promos until they run out.
It's certainly unpleasant to pay up front, but you save the most in the long run. But I can understand keeping your current promos until they run out.
After checking out the options on channels again and again I just cannot get pass that Charter charges like $26.99 for the basics and I get all my main locals in HD with an OTA antenna,while Charter does not give me all my main basics in HD on cable,and Dish does.
Now Dish has come out with the Flex packs and that looks like it's a better option,plus they have the Hopper.
So it looks like for me:
So far Charter Spectrum cable internet 60Mbps/4Mbps(no caps) is awesome,compare to AT&T Elite DSL 6Mbps/512kbps(150GB cap)(no access to UVerse).
Charter Spectrum cable even though more HD channels,Dish beats them with the Flex packs,plus Dish has the Hopper.
Charter Spectrum VOIP phone,this maybe the future,but I will stay with my AT&T landline because the AT&T landline runs on it's own power(a good feature during power outages).
Now Dish has come out with the Flex packs and that looks like it's a better option,plus they have the Hopper.
So it looks like for me:
So far Charter Spectrum cable internet 60Mbps/4Mbps(no caps) is awesome,compare to AT&T Elite DSL 6Mbps/512kbps(150GB cap)(no access to UVerse).
Charter Spectrum cable even though more HD channels,Dish beats them with the Flex packs,plus Dish has the Hopper.
Charter Spectrum VOIP phone,this maybe the future,but I will stay with my AT&T landline because the AT&T landline runs on it's own power(a good feature during power outages).
My Charter broadband here in the St Louis area gets a pretty consistent 160 Mbps down and 5 up.
Yes and you do know we are jealous right?
The only reason Charter redid the cable out here for internet was the F.C.C. told Charter to get their approval to merge with TW and Brighthouse for 7years,no caps,no discriminating against providers like Netflix over bandwith usages and they had to add
2 million new broadband internet subscribers,1 million broadband internet subscribers has to have access to more than one internet broadband provider.That's where we fall under the 1 million because we could also get AT&T High Speed DSL
Internet,it sucked only being 6Mbps/512kbps but it's in our area and after years of paying overage fees(150GB cap) it was nice to kick them to the curb.
Sounds like Dish is the better deal in your case. In my market I get all my HD locals and local subchannels on Charter, no OTA required. My Charter package is also a lot less than an equivalent Dish package. Start adding fees for DVRs and other rooms, all told, I'm saving about $80/month with Charter.
While Charter VOIP works well and is a good value at $20, Ooma is close enough for me and is only $3. I'd drop that land line if I were you. If you're like most, you already have a cell phone for emergencies, so no need for a land line.
I looked at Dish's new Flex packages. I like the concept, but they nickel and dime you to death. PS Vue plus OTA is a much better value. I set up such a system for my parents. They have 95% of what they used to have with a $120 satellite system for $29 now, including most of their old cable channels with cloud DVR and all their locals via OTA on their Tivo for free.
I keep checking back and forth between Dish and Charter Spectrum cable and they do have more HD channels,so I would imagine it's only a matter of time before I drop Dish and get my HD from Charter.
Charter cable will have to pass the WAF first.
No cell phone for me,did you ever watch the movie"Day After Tomorrow" when the cell phones quit working and the landlines were still working.
Well so much for Charter Spectrum cable's 200 HD channels......not available in my area.
I told the Charter CSR they need to offer all their channels for a certain amount of time, for a special price,like satellite providers do,so it looks like I'm staying with Dish.
And it looks like definitely the only reason Charter Spectrum internet came to our front door was that promise to the F.C.C. to sign up 2 million more broadband subscribers to be able to merge with TW and Brighthouse but I will still think of
it as a blessing compared to being stuck with AT&T High Speed DSL,and so far no signs that AT&T wants to compete against Charter out here,but there is UVerse in the city.
Plus it is good to have Charter Spectrum cable here with some HD channels,before all they could offer was 89 channels in glorious standard definition.
I told the Charter CSR they need to offer all their channels for a certain amount of time, for a special price,like satellite providers do,so it looks like I'm staying with Dish.
And it looks like definitely the only reason Charter Spectrum internet came to our front door was that promise to the F.C.C. to sign up 2 million more broadband subscribers to be able to merge with TW and Brighthouse but I will still think of
it as a blessing compared to being stuck with AT&T High Speed DSL,and so far no signs that AT&T wants to compete against Charter out here,but there is UVerse in the city.
Plus it is good to have Charter Spectrum cable here with some HD channels,before all they could offer was 89 channels in glorious standard definition.
i'm with bright house and while it is still being called that, it is now charter. but i am hearing through the grapevine it could be up to 18 months before the transition is final!!!
Sometimes the reps are clueless. Check one more time using this page:
https://www.charter.com/browse/content/new-channel-lineup
Doesn't Bright House have a better lineup than Charter anyway? If I were you, I'd be grateful for the delay.
Well I tried that link and it gave me another area and that area only has 173 channels and it says all channels not in HD.
One more vote for Charter w/Tivo and Mini's. Was a long time Dish customer but when they dumped SNY I switched to DTV. Was paying Charter for Internet $60+ and DTV $180+ and decided to F that and switch to Charter. Got the same channels and internet for around $140 a month. Thanks to members here who warned me that the Charter boxes were the same ones they used 10 years ago (or so), I got a Tivo Roamio and have been very pleased since.
Charter + Tivo = save money and good channel selection.
Charter + Tivo = save money and good channel selection.
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