• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Time Warner's New DVR System: What A Train Wreck

M

Mark Giardina

Every since Time Warner changed its DVR system I've had nothing but trouble. TW techs have rebooted my DVR unit numerous times and I've gone through several batteries for the remote and I still end up with the problem of either the cable guide freezing or locking up making it impossible to view other channels.

Anyone else had this problem and if so was it resolved?
 
Mark_Giardina said:
Every since Time Warner changed its DVR system I've had nothing but trouble. TW techs have rebooted my DVR unit numerous times and I've gone through several batteries for the remote and I still end up with the problem of either the cable guide freezing or locking up making it impossible to view other channels.

Anyone else had this problem and if so was it resolved?
Click to expand...

After rebooting only seemed to be a short-term fix for me, I finally brought the box to Time Warner and exchanged it for a newer model. Cisco bought Scientific Atlanta a few years ago. While they kept the SA branding for the first few years, all current models are now Cisco-branded. So if you have any SA-branded box, you automatically know it's old equipment and TW should have something newer available. I've never had problems in Syracuse, they always have plenty of boxes at the customer service desk, ready to go. In and out in about 5 minutes, maybe 10 if there's a line.

Still, once in awhile, the box seems to lag behind my button-pressing on the remote. Not sure why. It's frustrating when you start to key-in a channel number, and you don't see that number immediately show-up on screen. So you press it again, thinking maybe it didn't go through... only to find the box has now accepted both button presses, so instead of getting channel 863, for example, I now have 8863, which doesn't exist, so I get to start over. And forget about trying to change channels while picture-in-picture is on. I don't use PIP that often, but I did use it a few times during the Olympics to check out different events while the "primary" event I was watching was on commercial. Sometimes I like to use it during local newscasts, but that 2-second gap where everything goes black and silent anytime you hit the "swap" button is annoying. Why can't it flip immediately? It's not like PIP is brand new technology.
 
Reaction time switching from one channel to another, or viewing what I have recorded, is slower than a snail's rear end running a 100k marathon.

I may have to take the DVR box to TW and have it replaced. However I never experieced this "lag" with the old DVR system. Its only when TW decided to change over a few months ago that I, and apparently many other customers, ran into this "lag" problem.
 
Anyone have recording issues? For example I have the 6pm news scheduled to record every weeknight. 1-2x a month it just won't record it at all or I'll see that the box says it's recording it but it's really not. I can see the red record light on, I can see the show in my list but it's not actually recording it. If I attempt to watch the show I just get a black screen and once it's done "recording" at 630pm it's no longer in my show list. I at first thought it was an issue with a recurring scheduled recording but it's also happened with a one time recording.
 
editthis said:
Anyone have recording issues?
Click to expand...
Yes.
And most of the problem comes not from recording just one show but when I want to record a series. Many times, even though I've followed directions and hit all the right buttons, sometimes a series will record then there are shows in that series that won't.

It has got to the point that I have TW's tech support phone number in my cell phone speed dial list. :mad:
 
I've had similar issues... could SWEAR that I properly set it up to record a series, and then it just randomly ignores select episodes. And it's not like there were any conflicts, either. It's worst when it happens with one of the wife's shows, because then I'm the one catching hell for the show not being recorded.

Customer service / tech support usually can't do much over the phone other than ask you 38 questions to verify that you're really the account holder and then reboot your box remotely, as if you haven't already thought to do that yourself before calling.

It is frankly amazing that the older software worked so much better than the current version.
 
Now the wife has got into the act.
She called TW the other day because the DVR unit locked up once again. A TW rep told her that it is most likely our DVR box is outdated and we need to get a new one.
What I find odd is that before TW changed its DVR format, or system, my old recorder box worked just fine. ::)
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom