Comments on: Quality vs. convenience/quantity, all over again

By: Steven Kaye

Steven Kaye — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 18:37:13 +0000

For me, it’s the lack of a lot of TV content combined with the usage caps that keep me on the 1 disk at a time plan.

And it amazes me that FIOS/U-verse/etc. aren’t options here in Silicon Valley (housemate gets a deal on Comcast Internet through work, which I’m pretty happy with, having tried AT&T DSL for work).

By: walt

walt — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 16:52:34 +0000

I’m not fighting Comcast. I’m simply ignoring them. The TV store and delivery people said “try the cable first, before you pay for an HD box, it will probably work”; I did; it did.

By: ash966

ash966 — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 20:03:21 +0000

I’m glad to hear someone else is fighting Comcast on this.

By: walt

walt — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:22:30 +0000

ash966: There are absolutely DVR programs for Windows–actually, with the tuner, Windows Media Center will probably do it. But that assumes (a) you’re willing to leave your PC on all the time, (b) your PC has HDMI out and is near your TV, or you have some method to stream over your wifi. Neither is true for me… And I’ve simply ignored Comcast’s suggestion that we should have a box: the cable’s plugged directly into the TV, which has a QCAM tuner as most modern HDTVs do. Wouldn’t work for expanded/encrypted channels, but we don’t pay for those anyway. Works fine for all the “n-1″ broadcast HD channels, e.g. 3-1, 5-1, 7-1.

By: ash966

ash966 — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:27:17 +0000

I agree that at 1.5 streaming is not adequate. I had that (actually more like .5 due to technical issues) and was unable to enjoy streaming. At 7, it is fine for TV shows (except maybe very cinematic stuff like MAD MEN or THE SOPRANOS), low-budget movies and documentaries, but I still want Blu-Ray for big budget movies. No way am I going to watch John Woo’s RED CLIFF on streaming. MAD MEN I buy HD on iTunes as it is the only show I can’t wait for that is on cable (I pay $1o/mo to Comcast for networks and public access, my condo doesn’t get over-the-air TV). I haven’t had any throttling/caps issues from Qwest so far, but that is a good point to consider.

Even though I love HDTV quality, I am thinking of going to some streaming service/box (with iTunes as backup) such as Boxee or Hulu Plus because I loathe Comcast so much. They are trying to force me to get a huge box again when HDTVs don’t require them.

I object to monthly fees for Comcast DVRs, so I use an EyeTV, which I love. I did install an additional cable line so I didn’t have to keep plugging and unplugging it from the TV. I guess some Elgato devices can be used with Windows, but you don’t get the software?

http://www.elgato.com/elgato/na/mainmenu/products/EyeTV-Hybrid-10/product1.en.html

I don’t know much about Windows equivalents, but here’s one:
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr950q.html

PS. I watch iTunes purchases on my (old) Apple TV and Netflix on my Samsung Blu-Ray.

By: walt

walt — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:44:12 +0000

Interesting comparison. My primary point is about quality vs. quantity: For most people (those without incredibly fast broadband), streaming always substitutes quantity for visual quality. But your point is well taken.

By: Angel

Angel — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:08:25 +0000

That post made me think a bit about library journal packaging, something a colleague and I were talking about the other day. She would say, first it was the print. Then it was pay for print, we throw in the online. Then it was pay for both, but slight discount on the online/electronic. Then pay for electronic, get the print free (or lower price) to now get electronic or else pretty much (print may well cost more). That’s what the Netflix model you described made me think of for some reason.

Best, and keep on blogging.