8300HD DVR Discussion Thread

[Sregnar35]

No Skaggs, it's always like that in there. They do most of their business through home installs and such, so their store is more like a supplier warehouse.

[MasterFX1]

Kevin at TowneTV is very knowledgable , he has a long standing reputation as a great Home Stereo/Theater Expert and that reputation has followed him from his previous employers (along with his client base).

[jpeter1093]

Is that Kevin Roberts? I bought my first home theater from him at the old Altair Audio on Central Avenue. Then more stuff at Hippo's.

[MasterFX1]

I don't know his last name, but it has to be the same guy because Hippos and Altair are his priors.

[jpeter1093]

I knew he wasn't at Hippo's anymore and wondered where he had landed.

[Skaggs]

Skaggs said:

I was having real problems with pixelation last night (Sunday) with all my HD channels. I attempted to watch Desperate Housewives and the audio was chattering while the pixelation continued.

The SD channels were more grainy than usual.

Also, all weekend long, Microsoft Outlook would give me messages that it couldn't connect to the RR servers.

I got fed up and called TWC. There are sending a tech out Tuesday.

I waited at the house for the 2 hours TWC said they would be there. When no one showed up, I called TWC. They said that after my initial call, several other people in my area called to complain, so they had someone investigate (& fix) the line issue on Monday. However, they never called me to let me know, so I ended up waiting for them.

My picture and RR service is back to normal now.

[Skaggs]

I got the HDMI output connection to work with my Toshiba 57H83's DVI input.

I had been getting just a black screen, but I pressed channel UP/DOWN on the 8300HD DVR and the picture popped right on the screen.

I think the picture looks crisper & sharper with the HDMI to DVI connection.

That frees up the two component connections for my OTA STB and DVD player or XBOX.

[Skaggs]

For some reason, my HMDI to DVI connection wasn't working yesterday. I'll try again tonight.

[SONY007]

I just finally made the switch to HDMI/DVI with 8300. I just could no longer go with the DVR feature (even though my Giants stink) I want to DVR the HD feed of this upcoming Sunday Night football game, so I can tourture myself during the offseason)

Skaggs. Is it me, or does it seem that certain HD's programs no longer JUMP out at you with the HMDI/DVR 8300? example. Discovery. everything with my 3250 JUMPS out, including the backround. Now it looks like only the foreground amazes you. Is it just me? Either way, I will miss the 3250, but need the DVR.

[TimS]

FWIW Radio Shack now has HDMI cables in stock... if you're willing to pony up $130 for a 9 foot model

[Skaggs]

SONY007 said:

Skaggs. Is it me, or does it seem that certain HD's programs no longer JUMP out at you with the HMDI/DVR 8300?

When I had the 3250, it seemed as if the picture had more of the "wow" factor. The picture is not as sharp with the 8000 or 8300.

[chenrikson]

TimS said:

FWIW Radio Shack now has HDMI cables in stock... if you're willing to pony up $130 for a 9 foot model

Or go to eBay -- $15-20 or so for DVI to HDMI.

Craig

[Sregnar35]

So Skaggs, I have the same setup as you, with the dvi-hdmi wire and 57H83 toshiba. How do you set the cable box to work with the hdmi-dvi ports. Do you go into the cable box options and set it on auto hdmi or whatever it's called, or passthrough 1 or 2, or fixed? Also does it matter which order you turn on the tv and cable box.

[Skaggs]

Sregnar35 said:

So Skaggs, I have the same setup as you, with the dvi-hdmi wire and 57H83 toshiba. How do you set the cable box to work with the hdmi-dvi ports? Do you go into the cable box options and set it on auto hdmi or whatever it's called, or passthrough 1 or 2, or fixed? Also does it matter which order you turn on the tv and cable box.

Funny you should ask. I had the thing working via HDMI-DVI cable, but it mysteriously stopped working shortly after Christmas. I have a call into Mike at TWC. Hopefully, he will let me know what happened. My guess is they changed something when they downloaded the update that included HD PPV on channel 1800.

When I did initially get it working, Mike had me disconnect the component cable from the back of the 8300HD DVR (with the power off). That left the HDMI OUT as the only way for video to leave the DVR. He said the DVR should recognize that the HDMI port had a cable plugged into it and automatically change the video settings in the DVR to "AUTO-DVI". I turned the TV on first (as is states on pg14 of the Toshiba owners manual) and then the DVR. I changed the channel by pushing the channel up/down on the DVR and the picture popped on the screen. I use the RCA audio out ports on the back of the DVR to deliver the sound to my audio reciever.

Everything worked fine until sometime between Christmas & December 29th, when the video stopped displaying on my TV (audio still worked). I went away for New Year's and just started fiddling with it last night. I placed a call to Mike at TWC (ext 4039) around 9:30PM, but he was on the phone with someone else. He works Sat-Weds, 1:30PM-10PM, so hopefully he will return my call tonight.

When it was working, the picture seemed to be a little more "crisper", but it took a half second more to change channels. I just want the two component inputs on the TV freed up so I can connect both my OTA STB and XBOX.

If you can get it working, please let me know. I'll have the computer at home on all night.

[Sregnar35]

I will let you know if mine works, won't be til tomorrow am cuz my home pc monitor is fryed. I want to have my dvd and xbox up and running without swapping wires, and I don't have the money right now to buy a nice home receiver to run all of my components to either. Oh well, I will let you know though.