so i bought a TiVo HD on Friday (was waiting for a Best Buy reward zone weekend so I could get 12% off). Stopped by my local Comcast office that same day and picked up a multi-stream cablecard.
I set it up on Saturday morning, but it took a while. Not the TiVos fault - Comcast's fault. The CableCard was not set to receive all the channels I am entitled to, so I talked to about 5 CSRs who all just "hit" the card. I finally was able to talk to a supervisor, who finally talked with someone who knew something about cablecards. They re-initialized the card (instead of just "hitting" it), and i then got all my channels. The CSRs all said they were doing all that could be done, then the supervisor told me CSRs do not have the access to initialize a card. I wish companies would get on the same page or train their employees better.
so for those of you out there that may get it (I guess only Rhylan is interested
) and you have the same problem with Comcast, tell them to initialize the card, or send a "cold hit". I got that information from the TivoCommunity forum thread on comcast cablecards (just search google for it - i lost the link).
HD looks great, and combine that with the TiVo interface, and it's amazing. I couldn't be happier with this thing. I blows Comcast's DVR out of the water.
As for cost - I got the TiVo HD with Best Buy GCs (from credit card points) and birthday money, so it was free to me. The monthly fee from TiVo will be $6.95 for the HD box (I pay $12.95 and $6.95 for two TiVo boxes - i have a normal dual tuner upstairs as well). To rent a DVR from Comcast, it's 12 bucks a month (plus they make you move to their full digital package to get a DVR - an extra $20 a month. I don't want those extra channels). The CableCard rental is free. So i'm already ahead. if i paid for the TiVo box, i'd come out ahead eventually.