Current best/easiest HW (for Comcast Xfinity)?

[Tomahawk51]

As the title says, what's the best formula for recording from Comcast? Can we get 1080p nowadays btw? If I were "Starting over" what should I get?

• Cablebox + Capture device (what one?)?
• Cablecard + cablecard device (what one?)?

I currently have an old Motorola dch3200 STB that records in 1080i to an HD PVR 2 (component + SPIDF & USB UIRT). The box keeps putting up messages that I need a new box (X1) to avoid loosing channels. Also, I'm struggling to stabilize Docker (IR blasting + capture issues), so now's a really good time for me to take a sanity check on what next steps make the most sense.

[mechling-burgh]

If you are on Comcast I would go with a cable card. I can record all my stations but Starz, encore, HBO. I also have an HD PVR 2 which I use to record the premium stations. The usbrt is usually 90℅ on the money. I just switched over to unRAID and run the PVR 2 in a VM still testing that for reliability.

[mgpaulus]

So, I am a Comcast Xfinity customer in Colorado Springs, and I use several things:

2 HDHR3CC-Prime - this gives me 6 channels for recording normal Stuff
1 Xfinity NBM box - Hauppage PVR - USB-UIRT - this gives me premium channels
1 Xfinity NBM box - BMI-3000 - USB-UIRT - this gives me premium channels

The BMI-3000 are smaller and easier to work with in the wiring closet, so if I was starting over, I would probably get 2 of those, and not get the PVR.

So, depending upon how many shows you capture and how much conflict/overlap, you could possibly get 1 HDHR3CC and 1 BMI-3000. This would give you one premium channel at a time and 3 regular channels for the cost of 2 HD devices.

BTW, even with xfinity, I'm still only getting 1080i. Haven't seen any 1080p from comcast yet. But then again, I'm not looking super hard.

[NetworkGuy]

I am a Comcast Xfinity customer in NJ. I do not subscribe to any Comcast premium channels, so I just use 2 HDHR3CC-Prime for six tuners.

I also have PlayOn installed on the SageTV server. I can use PlayOn with Xfinity OnDemand to record shows that I might have missed. I also use PlayOn with other streaming services (Amazon, Yahoo View and Hulu).

If you have a subscription, you can also use PlayOn to record HBO, Go,HBO Now, Max Go, SHO Anytime, etc.

BTW...PlayOn also has a feature that lets you record all new shows in a series.

[egeller]

I am a Comcast customer in the Philly suburbs. My signature explains my setup. The Cablecard tuners capture most of the recordings.

Random thoughts:

• With Comcast, you will probably have more success with FFMPEG as the remuxer than the SageTV internal Remuxer. FFMPEG may be the default in OpenDCT. I forget.

• Premium channels go through the Comcast box and the BM3000.

• I find that the BM3000 is more stable than the HDPVR.

• I am currently building a media center server. I plan to use UnRaid and try out running a Win 7 VM with Windows Media Center and a BM3000 to replace the cable box and BM3000 for premium channels. Unfortunately, the project is at a standstill, since I had to RMA the motherboard yesterday.

• Doing the Windows Media Center thing to replace a cable box is discussed on another thread on the Hardware Support forum.

E.