Monopoly's dashboard

A comment on the question "What ports on comcast cable boxes are active?" in Comcast:

You are right, Sarien. I can actually more easily pirate things by splitting the cable rather than this false notion that Comcast has that activating the SATA port like every other company out there does will somehow give people easy access to mass produce copies of video illegally. The hard drives connected through the SATA port CAN NOT then be hooked up to a computer for this purpose. If they are connected to a different device other than the DVR that they were hooked up to, the hard drive is wiped clean. – Monopoly, on November 06, 2009 14:36

Monopoly asked a question in Comcast on November 05, 2009 16:54:

DVR had to be replaced

One of our DVRs recently died (the error code was that the fan went bad) and had to be replaced. I understand that these issues tend to happen, but how am I going to be compensated for equipment that I am paying for that malfunctioned and I lose everything that I had recorded? There were shows that we keep up with weekly as well as some movies that we keep on there for our grandchildren to watch. I don't see how it is fair to not be compensated for the loss of information for a piece of equipment we are paying such a high price for.

A comment on the question "What ports on comcast cable boxes are active?" in Comcast:

I don't see how this would be a hardware issue rather than an issue of the firmware Comcast is supplying for the box. I have been told that only the SA boxes have an active SATA port. I still don't get why this can't just be activated for Motorola boxes as well. – Monopoly, on November 05, 2009 16:31

A comment on the question "What ports on comcast cable boxes are active?" in Comcast:

Sarien, I have been told that as well with the Scientific Atlanta boxes. But my question is, if other regions in the country are offered this box and service, why not everywhere? It was also brought to my attention that other regions pay different fees for monthly DVR service. In the Philadelphia area that we are located, we are actually paying more than some of those areas throughout the country who have access to the better SA box. Yet Comcast can not reduce my fees because that is "just how our pricing structure works." Paying more for less, makes a lot of sense to me... – Monopoly, on November 03, 2009 20:17

Monopoly replied on November 02, 2009 22:10 to the question "What ports on comcast cable boxes are active?" in Comcast:

Matt, there are no such issues with copyright infringement. Other providers allow access to the SATA port for the capabilities of adding the Western Digital MyDVR Expander, which allows you to add up to 1 terabyte of space for DVR recordings. This data cannot be transferred off of that drive to a computer or any other device other than your DVR for viewing on one's television. Is there any ETA on when these ports will be activated?

Monopoly replied on November 02, 2009 22:04 to the problem "Prices going up for NO reason" in Comcast:

Kat, according to certain Comcast reps that I have talked to, they are NOT a monopoly. Yet they have lobbyists everywhere to get their agreements in different townships as well as to block any other providers from reaching deals with those same townships. FIOS is their main competition around here where they try to block them. Until recently, Comcast had a complete monopoly over the entire city of Philadelphia.

Monopoly replied on October 06, 2009 15:17 to the problem "Fastforwarding NBC shows skips to the end" in Comcast:

They aren't as much a "fix" as they are a way around it. But I guess you have to do what you have to do when you are locked into one choice of a cable provider, Comcastopoly.

Monopoly replied on October 05, 2009 19:40 to the question "Buying a cable box on ebay" in Comcast:

furandkai, is this a TIVO box? By law, Comcast and other cable companies must provide a cable card for these boxes for you to use.

Monopoly replied on October 05, 2009 19:39 to the problem "Fastforwarding NBC shows skips to the end" in Comcast:

Why not just use the page up/down to advance 5 minutes, and then use the arrow to go back 15 seconds if necessary. You can also progam your remote to advance 30 seconds.

Monopoly replied on October 05, 2009 19:35 to the question "NFL Redzone Channel in HD?" in Comcast:

Mark, thank you for your response. This channel is in fact now available in the greater Philadelphia area. One channel that still is not, however, is the Big Ten network. Is there also any status updates on the premier movie channels moving to HD? The slow pace for the transition is getting kind of old. What is also confusing is how there are numerous channels in HD on different channel numbers. For example, there are 2 HD HBOs on top of the 1 standard def HBO. Isn't this a complete waste considering the obvious bandwidth issues?

Monopoly replied on September 30, 2009 20:00 to the problem "Comcast tier channels lists mislead about HD." in Comcast:

Tech Support,

through the QAM tuner.

Monopoly replied on September 28, 2009 16:32 to the discussion "Comcast customer service: Screw You, Mr. Customer" in Comcast:

Karen, cancel and go with DirecTV. Much more is offered and the service technicians are much more helpful from what I hear.

Monopoly replied on September 28, 2009 16:30 to the question "Comcast-Illegal practices?" in Comcast:

class action nationwide? someone get it started.

Monopoly replied on September 28, 2009 14:22 to the question "External Hard Drive on Cable Box" in Comcast:

No ideas?

Monopoly asked a question in Comcast on September 22, 2009 21:14:

NFL Redzone Channel in HD?

In the suburban Philadelphia area, Comcast is not offering the new NFL Redzone channel in HD. This is perplexing giving the fact that advertisements discuss the channel as being in HD and the fact that this is on a premium sports tier that is being paid extra for. Another much smaller cable company of someone that I know in a smaller market close by is providing this channel in HD (part of a basic package as well, no fees for this "sports tier"). Please provide the ETA on when this channel will be provided to us and if not please provide an explanation on why we are paying an extra fee when we are not being offered the same channel.

Thank you.

Monopoly replied on September 21, 2009 20:55 to the question "External Hard Drive on Cable Box" in Comcast:

Any news on the testing that was being done with the SATA ports. Being able to hook up a DVR Expander would be nice at this point since customers are paying $20.90 a month for a DVR with minimal space.

Monopoly replied on September 21, 2009 20:53 to the question "Cable Card Questions" in Comcast:

Then how does a TIVO work with your service?

Monopoly replied on September 10, 2009 16:57 to the question "Did everyone get two free DTAs?" in Comcast:

is there a reason i have not received mine in the mail yet?

Monopoly replied on September 08, 2009 21:33 to the question "How should we deal with the Incompetents of comcast phone support?" in Comcast:

I was told that mine were being mailed out going on 2 months ago and have yet to receive my two boxes. What is the issue here?

Monopoly replied on September 08, 2009 21:26 to the question "SATA port on DVR boxes" in Comcast:

Having them install their own hard drives would be a waste of both their time and money. 500 GB is not that large by today's standards either. All they need to do is allow us all access to the SATA port so that we have the option to externally hook up our own hard drives that we purchase. This would prevent the boxes from ever being outdated, as the only upgrades they would need to continue with would be software updates. The hardware would be fine.