XfinityTV and Equipment

[philw1776]

Comcast announced a new i-Guide interface in late 2008 at the CES that would be available in 2009.  What is the word on the availability of this new interface?  The present Search Function is cumbersome, inefficient and often useless.  I pay for HD channels and it records SD channels.  Is the new i-Guide iimminent or has it been cancelled?

[Queen-Evie]

Regarding the search function: I used Search to find out when something would be on.

I entered AMERI-the maximum number of letters search allows. I had to scroll through 9 America and American pages to find what I wanted. It was on the last one.

[class77]

Hey Evie, be thankful that you can search using part of the name. Most of us can only search using the initial letter. I can guarantee you that we have to flip thru way more pages than you ever thought of AND if we don't know the exact date of the show, we can search for days without any results.

So glad that Comcast can use it's increased cable revenues to buy a network instead of investing in solutions for the cable interfaces that your customers use. Wonder if NBC will go back to black and white broadcasting because those pesky third party consultants are just too difficult to expect results from. 

[Queen-Evie]

Wow class. It was bad enough I had to go through 9 pages. I can't imagine the hassles and headaches caused by being able to search using only the initial letter.

With all the technology available, you'd think they would make it user-friendly.

Message Edited by Queen-Evie on 12-05-2009 06:07 PM

[lunski]

yes. i actually just saw the guide using live feeds last week in a demo here.

as for recording sd vs hd. that is a local issue( a tech visit should not be need )

i will notify a few folks. 

[ChewyCashew84]

What are live feeds? Is that some new feature or am I misunderstanding you post?

And which new guide? Do you mean the one shown by Cypherx earlier in the thread, A-28, or something different altogether?

Message Edited by ChewyCashew84 on 12-07-2009 02:42 PM

[cypherx]

Wow, did you see the new Boxee beta?  It looks SLICK!

http://blog.boxee.tv/2009/12/07/the-boxee-beta/

Great picture gallery here:

http://www.engadget.com/photos/boxee-beta/2514548

Comcast, be inspired!!! 

Message Edited by cypherx on 12-08-2009 10:33 AM

[lunski]

---

ChewyCashew84 wrote:

What are live feeds? Is that some new feature or am I misunderstanding you post?

And which new guide? Do you mean the one shown by Cypherx earlier in the thread, A-28, or something different altogether?

Message Edited by ChewyCashew84 on 12-07-2009 02:42 PM

---

hi chewy,

the one mentioned by cypher and shown at ces in 2008. i saw it earlier this year on a computer, but just last week on a digital box with live programming, e.g. i could tune into cnn and watch the latest news. 

[ChewyCashew84]

Ok, I get it now. I got confused by "live feed".

Awesome, I didn't know that that was still being worked on.

[cypherx]

I would love to test drive a flash based demo on my computer... I know there wouldn't be any video - but still it'd be neat to browse the menus and some fake guide data to see how it runs.

[Matal]

Personally I think the guide of my SA8300HD is complete garabage.

I say this as a brand new comcast customer who has recently moved to an area served by comcast and this is my only option (have had fios, time warner, directv, dish and sold uverse).  I say only option because uverse and fios are not available I've never seen comcast and time warner in the same are and due to where I live directv and dish have both said they can not install where I am at. 

Things that jump out at me as OMG what are you thinking

1) not able to hide the channels that I am not subscribed to.  All the other carriers can.

2) Combine the HD/SD channels in one location don't spread them out on opposite ends of the spectrum.  This seems to be something with cable companies as time warner was the same but uverse, fios, dish and dtv all put them together and uverse and dtv acctually give you the option to say if this channel is in HD only show me the HD channel.  They than go a step furthar and when you are recording say "record in SD or HD"

3) Actor Search - put an actors name in the search bar and it will show all the movie/tv shows that are in the guide that the said actor/actress is in.

4) having not tried it I'm not 100% sure but looking at it this applies to recording series.  2 things 1) it should be based on title not date and time.  Networks love to change the days and times of shows but the DVR looks like it is set to a day and time not by title.  2) new vs all episodes.  Where is the option to record only the new episodes of a show. lot of networks air a new episode at say 9 and than replay it at 11 the way i read the dvr set up I'm going to get both of those instead of just 1.

also want to throw on here that when I called to ask about the hiding channels I got told I was a liar that nobody had this feature and than hung up on me. 

[Matal]

also forgot to add

program the DVR from the web and your new iphone app. 

[this_is_me]

In short, NO, the guide is not user-friendly, regardless of whether you have HD, DVR, or not.  Both Dish and Directv offer the ability to specify a favorites list as the default guide and have done so for 10+ years.  Both the favorites list and guide are basically worthless because it is impossible to have a favorites list as the default guide.

I'm brand new to Comcast's offerings and because of this, and a number of other issues, I am seriously considering dropping them except for internet, and maybe keeping their telephone.  I was leaving Directv to get better pricing with Comcast Triple Play, but there are a number of issues, this being the biggest one that make me glad I haven't dropped Directv yet.

Reading through this forum it sounds like Comcast is working on fixing this, but it's been 10 months and I didn't see any dates.  Maybe GuideDog can provide some actual dates. 

[schimmy]

I think most people have covered what I think of the guide.

My top things would be:

-Show how much more space is available on the harddrive.

-Maybe allow us to set up a fav's on VOD section so I don't have to go through 7 different folders just get to the HD movies on HBO, or to get to a TV series. So I could go to the fav's folder, HD HBO movies then would list all the movies instead of HD OnDemand, Premium Channels, HBO, HBO Movies, All movies then the movies list.

-Since my DVR records every run of a show I have set up on a non-network channel, it would be nice if they were grouped together into one folder so I don't have 15 "The Soup" recordings from one day taking my whole listing and I have to page through 4 pages just to get to the one show that wasn't "The Soup" to watch.

-I would like to see more increased rows when going through the guide.

-Able to hit guide a couple of times to go through HD only channels, Fav Channels, Movie Channels, News channels. I really enjoyed that when I was with Direct TV.

Overall, I think Comcast is in last place with terms of guide UI. With me use to having Direct TV, my friends have Dish Network, Sister have FIOS and parents having U-Verse, I always get angry at comcast when I'm watching TV at their houses with the difficultly I always have and just the lack of features I get when I'm paying more then them. It seems  that the Denver area is always one of the last places to get certain HD channels so I only imagine that it's going to be awhile before I get to see the new version of the guide that seems to be rolling out now.

[cypherx]

Last place with the Guide UI indeed.  I wish they could port Adobe Air or Flash 10.1 to the set tops, so that more intuitive and modern UI elements could be used.

The $150 Popbox looks better than the $1000 Motorola DCX3400 DVR

http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2010-01/hands-on-with-the-syabas-popbox/ 

The cheap $99 Roku Box even has better UI with Yahoo Widgets coming:

http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2010-01/yahoo-on-roku/

Panasonic TV's will have Skype built right in (no box needed!)

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/panasonic-demos-skype-on-vieracast-at-ces-video/

The Netflix app will be loaded into TV's and Blue Ray players, with full movie cover art:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/funai-panasonic-sanyo-sharp-and-toshiba-to-launch-netflix-ena/

Vudu apps were demo'd built RIGHT INTO Mitsubishi TV's:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/vudu-apps-demoed-on-mitsubishis-2010-lcd/

The $200 BOXEE Box was revealed, along with it's BEAUTIFUL  user interface:

http://lifehacker.com/5442995/first-look-at-the-boxee-beta

There's just a whole lot of UI examples out there, and when you compare it to Comcast's experience, it's just pathetic what these sub $200 set top boxes do, or even TV's that have the stuff built RIGHT IN.  A tech told me a Motorola DCX3400 DVR goes for about $1000 (a little less with Comcast's bulk discount).  Now that's just plain ridiculous that these $200 devices (and $99 iPhone) runs a hundred circles around what Comcast's very expensive service shows.  AT&T costs much less per month, but provides a much more user friendly, navigation rich UI with Microsoft Mediaroom (and Mediaroom 2.0 coming soon to shift content to your PC's and mobile devices).

I hope some Comcast people are keeping an eye on the products and advancements coming out of CES, and applies that level of caliber for us loyal customers who have no problem giving $200 a month for a top level experience. 

[cinemative]

I recently signed up for Comcast after 4 years with DirecTV and 2 years with Dish Network before that. I had seen the Comcast receiver when visiting friends, but since they didn't have HD or DVR services, I (wrongly) assumed that Comcast would be on par with the guide and features offered by their competitors. Now that I've been using Comcast for about a month, boy do I feel like I've gone back to the dark ages.

A few dissappointments:

1. When I push the guide button, I get EVERY channel available, including channels I don't get in my subscription package. Since I have HD, that means I get duplicates of all of the channels I get in HD, and to view the HD channels, I have to scroll up or down through the guide to get to the channels I want to watch. If I've memorized the channel numbers, I can type them in and jump, but that's an extra step that shouldn't be necessary. You can create and save "Favorites" lists, but there's no way to make that list the default, so you have to push the "Guide" button first, and then the FAV button, which defaults to the lowest channel available in the list. So.... if I'm watching something on ESPN and I want to check to guide to see what's on the other sports channels nearby, I have to hit GUIDE, then FAV, then scroll down a few pages to get back to the 200's. Not very user friendly. When I was with DirecTV and using equipment that was a few years old, I could create a custom guide and set it as the default.. and when you were at channel 200 and pushed the guide button, you saw your favorite channels from the point in the guide starting with the channel you are watching. 
2. The unlighted remote control is very frustrating and difficult to use in the dark. When I'm watching a show and want to jump back to re-play something, 9 times out of 10 I can't find the right button by feel and I end up pushing STOP or rewind by accident.
3. When watching a recording or queued programming, the fast forward button is the only way to move ahead. The first press of the button is really slow, but good for being able to see the program clearly. If you jump up in speed to the next level, the program flies by quickly but you may not notice that the spot where you want to watch again has passed by until you are 10 seconds beyond where you want to watch again. Now you have to push play, then rewind or the jump back button (15 seconds). On the DirecTV system, if you were forwarding at 1X speed and then press the play button, it automatically rewinds a few seconds before playback. At 2X it would rewind a little more. The Comcast system just plays back at the exact point where the video is when you press play, so you either have to just skip the part you missed, or you have to navigate back. I wouldn't mind so much if I had never used the DirecTV remote, but since I know that there's a better solution, I am frustrated by the lack of this feature with Comcast.
4. Searching is very limited. With DirecTV I could search by Title, keyword in title, keyword in show description, actor, and more. With Comcast, it's Title, and that's it... and even though it says you can search for any word in the title, that's not true. Try finding AMERICAN GLADIATORS by searching the guide for just "Gladiators". It will ignore words like "A" and "The" at the beginning of a show, but it won't find anything else if it's not the first word following A/The.  If you don't know the exact name of what you want to find, it's a struggle.
5. Show META data is limited on Comcast. In the past I had access to all sorts of info on a show in the guide, including original air date, actors, director, etc... This comes in handy, and should be available, but for some reason Comcast isn't providing the information in the guide. 
6. I shouldn't see programs not in my package in the guide, search results, or when I select a show to record. There's color coding for different types of programming... so if you are going to force me to scroll through channels I don't subscribe to, at least change the way they appear in the guide so I'll be able to tell them apart somehow.
7. I can only see 5 channels on the screen at once in the guide... which looks like it was designed back in 1995. When I see the graphics of old sports programming on ESPN Classic, I think I'm seeing the work of the same graphics designer as the current Comcast guide. Other carriers display at least 6 or 7, and even more on HD tv's.

I could probably find a few other areas to improve, but these are a good place to start.

-HC 

Message Edited by cinemative on 01-08-2010 01:40 PM

[cinemative]

You CAN hide channels on my Motorola Comcast HD DVR by tagging channels as a Favorite, then pressing the FAV button on the remote. Unfortunately, you can't set it as the default guide. You always have to push GUIDE first, then FAV to view your custom list of channels.

[FrampyPat]

I am a late-comer to this discussion, and just found this forum as I was looking  for a solution for another issue, but let me share an email I sent this morning to Comcast Ecare (it was received by Rick Germano):

I am so frustrated with the design and function of your on-screen system for selecting programs for recording.  I do a lot of VCR taping and am not willing to change, but I have wrestled with this dysfunctional system for a year and it is so bad, that I am thinking about changing providers, just to be rid of the hassle it causes.

 
- The worst part of it is the obnoxious size, placement and length of display of the actual notices that pop up before and after the recorded show.  I have missed too many visually key moments at the ends of programs because these notices obscure way too much of the screen, last way too long, and are placed right in the middle of the screen. 

- The other part of the system that is poorly designed is the front end that actually sets-up the selection of programs.  When I find that I have chosen some program for weekly recording that conflicts with another program, I can't opt for an override.  Beyond that, the choices for VCR Recording Settings are too limitied.  You can't chose to start a show late or end it early.

- Perhaps some form of on-screen help sections could clarify how to make this more user-friendly.

- There is a more frustrating issue when you compare the on-screen (television screen) lisitngs versus the ones you can view on the on-line (computer) listings.  I don't understand why I find that they don't sometimes match.  Often, I can view listings on my computer for a show that isn't listed the same on the television screen listing.  I can see listings for 12 days on-line, but when I try to do the same on my television, I find huge gaps of "To be Announced" and it only lists about 2 days worth of programming.  Is there some technical reason why I can't see the same listings in both mediums?   I sometimes want to select shows that I have seen listed on-line and there is no way to set-up to record these shows.  Even if I can't see the show, it would be very handy to be able to select a channel and time-slot to be chosen for television display, without actually having to specify a particular show as such.

- On a totally unrelated matter, this comment area is in such small type, that I am not sure if my punctuation and spelling is correct.  Maybe you could change the typeface to make it easier tu use.

Overall, I find the on-screen system has such serious problems, that If it isn't changed soon, you will be losing another Comcast subscriber in the near future.

Please feel free to contact me on any of these issues.

[WarEagle57]

---

FrampyPat wrote:
...
- On a totally unrelated matter, this comment area is in such small type, that I am not sure if my punctuation and spelling is correct.  Maybe you could change the typeface to make it easier tu use.
...

---

  Click on "My Profile" near the top of this page, select "Preferences", and you'll find that you can change the type and size of the font to suit yourself.

[Ambidextro]

On-demand guide could be a bit more user friendly with a "SEARCH" function.

[cinemative]

I, too, recently switched to Comcast from Directv. Everything you said is DEAD ON. Thanks for summing it up so nicely. I'm seriously debating whether to switch back to Directv because I'd rather have to deal with the occasionall satellite communication disruption than dealing with the Comcast guide on a daily basis. When I'm watching something, I forget about it. Whenever I need to change channels, record something, or search for program, I can't believe I made the choce to leave Directv. 

I'm seriously thinking hard about recording a session of myself using the Comcast guide and uploading it to Youtube to warn others before they make the switch.

Comcast - are you planning to make improvements soon, or am I stuck with this for the next couple of years?

[michaeld855]

Nope..  Sadly I have to resort to using the channel guide online to set my DVR.  Whoever thought of pairing high-def service with a low-resolution guide should be shot.  It's the saddest slowest guide I've ever had the misfortune of using.  Is it a coincidence that the digital cable instruction book for the SA box doesn't have the comcast customer gaurantee page printed in it like the instruction book for the Motorola box does? 

I haven't even had service an entire week, and I'm so aggravated with it.  I am unable to get LOS for satellite, so my only options are this **bleep** you call service, or going without.  I already have the box in the trunk of my car to return to the store.

(box: Scientific Atlanta 8300HDC.. / loc: VA 22911)

[jjv124]

For those of us using SA boxes without Passport see this thread for information about the SARA guide.  Is there information in there that will make those of us happy who want to have an update tomorrow?  Nope, but it is the best information we'll get at the time and allow people to make an educated decision on how they want to move forward.  So anyone knows if you are using an SA box and you have the SARA guide, switching equipment isn't going to help that's what you'll get no matter the box.  If you are in a market that has the passport guide like mine than going to the newest box will downgrade your guide to SARA.

[cypherx]

Verizon is prepping their Fios IMG guide for Widescreen TV.
 http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2010-02/verizon-preps-widescreen-fios-tv-ui/

One cool note:

A variety of under-the-hood modifications and development strategies have resulted in a more modular Interactive Media Platform (IMG) for Verizon – who should be able to turn around these platform updates much quicker:

What used to take months is now reduced to several weeks. During 2010 you will see more and more examples of the benefits from this new technology that we have baked into the platform during 2009.

 Comcast should take note and learn from this.

Check out the original Fios Blog article here:

http://forums.verizon.com/t5/Verizon-at-Home/FiOS-TV-We-Hear-You/ba-p/153005

Also there's a really cool remote control setup guide.

[Ambidextro]

                                                  THE GUIDE IS NOT USER FRIENDLY!!!!

Since I'm feeling lazy and don't feel like reading through every single reply in here let me start by saying... Someone else may have already posted some of the same ideas that I'm laying out here so apologies if I've double dipped.

1. Search by Actor/Director/Title in VOD

2. A-Z list of the "premium channel" movies reflecting user subscriptions in VOD

3. 64-128+ Character word searches(keyboard via STB USB enabled to make this easier)

4. Hide channels on the default guide via "info button menu" or wherever is clever

6. Remove reminder message when a show is in progress. Darn thing constantly nags you when leaving the channel the reminder was set for. Maybe this has been fixed but I wouldn't know since I haven't set a reminder in a while due to the annoyance of it all.

7. Add option to disable any/all confirmation pop-ups, especially for dvr recordings

8. Rebuild the entire Guide/VOD GUI into "eye candy". Differentiate yourself from other companies, be original!

9.Get rid of the the silly Advertisement bar at the bottom of the guide. I never click on it and I never pay attention to whatever it is I'm trying to be sold. Bunch of wasted space when there could be 1 or 2 more channels to view in that spot. Obviously that won't be removed entirely so how about moving & resizing the add banner. How about the little area on the upper left that shows the program title and about 2 words of program description?! Just keep the program title and put the impulse add underneath it.

I realize it's not much of a list but I think if some or all of these ideas were put in place it would make the guide a whole lot more user-friendly.

[michaeld855]

Good news guys.. It appears that some of what's said here on the forums does influence the powers that be at Comcast..  Recently they changed the user guide online for the Motorola market to no longer advertise their customer satisfaction guarantee.  Good marketing move, Weird?

(box:  NONE!/ loc. VA 22911)

[ChewyCashew84]

---

michaeld855 wrote:

Good news guys.. It appears that some of what's said here on the forums does influence the powers that be at Comcast..  Recently they changed the user guide online for the Motorola market to no longer advertise their customer satisfaction guarantee.  Good marketing move, Weird?

(box:  NONE!/ loc. VA 22911)

---

HA! Problem solved! I guess Comcast doesn't have anything to fix if they never promise anything to begin with.

[cypherx]

Well, there's always the possibility of getting the Tivo Premiere.  There is a Comcast on Demand icon in the one picture... but no details were said about it.  I might get it if it can pull Comcast on Demand.  It will be able to pull in RCN's on demand and RCN will make it their primary DVR.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/02/tivo-premiere-hands-on/

[cypherx]

Oh ok... so there's NO Comcast on Demand through the new Tivo Premiere...

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/03/oops-tivo-premiere-wont-have-comcast-on-demand/

No On Demand... might as well get a Moxi or do Windows Media Center with the Cable Card tuners when they come out...

Or stick with the Comcast DVR and get on demand.  If you watch the twitter feeds for anything regarding "Tivo", a lot of people are discouraged now that there's no Comcast on Demand support.  Many people were going to pull the trigger IF it could access on Demand.  What that says is that people are tired of the old school 1990's UI on the current Comcast in house DVR software.   

Message Edited by cypherx on 03-03-2010 05:31 PM

[WarEagle57]

I really don't see any meaningful improvement in the TiVo Premiere.  I'll stick with my HD XL -- it has 1500GB counting the eSATA disk.  HD guides don't excite me -- I'm more into actually watching programs. 

[cypherx]

Well, I'm not a Tivo owner, so if Tivo was to release a compelling product, I would consider being a new Tivo owner.  I completely understand if you already have a Tivo HD, going to the Premiere may not be worth it.  Especially since you already have 1500GB Capacity and it's setup the way you like it.  A few people say they are not worried about an HD guide.  On the contrary, when TV went 16:9, HD, we got more screen real-estate.  This could mean more information and crisper easier to read text with the extra pixels.  Sure you don't buy service to "watch the guide", but the guide can be a really helpful tool to find what your looking for.  Especially when there's thousands of things to watch between On Demand, DVR content, Web content, and Live TV. 

[WarEagle57]

It just doesn't seem to have any functionality that I don't already have.  The faster processor might be welcome, but I've been so pleased with the performance of the TiVo for the past year, compared to the Motorola DVRs, that I won't need any changes for quite a while. 

[Queen-Evie]

No, not when it tells me "rescue missions are featured" for some episodes of Most Daring on Tru TV.

They certainly do not feature rescuse missions.

Dumb criminal, dumb drivers, and other categories, but none of them EVER feature rescue missions.

[JayInAlg]

Evie

Here's where the disconnect is.  It is between TruTV and TV Guide, which is Comcast's guide supplier.

If TruTV doesn't pass the episode data to TV Guide, then they use a gereric premise tag line to insert in place of a accurate episode listing for that show.  Looking at TV Guide's web site, their premise for Most Daring is the following.

So that is where the line you quoted is coming from, and getting onto the guide listing.  It comes from TV Guide when they don't have an accurate or unknown episode to list.  If Tru TV never sent a current episode list to TV Guide, then you would see the same description in every listing.  Another way I can put it is that's the premise is a generic or default listing, when the real episode listing is not supplied or known.

This seems to be more common on repeats of shows and not as much on the 1st run.

Hope this helps explain why it is showing up as it does.

Message Edited by JayInAlg on 03-19-2010 12:58 AM

[Queen-Evie]

If Tru Tv can supply the info to whoever provided listings for Cox tv, they surely can get it to TV Guide.

Each time I see "rescuse missions" I head to the Cox site for listings, and there it is, an episode description.

Annoys me to have to take that step to find out what it's about.

[JayInAlg]

I guess I'm less sophisticated than you, little things like that don't matter to me.  Not in a million years, wrong guide listings would ever bother me.  I just accept it as is.

I use Zap2it for my tv listings, they email me daily listings.  They are part of Tribune Media Services, a guide supplier competitor to TV Guide, and who supplies the guide data to Tivo.  I feel they are more accurate than TV Guide. 

Check wikipedia for tvguide, their history, and recent changes in the last 5 years, TV Guide has gone over severe corp issiues in recent years.  They have been a money loser for many years, and perhaps that has something to do with the accuracy of the listings.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tv_Guide

[GuideDog]

Just checking in folks.  I want to thank everyone again for the continued feedback and please keep it coming.  While I cannot provide specifics on if/when/how each issue will addressed, I can assure you that I am keeping track and trying my best to get the right information to the right people.

I did want to bring up one new side-topic for thought.  Competitor guides have been brought up here several times.  Has anyone here used the Fios guide?  I'd be very interested how you think it compares to your current Comcast guide, in terms of aesthetics, usability, and features.  I don't want to bias too much, but we hear all the time that it's quite difficult to use.  Thoughts?

[cypherx]

GuideDog,

I've used the following:

FiosTV  (although very briefly)

Passport (Blue Ridge Cable - SA3200 set top box)

DirecTV (The current light blue guide by NDS)

DishNetwork vip622 DVR

Comcast (of course!)  From Tan guide, to original Blue DVR guide (DCT-6208) to current I-Guide Iterations.

Out of all of those, I'll rank them by ease of use (to the non technical user):

Passport (It's dead simple, and runs very quick, not much to it)

Comcast (Dead simple, some quirks - but the non technical user might not get into them as frequently)

DishNetwork (Simple - a little more to it, but still easy to use)

DirecTV (A little more busy on screen, depending on the receiver speed is average.)

FiosTV (Very busy on screen.  Greatest graphics - but a lot is squished into a 4:3 centered overlay.  If they went 16:9 here it wouldn't look as cluttered, and it would save the platform).

Graphically what "Looks Cool" vs.. What's "Easy to Use", and I have not used all of these, but ranked from best to worst:

Media Center 7 (on PC or XBOX 360) -The Windows Media Platform is the freshest looking UI with it's very modern color scheme.  Really slick animated transitions and cool thumbnail views of recorded content.  Third party add on's are also available to customize the experience to fit the end user.  Full screen 1080 user inteface really shines.

DishNetwork vip922 "Sling Loaded" DVR - Now that's a nice HD Grid with nice subtle, yet high resolution complementary graphics, which keep the UI easy to read from a distance without cluttering the screen.

Moxi - Nice 16:9 HD UI with smooth fonts and colorful graphics.  I can't rank this higher than the new Dish Network vip922 though, because they take focus away from the traditional grid guide and use their crossbar interface.  That takes a bit of getting used to, as well as the confusion of what the 'moxi' button actually does (sometimes it acts like a back button, sometimes a home button, etc...)

AT&T U-Verse - Very similar to Media Center 7.  The PIP in guide is great.  The text is very smooth, easy to read and high contrast.  Lots of potential for ITV elements in the Mediaroom platform.

FiosTV - Well it looks cool.  High color channel logo's, graphically intensive widgets and VOD cover art.  Uses full color palette of Motorola hardware.

Passport - Great animated transitions between screens to keep users focus on what the last button press did.  Guide slides up, smooth guide scrolling in the direction of the arrow key, UI elements fade in and out or shrink/grow into or out of view.  Three color schemes and channel logo's (which help differentiate channel brands in the 500 channel universe)

DirecTV - Decent color scheme contrasts nicely.  It's not too dark, but the white text on light blue background is just right.  The grid guide is narrow, but that's all it really needs to be in order to fit more information on the screen.  On some receivers, the guide slides up into view.  The interactive content is very graphical, and the HD "Sports Mix" UI is a nice surprise (although mostly rendered remotely).

Comcast (I-Guide) - Just very plain to look at.  The font seems very last decade.  It's not very smooth when you transition from a computer screen running Mac OS or Windows 7, then head over to the TV.  It feels outdated and clunky at times.  Screen elements abruptly appear, sometimes with a half second distortion vs. a nice transition effect.

SARA - SARA is the absolute worst 1995 looking interface ever.  I think Comcast knows this, which is why they are porting I-Guide to the Scientific Atlanta platform.  Because I-Guide is already being ported to SA hardware, we'll stop talking about SARA now.  Moot point.

I won't go into Tivo Premier... they are stepping in the right direction, but their new HD Flash based UI is incomplete.  Comcast Tivo looks great in screen shots, but not being in one of the very few Tivo enabled systems, I most likely will never use it in person. 

Thanks for your participation in the thread.  It's nice to see higher ups interact with everyday customers.  Comcast has been doing a great job lately in making the customer feel like their opinions matter.  There has been great strides in customer service over the last year, and thank you for being a part of it.

[cypherx]

Oh I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents about the awful Comcast remote, since your into usability studies.

Why do I say awful remote?

Well for starters, with a DVR, we never power the DVR off.  Why should we... it doesn't really ever "shut down" anyway.  You can't use the "All On" button, and you can't reprogram it to send just the power signal to the TV either.  Whenever we have guests, it's not intuitive where we can just hand them the remote and that's it.  We always have to say, push TV, then Power when your done.  Or to turn it on, Push TV, then Power.  Then push Cable.

You can't just use "All On" to power everything off either.  If there is a recording going on one of the tuners of the DVR, the All On button will send the power signal to all programmed devices, including the DVR.  The TV will shut off, but the DVR will display a message confirming the power action, because a program is currently recording.  Well this message is missed because the TV was powered off.  So the next morning if you push "All On", the TV will come on, but chances are if the DVR is not recording, the DVR will be shut off!

The "All On" button leads to inconsistant states.

Another frustration is when using TV, then Power... the remote is now in TV mode.  Half of the buttons don't work.  My "B" button is programmed for 30-sec skip when under "Cable" mode, but it acts like an exit or "last" button if the remote is in TV mode.  The Page up and down keys don't work.  Certain keys work and other ones don't.  It's very inconsistent.  So when picking up the remote, you want things to be easy right?  Well why should the end user have to 'think' about what mode the remote is in?  I'm about ready to buy a harmony remote because of this... but we drop our remotes on the floor all the time, so I'm a little worried about that with a harmony remote and it's LCD display.

The remote needs some help.  I've used the Blue Ridge Cable remote and it was so much easier.  It's a Synergy V or something like that....

When you push the "TV" button at the top of the Blue Ridge Cable remote, the TV is sent a power command.  Hence, the remote is always in cable box mode.  If for some reason you would want the remote in "TV" mode to see if the menu buttons actually work, you push a mode button first, then TV.  But by default if you push the device key at the top, it sends a power signal, and all of the buttons control the box.  After all it's a cable TV remote... it's primary focus should be the cable box or dvr.  They also have a little slider switch at the bottom which selects whether or not the trick play controls are sent to the cable box or a VCR.  Comcast doesn't need to go all out with a switch like that if they don't want, but I'm just putting that out there what the differences are.

Another cool thing is on Blue Ridge Cable, if you tune to channel 998 it will take you to an interactive program that walks you through setting up the remote to work with your TV, DVD Player, Audio Receiver , or VCR.  Because this is an interactive application, I bet that when new devices come out with new remote codes, they can easily update their database.  Someone buys that latest new flat panel TV, chances are the new code will be in there.

Thanks again for taking the time out of your day to read this.  I may of expressed some of these concerns before (I know I did for the interactive remote control setup application), but the remote's really been aggravating me lately.

[marysc]

How do I find the Guide?  What is the URL, or what do I click to get to it??  I'm a new user and the whole comcast website is very confusing to me!

[JayInAlg]

Most everything can be found on comcast.net.  The link to the TV listings is on the left, click on that.

[ChewyCashew84]

Hey guys, I just thought this was interesting.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/10/cox-plus-package-brings-advanced-trio-ui-500gb-multiroom-dvr/

So, here's another competitor with another upcoming much improved interface. This time, it's not even a fiber or satellite provider, it's another cable company. Granted, this interface probably isn't the most intuitive (it doesn't make sense to eliminate the grid style guide) it's just another example of how other companies are really making progress to a more polished interface while we're stuck with the same old junk.

[gar22]

Why is it since the xfinity upgrade, I cannot use the remote for show information without it taking me to channel 3 on exit? Another upgrade blunder!!!!

[cypherx]

gar, sounds like a remote control issue?  I have problems with my remotes too.  I have two remotes in the living room.  Ones a light grey one with the red OK button, and the other's more of a gunmetal grey with the red OK button (newer).

The light grey one's page up and down keys don't work at all unless you push "Cable" at the top.

On the gunmetal one, when I push the "B" button to perform a 30-sec skip, it will exit the show completely and go into a show description for something else.  I have to push "Cable" at the top of that too.

Thing is, we push "TV" then "Power" to turn the TV on or off.... so we forget to put it in "Cable" mode.  We both know about this, but we forget anyway and yell at the TV when the remote does something stupid.  The gunmetal remote is the most frustrating because the "B" button kicks you out of the recording.

Regarding that Cox guide, I think it's a huge step in the right direction.  I hope that we see some more screen shots or maybe even video's of what Comcast is working on at the Cable Show.  I'd like to see more information on what interactive applications will be in the pipeline as well, and what they look like.  I'd like a little more confirmation as to the MR-DVR solution (will they use the new Motorola DCX3501-M), and eSATA or USB2.0 external storage expansion.  That new DCX3501 has a Brodcom 7420 CPU I believe, and if so, that's a powerful little unit that can easily pull off something like Cox solution (or better).

One thing I didn't like in the Cox "trio" video's is some of the actions the user demonstrated looked confusing.  I guess because I wasn't the one pushing the buttons.  You know if they did UI element transitions (like a slide to the right or left) instead of stuff simply "popping up", I would of gathered "oh, they pushed the right arrow, or they pushed the left arrow".  When the screen abruptly changes without any element transitions, it's like "what the heck did they do, where are they in the UI now?"  I also didn't like how there was less emphasis on the traditional grid guide.  Running a UI at 16:9 should yield a huge 3 hour or so grid that you can quickly glance at.  It looked like the default view required you to scroll through each individual channel in the left pane to see what programs were coming up on that network in the middle pane.  They did have a grid view, but it didn't look default, and it was still restricted to 1 1/2 hours IIRC.

What I did like is that "trio" is finally using the 16:9 UI.  Channel logo's in the "flip bar" are a possibility, and VOD cover art.  Also the user profiles is a nice touch as well.  I liked how it's using DSG (DOCSIS Set Top Gateway) for getting information to and from the set top box.  As you know DOCSIS is MUCH faster than the traditional 2 mbps OOB data pipe.  You know how on Comcast if the power blips even for a second, when your cable box comes back up, you have no guide data for HOURS?  Well if they used a faster DOCSIS pipe, perhaps the guide would fill in faster.  It also permits more interactive features, cover art and other graphic touches that can easily be cached or downloaded from a server on the other end of the network.  I also like how they are harnessing the advanced power of the Cisco box, even if it's in a Motorola based area.  Finally the separate nature of the Cable card conditional access is finally making itself useful.  They will simply use a Motorola cable card in the Cisco set top boxes to do the decryption of services.  Since the set top uses DSG to communicate and the guide is a Tru2Way platform, everything else will simply work as expected.

Sadly, I'll most likely never get to experience Trio.  I'm in a part of the country where Cox is not around for hundreds of miles.  Hopefully the cable company next to our Comcast area (Service Electric Cablevision) will purchase rights to Trio.  They still use I-Guide A25 and we all know how stinky that is.

[sroach23]

i would love the option to hide all the channels i never use. this would be the most important feature i want. as for the remote problem, get a universal remote. i bought a re-certified  Logitech harmony 550 on new egg for $55 shipped. i can customize it for any buttons that all my devices use, including on demand. if i hit watch tv it sets the tv to hdmi-1 and turns on the cable box. if i push watch dvd it turns off the cable box, turns the tv source to hdmi-2 and turns on the dvd player. it even controls my xbox 360.

[cypherx]

I contemplate getting a harmony, but I'm just disappointed that for $230 a month Comcast can't provide me with a harmony remote free of charge.

[sroach23]

they cant even provide their customers with a decent cable box. id rather have a decent box and buy my own remote.

[cypherx]

Well I think I fixed both remotes.  It was time consuming, but basically I had to remap every single key from cable mode onto TV mode (with the exception of volume, pip stuff, tv/vcr, hd zoom, power of course).

So now in TV mode, every button you would push to do something on the cable box, automatically sends the proper code.  So we can leave the remote in TV mode 100% of the time, and simply push power and the TV power's off but DVR stays on.

There was some trickery with the dark grey remote, because the EFC codes for the resolution switch (00109) and 30-sec skip (00173) do not work with the new IR protocol.  You have to program the old Motorola IR code to the AUX button, and pull the code off the AUX button.

I basically followed the procedures on the "How to use a Motorola DVR" wiki here:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Programming_the_Remote

The big help was the Key Mover function.

Key Remapping (Key-Mover)

Remapping a key allows you to move a key to a more convenient location, copy a key from another device, or add a new function to a key. One-For-All remotes call this feature Key-Mover.

Remap a Key

This is the general procedure for remapping. Several common mapping options specific to the Motorola DVR are listed below.

1. (Option) Press and release the device key to make it the default.
2. Press and hold the "Setup" button until a device key blinks twice.
3. Type in the code 994. A device key will blink twice.
4. (Option) Press and release the device key for the source device.
5. Press the key to get the code from. This can be:
   1. Another button with an existing code
   2. Press and release "Setup", then type in a 3- or 5-digit code. The code is called an 'Extended Function Code' (EFC). Most of the silver remotes use 5-digit codes. Most others use 3-digits. In most cases, you just add '00' to the front of the 3-digit code to get a 5-digit code (00173 = 173).
6. (Option) Press and release the device key for the destination device.
7. (Option) Press and release "Setup" to create a shifted key.
8. Press and release the button you want to put the code on.
9. If the remap is successful, a device key will blink twice.

We have 2 remotes, usually one for each sofa, or one goes by the computer.

[watchit]

I may be way out of my league here judging from all of the highly techinical postings I've seen.  Maybe there's someplace else I should be tryiing to get an answer to the following.  I'm just a grandma who has been really frustrated since the upgrade a few weeks ago.  I have a list of Favorites where I've deleted all the sports, shopping and channels I'm not interested in or don't subscribe to.  When I go through the list of channels that I like to watch (network, news and movies) and see something that looks interesting and press "Info" to find out a little more about it and then press "Info" again to get back to the Guide, I'm sent all the way back to Channel 2, the first channel on my list. Then I have to start all over again and scroll all the way down to where I was, or enter the channel number IF (and that's a big IF) I remember what channel I was on.  I find this extremely frustrating.  I do this many times a day when searching the Guide to decide what to watch.  Am I doing something wrong or is this something that needs to be fixed?  I thought I saw one other posting that mentioned this, but then couldn't find it again. 

[cypherx]

---

watchit wrote:

I may be way out of my league here judging from all of the highly techinical postings I've seen.  Maybe there's someplace else I should be tryiing to get an answer to the following.  I'm just a grandma who has been really frustrated since the upgrade a few weeks ago.  I have a list of Favorites where I've deleted all the sports, shopping and channels I'm not interested in or don't subscribe to.  When I go through the list of channels that I like to watch (network, news and movies) and see something that looks interesting and press "Info" to find out a little more about it and then press "Info" again to get back to the Guide, I'm sent all the way back to Channel 2, the first channel on my list. Then I have to start all over again and scroll all the way down to where I was, or enter the channel number IF (and that's a big IF) I remember what channel I was on.  I find this extremely frustrating.  I do this many times a day when searching the Guide to decide what to watch.  Am I doing something wrong or is this something that needs to be fixed?  I thought I saw one other posting that mentioned this, but then couldn't find it again. 

---

Yes, we all have the same problem.  It makes using Favorites quite a bear doesn't it?  I can only hope paired with other postings that Comcast corrects this flaw in the software. 

Do not worry, you are not alone.  You are not doing anything wrong, and there is nothing wrong with your equipment as the behavior your describing is happening across multiple models of cable boxes.