XfinityTV and Equipment

[class77]

At least you can still have a favorites list. It is no longer functional for some of us

[cypherx]

How about custom branded high resolution VOD screens that can be designed per show?  As you select a show in the high resolution 16:9 UI, the background could 'fade' into a custom high resolution image to promote the show's brand.  In the menu, you would see a very nicely organized episode selections, and as you highlight each episode number and title, the description would change for more information.

Check out Plex Media Center for OS X to see what I mean. 

More details here:

http://www.plexapp.com/

Obviously turn on DOCSIS Set top Gateway so that the set top box can harvest these graphics over the high speed internet connection utilizing the modem built into the box.  Of course this is nothing that could happen if your tied down to the legacy 2mbps OOB data channel.

I'm not saying to copy Plex Media Center pixel by pixel, but take a look at it and use that as an idea when designing future interfaces.  Note that at the top of the screen the path where you are is always visible, so one would expect if you hit the "Last" button, you would go back one level (Breadcrumb navigation).

[philw1776]

I have an old SD TiVo.  One way I use it is its superior ability finding programs to record more easily and if they're in HD, I switch over to the Comcast Guide and go thru the laborious process of finding the show there and seting up a recording.  Late 1990s tech beats Comcast's 2010 again.

[Michael_Mc]

I just replaced my comcast remote.  On the old one the Guide button worked in TV mode or Cable mode.  On this one I have to go to Cable mode for the Guide button to work.  I've looked on the web and called Comcast tech support but no one knows how to unlock the Guide button or program it to work in both TV mode and Cable mode without having to switch back and forth.  Can you help?

[cypherx]

Remap a Key

Press the TV device key.

Press and hold Setup until the remote blinks twice.

Type in 994, the remote will blink twice.

Press the Cable device key.

Press the Guide button (or any other button you want to copy over to the TV side).

Press the TV device key.

Press the Guide button (or whatever the other button was you want to copy to the TV side).

If all went well, the remote will blink twice.

I ended up doing this for just about ALL of the keys, copying them from Cable to TV.  It is a shame it's not programmed this way from default.

[MMandel]

I can see this forum has been going awhile and it doesn't seem like much has changed. People seem to be posting the same problems over a year later. I'm not sure it is worth posting here but maybe someone can tell me if I am missing something or just one using the guide correctly. Are there more functions that I just haven't found yet?

I just moved from Memphis, TN where my Comcast service had a good guide. I don't know if it is because we were using the old Time Warner equipment we had when Comcast took over and it was superior or if Comcast offers better service in TN. The guide wasn't "pretty" but it was so easy to use. You could choose to view the guide by channel or date. You could select a date up to a week later and it would tune to the guide on the time you were on but a date in the future. The search was easy and again would search up to a week in advance.

Since moving to IN several weeks ago, I have been frustrated trying to navigate the new equipment. I am on my 2nd DVR box because the first one would freeze until I unplugged it and reset it. Aside from that the guide is almost useless. It will only show 2 days in advance. What if I go on vacation? I can't set up shows for the rest of the week? Beyond today what it does show says "To Be Announced." What is the point in showing even 2 days worth if you can't use them? I really liked the service in Memphis but not feeling very loyal to Comcast now.

[WarEagle57]

MMandel, any time you unplug the DVR it will take several days to fully repopulate guide data, but after that it should provide two weeks of data.  What DVR do you have?

[MMandel]

WarEagle the paperwork says it is a Motorola DCX3400. I can see now that several more days have been added. I guess that was part of the problem with the first box. The new box seems to be updating.

Is there a way to skip to a certain day or do I just have to keep scrolling? My box in Memphis would let me search by date.

Thanks for your help. I feel a little better.

[WarEagle57]

MMandel -- with the remote, the little round red "C" button will skip ahead a day at a time, and the blue "B" button skips back a day at a time.

[MMandel]

WarEagle, you have been so helpful. I really appreciate it.

Last question... I saw online that my area has the ability to set my DVR from the internet. I am using Firefox on a Mac but I never get past the activation in process screen. The message says it may take a moment but I let it go for hours and it never changed screens. I am using the correct Firefox but now I am wondering if it has something to do with the Mac.

Any ideas?

[JayInAlg]

I'll step in on Wareagle's thread, since he hasn't gotten A28 yet.

On your DVR, go to menu, hit menu again and go to setup.  Under the setup tab there is a menu item for "remote access setup".  Choose remote access setup and enable that selection.

That should help get your MyDVR enabled.

[WarEagle57]

---

JayInAlg wrote:

I'll step in on Wareagle's thread, since he hasn't gotten A28 yet.

...

---

Maybe I'll get it someday -- I've heard that Seattle Comcast employees have been testing it. 

[MMandel]

You guys are the best. Computer says it is syncing and has recognized my DVR. 

[JayInAlg]

That is great news, and we appreciate your followup.  Glad we can help.

[Zapix]

Coming from Middletown, CT area, we have the SA boxes... The menus just changed here on Monday. It went from just fine to total junk.

OLD: The menus took the space needed and did not take up the majority of the screen for things like INFO. Nautral off white background, easy to read. Also it was easy to get info on DVR programming you were watching.

NEW: The whole design takes up large amounts of the screen. INFO takes up easily 1/2 of the screen and it looks horrible with that blue background. As for DVR recorded info, you now have to jump through hoops to get it.


OLD: You were able to use the ZOOM function on any program both live, recorded on DVR, and onDemand. Great for programming that is shown in widescreen but fit onto a 4:3 (pan and scan) window. Allows the program to be watched on the entire screen.

NEW: Now the Zoom function appears to only work with live programming. Watching a movie on onDemand last night I was unable to zoom the picture from it's 16:9 fit into a 4:3 window onto my screen so I wouldn't have a tiny movie with a black border around the entire screen.

OLD: The program guide was really nice and didn't get in the way. If you wanted to see what was coming up on a TV station you were on all you had to do was press a button and move to see what was next without really taking up the screen on what you are watching. For looking at the guide itself, it displayed several channels scrolling down the list (1 2 3 4 or 2 3 4 5 or 4 5 6 7.)

NEW: Now when you want to see what is on, you are made to view programming on the next channel as well, and half of the screen is taken up to do it, showing you information on the screen that is not needed. The full guide is now ugly, the search functions are no longer a button away by pressing the A B or C buttons. The list is now a set order so you would view it as 1 2 3 4 or 5 6 7 8. This might not seem like a big deal, but if you are only interested in channels 3 and 6, you now have to view them seperately. As a matter of convenience, this new design is bothersome, especially where the movie channels are concerned. Searching by title has greatly improved however in that it will search the entire listed calendar instead of having to search day by day.

OLD: My DVR prgorams recorded were able to be set to a certain number of days or when I decided to delete them.

NEW: Now you have 2 options, and that is to delete them when you decide or delete when you need space. However, BEWARE! This detail really angered me... ALL PREVIOUS DVR PROGRAMS RECORDED PRIOR TO THE UPDATE ARE AUTOMATICALLY SET TO DELETE WHEN SPACE IS NEEDED. I had to go through every program I had and change each one with a rather bothersome task of confirming each one instead of just hitting OK.


I was satisfied with the old menus, and it's part of how you view the programming you are watching. From a convenience stand point, and ease of use. Ever since seeing these new menus this week I have played with them to try and see how it is better, but there is NOTHING better. It is several steps backwards. There should be a function that allows you to use the old menus or be stylized like them.

I'm normally just barely satisfied with comcast, if you can even call it satisfied. This just made my opinions worse. Seriously considering alternatives.

[tedtv]

If the new SA guide works like the Motorola A25 guide, below are a few suggestions and comments that may help.....

Have you tried adjusting the background color of the guide? Press menu, menu, select setup, guide colors setup. You may find a better contrast here that works for you.

As for channel number sequencing, you may want to set up a Favorite Channel list.. Press menu, menu, setup, favorites lists set up - once you set up a favorites list, you can select FAV on the remote control to cycle through only your favorite channels in the grid

Also, to look ahead in time or look at other channel's listings without leaving a show that you are watching, you can press the OK/Select button on the remote control -  that brings up a mini guide (which you can set to show either two or three channels) - then using the nearby four arrows you can scroll down or up by channel or go right to see what is on later. The "C" button on the remote will bring you ahead a day in this mode or in the full guide mode.

I think the default in the mini guide is two channels - to change to show three channels >> menu menu, setup, guide setup, change mini guide cell height to single height - that will display three channels. This takes up about a quarter of the lower part of the screen.

To find movies, try this: menu, menu, then search, then select Movies or select Premium Channels to see a list of what's on. Also, in the guide grid, all of the movies are color-coded in purple.

DVR Recordings - if your remote control has a MyDVR button, that is the quickest and easiest way to get to your DVR recordings. Or you can press menu and then select the DVR icon from the quick menu.

For recording settings, the Save Until options are: "Space is needed" or "Until I delete".

Just above that setting is where you can set additional save settings; "Save All Episodes" or "Save Only 1 Episode", 2 episodes, etc up to 7 episodes

There is some more info and a user guide here http://www.comcast.net/meetyourguide/

I hope that helps, let us know.

[wantonsoup]

Any word on whether Denver will ever get A28?

[schimmy]

---

wantonsoup wrote:

Any word on whether Denver will ever get A28?

---

I'm one of the lucky few to have A28 in the Denver area but I'm a tester. When I was asking about the MyDVR feature a few weeks ago, they said that it may still be awhile and no date is set for roll out for either.

[schimmy]

So is "GuideDog" still following this thread?

I've found that with the online guide, it's not complete and missing a handful of HD channels that were added months ago. I've tried using the "mydvr" online and I can't tell when there's a conflict what's actually recording and not recording and since some of the HD channels are missing online, I can't set all the recordings.

With the A28 guide, I still have a few duplicates recording but this is when the first airing of a new episode is two hours then the second showing of the same episode is split into two one hour episodes.

I think it's sad that Comcast thinks the upgrade from A25 to A28 is a big upgrade and makes a big deal of it while these other companies are coming out with better guides while we have to stay with this mid 90's guide. I was testing an old TV that I got in the late 90's that had a built in guide and I noticed even the built in guide for that was even better then what comcast has now.

If GuideDog is still reading this thread, can you explain what ever happend to the guide that was shown at CES 2008? From the reports back then, it was suppose to be put into place sometime 2009. Can Comcast actually be proactive for once and show teasers of at least something being worked on so we can at least see that your doing something to get with the times?

Ok my rant is done.

[Anon1312218]

Moving smoothly backwards....

Just got the new guide here in New Haven. Kept it to a nice surprise by taking down the system right in the middle of a movie I was watching without any sort of warning or announcement that it would be happening, either days in advance or minutes. I assumed it was yet another software hang, particularly with all the bizarre messages coming up on the LED, and it was only because I was too lazy to pull the plug on the machine as I have to do weekly to get it to reboot correctly that the update actually went through.

So now, I don't have the turn-on timer, I don't have the turn-off timer; and I don't have the sleep timer, of all of which I was a heavy user. The search by topic now seems to be restricted to movies, so I can't for instance look for "theme: comedy" and get network shows, cable shows, and movies like I used to. Not that that search was any great shakes, given that it was restricted to a day and would roll over at midnight. And of course, the option to set the box to turn on when I fired a channel number at it via the remote instead of having to turn it on then switch channels is gone. 

Some explanation for what a lot of the cryptic options are would be nice. "Advanced" audio output? What's that mean, the audio comes out a few seconds ahead of the video? Don't you guys have the capability to deliver text onto the screen when the Help menu is accessed?

I'm still getting used to the rest of the guide, and there seem to be other things missing; maybe i'll find them but I doubt it.

So, two basic questions? Why would you intentionally remove features that the hardware supported as an enhancement to your software? And has anyone in your office actually seen the AT&T interface? 

[designair]

THE NEW GUIDE IS ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE ! VIEWING FULL SCREEN ON A FLAT SCREEN CUTS OFF INFO ON BOTH ENDS!!!! AND WHY DID THEY MAKE IT SO YOU HAVE TO FLIP THROUGH ALL THE PAY PER VIEW CHANNELS YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET RO WHAT YOU DO???? COMPLETELY STUPID AND POORLY DESIGNED.

[camsusaneise]

If you are really still reading this thread, let add to the dismay at how the "upgrade" was handled. The "new and better guide" just showed about 3 weeks ago in Bethel, CT, no warning no nothin'. Most of the features I used heavily, Turn-on Timer, Turn-Off Time, and especially the Sleep Timer are gone. This new guide is absolutely hateful. Were any customers polled as to what features they used most often? Is there a search by date feature? Do you really have to scroll right through 4 days worth of programming to find out what's on 4 days from now, because that's the only way I've found to do it. All I had to do with the old guide was press Guide the press the B button and select the date. The icon based menus are awkward and confusing. Whoever is responsible for the design of this thing should have their collective butts fired because they suck at their job. I am one very unhappy customer and will be looking elsewhere for all three services.

[tedtv]

When in the full screen guide grid mode, press the red C button (Day +) on the Comcast remote control, that will bring the listings out a day at a time. Or you could just Search by entering in a word - press menu twice on the Comcast remote control, then select search, then TV title search in the upper left hand side.

[fgread]

The new channel guide just showed up in York PA..... Ads? They're not making enough money already? And graphic design? Legibility? Organization? Useability? Not to put too fine a point on it, but this thing is bad. Comcast really earns its reputation one boneheaded move after the other. I think maybe its time to just stop watching TV, anyway; we all know its not good for us. Anyone else on board with just quitting?

[flyarcher]

I haven't had time to go through all the features, but the first thing I noticed is that the menu overruns the screen for the screen mode I view in.  My Sharp TV has a "smart stretch" mode that shows a full screen no matter how the picture is formatted, 16:9 or 4:3.  So to see the entire guide, I have to take the TV out of my preferred viewing mode.  Seems they could have accounted for this.

[jlacharite]

The best guide I have ever used is the U-Verse guide. Its easy to use, and very appealing to the eye. I hope Comcast comes up with a similar one because the current one i have with Comcast looks outdated and not tech-appealing. I liked how the U-vers guide was semi-transparent on screen and had no advertisements. It also was color consistent with no odd looking colors like purple or green. I would benchmark thiers and do a side by side comparison.  As far as usability, i think the comcast guide does everything one would expect, just maybe not in the easiest or most logical way.

[clonegirl]

I also would love to know if GuideDog is still listening to these posts.  My guide just changed a couple of days ago here in NH, and I absolutely hate it.  I can no longer scroll through quickly to get to other nearby channels without getting hung up on clickable ads.  I would think that I pay enough in cable charges to not have these on the guide.  Each line on the guide became so big that I can only see about 4 channels at a time (also hate that). And finally the width of the guide is so wide that I can't see the sides and have to change my tv to view in 16:9 mode which I do not prefer as well.  Seriously with these changes alone, I am hating the whole user experience on comcast cable.  I guess it is time to look for other companies to do business with.

[andyross]

It sounds like you have one of the SA boxes updated to S25?

On the Motorola's, the remote has page up and down keys to scroll one screen at a time. Does the SA remote have something similar?

[riled]

Was there no testing with the guide?  It's a real step backwards, and I called customer support

to see if there was a way to revert to the previous guide, but no luck.

If you single arrow through the channels, you waste one slot on an AD!  Unbelievable, is

this a free service like Facebook?  I don't think so, we pay plenty for cable -- we shouldn't

lose functionality just so you can throw more ads at us.  How tacky.

The default 4 lines of directory is far too small -- I know it's fixabled by the settings after

doing some reading, but please.... if you want some handicapped mode for visually

impaired customers, provide that information separately.

It takes an extra click to get to my recorded shows.  Once there, I can no longer sort

alphabetically.  Do you think Tivo removes features like this?

If Comcast isn't outsourcing this functionality, then they should start doing so.

If they *are* outsourcing it, then they should fire those people.  And please issue

a press release so we all know what company is responsible.  If it's a management

issue -- that someone decided on a schedule and you had to discard features

to make it, then fire the manager.

[clonegirl]

My box is a Cisco.  I haven't seen any reference to problems with these in the postings, but there may not be a ton of them around.  Any info?

[designair]

WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS SITE IF THE PEOBLEMS WITH THE NEW ON SCREEN GUIDE ARE NOT GOING TO BE FIXED!!!!!??????

[cypherx]

I believe if you push the right arrow when you are in your recordings, it might change the sorting (by date, channel, name). I hear ya on the ads though. I was outraged myself when they rolled that out to my area a few years ago. Over time you do get used to it, but I wish they took the DirecTV approach to ads. DTV will randomly throw a single line ad for a relevant program or service in-line with channel listings as you scroll. Its much less intrusive as a "fixed" ad at the bottom of the screen like you have with the I-Guide. I agree it's a bit archaic in terms of looks and functionality, but it's only the first version and I hear that many improvements are planned for future releases.

< >

In a world with advanced "pretty" and easy user interfaces that we see on iPhones, iPads, our modern computers, android and other smartphones, etc... We are all visually spoiled with the modern look and feel of these everyday use devices. Hopefully the companies that create these on screen guides start bringing our TV experience more in line with the other modern technologies that we interact with every day.

[szeck87]

Is there any plan to update the guide as far as user-interface?  I've read through a lot of these posts and it sounds like something was supposed to happen last year that was shown at CES 2008, but never did.  The current interface needs to go.

[mehta4]

I have an SA Explorer 8000HD box. I read through most of the posts here and noticed that GuideDog has not responded in a good while. Is this thread still being watched?

My Problems:

1. Ugliest guide and menu interface EVER. I feel like I inherited this box from TRON (and not the 2010 version).

2. I pay for HD DVR yet my box can only handle about 40 hours of recording. I have found comcast sites and FAQs saying that I should have 300 hours of SD recording and 60 hours of HD - is this right?

3. In the guide when I put in a channel number I expect the guide to go to that channel and show me what is on in the 1-2 hours. Instead it flips to the channel completely and the guide exits out. What the heck?

4. Recordings should be filed. I don't want to scroll through all my recordings to get to one particular show

I get the feeling Comcast is punking me and any day now a service guy will pop out of my bushes with a trucker hat and tell me this has all been a joke. Until that day Comcast should pay me to use their service because this guide and set-up is just mind-boggling sh**

[Hiitsjustmee]

This thread may be dead, but as a long-time TiVo user who just switched to the Comcast hd DVR, I have to agree the Comcast interface is really bad. I hate not being able to disable channels I don't receive. I don't want to have to make a favorites list! I hate not being able to schedule 'season passes' for programs that are on hiatus (no showings in the next two weeks). I hate the squashed, cramped guide display. I also hate the 'Recording complete' message. The search feature is awful.

I gave up my TiVo only because I just got an hd tv and I didn't want to have to buy a new TiVo. After my first week with the Comcast interface, I wonder how long it will be before I give up and pay the bucks to TiVo.

[SAVAGESAM]

I'd like to suggest you move away from abbreviating the channels so much. Some of them are easy to figure out, others not so much. Also is there a way to show only the channels you personally receive? Or make your channels a different color within the guide?

[WarEagle57]

You can set up "favorites."

[terradon]

The problem with favorites is my biggest complaint. User friendly is not just window dressing. If the functionality is lacking, pretty displays is meaningless. Setting up a favorite list is a much bigger project than it used to be. I have one to toggle through my favorites in HD (I know the channel numbers for SD) and one to toggle through local channels. That worked fine for a very long time. Recently, both lists have channels added or subtracted on almost a daily basis. In one case, I the added channels are duplicates and triplicates of what I originally set up. I spend time to trim the list and a day or two later, it's a mess again.

Now, I'd like to be able to arrange the list, but why enhance something that just plain is a massive frustration because it not only doesn't work, it isn't consistent in how it doesn't work! <grin> Use any program for a while and you learn to work around its limitations. But, when there is a bug that is causing seemingly random changes to what you've done, there is no chance to learn and frustration boils over to encompass everything about the program.

Squash the bugs that make the guide frustrating to the point of being unusable before adding someone's idea of an enhancement. Form definitely is important, but it is meaningless in the abscence of functionality.

[warpnine]

I've had the new guide for a couple weeks, and there are some things I think could be improved.  Actually, they would be improved by downgrading to the old guide funtions.

1. No way to record only one instance of a program.  Case in point, I record Agribusiness on Saturday morning.  The guide records every instance of Agribusiness, even though I set it to record only new instances.  It is re-recorded on Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning and again on Sunday afternoon.

2. I can't turn off the DVR if I'm recording a program when I go to bed.

3. No date and day of week on the info button, only the time of day.

4. You need to be really fast pressing the number buttons to change a channel.  Example:  press 713, if you're too slow between numbers it will go to channel 7, or 71.  I'm getting a little older and slower.

[andyross]

---

1. No way to record only one instance of a program.  Case in point, I record Agribusiness on Saturday morning.  The guide records every instance of Agribusiness, even though I set it to record only new instances.  It is re-recorded on Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning and again on Sunday afternoon.

If the program always airs at the same time/channel, you can create a VCR-style manual recording, and configure it to repeat in the advanced options (wrench icon on the last setup screen.)

2. I can't turn off the DVR if I'm recording a program when I go to bed.

I think Comcast and others would like to get rid of 'power' buttons. All it does is turn off the display. The power usage only drops by maybe 1-2W.

---

[valleygreen]

It is not. The programs are not logically grouped such as all children's together etc. The HD version of a channel should be located right next to the SD version. There should be a way to " hide" channels you don't get, or want to use, so when you scroll though you only see channels you want or can use. The ability to hide sd versions of channels if you have an HD box. The ability to scroll through the four or five channels you can see at any one time in the guide instaed of having to go through each one. The option of being able to see more than the four or five channels you can see at max.

The user inter face is really not very well thought out.

[bjs_66]

"If the machine ain't broke,..."

The new Xfinity guide that started up a couple of days ago (Houston area) is awful. Its ugly. The neon colors and terrible resolution - it looks like a high school kid designed it! I don't know where to start. You can only see four channels at a time and you can't scroll to the set of channels you'd like to view together. You can no longer simply double click the guide button to get back to the program - you have to hunt down the exit button. It's just hard to have to look at. It doesn't cleanly change to the next set of channels   ....because - and here's why the change from a perfectly good, nice looking guide - it highlights the ADVERTISEMENT for some On Demand show I couldn't be less interested in. I'm aware of On Demand. If I want to get a movie - I'll look it up. Thanks for nothing Comcast. Now I have to stare at this ugly, amateurish, pixelated layout just so you can squeeze in another useless advertisement. Very dissapointing.

[bjs_66]

I just started getting a new Xfinity guide interface a couple days ago (in Houston area) - and it's AWFUL. Its ugly, pixelated, harder to use, etc. (looks like a high school kid designed it for a school project)    Aaahhhh    ... but it does include advertisements for OnDemand shows that it scrolls to (instead of just going to the next channel on the next page). Thanks for nothing Comcast! Now I get to stare at this ugly, neon colored, hard to use guide so you can squeeze in another advertisement. Ugh - very dissappointing. Why can't we just leave anything that works(the previous guide) alone.

In particular - you're stuck with the four channels grouped together the way the guide presents them. You used to be able to scroll so that you could group consecutive channels however you needed. Also, you can't scroll backwards to see what the previous program was/is. You can no longer simply double click to get back to your program - you have to hunt down the exit button. In short, the previous interface worked great and easy - and looked okay, to boot.

[debknapp]

---

bjs_66 wrote:

"If the machine ain't broke,..."

The new Xfinity guide that started up a couple of days ago (Houston area) is awful. Its ugly. The neon colors and terrible resolution - it looks like a high school kid designed it! I don't know where to start. You can only see four channels at a time and you can't scroll to the set of channels you'd like to view together. You can no longer simply double click the guide button to get back to the program - you have to hunt down the exit button. It's just hard to have to look at. It doesn't cleanly change to the next set of channels   ....because - and here's why the change from a perfectly good, nice looking guide - it highlights the ADVERTISEMENT for some On Demand show I couldn't be less interested in. I'm aware of On Demand. If I want to get a movie - I'll look it up. Thanks for nothing Comcast. Now I have to stare at this ugly, amateurish, pixelated layout just so you can squeeze in another useless advertisement. Very dissapointing.

---

I could not have said it better!!!!  Another thing is that its not family friendly either! Why should my kids have to scroll through sex channels if they do not know how to get to the favorite menu????? I have blocked the titles but the older ones can still read the rest of it. And for that matter why do I have to scroll through all the channels I do not receive unless I create a favorite list? It should be where the channels you are not subscribed to are either a different color or can be disabled and not show up at all!

[langenrm]

All recent posts are from "new visitor." Has Comcast or Xfinity responded to anyone? The new TV service is beyond horrible. Normally I don't take time to vent my frustrations but the new guide is brutal. All I want to know is whether or not there is a way to change my service back to the way it was. I believe that I know the answer to my question but wanted to ask before I cancel my service.

 I really hate to complain, but I hate to pay over $100 a month for this garbage even more. I didn't ask for it, I didn't agree to it and I definitely do not appreciate the stupid advertisement at the bottom of my guide every time I try to scroll. 

 Customer service is not offering "chat" rooms for someone to waste your time with pre-written answers to concerns that you don't have. Customer service is delivering the service that you promised. If I don't pay my comcast bill they will cancel my service. Well, I do pay my bill, therefore, Comcast should provide my the service that we originally agreed upon. Hopefully they wont be surprised when I cancel my service.

[bharris5869]

So glad that you asked!! I have so many issues with the new Xfinity that I would like to go back to the

old on-screen guide!! When using the guide for the TV schedule, every sixth click it  lands on an

advertisement for On-Demand. If I wanted On-Demand, I would click On-Demand!! It is very irritating

to have to deal with these ads while searching for a channel.

Also, when setting up a program to be recorded, there is no option that allows you to record only

the shows that come on at a particular time. So now, I have to record ALL of the Law & Order reruns

on TNT to be able to record the earliest shows that normally are shown at 3:00 or 4:00 am on Sunday.

Another problem is it won't let me record more than one program at a time. Before I could record

two programs while viewing another previously recorded program. It just seems that the ability to

record multiple shows would have been an option that most people would have liked.

When the change to Xfinity occurred, the recording priority was automatically set on some shows. So far,

I haven't been able to figure out how to change the priority without having to delete all the recordings and rescheduling them - which would be a lot of trouble.

Another feature that would have been great to have would be to record all of an program even if it

extended past the selected end time. Since there is no option to select a start nor end recording time,

looks like a system that tries to be so futuristic would be able to compensate for this problem.

So, is there a way to go back to old on-screen guide? This one is not user-friendly at all.

[tobey43]

I'm going to make this short and sweet. Your new guide is absolutely terrible!!! You all (Comcast) should have held a focus group demo with 50 or so of use users. If you had done that, you would never have released this product. By the way, thanks for the warning---Not!!! The former guide system and use of the remote control was just fine. Why did you have to change something that wasn't broken? I am VERY seriously considering switching to Version solely because of this botched effort on your part. I've been a customer of Comcast for a very very long time, but this may just be the last straw---unless you fix this mess soon (i.e. go back to the old system). I sure hope that the real decision makers are reading these comments. Who ever decide on this total screw up should be fired.

[valleygreen]

The answer is no. No it's not. Besides the fact that the HDD that comes with the DVR is extremely small. It can only hold a few shows and then it's full. I solved my problem by cancelling my cable service and went back to Directv. The user guide is great. And the HDD holds a ton of HD shows. I'm happy again.

[bharris5869]

After reading some of the posts and noting the dates they were listed, it occurs to me that this all a hoax

and that Comcast doesn't give a flip about how happy (or unhappy!!) I might be with their new Xfinity.

With a name like "Xifnity", one would naturally think the whole concept would be futuristic.

Well, it's been a giant leap - BACKWARD!!!!

P.S. When you hit "spell check", it doesn't even recognize the word "Xfinity". That speaks volumes

to me!!

[j10str]

ABSOLUTELY NOT, WE HAVE BEEN ON THE TELE SEVERAL TIMES WITH COMCAST TO TRY TO FIX THE PROBLEM BUT WITHOUT LUCK, !! UR NEW GIUDE SHOWS THE PROGRAMS AND NOT THE CHANNELS AND IT IS A WIDE SCREEN TV THX