Comcast Can Bite Me ... If They Ever Show Up

I just moved into a new apartment over the weekend. I made sure to call well in advance (last Tuesday) to make sure they'd be able to install on the Saturday that I moved in. After getting a confirmation number, pricing, and a time and date, I showed up Saturday ready to get the new service up and running.

And I waited. And waited. Finally, I called Comcast to find out what was up. They scheduled me for Saturday the 11th, not the 4th. No where in the call record did it show that I needed it on the 4th, and the support rep was completely unsympathetic with the fact that I would be both TV and Internet-less for an entire week.

I'm super-pissed about it, which probably led to my getting a cold, which only made it worse when I'm stuck home Tuesday. Luckily, I have a fairly sizable DVD library, although I mostly ignored them while I slept off the cold.

Fortunately, it looks like Verizon is tearing the roads apart in Kenmore to roll out their FIOS fiber-optic service. I'm not sure when it'll be available, but it'll be nice to be able to play the two companies off of each other. Competition is almost always great for the consumer.

Further Adventures in High Definition

Life with the new HDTV is going swimmingly, but not without a few hiccups along the way. I've got the old PC hooked up to the TV through the DVI connection, but found out the hard way that Creative still hasn't got their act together when it comes to drivers on Windows Vista. As such, the digital out port still doesn't work, and I'm limited to stereo sound on the PC side. It's really quite annoying.

After getting a new amplified antenna, I tried to give some HDTV action a go through Windows Media Center. Unfortunately, the system couldn't seem to give me anything but stuttering and pixelation, no matter how strong the signal was. I'd just about given up after reading all the problems other people were having when someone mentioned that for some reason, they had no stuttering problems when using the Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender. Sure enough, HDTV is a wonderful experience and stutter-free through the Xbox 360. At this point, I'd call the Xbox 360 a perfect device if it weren't for the fact that it's so freakin' loud, particularly when trying to watch an HD DVD with it.

I'm moving to a new place in a couple weeks, and I'll probably be back with Comcast since I don't think I can get a DirecTV satellite dish installed where I'll be going. But, that'll give me a chance to see how Comcast's HDTV DVR works compared to my trusty TiVo. I have very low expectations at this point, but I'm hoping that what I've heard about a TiVo software for Comcast's hardware is true and that they'll roll out soon. Either that, or I have a friend at Moxi that might be able to hook me up.

Next up ... Intec has sent me an HDMI/Component switch that I'll hook up and run through it's paces. Fair Disclosure: I didn't pay for this switch, but I'll do my best not to let that color my perceptions.