The Geeky Brit

So this is what I want from my new tv provider:

1. Multi room DVR.
What I record in the living room I want to watch in the bedroom.
2. HD content.
I want my channels in HD… all of them. But be able to watch SD versions on my SD tv’s.
3. Same channel number for HD and SD
I hate having to learn different channel numbers for the bedroom and the living room. If I go to channel 32 (ESPN) I want it to be glorious HD in the living room, but be the sd variant in the bedroom.
4. True HD – and no twisting the figures
Working in the video industry my eyes have become accustomed to being able to distinguish video resolutions. Sometimes I am seeing some rather poor versions of HD, when the stream is limited in bitrate. I know Dish is now pushing the fact that their TurboHD is 1080p, but what is the bitrate? That is the key to the quality in reality.
5. My must have channels
All the locals, Fox Soccer Channel,BBC America, ESPN, ESPN2, and the local sports channels, Animal Planet, Discovery, History. I also would like to consider subscribing to Setanta Sports, and MLB Extra Innings.
6. Low hardware lease costs – minimal startup costs
I think the fact that hardware leases with my current provider cost MORE than a 2x TIVO subscription is a little ridiculous.
7. OnDemand HD Content
If I want to watch rent a movie, I want to do it through my tv. I am not a netflix fan, I can’t wait that long. When the mood takes me I want it now. If there is free content great, but that is not what I really need.
8. Reliable Equipment and Service, and good support when needed
Something I have had trouble with recently. This is the primary reason I am writing this list.
9. Remote Scheduling of my DVR
If I am on the road, I want to be able to schedule a recording on my DVR if I will not be at home on time.
10. Multimedia Center
I want to be able to export recordings I have made, and view photos, videos and listen to music stored on a central pc somewhere on my home network. Ya know, just that mythical convergence box we are all wanting.

So there it is, my ideal tv service wish list. This may be expanded, so DirectTV, Dish, AT&T, and even Comcast, let me know how many of the above points you can offer. I think it is only fair to say I am willing to spend up to $90 per month for all of the above.

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So a while ago I mentioned that I had been contacted by a comcast rep because of my gripes on this blog. Well, I had 2 individuals contact me, the second of which had a very senior sounding title.

We spoke at length about the issues I was having. It appears that each time I had a service rep out, they did not always record the fact that they visited my house. The Comcast representative mentioned that they only had 1 record of a service call, when I had somebody visiting 5 times within a 4 week period. It appears that the tech guys are a little lax with the paperwork.

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So a couple of strange things happened today. First of all I had a comcast technician out again, and was griping about it on this blog. As you may have seen, I have griped about Comcast before, and a few people have commented about similar issues. What has never happened before, is that I got a response from Comcast.

I also noticed my twitter feed was being picked up by someone called Frank whose username was comcastcares. Interesting, perhaps Comcast has started trying to solve customer issues when they blog about them. Thats a clever approach, the oil goes to the squeeky wheel, and in the age of blogging, the impact of being a dissatisfied customer and a blogger can have negative impacts…

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“Optimizing iPhone Battery Life”

Many iPhone batteries not fully charging – iPhone Atlas.

After having an issue this morning with my iphone saying it was low on juice, but never recharging, I found the above page which helped me figure out how to fix it. (Restore the phone – it was a software glitch).