cox digital package...is it necessary to rent the digital box?

If you are talking about the Contour Box, I don't think there's a way around it. However once you get one, the regular boxes can pause live TV, record, rewind, etc. So just rent one and out it into the main room.

There are only a handful of boxes that can use a CableCard and have access to premium channels. In every case, they will not allow you to have access to OnDemand features. Currently, your best bet to avoid monthly fees is this Samsung box that does not have DVR. TiVo devices will cost a monthly fee. Moxi devices are no longer in production, as I understand it, but if you can find one for less than thousands of dollars, it's supposed to be a steal.
Now, if you use an HTPC, want to include DVR(or PVR, if you want to call it that) and have a Gigabit switch handy, you can try your luck with either a SiliconDust HDHomerun Prime, Ceton InfiniTV 6eth, or a Hauppauge device that, quite frankly I refuse to look up the name of because it's the HDHomerun with a different stamp on it.

Outside of standalone and ethernet devices, there are two USB devices that I know of: a Ceton InfiniTV 4usb and Hauppauge makes a 2-tuner USB one. I have had bad luck with USB tuners in the past. You need a particularly strong CPU from what I gather. And, lastly, Ceton makes a pair of internal PCIex1 CableCard tuners: the InfiniTV 4 and InfiniTV 6. There are probably some letters after the 6 that say "pci" or something, but quite honestly, if you are at the point that you're considering buying an internal computer tuner card, you probably know enough to find it. And if you're not at that point, you'll just buy the Samsung box that I linked.


Lastly: CableCards typically cost $1-2/month from the company. They are required by FCC ruling to provide you with the card upon your request. If you call them and tell them you are setting up a TiVo, they will help you (if you mention the actual name of the device, they'll likely not know what you're talking about). Some companies do give them away for free, I hear (can't confirm. Never owned/rented one). And, lastly lastly, the TiVo boxes will cost some additional sum per month. All others listed will not require anything other than the initial cost.


ETA: FWIW, I plan on making the switch to cable in the semi-near future and plan to purchase the Samsung box as well as an HDHomerun Prime. With the right setup, I'll have one TV with a standard box setup, and then an HTPC serving as a DVR with 3 tuners that are pooled throughout the house for viewing on any DLNA-capable device plus access through dedicated apps.

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ETA: FWIW, I plan on making the switch to cable in the semi-near future and plan to purchase the Samsung box as well as an HDHomerun Prime. With the right setup, I'll have one TV with a standard box setup, and then an HTPC serving as a DVR with 3 tuners that are pooled throughout the house for viewing on any DLNA-capable device plus access through dedicated apps.

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I don't think your DVR'd programs are going to be viewable over DLNA. While the Prime does indeed support DLNA, including protected programs, it's for Live TV only, and a PC isn't even required for this. To view programs recorded by WMC beyond the PC that recorded them, you will need to use extenders, e.g. the Xbox 360. Ceton has the Echo, but it's 90% abortion, whereas their tuners are more like 25% abortion. Yeah, I think SiliconDust makes a far better product.

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I don't think your DVR'd programs are going to be viewable over DLNA

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They are, regardless of where they come from. I didn't really go into detail here, but you definitely do not need media center extenders to view DVR'd (.wtv or dvr-ms) stuff. DLNA capable devices are the clients for my DLNA server (simply windows media player).

Further, what I said was intended to mean the same thing as you clarified: the HDHRPrime is pooled network tuners available on all DLNA devices in addition to the HTPC (dvr) and media extenders- media center extenders simply gain a functional guide interface as opposed to what looks like a video file that is just the channel name/number with no info on what's currently playing.

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Some quick googling suggests playing Recorded TV files over DLNA is very hit and miss, with a lot of miss:

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In my experience, which is purely with unprotected content, the majority of .wtv and .dvr-ms stuff will play on a DLNA client, but I rarely use the native browsers on the client devices to find and initiate the stream. I used several different smartphone/tablet apps, namely Twonky, to browse the files and "push" to the DLNA client with very good success. When the files would fail, it was almost always due to poor network connection in conjunction with large, raw files, but even still, I usually get what I need to play just fine. I suppose I'm cheating a bit by using the non-native browser, not using protected files (though a file conversion with MCEBuddy, free and easy, would probably lift your protection issue and solve the size issue, if that's a problem. But then we likely aren't talking about .wtv or .dvr-ms files, as you'll probably convert them to MPEG2 or H.264) and am lucky to have devices that work well. I use a Sony HX 72 series (I think) TV and D-Link Medialounge 510 for the most part. I had equal success rates with android tablets. I had very mixed results with applications that attempt to offer DLNA compatability that's not native to the device (so the twonky app on my iphone to view very large files, attempting to push them to Roku and AppleTV which also fail to offer support for .dvr-ms and .wtv) often failed to work, but I blame that issue on attempting to force compatibility where it wasn't originally offered (the firmwares are not DLNA certified).

I've never had an issue with MPEG2/H.264 stuff. And I actually did have better success with an old XP computer running some Sony proprietary media server that would get transcoded on the server side rather than the client side. I am looking to find a decent transcode-on-the-fly bit of software but haven't had the best success with compatibility and, of course, it being free.

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I suppose I'm cheating a bit by using the non-native browser, not using protected files (though a file conversion with MCEBuddy, free and easy, would probably lift your protection issue and solve the size issue, if that's a problem.

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The Microsoft DRM has never been cracked, so that's not going to be possible. It regularly pisses off people who would like to remove commercials, reinstall the OS without losing all their protected recordings, etc.

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To catch what, exactly?

You can catch ESPN, ESPN, CST, Fox Sports New Orleans, etc without the box.

Fox Sports 1, SEC Network, Golf Channel, ESPN U..You need the box.

ETA - I think you have to rent their modem and cable box

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You are getting those channels from Cox in HD without a box?

Great post. Thanks. Fortunately, this is an issue I haven't really run into at all thus far. With the switch from DirecTV to Cox, I will likely find it at some point, though.



One potential solution for you, though cumbersome and expensive (initially, though cheaper than the alternative of buying the movies you are recording) would be to purchase a Hauppauge Colossus (someone else makes an HDMI-in tuner...I think AverMedia, but I'm not certain) for your recording box and record either from a set-top box (either bought or rented) or directly from the computer's output (slightly more annoying to configure or run the files as you would want them to be run).


I will definitely be looking into what my market protects/encrypts before pursuing my current solution idea.


ETA: I started using WMC in August 2005 when I bought a Sony VAIO desktop that just happened to have a TV Tuner on board (didn't even realize it at the time I bought it). I've always used either RCA inputs (from a satellite box) or ClearQAM cable channels, though. Delving into CableCARD tuners is a new adventure.

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they may even know what an "HDHomeRun Prime" is.

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Word on the street is that if you say "I'm trying to activate a TiVo," they'll hook you right up and know what to do. The other names of devices confuse them. Just in case you ever spring for another, this may help. My buddy that I talked about before didn't have too much trouble, and he did this almost a year to the day ago.

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I'd recommend buying GuideTool and MyChannelLogos

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I will check out GuideTool. I found a program that lets me backup channel lineups/favorites and series settings. I also have an Excel sheet of which channels Media Center loads in for me vs the ones I actually can tune (a pain when you're using a set-top box, as it downloads the whole guide, typically with HD and SD stations separate, despite running over SVid and including stations that have no output because you don't subscribe to them).

I already own MyChannelLogos. I like it a lot. From the looks of it, the people who make GuideTool are the same ones that make MediaCenterCast. If you haven't seen/heard of it, it's pretty neat. It essentially offers full Chromecast function (minus the beta tabbed browsing from the attempt I made recently) to your Media Center computer. If you've got an HTPC setup, it's a really nice way to use a few non-native/difficult to navigate features, like watching YouTube videos and the like. As soon as Google starts offering Amazon Prime or I purchase an HBO subscription, I'll pay the $10 (though it is free to try for some nominal amount of time). It's a little novel if you just want Netflix (I happen to think the WMC Netflix is a pretty decent-to-good browser/experience) from your instant queue.

When I lived in Georgia I was able convert ALL my recordings to h.264 with my htpc. Now in Baton rouge, I cant convert HBO. All other channels are still copy freely. Use mcebuddy to convert and strip commercials. Then you can watch recorded shows on any device.

Just saw the post above, I have not tried the channels he mentions yet.