COX Communications

[Thunder]

They upgraded the software to all customers' DVR overnight. It is a much nicer interface, but it is somewhat hard to read. There is no more an option to change colors. It is the one same what you see is what you get. It would be nice if the font is larger, especially on Info paragraphs for whatever you are watching. I see that all the OnDemand rentals was dropped to $2.99, but not enough to seriously compete against RedBox.

(Recently rented 3 movies from RedBox and none of the movies have CC. Returned, sent an email, but no response/refund was received.) So, for now, COX will have me renting from them simply because of having CC. (Hope there will be a class action lawsuit against RedBox soon.)

I don't know how much for the HD rentals since I did not check that.

[acumpton]

They haven't updated ours yet, but I'm excited to see the changes. Not so excited to have to reset up all of my season passes though.

[geterdone]

Your box should update on the 27th or the 3rd of November depending on the box that you are using. Once you become accustomed to the new guide you should enjoy it. It may take a minute though to get adjusted.

[BBatesokc]

Ours has been updated. The jury is still out on if we like it better.

We just recently reduced our cable subscription as it was getting ridiculous at $175/month. Got it down to $125/month and have even noticed losing anything. We are slowly going down to extremely basic cable and internet. We can watch anything we want on local channels, NetFlix or Hulu+. Looking to get a Google Internet TV device or similar unit soon.

It does look like the new software on the DVR will provide more options, it just doesn't seem to intuitive. Every year I take my DVR to COX and ask for a new one so that I've always got one of the newest boxes.

[Easy180]

Like what I have seen so far..kinda minor but it is a nice touch when you a fast forwarding, hit play and it automatically jumps back a little since 90% of the time you go too far

[Thunder]

Mom is furious with the change and she will demand to revert the change.

[Lord Helmet]

Mom is furious with the change and she will demand to revert the change.

Yeah. That'll happen.

[Easy180]

Hey it worked with New Coke

[oneforone]

I like the new software. It is nice not to have to flip through all the pages to record my favorite shows. I just key in the name and it tells me when it will be on. I also like that is shows which recordings you have watched and which are still in progress if you had to stop watching. I sometimes fall asleep and pick up watching something later in the day or a few days later. It picks up right were I left off. The screen saver mode is also cool.

[SoonerQueen]

I kinda like the new upgrade. The thing I didn't like was having to re do all my programs that I tape each week. The one thing I do like is when a program runs over a little, with the upgrade it keeps taping till the end and you don't miss the last few minutes of a show. I'm glad the pay per view movies have gone down in price. I noticed that in the On Demand you can catch some of the shows that you forgot to DVR. All is good so far.

[Matt]

Every year I take my DVR to COX and ask for a new one so that I've always got one of the newest boxes.

I was curious about this so I called Cox today to see if there was any reason I should swap out my (now three-year-old) box for a new one. Dude told me that other than some minor cosmetic/footprint differences, my box has the same rusty innards as the ones that are currently available, so there was no real reason to do it. Mine has HDMI and a 160 GB hard drive and he said that's what they all have right now.

He did say that they were looking at rolling out a new box in "two quarters" (his words) that would upgrade the DVR's storage space, which is what I'm most-interested in. That would be nice. I'm always running out of space on my DVR.

[BBatesokc]

I was curious about this so I called Cox today to see if there was any reason I should swap out my (now three-year-old) box for a new one. Dude told me that other than some minor cosmetic/footprint differences, my box has the same rusty innards as the ones that are currently available, so there was no real reason to do it. Mine has HDMI and a 160 GB hard drive and he said that's what they all have right now.

He did say that they were looking at rolling out a new box in "two quarters" (his words) that would upgrade the DVR's storage space, which is what I'm most-interested in. That would be nice. I'm always running out of space on my DVR.

What did you expect him to say "Yes, bring that box in every year!" That's the last thing they want their thousands of customers to do. It was a in home service tech that actually originally recommended the yearly (or so) swaps. I learned of this when my box went out and I had to wait 3 days for a tech to come out. The tech told me I could have taken the box in myself and swapped it but for whatever reason the phone support people rarely ever tell customers about that fact and instead make them wait for a repair contractor. He said minor changes are made all the time to the boxes. He said the newer the box the better it can handle software upgrades that are sent out to customers. He recommended every year or two.

As a matter of fact, the box I have now I swapped out at the Air Depot COX location and the lady confirmed the box she was giving me had far fewer repair/return issues than the one I was bringing in.

Personally, I never know when to trust COX employees. Many times when we've called in with issues they just make an appointment for a tech to come to our house. That means days without service (or limited service) and when they get here it is usually a quick fix I could have done myself. A recent problem was simply a lose connection to the signal amplifier they had previously installed. If the phone person would have asked me to check that the problem would have been solved. I called them back and they told me they didn't even have any record of them installing a signal amplifier!

[Matt]

Yeah, of course they're not gonna tell everybody they should swap out their equipment every year or two, but the guy seemed on the level to me. Hard drive size is the main reason I was interested in swapping out, but I've already got the biggest available HD, so I'm good there. And I've never had any trouble with this unit the whole time--if I had, I'd be swapping it out in a heartbeat. Plus, I think I'd lose all the stuff on my DVR, which is a big reason not to do it.

He also told me about hooking up an external HD for more storage space if I wanted, but did mention that Cox wouldn't be able to provide any support for it.

[Thunder]

With recent revelation from Spike toying with us regarding Star Trek Voyager episodes (has not been shown for over a week now), I find the useful feature previously stated on here to be thrilling. We can now just key in Star Trek and it will bring up all relative upcoming episodes. I now know of another station showing Star Trek Enterprise, so I set it to record all episodes.

I also discovered a frustrating flaw... You know how you stay on the channel and you click the right arrow button to see what upcoming shows/movies will come on, well that feature is gone. They are now forcing us to view the complete Guide to view what is coming up next.

The office on Air Depot is nonexistent right now as they had relocated to the shopping center on 29th.

[BBatesokc]

Yeah, things like HD capacity and input/outputs have not changed from DVR to DVR.

I don't let mine fill up too much. We tend to watch the stuff within a day or two or burn it to DVD to archive.

However, with Hulu+ on the iPad there are a lot less weekly programs that I DVR. We just watch them on the iPad or connect the iPad to the TV in the bedroom and watch there.

I'm anxious for the Internet to TV boxes to get good enough to just dump cable.

[TheTravellers]

If you hit the "info" button twice (to get the long version of the description), you can use the arrow keys to go backward and forward in time on that same channel without getting into the whole guide.

Not sure about the guide color - the booklet they mailed out indicated you could change the color, but I can't find the setting.

I'm really disappointed we lost the "Copy to VCR" function.

[MsDarkstar]

My ex-husband is a Cox employee; he started out in customer support & moved up to dispatch/scheduling (in other words, he's the guy that schedules the techs coming out to your home).

I learned the following from him:
-- CSR's are pushed to schedule tech visits, because you only get a certain (small) number of free visits per year. Eventually, you'll have enough problems that you'll start having to pay for a tech to come out.
-- Your boxes WILL degrade over time, regardless of what they tell you. BBates is correct, swap it for a new one whenever you can. This is especially true if you have frequent power outtages/surges (I went through 2 boxes in 4 months time because of frequent outtages, even though I was hooked to a surge protector).
-- The boxes receive small updates periodically but only when the box isn't currently in use. If you are in the habit of only turning your tv off, the box won't ever get updates.
-- Before having a tech out, remember this: if it has wires, wiggle them, jiggle them, tighten them, unplug & replug, and power cycle EVERYTHING.

[Thunder]

MsDarkstar, that is good for you to remain friends with your ex-husband.

I need complete listing if someone with a relative/friend working for them or maybe someone on here working for them to list the complete details of all the changes that had been done. Specifically to the Internet portion, if any.

Starting yesterday, the net has been very slow/lag with constant disconnection. Last night, we discovered our Soap Opera shows was not recorded as we ordered the DVR to do so. Strange coincidence, so I need to know what the new hell COX is putting us through now.

[MrZ]

I could care either way about the cosmetic changes to the DVR programming, but I do miss being able to hit left or right on the pad and see what is coming up next. Having to view the guide or hit info twice is just extra work.
We got our update last Tuesday and things were fine until Monday. Our programmed shows on Sunday recorded just fine but on Monday none of the 5 shows we have programmed recorded. I went to look at scheduled recordings and it was blank. We have 2 DVR's in the house and both were blank. Had to reprogram all the shows to record again and have to watch the ones I miss online.

[metro]

Redbox? Why not get Netflix for $8.99 a month unlimited and you can stream it wirelessly if you have a Roku, Apple TV, Google TV or a DVD, Bluray or TV that has wifi capabilities, not to mention you can stream Hulu, YouTube and other video sources to your TV if you have one of these. They start at only $59.99 for a box and most of the content is free unless you subscribe to something. Cable TV is going to start it's rapid death in 2011, although the major networks will still fight until they figure out their new revenue stream. I finally made the plunge and cancelled my cable all together yesterday, now just deciding if I want a Roku or Apple TV, in the meantime I'll just run HDMI from the laptop.

[Thunder]

MrZ, they botched the upgrade where shows have to manually be selected for recording every 7 days. Now they did a mini update to allow the "entire series or recurring" option. Select that and you be set for life.

[BBatesokc]

Redbox? Why not get Netflix for $8.99 a month unlimited and you can stream it wirelessly if you have a Roku, Apple TV, Google TV or a DVD, Bluray or TV that has wifi capabilities, not to mention you can stream Hulu, YouTube and other video sources to your TV if you have one of these. They start at only $59.99 for a box and most of the content is free unless you subscribe to something. Cable TV is going to start it's rapid death in 2011, although the major networks will still fight until they figure out their new revenue stream. I finally made the plunge and cancelled my cable all together yesterday, now just deciding if I want a Roku or Apple TV, in the meantime I'll just run HDMI from the laptop.

We do Red Box, NetFlix, Hulu+, ABC iPad app and Internet browser viewing. I still like Red Box because its cheap and you can get several movies at once (same reason I occasionally rent from 7-11). I think cable will have a place for many more years, but Internet TV is going to make the industry completely different.

We to are trying to decide on what Internet streaming device to get. I'm not interested in Apple TV at the moment - to heavy on making you watch iTunes content you have to pay for. Thinking the Google box is the way to go.

[Thunder]

Internet TV is still decades behind with no CC services.

[metro]

Thunder, while I respect the fact you need CC services, 99% of the population doesn't, so the majority of people don't think it's "decades behind", when in fact it is the future and the future is pretty much here now, although still has some revenue models to work out. The technology is there though. FYI, YouTube just added CC to many videos. I believe the technology was created here in Oklahoma if I'm not mistaken.

Bates, I'm in the same dilemma on the internet box, only I was on the very basic plan, the one so basic they don't advertise, like $13 bucks a month basic. We had already cut back our bigger package some time ago, so the switch this time wasn't very hard since I was basically paying for Bravo as the only station I can't pick up on my HDTV without cable. Couple that with having a newborn and you don't really have time or desire to watch TV anyways. I really wanted the new Apple TV (esp. at only $99 bucks), but agree, I shouldn't have to pay for TV shows. I am also upset that the box has so much hidden potential (app store, Hulu Plus, etc.). If it had Hulu Plus and Netflix, it would be a no brainer, especially since you can use your Ipad and Iphone for a remote control. Apple has the design and simplicity down better than anyone, but as usual their software restrictions are what frustrates me. I would love to be able to stream stuff from the ipad to the tv and vice versa, however with the software currently lacking (unless they announce a firmware upgrade soon), I may gravitate to the Roku, it's super cheap ($59-$99) and offers a ton of content. I don't want to spend $400 to shell out on a Google TV just yet. With the technology being open source, it will get cheaper quickly. I haven't researched the Boxee Box much yet. If you end up getting an internet box, let me know and make a post. I'll probably just go buy the component video cables for Ipad for now and upload content with a hard wire for now. Man technology is great sometimes.

[Lord Helmet]

I used to think Cox sucked...my brother even worked for them and couldn't change my opinion...then I moved to Denver and got stuck with Comcast...'nuff said.