A friend who subscribes to Charter's cable TV service tells me Charter has programmed his cable box to halt after something like 6 hours and display a screen which says "press any key to resume viewing".
This means that he is unable to pre-program an overnight recording event. Charter is unwilling or unable to tell him how he can change the box back to its original mode.
Any suggestions?
On 10/16/2010 3:06 PM root spake thus:
Sure; get a new cable provider.
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
-- The fashion in killing has an insouciant, flirty style this spring, with the flaunting of well-defined muscle, wrapped in flags. - Comment from an article on Antiwar.com (http://antiwar.com)
Switch to Dish Network. The DN receiver stand-down after a certain length of time is adjustable or deactivated. And, if you set it to record a certain show at a certain time, it doesn't care if you turn the dvr off, or have it on. It just records what you tell it to. Up to 3 shows at once, two from satellite, and one from OTA, while you're watching a fourth show you've already recorded. Cable dvrs are pathetic.
If your friend is unable to subscribe to satellite for some reason, he should complain to the cable regulation authority in his city. By the description, at one time there was no 6 hour halt. If the 6 hour 'feature' was enabled by the cable service, it constitutes removal of a service they had agreed to provide.
Or better yet, swtch to DirecTV. Klaatu is correct; cable DVRs are pathetic. Dish DVRs are better - they are meerly lame, and Dish nickel and dimes you for every feature. He should get DirecTV and a DVR.
PlainBill
Is that 'any key on the remote'? If so, most DVRs will be sending a few remote codes to the box anyhow (for the channel selection). There are some timed-output remotes (like VCR copilot) that can do something nearly appropriate about this, too.
I've seen energy saver features a little like this, there may be a menu selection to turn it off (but it will be hidden under 'setup' 'energy' 'sleep' or somesuch name).
Untrue. I pay a flat monthly fee for everything, and it hasnt changed in quite some time. DirectTV is more expensive to begin with, with fewer non-sport viewing choices. But you have to do your homework to see what provider is best for YOU. And Dish Network DOES have the superior DVR. DirectTV, Rupert Murdochs frankenstein spawn, is inferior.
This reminds me of a problem with my Verizon land line, last year. BTW, Verizon has sold the land line business to Frontier now. Anyway, I had a package which included voicemail. Verizon VM for not very user friendly and I already had a phone with a built in answering machine, so I wanted to use it. However, Verizon VM would answer before the 4 ring setting on the answering machine. So I called their tech support. The guy said there is NO WAY to change the number of rings on their VM. So I lived with it for a while. A few months later, while I was talking to a Verizon person, I asked why you can't change the number of rings before going to VM. He said, you can. Just get dial tone and press these 2 keys and then the number of rings you want it to be. So, moral of the story is, call Charter back and ask someone else ... they are probably just reading for a script and making up the rest.
The real question is whether he really is unable to pre-program an overnight recording event or only thinks that. A little experimentation may be in order.
Cablevision programs its boxes to give a similar message if you're watching at around 1:00 a.m. or so. It's an alleged power-saving function for those who merely turn their TV off but leave the box on. However, the DVR actually records even when the box is nominally "off."
I want to thank everybody for their response. My friend's cable box is not a DVR, it is just a tuner. There is no setup button on either the remote or the box itself, so if there is a way for the user to disable the "power saving" it would involve some secret button pushing. My friend has talked to several different people at Charter with no success so far.
If it has enough internal intelligence to compose and display a message, it is NOT just a tuner. There's a menu system of some sort with lots of options on all such boxes I've ever seen. Seek.
If it cannot be set up, ask the cable company about the OTHER models of box they support, you want one that's amenable to your needs.
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