No, this is NOT a joke...evidently, we actually rated above Chicago for getting something new. :D :D
This was a complete shock to me tonight...I was actually taking 1 of my (no longer FREE) DTA's back to our local office - & actually walked out with a new Moto u-DTA-M instead!
I GOTTA tell you this first - when I was talking to the counter guy while he was taking my SD-DTA back, was telling about "you can go down to K-mart & buy their $16 boxes, that do the same thing as these CC $2 DTA's. (I SWEAR I am NOT making this up!!!) When I brought up the little issue with "encryption", he says, "well yea, it doesn't work on expanded basic service, but will work just fine on limited basic channels". I proceed to tell him he must have missed all the memos re: limited basic encryption coming - which IS actually then how he ended up bringing me out an actual, honest-to-god HD-DTA - because after his outlandish comments above, as well as him INSISTING limited basic is NOT getting encrypted, I really thought he was bringing me just another type of SD-DTA. I even tried to explain to him "uh, THAT'S why you guys ARE now getting HD-DTA's...HELLO!!!"
And THIS is what CC has working on their "front lines" - WOW!!! :o :o Even the tech support guy I called tonight, had a good laugh when I told him this. (more on that call later)
Anyway, I just could NOT resist getting the HD-DTA; since I'm planning on keeping 1 DTA anyway, I'll be taking back the SD-DTA next week. (ended up being 20 min late for a dinner engagement)
The HD-DTA came with the XR2 remote control, an HDMI cable & 2 coax jumpers.
OK, so first order of business is to hook it up & activate it. After plugging in the power adapter, it did a download for about 5 min, then went to the "we have detected a problem..." screen. So I went & attempted to activate it online. Of course, it never activates, even after rebooting & reactivating, then trying it over the auto activate phone script. So it sent me over to tech support.
Evidently, the problem turned out to be, that when a CSR or counter person scans this onto your account, it has to be placed into a certain "hierarchy", in order for it to activate - which the tech support CSR immediately fixed & it came right on. I asked him for specifics on this, so that I can tell others that end up going thru the same hassle on activation, they can then tell the CSR how to fix it quickly & not be spinning their wheels for hours. ;)
So it's now up & running & I have had a chance to play with it a bit, here is some of how it's functionality works:
- It WILL respond to the earlier DTA (simple) remotes for all functions, EXCEPT for the LANG button (has to be changed in setup menu)
- Has internal volume/mute available, & affects BOTH HDMI & RF out. However, like the earlier DTA remotes, once you prog a TV code, you can no longer control the internal DTA volume - so I'd make sure the internal volume IS turned up all the way, BEFORE prog the TV code. (I actually have had to fix this problem a couple times for some friends DTA's that had low audio levels...)
- HDMI & RF outputs CAN both be used simultaneously, including on HD channels; however, on the RF output, all HD channels get center-cut. (I tested to an HDTV & SDTV both turned on) Even though there was a HDMI menu option for 4:3, 16:9 & AUTO, I could not find a way to make it so you could make the RF output letterbox or squeezed down
- On the HDMI setup menu, in addition to the above option, there is another one for the 4 standard output resolutions (480i/p, 720p, 1080i) plus an AUTO setting - which the DTA was defaulted to. While I was thinking it was going to be a "native" setting - it appears to simply downconvert EVERY channel (HD included) to 480p, but DOES give you a 16:9 picture on the HD channels.
Bottom line - unless you go in & change the output resolution to one of the 2 (HD) settings, you ain't getting an HD picture out of this thing! :hmm:
- I have NOT been able to get the RF remote pairing feature enabled. The setup menu shows it ENABLED, & the remote IS an RF version; it too has the pairing instructions printed on the back - but it just won't pair. Guess I'll try tech support tomorrow - unless anyone here knows a "secret"...
- None of the A-D color buttons, as well as the GUIDE button, seem to do any functions on the DTA. The big Xfinity button takes you into the setup menu
- Other setup options include channel locks/PIN & Close Caption settings; I did not really play with these, although I did see choices for analog & digital CC settings, as well as font selection
- Channel changes seem to be about the same speed as the SD-DTA's, & regardless if it's SD or HD channels
So speaking of channels, the question we were wondering is what channels WOULD you get on these, namely the HD's. Here is what I am able to receive; keep in mind I have Digital Preferred HD service, & of course, YMMV on YOUR system.
- I can view ALL SD & HD channels up thru our Digital Starter tier channels, including the HD-only channels like Velocity, Palladia & Universal HD
- I can view the following Digital Preferred SD channels: TeenNick, DIY, Hub, Nat Geo & Science; however, any HD versions of these are NOT available (our system has HD feeds for the last 4 channels)
- All channels in MultiLatino are now mapped in our DTA's; because of this, I can also view the ones that ALSO happen to be part of Digital Preferred down here, such as Nuvo TV, MTV Tr3s, Galavision & the East feeds only of Univision, UniMas & Telemundo
- The only channels in the Sports/Entertainment pkg that can be viewed, are both the Eng/Spanish versions of BeIN sports; as well as any that happen to also be part of Dig Starter. (only Hallmark Movie channel on our system)
I did not compare the mapping between the SD & HD DTA's themselves, as I just swapped the remaining SD-DTA w/the HD-DTA; but they seem to be the same. (except for the HD channels, of course) Because we are STILL saddled with that crazy dual-mapped expanded basic channel lineup from the Insight days, (expanded basic channels on BOTH 2 & 3 digit numbers) it's a giant PITA to scan through everything on the DTA's! :mad:
I will try & answer any other questions you might have on this.
Well, I'm pooped for tonight - talk amongst yourselves... :D
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