I'm trying to help my parents evaluate their options for TV service. If they switched from Dish satellite to Comcast TV, they would probably want either Comcast's Extra or Preferred TV package, plus HD DVR service on 2 TVs.
Both they and I currently have standalone broadband from Comcast. When I go into either of our accounts online (we're in different cities) and shop for new service, then explore the options for adding TV, I no longer see anything about regular DVR service using either X1 or older boxes with a hard drive inside. Instead, the website just asks "How many TV boxes do you want?" with the boxes priced at $5 each, and then you have an option to either stick with 20 hours of included cloud DVR service or upgrade to 60 hours of cloud DVR for an extra $10. It leads me to believe that cloud DVR is the only kind of DVR service they're offering now.
This is a reconfiguration of how Comcast does their online sign-ups. I ordered new internet service from them about 5 weeks ago and at that time, they were still showing hardware DVR boxes as an option. (I looked at the options for TV service but ended up just ordering internet.)
First, I have qualms about the reliability of Comcast's cloud DVR. How well does it work? I've read stories of unreliability, poor video quality, etc. Because my parents watch almost everything recorded and then FF through the ads while viewing, they *really* rely on DVR. Second, I don't know if a total of 60 hours of storage, shared between both TVs, would be sufficient for them. But there's no option -- at least during the online sign-up -- to increase that. If they could pay $20 for 120 hours rather than $10 for 60 hours, they might want to do that.
Anyone know what's going on? We haven't called Comcast to talk to a sales agent because I kinda hate doing that, although maybe they offer additional options, including hardware DVRs, over the phone and in store.
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