The Circumstances
I had been planning to upgrade from an iGuide (legacy) DVR to an X1 DVR for some time, but seemed to always have recordings that I wanted to watch on the DVR, and recordings are not preserved going iGuide → X1. That is, until Monday.
Monday afternoon (December 30, 2019), with no "must watch" recordings left on the legacy DVR (RNG200N), I went to the local Xfinity store and got an X1 DVR. (Sorry, I didn't note the model. It was about the same size as the RNG200N and looked like it had component outputs as well as HDMI.) It frequently rebooted, at one point I was able to push a system refresh to it using my.xfinity.com, but shortly after it was stuck in an infinite loop reboot cycle.
The earliest appointment for a technician visit was yesterday (Thursday, January 2, 2020). After verifying I had a good signal at the DVR end of the coax, the technician swapped it for a physically smaller XG1v4-A. It was up and running in minutes.
The Problem
So, between Monday afternoon and Thursday morning I had no functioning TV cable box from Xfinity.
The Cloud DVR to the Rescue
I have a my.xfinity.com account, and I had purchased a Roku with the intent of at least trying it with the Xfinity Streaming App, so during those three days that is what I used. I was able to schedule recordings both through the Roku Xfinity Streaming App and through my.xfinity.com, and every show I wanted to watch during those three days I was able to record and watch! I didn't notice any PQ issues (remember: I have old eyes and the particular TV is a 32-in "720p class" (really 768p) display, so we aren't talking any "Home Theater" here), so I was able to time-shift and watch the Tournament of Roses Parade (my family's long-time tradition) and my wife her soaps without missing a beat!
Some Quirks
There is good reason why the Roku Xfinity Streaming App is still in beta. During the time it had crashed a few times (possibly my fault; I had the Roku upside down during part of the time and it may have been hitting the "find remote" button; no crashes since fixing my mistake), and from time to time when updating shows to record the App or my.xfinity.com would display that I had no shows scheduled to record when I had scheduled some. But we did manage to record and watch what we wanted.
Other Appreciated Advantages of X1 DVR
Before the "Cloud DVR" days (like in my iGuide days between October 2012 and last Monday morning) no cable TV box meant no TV, and a DVR swap meant losing everything recorded; now with 60 hours of Cloud DVR, that isn't the case, at least for the part in the Cloud. (The disk can hold far more, and the amount beyond the most recent 60 hours is still at risk.)
Also, with 5 tuners that can record, I don't have to try to optimize recording for just 2 tuners, reducing the scheduling hassle since I can now request shows to record in their first airing instead of picking a show or two to record when that channel re-airs the show or trying to pick one to later watch on video-on-demand or, worse, deciding what show I would have to do without.
Last night I just learned that I have "Smart Resume": if FF through commercials the progress bar looks like a candy cane, I don't have to try to find the end of the commercial break and the DVR will start playing again at the end of the commercial break. (This doesn't seem to be in the Roku App.)
Conclusion
Other than the broken initial box, and some bugs with the Roku Xfinity Streaming App, I am pleased with what I have seen so far and so far I am happy I switched.
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