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My comcast DVR is still slow… does anyone know of a way to pull the update?

Oh god, Comcast DVRs.

This screed is the short version (note: the short version) of my experience with Comcast on this front.

1. Bought an HDTV . High def is included in my plan already, so I just have to go get a digital tuner. But they’re out: the nice lady at the office takes my name and number and says she’ll call me when they come in. 2. “Sir, I don’t know why they said they’d call you, but they won’t.” I call Comcast again, to ask if they have digital boxes at my local office. The man on the phone gives me a qualified yes: qualfiied, that is, because he has no way of actually checking, but it doesn’t look like they’ve ordered any. 3. They don’t have digital tuners. But the nice lady gives me the all-in-one DVR box. I take it home, call them to activate it, and it doesn’t work. 4. Guy comes out to replace it. I have beautiful high def television and a functional DVR . I am deleriously happy… 5. ...for about eight hours. That’s when the hard drive starts making a clicking sound I’ve heard all too often in the past. The next morning, the DVR is dead (although the tuner still works.) 6. A week later, guy comes out to replace my DVR (again). Only the replacement unit he brought out is broken. This is where I gave up.

The comical part: at stage 3, I was promised I wouldn’t be charged for the DVR service. At every stage after, an apologetic tech or customer service rep promised me that they’d refund me the charge for the DVR service… the service I wasn’t paying for already.

Anyway, sorry for the length. It’s just that I’m gearing up for another go-round, so this touched a nerve.

I could use this update too… my isn’t slow in general, but every now and then the thing’s buffer gets full or something so it doesn’t recognize any commands for like 10 seconds, and then executes them all at once.

Jason, you should send this post to Apple, because Front Row is so unresponsive that it should be scrapped and started over. It doesn’t matter if you’re using the remote or not (though try to do a force quit with the remote). There’s no excuse for delays that exaggerated.

Speed is important for Google because it’s the most easily perceived aspect of their service. You may get a hundred inaccurate results, but if Google responds in .12 seconds it seems to work better and in turn, create a better experience.

The situation was similar with OS X and previously Windows. Processors became faster and faster until the interfaces responded instantly, making the experience more fluid and enjoyable. Doing something in Windows might take ten more steps than necessary, but hey – it’s fast!

Speed is definitely important, but if the search results are poor or if the interface sucks, all speed does is make you frustrated faster.

I guess how you speed up your software really comes down to what environment you’re coding for. For desktop applications, good memory management may help and for web applications, responsive languages (yes, this is a shot at the much-adored Ruby) and fat pipes.

Overall, keeping things simple is ultimately what will make your application faster. Most attempts to make an interface full of effects and loaded with features will at some point have your users give up.

I agree with you Jason, on that putting usability and speed first and expanding second is a respectable policy that more companies should have.

Same problem here too, very slow to respond, then all the sudden 5 commands in a row. The remote is terrible too, you have to point it exactly at the right spot. It’s just so frustrating, I’m fed up with it and returning the box.

I agree with you on that Front Row is terribly slow, and in my opinion an embarassment to Apple. Nonetheless, Brian, I don’t think that how the remote functions is Apple’s fault, since I believe they’re simply using IR technology in its basic form, and that pretty much any sensor would have this range due to the nature of this technology.

I, however, hope to see a Bluetooth remote soon, as it will rid the laptop of the odd black circle on the laptops, as well as using already supported technology with a better range. This, of course, is useless unless they do something about the interface that the remote provides access to.

Still, Brian, returning the box? Did you buy an Apple computer merely for Front Row?

I noticed that Adobe addressed this issue in Acrobat recently. I was using Acrobat 6 until last week, and loading PDFs from either a website or locally on my machine was always a frustratingly slow process, mainly because of that annoying splash screen and all the various services that took their time to load. But with Acrobat 8, it’s instant. Click on a link to a PDF and boom (as Steve Jobs would say) it appears on your screen. I am MUCH more willing to look at PDFs now.

Wait a little bit more and you can get your Comcast DVR with TiVo software

TiVo readies for prime time with Comcast (c|net)

Please don’t forget about Windows. You have to wait for windows to boot. You have to wait for windows to load programs and Windows Vista is even slower

The overall point is, of course, spot on. However, Comcast didn’t simplify their service or offering did they? They didn’t remove any features to get the improved speed did they?

Is there ever a time or place where an added feature can actually contribute to increased speed? Especially related to customer usability? Even if the app/software is bit slower as a result?

I am thinking there must be. Especially where it relates to repeated processes that a user chooses and even more so if that process becomes widely known (shared) and adopted by more users.

This is something I’ve noticed with mobile phone interfaces too. I got the latest SonyEricsson K800i in July, and was disappointed to find that the menus and interaction still suffer from the same general lack of responsiveness that my previous K700i and T610 had. I don’t know if this is because they’re Java-based, but it seems that with each successive generation, the menus become more colourful and imaginatively animated, yet remain just as treacle-slow as ever.

Cox has the crappiest DVR and on demand service of all. The UI for the DVR is fine, but they use piece of crap boxes, I’ve gone through 3 of them. They forget to record things or record them without the sound. Sometimes they decide to record bowling for no reason. The UI for the on demand is TERRIBLE and requires about 1,000 clicks just to get to the on demand for the movie channels you already pay for, and then yes there’s the delay.

Slow software caused folks here in Denver last week to choose between waiting in line for 1 to 2 hours (or more) or not casting their votes during last week’s elections. A case for simple – and fast – software.

City election panel blames delays on software glitches

In summary: Denver County: $85k, custom poll book = up to 20 minute response time to verify voter registration Larimer County: $0k, county staffer using off the shelf components = 30 second response time

The one of worse problems with the Comcast DVR is that if it runs into a conflict if you try to record something, it takes literally 30 seconds before it brings the resolve conflict (Record\Do not record) option. That has not changed, unless they are doing a rolling upgrade.

Note: Comcast DVR is not same everywhere, the one in SF bay area is different than in Seattle Eastside(Microsoft version), and the problems and features are different, even the look and feel is different.

Amit

Yes, ‘not waiting’ is one of the Laws of Simplicity (http://lawsofsimplicity.com/category/laws?order=ASC)—actually, it’s #3, Time.

JB

One of the reasons I love Google Desktop so much is the speed… instantaneous results. Much faster than any other search functionality in Windows or Outlook, etc.

Ironically RCN , the other major cable company in Chicago, has just upgraded all their set-top boxes (including the DVR ). I don’t know about the other boxes but for the DVR it’s made it considerably slower, and the interface is now almost entirely driven off three command buttons (brilliantly named A, B, C – presumably for “simplicity”)

It really does damage the experience of using it, the fast-forward is now so sluggish that the DVR deliberately skips back about 5 seconds from the point it actually stops fast-forwarding to compensate. It does look prettier though but it seems like the CPU struggles with the extra graphics. Pressing the list button to show recordings takes about 4 seconds to do anything.

It’s a shame because some things have been done right. Once you finally get to your recordings list they’ve added an estimated lifetime to your recordings (so you know that it’ll get recorded over in 3 days for example). This is much more useful than the old percentage used and an ordered list that the previous version had.

However RCN broke the golden rule for patching any software, they deleted all the data on the DVR : any saved programs, favourite channels, future recordings or preferences were lost in the upgrade.

Is the Comcast one that much better? I’m sorely tempted to switch after a number of other problems with I’ve had with them. I do have nothing but praise however for their tech support, I got though to someone who did know what they were talking about (and actually had the DVR at home – that kind of experience does make a real difference).

I just thought about the same, when I was starting OpenOffice Writer about an hour ago. It takes ages. It always has taken that long… Starting a word processor software has always taken about 20 seconds or something. On any machine. Be it ancient 386 PCs running Windows 3.11 or the latest Dual-Core CPU machines running Linux, Windows Vista or whatever. There’s something wrong here… Application startup times (let alone boot times…) are one of the most annoying things when working with computers.

i switched to RCN from comcast over the summer after having been with comcast since i moved to chicago three years ago.

the silver comcast remotes are beautiful examples of ergonomic design compared to the RCN remotes. when i gave back my comcast box i gave them an old remote along with it so i could keep the silver DVR remote. (in addition to being poorly designed, the RCN remote isn’t programmable and wouldn’t detect my audio receiver.)

everything was fine until RCN unrolled the new GUI Dan mentioned. like he said, commands are entered via A, B, and C buttons (not, uh, well, “OK/enter”, “last”, and “exit”). there’s no way to use the arrow keys and OK to highlight and select options, either: you have to press A, B, or C.

additionally, we had a 30-second skip programmed into the remote, but the software update disabled it. waiting for commercials is still waiting. boo to RCN .

i’ve not had any problems with speed (if anything, the new software is faster and more responsive). search is much improved. i do wish the DVR menu still showed space available. the games are entirely unnecessary. and that A, B, C command interface is clumsy as hell.

on the silver comcast remote, the A, B, and C buttons serve double duty as “lock”, “day +”, and “day -” (these are all explicit buttons on the gargantuan RCN remote). with the new RCN GUI , these buttons work as their alternate functions, not their primary ones. so when it says “press C” to cancel, we’d be stuck.

thankfully, the comcast remote is programmable. to anyone else who has a comcast remote and wants to use it in place of their RCN behemoth:

1. press and release “cable” 2. hold “setup” until “cable” blinks twice 3. enter one of the following codes: for A: 00077 for B: 00237 for C: 00114 4. press the appropriate button (A, B, or C). “cable” will blink twice.

and if you have comcast’s service and like a 30-second skip button, the code is 00173. more motorola DVR tips

incidentally, the comcast remote has symbols behind the letters on the A, B, and C buttons (a yellow triangle, blue square, and red circle, respectively). these symbols appear in the RCN guide as well, and even on the synergy V remote on which the RCN remote is based. however, they are absent from the RCN remote.

cell phones and cable boxes should have a fight to the death for the title “worst interface in the universe”.

holy shit i think that was longer than the original post.

Application startup times are so bad, that many applications (iTunes, Adobe Suite, Office Suite) have “helper” applications that continually use up a “small” amount of resources to make those applications start up marginally faster. This is why I pay servants to anticipate my need for hot water and run the tap until it gets hot so I don’t have to wait when I wash my hands.

Glad it got faster for you. Alas, it is just as slow for me as ever after the update. And In Demand doesn’t work any more. Comcast came out and swapped my box but still can’t fix the problem on their end.

For those not sure if they have the update, press your My DVR button. If you get to your recordings you have the old version. If you get to a new menu then you have the updated firmware. The fonts are a little different now too.

Apple’s Mail.app and my IMAP account were very sluggish (I blame a combo of the two). I just decided to have my mail forwarded to Gmail. Hopefully it proves to be faster, and I don’t miss anything I didn’t know I liked about Mail.app.

My Philips DVD player seems to respond slowly to remote clicks… the fastforward button is shared by the “next chapter” feature, and if you don’t push it just right, or if the signal isn’t sent right, or something else, you skip to the next chapter or get suck at ffwd x2, x4, x8… It’s annoying.

Sammy: I’ve had similar issues. We’ve gone through about 8 Comcast DVRs now. Often times the techs just bring broken ones anyway.

What about loading screens?

Remember in the good old days of Apple IIgs, when you were waiting and the computer had some words on the screen that said “Thinking…” or “Loading…”? What could be more simple than that?

It seems to me that waiting adds complexity because you are tying to do things, like move a window around, or drag a side bar, while the little rainbow beach ball is spinning around. If the screen just blanked out—not that that would happen in todays computers, but still, then you wouldn’t try to do that kind of thing, and would just put your hands on your head. Maybe not ideal, but simple.

I like the thrust behind your post. Personally I would always prefer to get a program working faster than to have it upgraded and have new features added.

Even with backpack, faster rather than more would suit me! Eoin

I’m surprised I haven’t heard anyone mention the most recent DVR software which not only wiped out my favorites, but “improved” them.

While the images look more crisp I’m still having the same button delay issues and a new interface issue that slows me down worse than anything they’ve done before.

The new favorites system behaves differently in different contexts. when watching live TV it jumps between your favorites, but in guide mode it switches between multiple favorites lists, beginning with the most recent five channels. This adds two clicks of the fav button just to see them, which is something I have to remember because the local broadcast stations being my favorites means the first screen of the guide looks exactly the same.

Now, once I’ve figured that out, I have to use the up/down arrows to navigate my favorites list, which I could easily live with except that once I’ve found something interesting to watch and click it, I have to repeat the whole process to see my favorites list again and it starts at of the channel list with channel 2 without maintaining either the context of where I was within the guides listing, or that I was viewing a filtered list of my favorites.

Add in the extra time for user error and this is worse than the long response times.