Report: Adelphia HDTV in Frederick Md. (Apr, 2004)

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Will the two guys in Frederick Md. who care, please write and tell John so.


"John" <jlj21710@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c50b24e6.0404260555.e623f9a@posting.google.com...
> Hi,
>
> Just switched over to digital/hdtv and since I gleamed a lot of
> insight from this group, thought I'd give some back.
>
> Have been a long time analog customer of Frederick cablevision which
> was bought by Adelphia. Glad it was because no matter what you think
> of Adelphia, Frederick Cablevision was far worse. Anyway, received a
> mass mailing from Adelphia offering digital cable in my area. I'm on
> the outskirts of the county and it always takes a while for thing to
> get out to our area. I give them a call and they verify it is
> available for my address. They can't offer me the deal on the flyer
> as it is for new customers only. What they offer me is digital basic
> for $9.95 (this is on top of the regular analog price for Adelphia
> classic cable). I also now have to rent a STB for $3.75. They will
> throw in HBO for six months free of charge and after that I can
> unsubscribe at any time. I ask about HD, they tell me not yet
> available. We set up the appointment. The Adelphia contracted
> installer shows up on time and does the install. I ask him if he
> knows when HDTV might be available. He tells me that he's been
> installing HD boxes and that I should just keep checking with Adelphia
> from time to time.
>
> The digital channels look much better than what I'm used to on my Sony
> 31" crt. The analog channels look terrible. The colors are all off
> and way too dark. It looks fine on other TV's in the house so I
> assume it's the STB. I cable (using the red/black/yellow rca plugs)
> the STB to my VCR and then to the TV. Every looks fine now and I'm
> happy.
>
> I call Adelphia a week later and this time they tell me HDTV is
> available. I have to turn in my STB for a new one that rents for
> $7.95. The rep tells me that there are only five channels at this
> time (NBC, CBS, HBO, Showtime, and StarzHD) but that Adelphia's in
> active talks with a number of companies and expects to add to the
> lineup. I say, let's do it. Now I have an excuse to buy that new
> Samsung 50" DLP set. She also decided that I should get a year of
> Showtime and Starz for free. That wasn't done as a sales pitch, she
> offered it after I set up the appointment. One thing she failed to
> mention and it really doesn't bother me, is that HBO and Adelphi
> haven't actually finalized the agreement for HD in my area. I called
> a few days later and they told me it should be any day now.
>
> Once again the installer arrives on time. Installs the new box (dct
> 6200) and wires it to the component port on the Samsung. So far
> everything is great. Older analog channels look good. They're
> up-converted and stretched to fit the screen. Same with the digital
> channels. The HD channels (when they're broadcasting HD output) look
> absolutly terrific. CBS showed golf this weekend in HD. I don't
> think I've ever seen a clearer crisper picture.
>
> Right now I'm a happy guy.

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Curmudgeon wrote:
> Will the two guys in Frederick Md. who care, please write and tell John so.

Ouch. That wasn't necessary.

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Nah...just issues with bandwidth waste on topics of such minimal interest to
99.99% of the readers.

"John" <jlj21710@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c50b24e6.0404261426.770510e@posting.google.com...
> "Curmudgeon" <gary@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:<ETcjc.8284$7a5.1173@bignews6.bellsouth.net>...
> > Will the two guys in Frederick Md. who care, please write and tell John
so.
> >
> Do I detect Erectile Dysfunction issues?

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Curmudgeon" <gary@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:l3ijc.42501$Uz1.30834@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
> Nah...just issues with bandwidth waste on topics of such minimal interest
to
> 99.99% of the readers.

Usually, silence is golden...if you feel so strongly about bandwidth,
perhaps it's best not to waste even more with additional useless posts.


John's comments have wider appeal than Frederick, MD. Adelphia is a large
outfit, and knowing what they do in one service area could be useful for
those in others.

Adelphia is my provider in southern CA, and my experience with their digital
box PQ mirrors John's, that is that the PQ was worse with the analog
channels than when I used my television's tuner. I swapped out the box for a
newer version with s-video out, and it made no difference. To top it off,
the Adelphia box (moto 2000) did not have a RF pass-thru. I ended up
splitting the signal and only used the box for premium services. I dumped
the premiums and digital cable when Adelphia jacked up their prices in our
area several months ago.

But now, I'd like to subscribe to HBO again. Adelphia is pitching sweetheart
deals for new customers, but nothing for existing subscribers. I'm about to
go to DirecTV, because it will be considerably cheaper (especially when I
include the cost of getting broadband via DSL instead of the cable modem).
However after reading John's post, I'll probably call Adelphia to see if
they'll do anything to keep me as a customer...although Direct Tivo is a
pretty strong incentive for me to switch regardless of cost.


--jay