I thought I’d post a summary of the “good”, the “bad” and the “huh?”, regarding the Cisco 9865 (NextBox 3.0)
The Good:
It has 8 tuners, allowing for up to 8 simultaneous recordings.
It’s fast & responsive. The IPG is faster than any other box and it’s way faster for other functions than the 8642. It’s faster than PVRs running SARA.
It has a 1 TB iHDD. This is twice as much as the latest 8642 and is probably enough for most people, providing over 100 hours of HD recording time.
It has a 3-minute skip (Page+) button. It would probably have been nicer to have 1 minute, but it’s better than nothing.
The “D” button can be used for instant weather.
The recordings can be sorted by date, title, channel or series.
The Bad:
For many people, the unit occasionally switches to 2-channel PCM audio (other) after watching a recording or switching to a recording. This is discussed in the following thread in detail. Depending on your situation, it seems to happen every 6-10 recordings, sometimes more, sometimes less. This mostly affects people who have AVRs and wish proper DD5.1 surround sound. However, it can also affect those people who are connected to a TV in that a 16kHz tone can be heard through the TV's speakers (by young people) and sometimes there is no audio at all through the TV. The only way to get a DD5.1 signal back after the switch is via a reboot. Some people have been rebooting their 9865s every evening before bed. Some people have also reported a 16 kHz tone emanating from their equipment occasionally. Those with good hearing and younger people can hear this. This seems to be resolved per posts 19/20 (2014.08).
NextBox 3.0 (Cisco 9865) Switching to PCM Issue - Resolved. - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums
Almost everyone mentions that the unit has audio dropouts when playing recordings. Some people have been able to minimize the dropouts by not using 1080P, rebooting the PVR (say before bed). Switching to “other” in the audio options may also help, but that’s not useful for those with AVRs. Some channels seem to be more susceptible than others. This issue seems to be resolved, although the occasional dropout may still occur.
Some early mornings (Tuesday, Friday), between 1AM-2PM the 9865 can become unresponsive to commands, but you can continue watching your recording. You can either reboot (unplug) or wait until after 2AM at which time the 9865 seems to respond normally again.
New 8 tuner PVR... NextBox 3.0 Discussions (Cisco 9865) - Read Post 1 - Page 90 - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums
You cannot adjust the time of recording by 1 minute. You must use their default options of 5 minutes or more
When you’re watching a recording that’s still recording, you cannot stop and delete it. You must stop/save, then find the recording, then delete. Silly extra steps! This was fixed in the firmware mentioned in post 22 of this thread.
There is no frame-by-frame advance option.
The Slo-Mo option is not very slow, especially in light of no frame-by-frame option.
The progress bar that comes up when you hit “play” or other functions, takes up 1/3 of the screen and stays on far too long. You can get rid of it by hitting “exit”, but that’s a pain. At least the exit button now gets rid of the progress bar when FF/REW.
If you set the output to 1080P, many people have reported video and audio issues – use 1080i or 720P. This seems to be resolved per posts 19/20 (2014.08), but I see no reason to use 1080P.
Many people have reported HDMI-CEC (Link) issues. Best to turn this feature off in your AVR/TV. This seems to be resolved per posts 19/20 (2014.08).
The recorded list doesn’t remember where you were when you picked your previous recording to watch. It always goes back to the latest recording if you’ve sorted by date (if you exit the list).
The Huh?
The first zoom function is not the correct amount of zoom for 1.78:1 letterboxed SD, nor is the second zoom correct for removing black bars from 2.35:1 letterboxed SD. The function is mostly useless, so you need to use your TV’s zoom if you wish to zoom.
Rogers have stopped supplying their own eHDDs for their PVRs. Although some people have had luck adding an eHDD after appropriate computer formatting, many people have had difficulty. Not a huge issue since 1 TB is probably enough recording space for most people.
The FF/REW speeds are different from the 8300, so if you’ve got both at home, you need to remember the differences. Also, it takes 4 button presses to get to 15X FF speed, a pain.
If you're recording two programmes, when you turn on the 9865 it will go to one of these recordings instead of your preferred channel, even though it has 8 tuners. Resolved - see post 14 (2014.06)
When you first install your new 9865, it can take a day or two for some features to become “active” (like searches or using Anyplace Home Edition).
When you first install your new 9865, it will come up with a black screen when you turn it on until you perform a reboot. After that it will come on with your favourite channel, or whatever option you’ve chosen.
The default output format is 720P. Since most HD channels are 1080i, most people recommend using the 1080i setting, but feel free to experiment.
On the 8300, you used to be able to go to channel 950 to resume watching your last recording. With the 9865 you have to find that recording in your list if you’ve watched live TV.
If you set up a series recording in the 500 series of channels, you may find that after one recording, it’s no longer listed under the 500 series, rather in the channel range 2-99. For example, a series recording on channel 514 becomes a series recording on channel 6. This may have something to do with Auto-HD. This can be disconcerting when viewing the IPG, but once you know about it, you can look for the lower channel or go to the list of series recordings. Setting up recordings using the lower numbers may also help prevent recording issues.
On the 8300, you could set up a reminder once for a programme so that it would remind you every day, etc if desired. With the 9865, you have to set a reminder for each event you wish to be reminded. (for example - nightly news)
If you pause a programme on the 9865, it will only pause for about 30 minutes.
A reboot takes about 5-6 minutes, but those people with WHPVR (Whole Home PVR setups) may find that it takes longer - say 20-30 minutes before the WHPVR system becomes properly active again. Try to reboot when there is no recording taking place, or scheduled for the time it takes to reboot.
FF Speed: The FF speeds are different from the 8300HD with 2X, 4X, 8X, 15X and 60X (on the 9865). This means I have to press the FF button four times to get to 15X speed, which is the one I prefer. On the 8300 you had 4X, 10X, 30X, 120X. I used the 10X to FF through commercials - only two presses, but I do prefer the 15X speed.
There are some other features that the 8300 had that the 9865 doesn’t, but mostly the 9865 is superior to previous Rogers PVRs.
----------------------------------------------------------------
For discussion, please use the 9865 discussion sticky thread.
Edit - please see post 11 for changes with firmware 1.0109
Please see post 14 for changes with firmware 2.0105
Please see post 20 for changes with firmware 5.0.0.0123
Please see post 22 for changes with firmware 5.1.1.0104.
Firmware 5.1.1.0105 was rolled out without any significant feature changes it appears, although some issues may have been resolved.
The Navigatr firmware is discussed in detail in posts 33, 34.
The Good:
It has 8 tuners, allowing for up to 8 simultaneous recordings.
It’s fast & responsive. The IPG is faster than any other box and it’s way faster for other functions than the 8642. It’s faster than PVRs running SARA.
It has a 1 TB iHDD. This is twice as much as the latest 8642 and is probably enough for most people, providing over 100 hours of HD recording time.
It has a 3-minute skip (Page+) button. It would probably have been nicer to have 1 minute, but it’s better than nothing.
The “D” button can be used for instant weather.
The recordings can be sorted by date, title, channel or series.
The Bad:
For many people, the unit occasionally switches to 2-channel PCM audio (other) after watching a recording or switching to a recording. This is discussed in the following thread in detail. Depending on your situation, it seems to happen every 6-10 recordings, sometimes more, sometimes less. This mostly affects people who have AVRs and wish proper DD5.1 surround sound. However, it can also affect those people who are connected to a TV in that a 16kHz tone can be heard through the TV's speakers (by young people) and sometimes there is no audio at all through the TV. The only way to get a DD5.1 signal back after the switch is via a reboot. Some people have been rebooting their 9865s every evening before bed. Some people have also reported a 16 kHz tone emanating from their equipment occasionally. Those with good hearing and younger people can hear this. This seems to be resolved per posts 19/20 (2014.08).
NextBox 3.0 (Cisco 9865) Switching to PCM Issue - Resolved. - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums
Almost everyone mentions that the unit has audio dropouts when playing recordings. Some people have been able to minimize the dropouts by not using 1080P, rebooting the PVR (say before bed). Switching to “other” in the audio options may also help, but that’s not useful for those with AVRs. Some channels seem to be more susceptible than others. This issue seems to be resolved, although the occasional dropout may still occur.
Some early mornings (Tuesday, Friday), between 1AM-2PM the 9865 can become unresponsive to commands, but you can continue watching your recording. You can either reboot (unplug) or wait until after 2AM at which time the 9865 seems to respond normally again.
New 8 tuner PVR... NextBox 3.0 Discussions (Cisco 9865) - Read Post 1 - Page 90 - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums
You cannot adjust the time of recording by 1 minute. You must use their default options of 5 minutes or more
When you’re watching a recording that’s still recording, you cannot stop and delete it. You must stop/save, then find the recording, then delete. Silly extra steps! This was fixed in the firmware mentioned in post 22 of this thread.
There is no frame-by-frame advance option.
The Slo-Mo option is not very slow, especially in light of no frame-by-frame option.
The progress bar that comes up when you hit “play” or other functions, takes up 1/3 of the screen and stays on far too long. You can get rid of it by hitting “exit”, but that’s a pain. At least the exit button now gets rid of the progress bar when FF/REW.
If you set the output to 1080P, many people have reported video and audio issues – use 1080i or 720P. This seems to be resolved per posts 19/20 (2014.08), but I see no reason to use 1080P.
Many people have reported HDMI-CEC (Link) issues. Best to turn this feature off in your AVR/TV. This seems to be resolved per posts 19/20 (2014.08).
The recorded list doesn’t remember where you were when you picked your previous recording to watch. It always goes back to the latest recording if you’ve sorted by date (if you exit the list).
The Huh?
The first zoom function is not the correct amount of zoom for 1.78:1 letterboxed SD, nor is the second zoom correct for removing black bars from 2.35:1 letterboxed SD. The function is mostly useless, so you need to use your TV’s zoom if you wish to zoom.
Rogers have stopped supplying their own eHDDs for their PVRs. Although some people have had luck adding an eHDD after appropriate computer formatting, many people have had difficulty. Not a huge issue since 1 TB is probably enough recording space for most people.
The FF/REW speeds are different from the 8300, so if you’ve got both at home, you need to remember the differences. Also, it takes 4 button presses to get to 15X FF speed, a pain.
If you're recording two programmes, when you turn on the 9865 it will go to one of these recordings instead of your preferred channel, even though it has 8 tuners. Resolved - see post 14 (2014.06)
When you first install your new 9865, it can take a day or two for some features to become “active” (like searches or using Anyplace Home Edition).
When you first install your new 9865, it will come up with a black screen when you turn it on until you perform a reboot. After that it will come on with your favourite channel, or whatever option you’ve chosen.
The default output format is 720P. Since most HD channels are 1080i, most people recommend using the 1080i setting, but feel free to experiment.
On the 8300, you used to be able to go to channel 950 to resume watching your last recording. With the 9865 you have to find that recording in your list if you’ve watched live TV.
If you set up a series recording in the 500 series of channels, you may find that after one recording, it’s no longer listed under the 500 series, rather in the channel range 2-99. For example, a series recording on channel 514 becomes a series recording on channel 6. This may have something to do with Auto-HD. This can be disconcerting when viewing the IPG, but once you know about it, you can look for the lower channel or go to the list of series recordings. Setting up recordings using the lower numbers may also help prevent recording issues.
On the 8300, you could set up a reminder once for a programme so that it would remind you every day, etc if desired. With the 9865, you have to set a reminder for each event you wish to be reminded. (for example - nightly news)
If you pause a programme on the 9865, it will only pause for about 30 minutes.
A reboot takes about 5-6 minutes, but those people with WHPVR (Whole Home PVR setups) may find that it takes longer - say 20-30 minutes before the WHPVR system becomes properly active again. Try to reboot when there is no recording taking place, or scheduled for the time it takes to reboot.
FF Speed: The FF speeds are different from the 8300HD with 2X, 4X, 8X, 15X and 60X (on the 9865). This means I have to press the FF button four times to get to 15X speed, which is the one I prefer. On the 8300 you had 4X, 10X, 30X, 120X. I used the 10X to FF through commercials - only two presses, but I do prefer the 15X speed.
There are some other features that the 8300 had that the 9865 doesn’t, but mostly the 9865 is superior to previous Rogers PVRs.
----------------------------------------------------------------
For discussion, please use the 9865 discussion sticky thread.
Edit - please see post 11 for changes with firmware 1.0109
Please see post 14 for changes with firmware 2.0105
Please see post 20 for changes with firmware 5.0.0.0123
Please see post 22 for changes with firmware 5.1.1.0104.
Firmware 5.1.1.0105 was rolled out without any significant feature changes it appears, although some issues may have been resolved.
The Navigatr firmware is discussed in detail in posts 33, 34.