VERY DISAPPOINTED in Rogers Cable

[TracyClancy]

I've been a Rogers VIP member for over a year and decided to pick up a Digital Terminal yesterday afternoon. Well, less than a day later I have returned the box and have filed a complaint against Rogers for misleading advertising, instructions and information.
It's not until you turn to Page 28 of the User Guide that you realize that you cannot record a program on your VCR and watch Digital Cable at the same time.
Not only should you purchase a $20 VCR Commander that will save you the hassle of having to set recording timers on 2 machines, you must purchase a splitter to allow you to watch tv while recording through your VCR. The splitter will allow you to watch ONLY cable channels up to 75 (or regular analog cable if you will) while recording through your digital terminal.
To top it off, if you'd like to watch digital cable while recording through your VCR, you must rent ANOTHER terminal to connect to the same tv.

I am thoroughly disappointed in Rogers' lack of truthful advertising about the fact that your digital terminal ideally should not be connected to a tv where one has intentions of connecting a VCR to it. The lack of disclosure of front line technical support and customer service representatives to help educate cable customers about the drawbacks of using a digital terminal and educating them on how to overcome the technical issues relating to VCR & digital terminal hook-ups is a serious let-down.
The user-guide that comes with the terminal glazes over all technical issues relating to VCR & digital terminal hook-ups and misleads you to believe that a VCR commander may resolve your problem.
Most households will require a splitter anyway so it should be given to you free of charge along with the other cables that come with the terminal.

What I thought was a fairly good 'deal' - rent a terminal for 5 bucks a month, get 2 months free & 2 movies free... ended up becoming a headache and a financial burden.

note to self: nothing is too good to be true

Rogers Cable SUX

:evil:

[henning]

Rogers Digital is very similar to satellite TV in this respect.

Except you still get those analog channels that you can program a VCR off of.

henning

[hugh]

Not to excuse Rogers but your complaints are true for the entire cable industry so I might amend your comment to "digital cable sucks"

The industry sells the benefits of Digital Cable but they pretend that VCR's don't exist. The "how do I hook my VCR up to digital cable box and television" is a common question around these parts.

[57]

Tracy, Check out the HT FAQ section, link below. See the post "how to hook up a VCR and STB". Although you cannot watch and record two different digital channels this setup allows almost anything else.

http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/for...forum.php?f=57

Since digital programmes are typically repeated many times, it's typically easy to set the STB/VCR to record when you're not watching digital TV (during the day at work or at night when asleep).

Soon, Cable PVR STBs will be available and this issue will go away because they will have several tuners to allow many recording options.

[Night Chicken]

In a short period of time (I know not yet but soon) won't a Roger's digital STB with built in PVR make this point moot and solve the problem?

[57]

Yep, then the VCR will be good for a doorstop. I added that paragraph to my previous post, but I must have been typing while you were posting...

I'd also like to point out that this has nothing to do with Rogers, the issue is the same with any STB that doesn't have two tuners (which most don't).

I don't believe that Rogers advertizes anywhere that you can simultaneously watch and record two different digital channels with one STB. If they do, please provide a link...and then advise them of their error.

[jbamford]

I've employed a splitter in my system, one leg feeds the VCR which then passes through to the TV and the other feeds the cable box (the Motorola 2000). I've S-Video from the cable box to the TV and composite video to the VCR. The RF output on the cable box is not connected. A couple of y-cables to connect the cable boxes audio to the stereo and the VCR. 95% of what I tape is analog anyway. I can still tape digital cable and, if required, watch regular analog cable via the TV's tuner.

Jeff

[hugh]

Chuckles, PVR doesn't replace VCR though for archival footage. Can't take your camcorder tape and put it in the PVR and you still need something to archive programs too since PVR storage is limited.

I don't believe that Rogers advertizes anywhere that you can simultaneously watch and record two different digital channels with one STB. If they do, please provide a link...and then advise them of their error.

Maybe they don't but to Tracy's point, the hook up diagram is on Page 28 and there is no warnings in the advertising saying that you need to buy additional equipment in order to use your VCR. The implication is that it's all seemless.

Guilty of omission rather than commission perhaps?

[JohnnyG]

Originally Posted by human

Not to excuse Rogers but your complaints are true for the entire cable industry so I might amend your comment to "digital cable sucks"

The industry sells the benefits of Digital Cable but they pretend that VCR's don't exist. The "how do I hook my VCR up to digital cable box and television" is a common question around these parts.

Whoa! Just wait one minute here! How is this ANY different from digital satellite? Or wireless digital TV from LOOK? In fact, it's BETTER because you still have the ability to record the lower 75 channels while you watch any other channel - or vice versa.

None of them talk about the negative aspect of VCR integration. Fact is, digital cable could advertise their capabilities as a PLUS versus the competition.

[james99]

With the exception of a few dual tuner satellite boxes, you're 100% correct.

This is why i have more than 1 satellite receiver. One to record, one to watch and from time to time i'll have both on at once (2 tvs).

[hugh]

Whoa! Just wait one minute here! How is this ANY different from digital satellite?

I wasn't comparing digital cable to satellite. The point I was trying to make originally was that the displeasure that Tracy found with Rogers is not specific to them but is endemic throughout the industry.

I just said that I believe the cable industry does a poor job communicating these things to consumers which inevitably lead to confused and annoyed cable consumers.

For my complaints about how the satellite industry markets its product, please see the satellite forums.

[Alan Bealby]

I have another case of false advertising by a small local cable near Kelowna. Last spring my Mother was going to move to the area serviced by this company, which was just introducing a new digital cable service. I had been paying for the basic digital cable service so she could get the digital music channels that she liked so much.

I checked the new companies web site and amongst their pages was one extolling the benefits of their cable service over satellite service. Here is an extract of their reply to my complaint of false advertizing about watching and recording TV simultaneously:
********************************************************
As for the Advantages
>section on our website, we stand by the info provided:
>A) You can record one ch and watch another with our system, you
> cannot with a dish
*******************************************************

After another E-Mail of complaint they finally replied with:

*********************************
You can record a digital channel and watch an analog ch and vise versa
but you can't record a digital and watch another digital channel.
*********************************

which is the correct information.

This is better than satellite which requires a second STB for simultaneously recording and watching TV but it is not the same as a totally analog cable TV situation and companies should be very clear about this in their adverttising.

[seanjoesph]

Again your dtv terminal comes with a step by step layout of how to hook up your vcr to your dtv.
Rogers never says anything about recording a digtial channel and watching a digital channel.
Stop whinning and get an A/B switch as the Dvrs are coming.

[digitalcable]

I dont think Rogers is trying to mislead their customers, even though maybe thats your opinion. Like the other posts have already stated, your problem with Recording would be the same no matter which provider you chose. I think if you had properly done your homework before investing in a service you might not have been disappointed. I think its important to know what the limitations of a service are.

[hugh]

DigitalCable/ SeanJoseph, I'm going to take issue.

Somebody shouldn't have to read a manual before purchasing a product to know that the product radically alters the way things are done.

The connection of a VCR to analog cable is straightforward and allows the owner to watch one channel while recording another. This has been the way things have been for almost 20 years.

This is well entrenched in consumers mind and I can understand that for 90% of the population who just want to watch television, they see the STB as nothing more than a way to get more channels because guesss what, that's the way it's marketed!

As I said earlier, shame on the entire Cable industry because they extoll the benefits but fail to inform the consumer about the drawbacks.

Currently, Digital cable penetration is small. Why? because it's a hassle and many consumers such as the author of this thread find the costs outweigh the benefits.