[Bigbird999]

One of the tuners in my rented 6416 PVR failed. Support wait times were crazy long the last couple of days so today I unhooked it and drove down to Burlington (from Milton) to get a new one. Went to the place I picked it up a few years ago only to find that it now the corporate office and that I had to go to a store front outlet. Slightly PO'd, I drove over to the Burlington mall outlet. Told them I wanted an exchange because a tuner had failed,
"Did support tell you to bring it in?"
"No, the wait times are crazy long because they are having problems"
"Well, they usually do a factory reset to fix it"
"Not for a failed tuner"
"How do you know the tuner has failed"
"Because one doesn't work but the other does"
"Well, support could fix it by doing a reset"
Getting slightly more steamed
"Can I just exchange it please"
"OK, I guess so, what's your phone number"
"1234567890"
"Why did you drive all the way down from Milton? You should have just gone to the Milton Store. Its right next to WalMart"
Steam beginning to exit ears now!
"I didn't know there was a Milton store and it is not listed on the web site"
"Oh, that is probably because it is so new"
"Well you are an internet and cable company, maybe somebody could update your web site"
"I'll get your new box from the warehouse"
She goes out back and I calm down and see the humor in this fiasco.
"Here you are sir, it is a brand new model that replaces your PVR. "
"Is it a digital only box?"
"Its a High Definition PVR, we just got them in yesterday"
Reading the label
"Oh, its the new PACE box. But will my old remote still work with it?"
"Yes, the remote is universal"
"OK, if you say so, but if it doesn't work...."
In unison we both said
"THERE IS A STORE IN MILTON"

We were both chuckling as I left with a brand new PACE TDC777D PVR tucked under my arm.

Hooked it up and activated and it is working great with the old remote and even the 30 second skip that I programmed in works. There were a few moments of cursing because whenever I tried to tune CTV 710 it went to 712 ABC. After a few min I found that 710 no longer existed and that it was now on 701. And a little later I found that today was the day they rolled out the new HD lineup.

The only issue is that the EPG seems to be stretched and only shows an hour and a half of programming (pretty sure it used to show more). It seems different than it did before.

So If you really want a new PACE STB they are now available.

BB

 

[DavidT]

Sweeeeet.

I think my 6416 just started rebooting randomly...

 

[james99]

The folks over at the Shaw forums seem to hate the Pace HD PVRs. They seem to prefer the Motos.

Also, I think the Pace machines have been out for some time form Cogeco.

 

[Bigbird999]

Update

There is very little info, other than a manual, for this exact box. The model that I received is a TDC777D Aspen/Andes. All of the info I found and the subject of the lengthy threads at the Shaw forum are the 775D and 776D (Tahoe and Aspen respectively). I don't know the differences, if any, between them. I believe Cogeco is the only one with the 777D. FWIW, it seems to me, that a lot of the issues with these similar boxes revolve around the addition and formatting of an external eSata drive, and subsequent issues.

I recorded 3 hrs of HD and the drive is 9% full, so 3% per hour. Makes sense as HD is about 8 GB/hr ~= 24 GB for the 3 shows. The HDD is 250 GB so 9% = 22.5 GB.

The PACE can be powered down and will wake up to record. This is unlike the Moto box which had to stay powered on @ 50 watts of heat generating, standby, power in order to record. I intend to dig out my watt meter and see what this means in the way of power savings.

My 30 sec skip and 15 sec jump back appear to be a lick slower in response, but it is not a severe issue. The Moto box's response was instantaneous while the Pace takes a second or so to respond. When a commercial starts, I can hit my skip button 6 times rapidly and it takes about 4 - 5 sec for the box to make the 6 skips (3 min).

The EPG interface looks stretched to me, but I checked it against the HD receiver in my man cave (a Moto 6200) and it looks the same. I understand that they have rolled out a new version of the EPG, so maybe this has nothing to do with the box or maybe it is just my imagination.

Like I said in my original post, I wouldn't have changed out the 6416 if a tuner hadn't failed. It worked perfectly for us, but, all in all, the Pace seems like an adequate replacement (so far, at least).

BB

 

[DavidT]

Just picked one up today to replace my DCT6416. Here are some pictures...



I find this 777D to be much more responsive than my 6416. The guide, info, menu, etc. open instantaneously when you push the button whereas the 6416 lagged a little and then opened relatively slowly.

Now that I use it a little more though, I agree with Bigbird that the skip functions seem to be just a tad slower to respond, but it's still very much acceptable.

My TDC777D is currently running software version 78.73; my DCT6416 was running 78.44.

 

[james99]

I don't see the 777d listed on the pace website. Are you sure about the model# ?

http://www.pace.com/corporate/produ...&prodTypeFilter=features&prodType=HDPVR#HDPVR

 

[DavidT]

Yep, you have to go to the Americas > Canada section.

http://www.pace.com/americas/produc...dTypeFilter=platform&prodType=DCNONUS#DCNONUS

First one on the page

 

[Bigbird999]

@DavidT
Are you referring to the software version listed under Setup/Cable Box Setup/Configuration/Select to Display?
Because mine says S/W version 75.72 -a25p3.s3.r-1 and Model is DCT. I'm a bit confused because that seems like a pretty old version compared to yours and DCT is a Motorola box model.
Are you noticing that the EPG is stretched? I will admit to being hypersensitive to incorrect aspect ratios but to me the EPG looks like it is a 4:3 guide stretched out to the edges of my 16.9 TV.

But it still seems to be working fine.

BB

 

[DavidT]

@Bigbird Yep, that's where the software version is listed. Mine also says DCT as the model. The full version numbers listed on mine are...

Software: 78.73 - A28p0-4.1005.r-8
Firmware: 18.79

It could be a newer firmware version is rolled out to this area. Try unplugging yours and plugging it back in to see if it downloads a newer version. I'm not sure if there's a way to force a firmware check on these Pace boxes like you can on the Moto DCTs.

And yeah, the EPG is stretched from 4:3 to 16:9. The guide has always been 4:3 though, the Moto DCTs just didn't stretch it. I can't seem to find a way to prevent it from stretching, but it doesn't bug me.

 

[Bigbird999]

Firmware: 18.79

My Firmware is 17.89

Like I said, I am hypersensitive when it comes to stretched images. Now that you mention it I think my 6416 did display the EPG in 4:3 mode without stretching. I wonder, am I missing anything with this older S/W version?

I think I'll just leave it be for a while and see if it updates on its own.

BB

 

[LJA]

Guys

Does the Pace support an external Hard drive??

 

[DavidT]

Haven't had a chance to try yet. I'm going to pick up an eSATA enclosure for one of my spare hard drives lying around either today or tomorrow.

As far as I know, it should work, unless Cogeco has disabled the feature.

 

[exseven]

eSATA should work but its not user selectable and the digital box will go by what has more available space on it. As well the harddrive will be locked to that terminal ONLY when formatted.

 

[DavidT]

Thanks for confirming, exseven.

By the way, on the Cogeco Quebec support website, it also lists the manual for the Pace TDC575D SD PVR. Do you know if Cogeco is planning on distributing this box, or is it a typo?

http://www.cogeco.ca/cable/qc/en/customersupport/television/userguides_tv.html

 

[exseven]

no idea on the quebec side of things. We are generally separate

 

[fredbalsdon]

Very sexy looking box cant wait to get mine in a few weeks when i move

 

[james99]

The folks over at Shaw have the 775D machine, not sure if they are similar or not but plenty of discussions for those who are interested:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=82755


Also 776D: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=95916

 

[james99]

user guide is on Cogeco's site:

http://www.cogeco.ca/export/sites/c...l_tv/motorola_user_guide/Pace_TDC_777D_en.pdf

 

[DavidT]

Thanks for sticking this thread James.

There's also the thread for the new DCX700, if you wouldn't mind doing the honours

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=127460

 

[theninjasquad]

Does anyone know if they are still giving out the Moto boxes? I need to swap out my 6416 as it keeps resetting itself, but I want to make sure I get a new Pace box.