Cable TV, Here I Come....

Originally Posted by NorCal

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So what sites are you using to replace cable? Obviously you have Hulu and the various network sites. Any other recommendations? Any particularly good sites for live sports?
Depends on the sport. MLB.com will stream games. Sometimes you can get soccer matches online. The US Open was streamed. Its really a crap shoot. For shows I use torrents.

Originally Posted by chorse123

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Did you get the DVR? I sure hope so--greatest advancement in television since, well, television.

got a dvr! the only problem is the guy got there late and was futzing around until almost 11 as i put kidz to bed, had dinner, etc. supposedly everything is 'good to go', but this morning could not get the damn thing to work! also, the tv with the dvr now makes a highpitched buzzing sound when it's on....

* Tokyo Slim, where are you!? Can anyone help with these 2 issues?

Best 3 shows on television:

Cops - Fox
The Office - NBC
30 Rock - NBC

Originally Posted by onion

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Best 3 shows on television:

Cops - Fox
The Office - NBC
30 Rock - NBC

cops i watched 20+ years ago (cops trivia: premeire episode shot in hoboken!). Good show, but ultimately muy depresso. i learned that policemen have very tough jobs, and prayed that the moranic(sic!) dirtbag general public with which they had to interact was not as large as it seemed.

am interested in orig. (i.e. british) office, very much!

30 rock is the show ben vaughn does music for?

*i think my kidz fu'd the cable by turning on tv w/ old original remote to watch qubo this morning....

^^^ Roma - this is not all that uncommon. Usually, your TV will have multiple inputs: your cable is one, and your antenna is another, and what happens to me is that I'll mistakenly bump the channel on the TV remote, and it changes the input from video to TV. Cable goes bye-bye, at least until I press either the "Source" or "TV/Video" buttons (depends on the remote).

Good luck.

T

The buzzing sound: how close is the DVR to your TV? Try separating them and see if the buzzing goes away. Depending on how bad it is, you might have to keep the cable box in a different room. Don't worry though: happens all the time.

Originally Posted by Thomas

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^^^ Roma - this is not all that uncommon. Usually, your TV will have multiple inputs: your cable is one, and your antenna is another, and what happens to me is that I'll mistakenly bump the channel on the TV remote, and it changes the input from video to TV. Cable goes bye-bye, at least until I press either the "Source" or "TV/Video" buttons (depends on the remote).

Good luck.

T

Originally Posted by Thomas

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The buzzing sound: how close is the DVR to your TV? Try separating them and see if the buzzing goes away. Depending on how bad it is, you might have to keep the cable box in a different room. Don't worry though: happens all the time.

FFFFFUUUUUUUuuuu!

Originally Posted by romafan

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FFFFFUUUUUUUuuuu!

not hardly. Just look for a source (or TV-Video) button on your remote and press it: depending on your make and model it will either pop up a menu or scroll through the different inputs. One of them is your cable box. Be sure to have your cable box on, though - before you start searching the sources.

Originally Posted by Thomas

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not hardly. Just look for a source (or TV-Video) button on your remote and press it: depending on your make and model it will either pop up a menu or scroll through the different inputs. One of them is your cable box. Be sure to have your cable box on, though - before you start searching the sources.

i understand what you're saying - the problem (possibly) is that the time warner people say that using 'old/orig.' remote can throw off the settings on the cable box (if thismakes sense) - this is what my boyz did at 6 a.m. - cable guy(! ) failed to warn us. twc is 'sending' a new signal. also, tv and box must be 'set' on channel 3.....

Originally Posted by romafan

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i understand what you're saying - the problem (possibly) is that the time warner people say that using 'old/orig.' remote can throw off the settings on the cable box (if thismakes sense) - this is what my boyz did at 6 a.m. - cable guy(!

) failed to warn us. twc is 'sending' a new signal. also, tv and box must be 'set' on channel 3.....

Kind of but...no. As i understand it, the TV remote is just programmed to control the TV, not the cable box. The cable box won't get any info out of your remote, it will ignore any signal it gets, so the only variable is the TV. Not to say it's not possible, but I'm calling it unlikely.

I'd set the TV to channel 3 and see if the cable comes through - no need to wait for their signal.

Actually, if you can get behind your TV - trace the cable from the box to the TV and see where the input is. If they put it into ANT (antenna), then yeah, channel 3 is likely. If there's an alternate input, then you'll probably wind up having to select that particular input.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by Thomas

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Kind of but...no. As i understand it, the TV remote is just programmed to control the TV, not the cable box. The cable box won't get any info out of your remote, it will ignore any signal it gets, so the only variable is the TV. Not to say it's not possible, but I'm calling it unlikely.

I'd set the TV to channel 3 and see if the cable comes through - no need to wait for their signal.

Actually, if you can get behind your TV - trace the cable from the box to the TV and see where the input is. If they put it into ANT (antenna), then yeah, channel 3 is likely. If there's an alternate input, then you'll probably wind up having to select that particular input.

Good luck.

I guess I'm a little confused about the remotes. I now have 2 - the orig (came w/ tv a year ago, and only controls tv) & the 'new', very complicated-looking, 'cable' remote. we are supposed to disregard old/orig. remote and only use complicated-looking 'cable' remote. my sons (not knowing what had transpired while they slept blissfully unawares last night) automatically grabbed simple/original remote this morning and turned on tv (at least this is what the bonehead at twc told me), thus throwing 'the system' out of whack....

Originally Posted by romafan

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i understand what you're saying - the problem (possibly) is that the time warner people say that using 'old/orig.' remote can throw off the settings on the cable box (if thismakes sense) - this is what my boyz did at 6 a.m. - cable guy(!

) failed to warn us. twc is 'sending' a new signal. also, tv and box must be 'set' on channel 3.....

Do you have a VCR connected or is your TV really old? It would only matter which channel the TV is on if you cable box is connected to it through a coax/RF cable, which would make you picture much worse than it has to be. If you have other type of connections on your TV you should use them instead. Like a yellow round plug called video plus red and white round plugs for audio at least. If you tell me which TV you have I should be able to tell you the connections you need to use for the best picture and sound.

Originally Posted by Dmax

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Do you have a VCR connected or is your TV really old? It would only matter which channel the TV is on if you cable box is connected to it through a coax/RF cable, which would make you picture much worse than it has to be.
If you have other type of connections on your TV you should use them instead. Like a yellow round plug called video plus red and white round plugs for audio at least.
If you tell me which TV you have I should be able to tell you the connections you need to use for the best picture and sound.

dmax - it is a sony hd, about 15 months old, and yes, there is a vcr connected. we've got all those round colored plugs you mentioned...thnx

OK then. Apologies if this is going to be long but maybe it will help someone. First point - you should not be connecting anything with a coaxial/antenna/RF cable past the cable going into your cable box.
Second, Your remotes - The Cable Box remote controls which channel you are on and turns the cable box on and off. Some people leave the cable box on all the time. Your TV remote controls the sound volume and turns the TV on and off. If you haven't already, you can program the cable box remote to turn your TV on and off and to control the TV's volume. You may still want to use the TV's remote when switching inputs, from cable box to VCR, for example.

I don't know if you have a Standard Definition cable box from TW or their HD box. If you don't have an HD box you should exchange yours for one at one of the Time Warner walk-in service centers. I don't think TW charges anything extra and you have an HD TV so there is no reason not to get one. You should also consider and HD-DVR box which can potentially replace your VCR but TW used to charge $10 extra per month for it.

If you have an HD compatible box from TW then you should be connecting it to your TV through an HDMI cable. It's a single cable that carries both HD video and audio signals and has small rectangular looking plugs on both ends. Time Warner HD boxes will have a single HDMI out connector. Use that to connect to one of your Sony TV's "HDMI in" connectors (your TV should have between 2 and 4 of those, labeled HDMI1, HDMI2, etc..). If you didn't have a VCR, which you can replace with a Time Warner HD-DVR box or a HD Tivo + a cable card, btw, that would be all you would need to do as far as connections.

More a little later.

Originally Posted by romafan

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* Tokyo Slim, where are you!?

http://columbiaisa.googlepages.com/c...grams_hdtv.htm

High pitched whining might be a number of things. Loose connections, electrical interference between the cable box/dvr and the tv, faulty grounding, etc. Start by moving your cable box/dvr. away from the tv. You shouldn't have to move it to another room, just try moving it a few feet away first.

Do you have a surge protector or are all these things just plugged right into your wall?