AKA: the problem with monopolies, illustrated
Written: Jan 25 '04 (Updated Feb 05 '07)
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Pros: none specific to iO
Cons: It's really an alpha release, and is overpriced.
The Bottom Line: Either you want the channels or you don't--there are few other reasons to choose iO.
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| Scott_A_R's Full Review: Cablevision |
This review is specifically about iO, Cablevision's digital television service.
The half-hearted decision to switch from regular Cablevision to iO was not entirely voluntary--I had received notice from Cablevision that HBO would soon be a digital-only offering, and I could either switch or drop the channel. There were one-year rate guarantees, and the rate was similar to what I was already paying, so what the heck....
First, Laurel and Hardy came over for the installation. It isn't confidence-inspiring when I, the consumer, am more familiar with the digital cable technology than the installers (who, it seems, were outside contractors hired by Cablevision), but we eventually got things working over the course of a three and a half hour installation.
The pros can be summed up with one phrase: more channels. There are, indeed, quite a number of channels as compared to standard cable. Now this does not appear to be a feature inherent in *digital* cable service--as many of the additional channels were once also available with standard analog service--but instead seems to be an artificial distinction created to woo people to iO. Most of the offerings that actually take advantage of digital technology aren't included with the regular packages, but I didn't really want them. Being able to watch "Finding Nemo" whenever I want ("on demand") just doesn't seem to be important to me. The digital music channels are, to me, a complete waste of bandwidth; I just don't see a point to using your television to listen to music.
The negatives....
well, the price has increased a whopping *THIRTY PERCENT* since I signed up. Of course, with Cablevision, such price gouging is par for the course, but this is getting ridiculous.
And then there's the service itself. I'm convinced that they decided to rush it out regardless of its fitness for use, as it does NOT seem to be a complete, polished service.
1) everything operates with delays. For as long as I can remember--with antenna broadcasts, or my first cable service in the early 80s--when you change a channel, *poof*, it changes. Now, there's a delay of about two-three seconds between each channel. This makes channel scanning basically impossible--if you keep hitting the channel up or down buttons (the stereotypical male habit) to run through the channels and see what's on, it takes as long to go through 5 channels now as it used to take to go through 20.
The"Info" button (which is supposed to give you information about the current show) can take a ridiculous amount of time. If you're lucky, you'll get results within a couple of seconds. More commonly, it can take up to 15 seconds--and sometimes it times out altogether. The problem gets worse during peak viewing hours (i.e., all evening).
The guide (channel/show listings) is frustrating. It takes at least 5 seconds to show up, but not infrequently as long as 30; sometimes, it just locks up altogether. Further, the listings are spread out over 38 pages, and there's no way to jump to a particular page. If you want to know what's on HBO-Signature (channel 301)--well, that's page 18. You'll have to scroll down page by page, and each page will take, at the least, about two seconds, so it'll be half a minute before you find out what's on HBOS (not counting the delay in pulling up the guide in the first place). As a result, I use my computer to pull up online listings instead--it takes much less time.
And you can't hit "Page down" quickly--it caches commands, so you may find that the guide keeps scrolling FAR past the page you want even though you stopped hitting the button 5 or more seconds ago.
With both "info" and the guide, iO will sometimes just give up and say "Unable to display the information."
2) The picture quality is, overall, somewhat worse than it was with analog cable. I do not seen an improvement comparing the digital and analog channels--comparing either
a) the analog and digital channels as tuned by the converter, or
b) th channels tunable by both the box and my VCR, by switching my TV's input between the converter and the tuner on my VCR (which bypasses the converter--more on that later).
What's more, the picture is prone to occasional bursts of pixelation, like watching a badly compressed MPEG (which, I suppose, is sort of what's happening).
3) additional devices like VCRs or DVRs don't play well with iO. If you want to record almost anything besides basic cable, the cable box must be used as a tuner. This is a bigger disadvantage than it may sound; in order to record something, the VCR must be set to channel 3, and the cable box set to the desired channel AND LEFT POWERED ON. You cannot record one channel while watching another, and you cannot set a DVR or VCR to record multiple shows on different channels (since you must manually change the channel on the cable box). The only alternative is to use a splitter before the cable box, and run one lead to the VCR and another to the cable box (and then either use an coax A/B switch, or attach the VCR via the TV's coax input and the box via component video). The VCR will work normally, but there'll be a sizable bunch of channels that it can't display or record.
4) the remote features work poorly. There is a "Back" button that is theoretically supposed to toggle between the previous and current channel (or function). If only....
Here's what's SUPPOSED to happen:
example a) you go to channel 23, then 80, then 305. Hit Back once, it takes you to 80, hit it again, it takes you to 23. The Back button is actually a rocker switch--hitting the other side should go forward, 23 to 80 to 305.
example b) hit 23, then Guide, then 305, then 80. Hitting Back should take you to 305; hit it again, and it should go to the Guide.
So what ACTUALLY happens? It may indeed work--I've found no rhyme or reason as to when. In example 4a, hitting Back may do absolutely nothing. Or it may take you to 23, skipping 80 altogether. Or it may go to 80 and go no further. You might make it back to 23 or 80 and find you can't go forward again.
5) There's also no way to deprogram channels. I speak not a word of Spanish, so, back when I used my TV as a tuner, I didn't program in the Spanish language channels. Now, not only are there more Spanish-language channels, spread all over the channel list, but they remain in the channel list along with the seemingly vast number of home shopping channels, as well as the channels that I can't watch because I don't subscribe to them. This last element is the most annoying--if I'm going through the channels and accidentally get to Showtime On Demand, the cable box cycles for about 5 seconds (totally unresponsive to any input) before finally telling me that I don't get the channel. To make things more annoying, the channel-change response is so slow, you can hit a non-subscribed channel by accident--you THINK you've stopped changing channels, but a cached channel change command takes you past where you are and you have to wait before you can change channels again.
6) most of the digital features are added-cost. This is frustrating to me--you're basically paying for the chance to pay more. That is, the standard packages give you very little by way of digital-specific programming. The number of additional channels you get has long been within the technological scope of standard analog cable. To get the digital-only features, you pay per additional feature. So you're paying more for the digital service without actually getting digital technology--just the opportunity to pay for digital technology.
7) There is little logic to channel groupings. HBO is channel 82. HBO2 is channel 96, and there are a bunch of HBO channels (HBO Family, HBO West, HBO Zone, etc.) from channels 300 to 310). There are home shopping channels all over the place. News channels from 23 to 26, 59, 65, 66, etc. In theory, channels 100 and up are the digital ones, but you still need the converter for many of the channels BELOW 100, so I'm not sure why they couldn't group related channels together.
UPDATED 8) The HD box is SLOW!! Even slower than the regular one. You can actually type in all three channel numbers (say, 705), and the last one will be typed before the first even SHOWS on the converter box! That is, type 705, and nothing happens (and maybe you start typing it again), *then* 705 appears, and... nothing yet. It takes about five seconds to change. Ridiculous.
I've talked about these problems with Cablevision and with other people who have iO. Sometimes resetting the cable box fixes the most egregious of problems (i.e, the Guide not coming up at all), but my friends who have iO also agree with these complaints--especially the frustratingly long delays to change channels.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 90
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Epinions.com ID:
Scott_A_R
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Location: Massapequa, NY
Reviews written: 45
Trusted by: 11 members
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