You can kick and scream, but Time Warner's Navigator is here to stay

[RLJSlick]

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=735417

[PaulKTF]

That new Access Bar or whatever it is that you get when you hit the yellow triangle is awful. It's all so damned ugly. And I miss being able to just turn it to channel 199 to see the last 10 calls rather than having to go through a bunch of menus to do it.

[Jack 1000]

Best thing to do is to keep preaching the negative, (BUT HONEST) problems with the Guide. The Internet is a great resource, but local TV/radio stations are excellent in this regard. TWC may not care now, but if profits and major revenue are lost with a 60% drop in subs because of the new Navigator, (although this is a hypothetical number,) they may rethink their planned ideas about this "revolutionary" new guide. The more people complain to local city and government officials about Navigator, this will force TWC to either fix the bugs, or in the long run, lose their Wisconsin franchise.

Let's see what happens within 3-6 months of the rollout for all of TWC Wisconsin.

Jack

[gb4fan92]

a 60% drop in subs because of the new Navigator

Jack

Hey let's see if we can get 60% of this forum to drop TWC in the next 3 months!!
(Can I count as the 1st since I dropped them in late November?? :rof: :rof: )

[gparris]

As soon as I can I will try to get ahold of $397 plus tax plus any installation costs (I want to mount my Slimline dish on a pole, not the house).
That will cover the cost of two HD DVRs and one HD box (for the game room HDTV) so that I will have the same as I have now with TWC, less CBSHD, of course (with CBS58 screwing D* HD subs and few, if any, HR20's available, anyway).
FYI, the current Directv pricing and programme on now will produce pay back in about 7 months, anyway.

The only other cost is if D* wants me to pay for one month up front plus the setup cost, so I will have to inquire how that all goes.:blush:

-But I will be definitely one of the switchers if Navigator comes in all that bad and then, of course, the lack of HD channels vs. other TWC locations here.

Remember, TWC's Mystro Navigator will not bring us TWC Milwaukee subs the 24 HD channels listed that are available now from TWC we do not have

-All it will bring is pain to HD DVR subs and they will leave in droves, IMO.

-Bev Greenburg is kidding only herself, if she thinks Navigator's rollout will be anything but a nightmare!

-then there's that lack of HD channel additions other TWC locations enjoy...what the...is TWC Wisconsin thinking, anyway?

[basshive]

As soon as I can I will try to get ahold of $397 plus tax plus any installation costs (I want to mount my Slimline dish on a pole, not the house).

We are in the same boat! Finally got clearance from the wife so next month its goodbye TWC and hello tv from the heavens!

[gparris]

My neighbours just got an HDTV with my setup and consulting and they absolutely love their new 60" HDTV and surround sound (coming soon).

But when TWC came in to switch their 8000 SD box for the 8300HDC with Navigator, all they do now is complain about:
1) How cheap the graphics look
2) How slow it works
3) How it loses half of their scheduled recordings!:mad:

So as soon as I get DirectvHD, so will they, but their D* HD DVR will only cost them $99 and they will enjoy a lesser monthly HD billing cost:
-$54.99 a month for a year, DVR and HD access included with 3 months Showtime HD and StarzHD - 8 HD channels free.
It will make it really a "deal", so payback will be very quick for them.

We may even ask for Directv to hold (or maybe we will just do it) to throw a DirectvHD "block party" with those that are switching from clunky Navigator TWC 8300HD service to Directv's HR21's, which run wonderfully, BTW.;)

[viva-vegas]

As a casual observer and devoted follower of these forums, am I only one more deeply concerned about the caviler attitude of Beverly and TWC?? I know this is the underlying reason most of you are switching, it just seems like they "think" they have us as subscribers and we have no other options. When in reality there is an excellent alternative in DirecTv.

Ok enough with my rambling thoughts..

To the real question, I too like many of you are ready to pull the trigger and make the switch.... Those of you who made the jump, what is the best way? Online, Phone Center? Any guidance in getting the best deal to make the switch to D* would be most helpful.

Not a fan of missing "America's Ports" on NGC in HD this evening..

Craig

[gparris]

As a casual observer and devoted follower of these forums, am I only one more deeply concerned about the caviler attitude of Beverly and TWC?? I know this is the underlying reason most of you are switching, it just seems like they "think" they have us as subscribers and we have no other options. When in reality there is an excellent alternative in DirecTv.

Ok enough with my rambling thoughts..

To the real question, I too like many of you are ready to pull the trigger and make the switch.... Those of you who made the jump, what is the best way? Online, Phone Center? Any guidance in getting the best deal to make the switch to D* would be most helpful.

Not a fan of missing "America's Ports" on NGC in HD this evening..

Craig

Cavalier attitude by Bev Greenburg of TWC & Co?
Yes indeed, everything is coming up roses in TWC Wisconsin, don't you know?

TWC in Milwaukeeland is "gifting us" by adding the most popular and "most requested" HD channels, those History HD and National Geographic HD channels, of course, many WEEKS from now:
So to heck with those subs like me, who have been begging for the Sci-Fi HD channel weeks before BSG came on, instead watching it in god-awful analogue TWC channel 55, rather than HD like my Comcast neighbours to the south or one of my nearer neighbours to my north with DirectvHD.:mad:

Yes subs, as TWC Texas, TWC NY, TWC South and North Carolina bask in anywhere up to FOUR DOZEN HD channels, we got what...20, including locals?
Now we will have Navigator, so slow and clumsy an "upgrade" for us DVR subs we will be glad just to tune into an HD channel we DO get, sorry slobs that we are!

I am thinking calling in to Directv, getting the $54.99/month package for a year, saving another $25/month off my payTV bill over TWC, plus the $18 a month special and then by getting those HD premium channels (I get for a lot more of, BTW vs. with TWC) over three more months, another $69 savings.

Totalling it all up, I will looks like I will save $585 the first year alone by switching from TWC and whenever Directv comes out with another HD channel:
I will get it at the same time everyone else does, quite unlike many TWC subs in this country.;)

My neighbour gave up ahead of me and called in using the data from the website and got what he wanted and is very happy with the install
...but I forgot to ask as to who actually who did it (but I will check when I am ready, cash-in-hand a'la tax refund).
:D

[RLJSlick]

Well I'm not gonna wait for TWC, I'm just waiting for the day that U-Verse is in our area. Even if TWC does get **** load of new HD, which they probably won't I still don't want to put up with their nonsense any longer.
They have taking such a casual approach to this whole HD thing, that I'm done with them.

[steve053]

.. I too like many of you are ready to pull the trigger and make the switch.... Those of you who made the jump, what is the best way? Online, Phone Center? Any guidance in getting the best deal to make the switch to D* would be most helpful....

Not being a new customer, I'm not familiar with the current insentives, but there is/was a pretty good AAA discount and I've heard talk about a BB discount that's tied to (or maybe in addition to) a discount on an HD TV. Before biting on either of these, check out the DirecTv web page to see what their current offer is.

DirecTv has taken away a lot of the discount liberty that the reps used to have; but some reps seem to have some discression on additional bonuses.

I'd check out the current deals first, then call DirecTv and see if they can match or beat your best offer.

Good luck!

[gparris]

Mystro Digital Navigator hits the 8300HD boxes overnight for some, if not all, of us.

So the pain of slow action and 1980's graphics will be upon TWC Wisconsin subs, once and for all!:(

For those who cannot stand it after basking in the light of Passport, may the alternatives to TWC payTV be available to you.:)

[Jack 1000]

Mystro Digital Navigator hits the 8300HD boxes overnight for some, if not all, of us.

So the pain of slow action and 1980's graphics will be upon TWC Wisconsin subs, once and for all!:(

For those who cannot stand it after basking in the light of Passport, may the alternatives to TWC payTV be available to you.:)

Thanks GP for all of your help and everyone on the forum to help us prepare!

I was wondering where you heard this info? What time period should we expect? 2-4am?

Jack

[Danimal]

4/8/08 - 2:45 am and no Crapigator... counting my blessings!!:bang:

[louisd13]

3:15 AM 4/8/08. Crapigator is officially here. I've had it for mere minutes and I hate it already! :(

[basshive]

Welcome to the world us HDC users have been in for some months now.... :(

[kevbeck122]

I still have Passport this morning.

[PaulKTF]

This sort of makes me glad I don't use the digital box on my TV... At least I know my TV's interface can't change based on TWC's whim. sigh

[LoadStar]

I still have Passport this morning.

Ditto here.

[agrotto]

Got Navigator out in Cedarburg this morning.

[klwillis45]

Wife just call me @ work and told me we got the update. :(

[cdnelson]

We've been on Navigator since we upgraded to HD in February. I just thought it was the software for the HD boxes...not an "upgrade". I've had techs out to my house several times, and gone through several 8300HDC's. I've had them tell me it was the signal strength coming into my house and various other excuses. It wasn't until I found this board that I realized:

1. I am not alone.
2. Most of my issues seem to be coming from the stupid cable card + Navigator software! :bang:

I read the article that is the subject of this thread, and saw the letter that was submitted to Tim Cuprisin regarding it. I just wanted to pile on, by saying that his monthly "chat" is tomorrow at noon. I submitted a question about Navigator and Bev Greenberg's non-chalant attitude towards subscribers wishes.

I would encourage others to submit questions along the same lines.

As soon as U-Verse becomes in available in the Sussex area, I'm jumping ship. I've had customer service issues with them before, but the fact that their equipment is pratically crippling my new investment (HD TV) is the last straw.

[joeker]

Yeah this "upgrade" is horrible....the navigator guide is basically useless now. I used to be able to bring up the guide and view all my favorite channels to see what's on. Now when I have the guide up and click "fav" it just goes to the channel

And I'm sick of waiting for U-Verse in my neighborhood, I'm switching to DTV....AT&T had their chance.

[RonH]

I got navigator last week, and now I just realized none of my brewer's games are recordings from the series manager. So I deleted the series recording for "MLB Baseball" on channel 31, and tried to recreate it, but you can't make series recordings for live events apparently with navigator!!!!

So this means I have to manually set up recordings for every brewers game? Does anyone have a work around? This is ridiculous!!!

Ok, and now I just went to try and set up a manual recording for a brewer's game on 531, and you can't do manual recordings??? I used to think I was pretty good with electronics and computers, so either Navigator is missing two very key features for me, or I'm getting really stupid.

[LoadStar]

I got navigator last week, and now I just realized none of my brewer's games are recordings from the series manager. So I deleted the series recording for "MLB Baseball" on channel 31, and tried to recreate it, but you can't make series recordings for live events apparently with navigator!!!!

So this means I have to manually set up recordings for every brewers game? Does anyone have a work around? This is ridiculous!!!

Ok, and now I just went to try and set up a manual recording for a brewer's game on 531, and you can't do manual recordings??? I used to think I was pretty good with electronics and computers, so either Navigator is missing two very key features for me, or I'm getting really stupid.

You're right on both counts. I too see absolutely no way to do a manual recording, which is a major flaw.

As for the standard def games, my guess is that this isn't totally the fault of Navigator. I'd guess that somewhere in the metadata that Navigator gets from Gemstar/TV Guide, the games are probably being flagged as "not part of series" or something, and as a result Navigator turns off the ability to record the series.

[kevbeck122]

Yeah, the guide is horrible. Passport had a lot more information. Navigator's is sometimes wrong and gives you very little description. I don't know why they can't pull the same info to Navigator.

[Jack 1000]

Yeah, the guide is horrible. Passport had a lot more information. Navigator's is sometimes wrong and gives you very little description. I don't know why they can't pull the same info to Navigator.

Cosign!

I would estimate that 80% of previous content type and function could be reinstated from Passport to Navigator. But there is always that 20% that TWC could not put into Navigator because of copyright issues. For example, I am pretty sure that TWC had to remove the "Scroll in 100 channel increments by pressing "A" in the time grid", because that was a Passport shortcut that they may have copyrighted. The same is true for "hold the power button down until the word "boot" appears in the display for a warm reboot of your box." TWC Navigator had to change this to holding Info/Vol+/Vol-/ for a warm reboot.

Once the basic issues get resolved, things will fall into place. For the life of me, I cannot imagine that "View This Channel Now" when taking action of a future show to watch, is not included in Navigator because of a copyright issue. This element represents poor software design. Better functionality of series recordings and a similar understanding of how Navigator interprets them also needs clarification. So much of this is just little Mickey Mouse ***** that I think would be easy to fix.

Another plus is the ability to have Sports Now and News and Weather Now consolidated in one place. I am really enjoying this feature.

Jack

[aaron]

Finally got Navigator a few days ago. Overall I'd say it's not as bad as I expected given all the negative stuff I'd read here, but there are a few glaring things that annoy me:

- If you're in the guide and you want to jump to a specific channel it is much much slower to react now, like 2 seconds whereas Passport did it pretty much instantly

- You can't type in a channel number that doesn't exist and have it go to the closest one that does exist like you could in Passport (both in and out of the guide). I didn't notice this one, but my GF typically just hit 300 to get to the block of HBO channels, now she has to type in the actual channel. Not that big of a deal but no reason to leave it out either. It was handy for jumping around in the guide quickly.

- No more pressing C in the guide to see future showings of the selected show

- It jumps forward a few seconds after you stop rewinding (similar to the jumpback on fast-forward). That is not needed for rewinding IMO, and is just annoying.

I am enjoying the longer buffer, and I really like how it maintains the buffer even if you switch channels, that is a great feature Passport didn't have.

[Mikey]

Finally got Navigator a few days ago. Overall I'd say it's not as bad as I expected given all the negative stuff I'd read here, but there are a few glaring things that annoy me:

- If you're in the guide and you want to jump to a specific channel it is much much slower to react now, like 2 seconds whereas Passport did it pretty much instantly

- You can't type in a channel number that doesn't exist and have it go to the closest one that does exist like you could in Passport (both in and out of the guide). I didn't notice this one, but my GF typically just hit 300 to get to the block of HBO channels, now she has to type in the actual channel. Not that big of a deal but no reason to leave it out either. It was handy for jumping around in the guide quickly.



I'm in same boat as Aaron. We've had it up in Grafton about a week now and it isn't as bad as I had expected, although I will reiterate what Aaron typed above.

It is slower...quite a bit slower in fact. Annoying.

I too liked (and appreciated) that Passport would go to the nearest channel in the guide if you typed in a non-existing channel number. Now it is trial and error in those higher digital channels in the 100's and 200's. Also annoying.

:huh?: