Actually, one cable provider /did/ give a damn about user experience, and now it's facing bankruptcy: Charter. Charter actually pioneered the Moxi boxes before Digeo struck out on their own, having invested a significant amount of cash into Digeo's R&D. The Motorola hardware the Moxi software was installed on had a history of failure, however, and people would steal the boxes - Charter eventually stopped taking orders for them, only replacing the boxes currently out there.
I loved my Moxi box, but a few things Engadget mentions seem off. When I had my box, the golden "HD" letters were next to every show title I had recorded or was in the guide, usually with a Golden Bar to signify it at first glance. The generic box thing is a problem that has been there from the start, though, but you'd be surprised how quickly you get used to it.
The channel listing (bottom to top) seems odd to me - I'm almost positive my Charter Moxi box did it the normal way, but it's also possible it may be a setting or how Verizon guide data is received (If it's via Moxi, that's /really/ strange, but if it's via the CableCARDs, that's Verizon being stupid). As for Dolby Digital, that's a common thing - they're going for lowest-common-denominator out of the box, which is TV Audio (Stereo). Being able to tick/untick supported resolutions was a nice feature, since the box scaled content better than my Westinghouse LCD at the time.
Compared to the Cable Company DVR, the Moxi Box beat the living crap out of it (I frequently uttered "I miss my Moxi" when my final one died and Charter only had generic DVRs left), while it also manages to do a good number on TiVo. Neither are perfect, but you can't beat free (no subscription with Moxi).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Justin N. @ Apr 21st 2009 12:56PM
Actually, one cable provider /did/ give a damn about user experience, and now it's facing bankruptcy: Charter. Charter actually pioneered the Moxi boxes before Digeo struck out on their own, having invested a significant amount of cash into Digeo's R&D. The Motorola hardware the Moxi software was installed on had a history of failure, however, and people would steal the boxes - Charter eventually stopped taking orders for them, only replacing the boxes currently out there.
I loved my Moxi box, but a few things Engadget mentions seem off. When I had my box, the golden "HD" letters were next to every show title I had recorded or was in the guide, usually with a Golden Bar to signify it at first glance. The generic box thing is a problem that has been there from the start, though, but you'd be surprised how quickly you get used to it.
The channel listing (bottom to top) seems odd to me - I'm almost positive my Charter Moxi box did it the normal way, but it's also possible it may be a setting or how Verizon guide data is received (If it's via Moxi, that's /really/ strange, but if it's via the CableCARDs, that's Verizon being stupid). As for Dolby Digital, that's a common thing - they're going for lowest-common-denominator out of the box, which is TV Audio (Stereo). Being able to tick/untick supported resolutions was a nice feature, since the box scaled content better than my Westinghouse LCD at the time.
Compared to the Cable Company DVR, the Moxi Box beat the living crap out of it (I frequently uttered "I miss my Moxi" when my final one died and Charter only had generic DVRs left), while it also manages to do a good number on TiVo. Neither are perfect, but you can't beat free (no subscription with Moxi).