Moxi prepping HD DVR for retail

TiVo's great and all, but we sure wouldn't mind a bit of competition in the retail HD DVR space all the same, and it looks like Moxi is getting ready to deliver in 2007. Their upcoming set-top-box -- which they're planning on showing at the upcoming CES -- should be packing CableCARD 2.0 for some single card multi-stream action, compared to the multiple CableCARDs required by Series3 to serve up multiple simultaneous feeds. Moxi is also boasting of the ability to stream video to your other TVs, but unfortunately that signal is downconverted to SD. This box is supposed to be going for around $1,000, which isn't a terrible price for multi-stream HD DVR right now, but probably won't be looking so hot when this hits the market in fall 2007. All the same, we're looking forward to the Moxi offering -- a little DVR deathmatch does the body good.

[Via Engadget HD]

[Iam Smith @ Feb 24th 2008 9:54PM]

I've had DirecTV, DISH, and now Time Warner Cable. I had the MOXI HD DVR for the last couple of years and it finally gave out. TWC immediately replaced my MOXI HD DVR, but this new one does not have MOXI. It absolutely sucks. Talk about lag time! Menu navigation sucks. The DVR records all episodes of a series, regardless of whether you wanted it to only record first-run episodes. It is like I was driving a 2008 Lexus LS 460-L, but now I have to drive a 1984 Ford Escort.

I WANT MY MOXI BACK!!!!!!!

[David @ Feb 24th 2008 9:56PM]

I've had DirecTV, DISH, and now Time Warner Cable. I had the MOXI HD DVR for the last couple of years and it finally gave out. TWC immediately replaced my MOXI HD DVR, but this new one does not have MOXI. It absolutely sucks. Talk about lag time! Menu navigation sucks. The DVR records all episodes of a series, regardless of whether you wanted it to only record first-run episodes. It is like I was driving a 2008 Lexus LS 460-L, but now I have to drive a 1984
Ford Escort.

I WANT MY MOXI BACK!!!!!!!

[Don @ Feb 26th 2008 10:06PM]

I miss my Moxi! Since Charter took my Moxi away I have been thru 3 other dvr's, They all sucked. The Moxi was by far the easiest to operate and has the best remote control. I don't understand why all these complainers don't take the time to learn how to use their Moxi box. Hell I had a 500gb usb hardrive on mine and absolutly loved it.
I WANT MY MOXI BACK NOW !!!

[Bob @ Aug 25th 2008 3:34AM]

I subscribe to Charter Cable here in Victorville, CA. On my fourth Moxi box in 14 months. Not having an off switch seems to cause them to overheat and fail, usually at the worst times. Our Moxi boxes all sat "out in the open" and still overheated and failed. Hopefully, Charter (who seems to be aware of all these failures) will give us the Motorola DVR. Yes, I've had one before and they are kind of a PIA, but at least they keep running. An email to Digeo went unanswered of course, guess they are too busy firing their work-force. I hate Moxi boxes....

[Jaime @ Oct 20th 2008 1:41PM]

Moxi boxes are actually kick ass since the 4.1 firmware upgrade. The only thing I do want to know is if anybody has actually fixed the overheating problem on their own with their own make-shift mods. If I can prevent this box from overheating and dying, I would love to hear about it and would most definately implement the mod to my own box.

My thought was to basically take 2-4 case fans and modify the cover/top of the box to allow for 1 or 2 fans to blow fresh air in and 1 to 2 fans to remove heated air for a constant circulation of air over the components. The one tiny fan that resides in the box now is obviously an issue.

It's either the power supply that overheats and dies or the other main heat source which would be the hard drive. Most likely a fan blowing down on the power supply, one blowing down over the hard drive and two in the middle section to remove the heat. All four fans being attached to the top cover with holes/cutouts for each fan. I would guess this "may" resolve the issue with overheating and eventual death of the boxes.

If I could come up with a solution to this problem, I would use my moxi box forever if given the choice.

[tony @ Dec 11th 2008 9:02AM]

Does anyone want to buy a Motorola BMC9012 Broadband Media Center. I have switched to Satellite and don't have a need for it. It works fine but is set for Adelphia. if interested, email me at [e-mail]. Thanks....

[Jaime @ Jan 9th 2009 6:44PM]

How much? I only need it for the outer shell. When I mod my current moxi, I'll want a box to return to charter in the event they ever want it back.

[Jenn @ Jan 28th 2009 12:32AM]

We received a Moxi from Charter 2 weeks ago, and I absolutely hate it.

To begin with it was lagging for the tech when he was trying to set the thing up for us. He kept blaming the lag on the fact that I had a pc running in the same room, said the Moxi was timing out because of the shared internet connection. I explained to him multiple times my pc modem runs through a separate dedicated line, but he kept insisting the modem was still timing out the Moxi. I finally walked outside and showed him where the dedicated line was running through a hole drilled in the wall (because the other tech refused to run it under the house). It took the tech over an hour just to set the Moxi up for us to use, and his only excuse then was that the box took some time to boot up to full potential, so it should be slow for a few HOURS, but then the menus would fly.

I called Charter 3 times later that day to say the menus weren't working, and we were given the same excuse over and over, give it a few more hours, then it'll speed up. I wanted to know why any DVR would take hours to boot up to full potential because that's just absurd!

The menu lag is so horrible we get fed up and stop watching tv all together. The box we received is definitely a previously used one as it's all scratched up on the top and around the sides. Every few minutes the Moxi will time out, and we'll receive a blue screen telling us we aren't subscribed to a channel. Most of the time you have to either wait 30 minutes for the Moxi to pop up a "timed out" message or you have to reset the box.

Within the last few days I haven't been able to access the On Demand menus or anything I've DVR'd without spending half an hour trying to get the remote to work. Then you can forget about pausing, rewinding, or forwarding. The remote will NOT work during playback at all. I called Charter again, and I was told to replace the remote batteries even after I explained I've replaced the batteries twice already in 2 weeks.

I tried to pick up the box to move it to the other side of our entertainment center (which is all a completely open shelf), and was shocked at how extremely hot the box was. I couldn't touch the bottom or back of it at all. If we had children I'd be afraid one of them would accidentally touch it.

I was contemplating calling Charter and asking them to bring a new Moxi out, but now I think I'll be calling and requesting anything but a Moxi! This thing was supposed to make our lives easier, but instead I'm paying extra for a service I can't really even use!

[Dylan @ Feb 8th 2009 3:13AM]

I'm surprised to hear so many comments hating the MOXI box. I'm with Time Warner, and I've had a Scientific Atlanta box and the standard Motorola HD box, and Moxi blows them out of the water. The menu can still be a little laggy, but 90% of that has been removed by the later firmware updates. But I can attest to their overheating—I'm now on my third box in three years. TW Los Angeles doesn't even use the box anymore (presumedly because of the overheating) so I have to beg to get one sent from a local warehouse that still has some left. I got my box replaced today with another Moxi, but now my On Demand and Ticker are missing from the menu. Does anyone know what the latest software is, and how I can get it. I went into the diagnostic menu to update all of the triggers, but no help, and of course Time Warner had no idea. My software is 4.1.9***.

I'm certainly open to using another box that's more reliable, but only if it has my favorite features from Moxi:

1. 30-second skip button. My single favorite aspect; it seems most boxes have moved away from this (advertiser pressure?) but it's an absolute necessity. It's so much faster and more accurate than FFing. And it's INSTANTANEOUS. I can literally skip three minutes of commercials in under three seconds.

2. True dual-recording. Most boxes will record whatever channel you're currently on, along with another channel—if you've set it to record. The Moxi will automatically keep the last channel you were tuned to recording without being set. So you can flip between two channels, without setting either to record, and have full access to both going back up to an hour or more on each channel.

3. External USB hard-drive support. With HD content, it's pretty much a must, as the standard HD gets filled up so fast.

4. An attractive and sleek UI. The other TW ones are just disgusting, no matter which of the themes you pick. The setup, fonts, info, etc. are all superior on Moxi. The info screen even lists are pretty full complement of cast, director, and producer.

So that's it. Can anyone help me either get my On Demand back, or find another box that will give me all of the above features? Thanks.

[Jay @ Feb 26th 2009 1:34AM]

Well what can I say good about MOXI: eh, nothing.

Its junk. For a company to even release something this shitty is just absurd. Seems they were in Alpha stage of testing and said "OK, we know it has ten tons of issues, but hey, we need a dollar so release it." This product is unusable at best, on a good day. More often than not I find myself so frustrated with it that I just stop watching TV altogether. I didn't pay for a 46" Sharp Aquos and HD tuner only to get pissed off when I'm TRYING to relax. MOXI, you have failed. Please go die somewhere.

[Beltmn @ Aug 23rd 2009 11:38AM]

Here's an example of how bad this DVR is.

We thought the Motorola DVR provided by Charter Communications was bad, so we switched to a MOXI DVR. The MOXI is such a bad performer, and is not at all user friendly. Finding a channel is horrible. Want to see what's on next? Forgetaboutit. As the parent of three kids, nothing has done more to keep the TV off than this box. I'm trying to convince my spouse to get AT&T U-verse.

Why is this so bad you say? My spouse works for Charter. We get internet, TV and most of our phone service for free!! I would gladly PAY for another providers' service just to get this POS outta my house.

[ikke @ Sep 26th 2006 5:22PM]

Sorry for my ignorance, but other than the SD streaming, what is the difference with my 2 yr old Scientific Atlanta HD DVR that Time Warner cheerfully rents out for $5 a month?

[CgarSmoker @ Jan 9th 2007 3:57PM]

I second the motion. I have moxi from Charter Cable. the cost of the HD and DVR is $7/month. Lets see it would take 11.9 years to break even. But I guess this super advanced technology will be around in 12 years to make it worth while!

[CharlieX @ Sep 26th 2006 5:23PM]

I've got the Moxi from Comcast (now Time Warner) and it works good for recording HD and SD channels. Menus are a little more "fancy-wow" looking than Tivo and it's a little laggy when you start using it after a downperiod... still I find Tivo easier to use overall.

[telepheedian @ Sep 26th 2006 5:31PM]

I've seen one of the sd moxis before. They focused too much on the asthetics while leaving the DVR to be too slow for practical use. Just browsing channels is a nightmare and hitting 30 sec. skip three times in a row puts it to the end of the buffer or recording, making it very frustrating to deal with.

[Bruno Fernandes @ Sep 26th 2006 5:34PM]

I had an extensive preview of Moxi at CES and talked at length with one of their reps. Unfortunately, even though it's had some work done to in in the past few years, their EPG (Electronic Program guide) is realy cumbersome.

Once you set shows up to record you obviously don't have to surf the guide, but the EPG is what most people find familiar and should be the show-piece of any settop product. It's what gives such products curb-apeal.

Let's not get this comment thread started on Gemstar guide patents or anything.... ;)

[Sully @ Sep 26th 2006 5:46PM]

Someone seems to have missed the fact that the Series 3 supports multi-stream cards (So you can record two channels from one card) but NOT CC 2.0. If the Moxi supports CC 2.0 then it also means that it will have the Cable Companies interface.

[TeamAwesome @ Sep 26th 2006 5:49PM]

I have one of these through Charter (My local cable company in Madison, WI), and I use it for HD programs.

The menus, options, and performance are improving with each firmware update. Other than that nifty little "bla-blup" sound that TiVos make, it really is a similar experience. At the end of the day, due to the overwhelming similarities in function, whatever is cheaper is my recommendation.

[GanzHimself @ Sep 26th 2006 6:39PM]

I have a Moxi from Charter as well, and I must say that it is not that great. From my experience it is both loud and slow. With good air flow around the unit it runs much better, but it still is sluggish when watching or recording HD content. Want to record two HD streams? Don't bother trying to check the "ticker" or the program guide... Moxi grinds to a near stand still when recording two HD streams. The main complaint I have is that in a quiet room you can hear the HDD and the fans, which are much louder than my PC. Another drawback is that my unit only holds ~40 hours of SD and ~20 hours of HD. Hopefully Charter begins offering a better DVR solution soon.

[Byran Newell @ Sep 26th 2006 7:08PM]

Moxi might not be the worst thing to happen to a DVR, but it's certainly far from the best. I've had Moxi for about 1 1/2 years now, and I would happily trade it for a Tivo series III. Since one of the co-founders of Microsoft had his slimy mits all over it's UI, I can now blame MS for another "we'll-get-it-right-eventually" type product, albeit in a round-a-bout sort of way. While it's easy to embrace Moxi's ideals, the implementation is downright embarassing, right down to the clunky channel guide. If anyone from Digeo (the makers of Moxi) is reading this, please understand one thing: the benefit of having a channel guide at your disposal, is to be able to not only see what you are watching now, but plan to watch in the future, no matter the channel. (Read: Your UI sucks!). That is all.

[the other steve jobs @ Sep 26th 2006 10:41PM]

Here is my Moxi experience...

5. I've gone thru 5 Moxi Boxes. My buddy? 4. His dad? 8.

Why?

Overheating. Esp. when using it for HD. When we used our boxes for the TV in the back room, it seemed to work for a while, until it just wouldn't start or it would change channels to Live TV (whoops! TiVo habits die hard) while watching something pre-recorded. When we moved them to the living room with the 45" Sharp Aquos, you know, the reason for having a HD DVR? - it would work for about 15 minutes. After that... the remote would no longer work. I can only guess that the IR controller was somewhere near something hot. Then, it would constantly change back to a SD channel while watching anything.

So, after going thru 5 of them, i called Adel....errr... Comcast.. and they brought us a Motorola HD DVR. Its UI sucks goats and looks like it was designed by special ed kids, and you have to use a SWAP button to go between tuners (no.. i'm not kidding) - but at least the fscking things work. We now have two of them, and while they're a total PITA, they work.

My friend's heard about our new HD DVR - he called Comast this evening to switch out his 2 units for the new ones.

Look, my DirecTiVo HD DVR (i'm stuck in an apartment temporarily, and can't see the satellite - which is why i know anything about this) in 2 years NEVER had a single issue... and in 5 years, our Sony T60 DirecTiVo box never had a single issue.

I fscking hate the cable comapies and i hate the Moxi boxes and the no-name whatever it is DVR that replaced them. I'd stay well clear of anything Moxi.. i mean, my Allah... the things weigh about 25 pounds... or at least 5 times what my DirecTiVo boxes weigh.. that can't be good.

[Marcelo Tes? @ Sep 26th 2006 11:42PM]

I've been very happy with mine. I use it to record HD stuff. I don't have anything HD-worthy (the best I can do is 720p on my projector), but it downscales something lovely to my regular ol' TV or to my projector. The downscaled HD looks fantastic.

Yeah sometimes the UI is sluggish, but it's not unbearable. I like that I can change the HD output to 720p or 480i or 1080i or whatever. I love the scalability.

[Kristopher Clark @ Sep 27th 2006 12:50AM]

I just moved into an area in Los Angeles, CA where the provider is Adelphia (which actually just got taken over by TimeWarner).

I absolutely am fed up with MOXI. It is the slowest HD DVR unit I've ever experienced. The menu system in my regards is horrible as well. You can't see what is happening next on a certain channel until you scroll over that channel, so you don't know what's up next. Then it takes about 5-10 seconds for the channel information to pop-up. To scroll a general 60 channels can take minutes. Also, to get to On-Demnad services is a nightmare. To get to our HBO channel ON-Demand requires to click through 6 different menus, all incredibly laggy.

The unit is also incredibly large compared to the Scientific Atlanta and has no button to put it in standby or turn it off! The unit got so hot it actually warped the wood door it was next to. One thing I don't like about the remote control either is that its not a multi-function remote. You can't program other systems to work with it (aka stereo, DVD player, etc). AND you can't program other All-in-One remotes to work with it either because the "MOXI" menu button doesn't work.

The only benefit I see from MOXI's menu system is the different channel logos because I can recognize logos more than I can channel numbers. Regardless, don't let this fool you. At all costs stay away from this HD DVR!

[David @ Sep 27th 2006 1:58AM]

moxi is a pile of unresponsive shit... I'm considering shelling out the ungodly amount of $800 for a HDTiVo... THATS how bad the Moxi is...

[ALenio @ Sep 27th 2006 9:10AM]

we'd be happy if they implemented some 1394 ports... then homeowners could record HD to a single HD DVR from anywhere in the home. 8 HDTV's, one DVR, one cable box. all controllable from any HDTV in the home, even while running 16 simultaneous streams.

http://www.tecStream.com

[JamesB @ Sep 27th 2006 1:32PM]

We are talking about a new model, correct? I bet the menus will be faster. Heck, they might improve its general usability.

[laura @ Dec 13th 2006 3:22AM]

the moxi units are horrible. I had 2 units put in my house, BOTH are so darn loud (just sitting there with the TV off) that I called Time Warner today and told them they better get these the hell out of my house. Today I was watching a playback, the video was horrible (not sure if that is the DVR problem) but could hardly hear anything above the sound of crickets. I paused the movie and the cricket sound was coming from MOXI. Even without being on a recording, it affects the sound quality, there is a very distinct and loud buzzing in the background of any show. HORRIBLE. The channel changing program is untolerable too. You can't scroll through channels, there is a 5-10 second lag, by then God only knows what channel you're on. I can't imagine anything worse than the MOXI.

[CgarSmoker @ Apr 13th 2007 12:56PM]

It does seem unusual that a Hi Tech company would put it's box up for sale at that price.

I have MOXI now thru Charter Cable. I have both HD and DVR. I pay $7/month for both.

Now lets see, if the box costs $1,000 and at $7/month it would take just under 12 years to break even. So after 12 years I could sale my 12 year old MOXI box for what I paid for it and break even. I THINK NOT, what a joke if they think they can even sell it for anything that would not show a Retrun on Investment within two years if not a year.

When MOXI box is for sale @ $79.95 let me know.

[FrustratednLA @ Jul 16th 2007 4:50AM]

Preface: MOXI FSCKING SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have 3 of the HD DVR boxes at my house that I pay $15 a month for from TimeWarner Cable in the LA area (91731 area code)... THEY LAG... LAG LAG LAG, AND LAG!!!!!
I hate them with a passion, I am going to smash them with my feet and call timewarner to give me replacement HD DVR's from a different manufacturer.

The menu lags very badly, button inputs take a long time to be recognized and very often messes up what you are watching or where you want to go.

The channel guide is utter crap, I can't see what is coming up on what channel, and can't figure out how to scroll descriptions (i cant figure out if its even possible and I am very technical) so I can only read the first few lines.

The channels are often never synched, so when I look at the channel guide and I choose a channel and click on Watch... it tunes to A channel -- NOT the channel that I chose to go to, just some random channel in the lineup.

I have the biggest and best cable tv package from TimeWarner and it seems like im getting ripped off paying $15/month for EACH box when everyone else is paying $7... and I have to deal with furiously frustrating cable boxes every time I want to relax and watch TV?

JESUS H CHRIST -- I read there is a new firmware/software version for Moxi that will be coming out soon but is in testing by TimeWarner; how long does this testing take!??! and if they are testing, why didnt they fucking notice how shitty the first version was?

WHY AM I PAYING FOR THIS CRAP? That is the big question!

[FrustratednLA @ Jul 16th 2007 4:55AM]

Im going to register a domain and profess my hatred for Moxi for all to see and search for. I am being forced to pay for sub-par software; and I will it make sure to speak out about my opinion on how much ass they suck.

Isn't it funny that Digeo Inc. (the company behind moxi, and moxi.com) has registered moxisucks.com to try and subdue the visible complaints?

[Andrew @ Aug 7th 2007 1:14PM]

well If anyone has charter.. I had the moxi for about 6 mnths and then switched to the Dish network and had their 350 gb HD DVR.. I will just say it was far superior to the MOXI.. but we just moved to a new house and Dish can't get a signal.. we were forced to go back to cable. and Charter gave us the new motorola hd dvr and it is the worst piece of crap ever known to man.. I was so mad. THE User Interface looks like it was designed by a blind person and it is horribly slow and sluggish as well.. I called charter today and begged for the MOXI, they said they didn't offer it anymore anyway and that the new motorola was newer and better. I went to the local office and begged for a new one. luckily they gave in and got one from the back.
Aparently MOXI is coming out with a second generation MOXI that the cable companies will start offering.. their version 4.1 firmware update speeded things up alittle also. AS far as dvrs go I have seen better( DISH ) but for charter cable... I think ITS THE BEST