Verizon Fios’ Multi-Room DVR Is Not A Perk
Like many people, I switched from Cablevision to Verizon Fios, mainly because it was cheaper. It _is_ cheaper and I’m getting more movie channels and a faster internet connection. However, one of the main perks Verizon hypes is their multi-room DVR. This allows you to record on one central unit, and watch it from any room in the house. Sounds like a good deal, except..
How often do you really watch something on multiple tvs? You may want to record something on the main television and watch it later in the evening in the bedroom as you’re falling asleep, but for the most part you watch something where you record it. This benefit is not worth the drawbacks. Especially if you don’t have all HD televisions. You’ll record that movie in HD, but what if you then want to watch it on the tiny 12 inch CRT television in the kitchen while cooking dinner? It’s not uncommon for HD programs viewed in SD to have some of the edges of the program cut off.
You cannot record on the other boxes. Watching a movie in the basement, but getting sleepy and want to record the rest of it? You have to walk back to them main box and record it from there. This isn’t a huge deal, unless someone happens to be using that tv. Do you want to be interrupted everytime your husband/wife/kids want to record something? What’s mind-boggling to me is that I can grab my cellphone or go to the computer to record a show (And often the user interface is easier to use), but I cannot record from a box directly connected to the network.
The worst part about not being able to record from any box except the main Multi-Room DVR is that you cannot pause live TV. Want to go grab a beer, use the bathroom, or answer the phone during the Mets game? Better hurry, because there is no pausing or rewinding unless you’ve already set it to record. You cannot rewind to see a replay, or a scene you missed because someone was talking to you from the other room.
Verizon hypes the Multi-Room DVR, even runs offers that give you a free one for life, but it all feels like a scam to me. Their website will even suggest it to you as the ‘best option’, duping you into thinking you’re getting a deal. Truth of the matter is that it’s probably more hassel than help.
Tags: cable, DVRs, internet, multi-room dvr, multi-room dvr scam, pause live tv, tv, verizion DVR scam, verizon fios, verizon fios multi-room dvr, verizon scam
Nine Month Mensiversary: Brunch
Skipping around a bit; i posted earlier about my first month anniversary and celebrating it. We’ve celebrated each month in some fashion, but I haven’t quite written them up yet. Well this weekend was nine months and we celebrated with brunch.
Brunch may not seem like a huge deal, but this was never about being a huge deal. We’d been recommended this place, called The Bethwood, as having good brunch, and we had not been out for brunch together since we’d gotten married. Sunday made for a perfect time to do so. It was a lazy day, just hanging out with each other, eating too much food and relaxing. A perfect lazy married Sunday.
The Bethwood was very good; omelettes, waffles, a Viennese table, carved meats, pasta salads, fruits, vegetables, pastries and bagels and breads and cheeses and all sorts of wonderful foods. We got there early, so it wasn’t that crowded yet. They served a complimentary glass of champagne to start too. This actually disappointed me; they chose a Verdi prosecco, which I felt was too sweet for a breakfast champagne. Still tasted good with a little orange juice splashed in it though.
Tags: 9 month anniversary, anniversary gifts, brunch, mensiversary, month gifts, monthiversary, new jersey brunch, nine month wedding anniversary, prosecco, rainbow cake, the bethwood, wedding annivesary
My Internal Google Map
I spent 26 years on Long Island but the last three in New Jersey. Someone mentioned Smithtown to me recently and I immediately knew it was on Long Island, but I was drawing a blank as to exactly where on the island. My internal Google map and sense of direction has faded without regular use.
The problem is my body hasn’t downloaded the New Jersey versions yet. I’ve started to get a feel for the roads and areas I travel on regularly, but the ways to get from here to there, or where a town I’ve never been to like East Hanover is, still elude me.
While driving around Long Island, if I encountered traffic on the Meadowbrook Parkway I might know where to get off and how to get around it, or cut over to the Wantagh Parkway. If I’m stuck on route 4 in New Jersey, a road I travel pretty regularly, I’m still sketchy on how best to bypass it. A couple of weeks ago I tried to get off and head south towards 46/80 knowing that it would lead me to the same George Washington Bridge that I wanted to cross, but I ended up getting crossed up and it took me longer than it would’ve to just sit in the traffic.
I suspect that in time I’ll learn more as I live here longer, but I’ve crossed the threshhold where I can say “Hey, I just moved here give me a break!” when I don’t know where Haledon is even though it lies directly between the town I live in and the town I work in.
Tags: directions, garden variety new yorker, google maps, internal google map, long island, lost in new jersey, new jersey, new jersey maps, new york, sense of direction