I called Comcast, who came to my house to install the CableCARD. Two technicians were at my house for over 6 hours, trying to make Media Center connect to the HD channels. The analog channels worked fine! I got Dell Tech Support on the phone, and [the rep] connected to my computer to watch the process. After trying 6 Motorola CableCARDS, it was finally decided that there must be a problem with the ATI tuner, so Dell shipped me another one. In the meantime, both the Comcast and Dell techs were going to research the problem.

After the new tuner arrived, the same two Comcast techs came out again, and we hooked up with the same Dell technician so he could watch the process. After 7 more hours, 13 Motorola CableCARDS, and still no success; everyone decided that it must somehow be a problem with the Dell computer. The Dell tech reluctantly arranged for a return, and I sent the XPS 410 back last week. Now I see that Dell has replaced the XPS 410 with the XPS 420, which does not even offer a HDTV Cable Tuner. In fact, Dell now offers none of these tuners, anywhere on its Web site!

Sony still advertises the VAIO XL3, which supports the CableCARD. The only problem is that the Web site now states in red letters, "This product is no longer available for purchase."

Even though HP, Velocity Micro, and Niveus Media still seem to be offering computers with the above technology, I am afraid to invest in this type of system right now. I'll bet I am not the only one in the dark here. What is going on? What have you heard?

Joel's answer:

CableCARD on PCs is a bleeding edge "version 1.0" technology, and in my experience, it's totally a "your mileage may vary" event. I had the benefit of having a Velocity Micro technician and Verizon FIOS techs on hand for my review, and even then it took the better part of two days for them to get it working right. Ultimately, I downgraded the system's overall score because of the hassle.

I'm glad you were able to return the XPS 410, since it gave you so much trouble. The XPS 410 I previewed in the article you quoted below was tested on Time Warner Cable in NYC. I've heard reports of it working on cable systems like Cox, and I've heard horror stories like yours.

Unfortunately, those horror stories usually involve multi-day install headaches, since CableCARD on MCE PC training is spotty at best in the Cable TV industry. I know that ATI has updated the firmware on the Digital Cable tuners several times over the past year.

The Sony XL3 has reached the end of its life, and I'm still waiting for the replacement. The Sony Vaio LT19U all-in-one PC has a CableCARD reader, but it's still the external ATI reader that has given some people so much trouble. Niveus has a "special relationship" with ATI and Microsoft, but I have yet to receive an updated CableCARD system from them.

I've since popped my CableCARDs into a TiVo HD, since I knew from talking to the Verizon FIOS Techs that they've never had a problem with TiVo Series 3 HD DVRs, or HDTVs with integrated CableCARD readers. For the record, I did my review with a review unit, but I liked it so much that I bought my own unit.

TiVo recently enabled TiVo to Go on the TiVo HD, so I can save recorded programs to my Windows desktop and Mac laptop with no degradation in quality. I highly recommend TiVo HD for people that are dissatisfied with both CableCARD on MCE PCs and their cable company's DVR.

I'm planning on revisiting CableCARDs on PCs in the new year, once ATI and Microsoft updates their hardware and software. --Joel Santo Domingo