Why can't I purchase a digital cable box instead of having to rent one from my cable provider?

Question

I purchased a modem and every time I move, I take it with me and register it with the new cable provider. But every time I get digital cable I have to rent the box from the cable provider. I have lived n three cities in the past 3 years and used three different cable companies. The boxes they rent to me are exactly the same. So are the remotes. My family membes also have the very same cable box. My modem payed for itself within 6 months. I imagine that if I owned my own digital cable box then in the long run it would pay for itself too. Why can i purchase a modem, but not a digital cable box?

I have had Adelphia( which was bought out by Time Warner), Comcast, and Cable One. My family members have Brighthouse, Comcast, and Charter. The box everyone has is a black Motorola. In fact when I first got Comcast, the remote had a sticker with the company logo and underneath was a sticker from the company they bought out.

Answer 1

sirbobx has a good point about boxes becoming obsolete after a while. In your case, however, owning the box may be a good solution financially. Have you tried calling your cable company and asking them about owning options? A lot of the time the automatic option (and it's this way with DirecTV) is to lease/rent out the unit unless the customer specifically REQUESTS to own it. It's the same way at retailers, usually.

Answer 2

1. Get one of the new $299 Tivo units and rent the "cable card" from your CATV company.

2. I have gone through 2 different brands of box's from my cable company in 3 years. Since it has to tie to the program guide, the old box's become obsolete. This is why I think it's better to rent.

Answer 3

Nothing makes channels HD, they have to be broadcast that way. With that, except for local channels sometimes, you need an HD cable box and subscription to get the HD versions of some of the channels you get.

Answer 4

you can get one with DirecTV. you pay it off in 3 months, it has a 3 month warranty which starts again whenever you move, they will move you for free, and they have really good customer service. The bad news? If you get a DVR to record your shows like a TIVO then you have to pay $5 a month for that service. but you never have to watch another commercial!

Answer 5

in the box there is a slot for a card which detects all the channels provided to u by your cable company...and it would help if u put the box model and company names..