The problem you are having is not one that should be expected. If multiple units are doing the same thing, then it sounds like an issue with your cable company's settings and the TiVo. It may be that the cable co is not programming the card properly (or you could have a bad M-card), and I'd suggest you consider starting with the cable company.

Hi Jeff- Thanks for the quick response.
I had the same thought, and have also been talking to Comcast about this problem.
Trouble is...Comcast points to Tivo and Tivo points to Comcast, along with accepting some of the responsibility. I have to say that both companies have been great about exchanges, so far.
On one of my more recent calls to Tivo the CSR (a supervisor) made mention of a 3-way conference call to Comcast. I will try to find the time to arrange for that this week.
Also, just in case you missed it - I'm on my 3rd cable card. I have been given the impression, by Comcast, that it is more than likely that the cable cards they are providing to me are returns which have been 'thoroughly tested' before being put back in service.
I have requested a new card and been told they have no way of knowing whether or not the cards on the shelf are new or recycled. Maybe I'm just not talking to the right person (at Tivo & Comcast) to get this issue resolved.
I'll try harder, and post here when all is said and done.

Alan

Have you tried turning off HD menus? The HD menus are, I think, all programmed in Flash, and they can feel slower than SD menus in many circumstances.

Michael - I am using a phone connection, so HD menus are not at play...I think.
I have been considering getting a wireless router for the broadband connection to see if that helps, but it seems kind of pricey considering Tivo does not think it would help, and you seem to be in agreement with them.
If I do go wireless, it would be to gain access to On Demand programs, which I have rarely used in the past.
Tivo has authorized a return for credit with a 30 day limit, giving me time to decide on an alternative to the premier xl.
I've considered the HD XL, but have heard they have worse grey screen issues than I currently have.
I've just started looking into the Humax as an option.
Any suggestions?

Using a phone connection is really unrelated to the HD menus option.

Can you find the toggle and give it a try?

Tivo Central looks exactly the same as it was with my Series 2 box. I have been assuming that this is the SD menu system. No bells and whistles for disk space left or battery indicator, or access to On Demand.
My understanding was that HD menus are only downloadable with a broadband connection.
I will look into it and let you know.

I just found the toggle for HD/SD menus under 'display settings ... choose tivo menu'.
I am running SD menus, and when I tried to switch to HD menus I get a message that says 'HD menus are not available with phone connection'.

I spoke with both Comcast and Tivo reps earlier this PM and they have agreed to try a conference call tomorrow, one of the CSRs I asked for has today off.
I'll keep you posted on that call.

OK - sounds pretty interesting. We don't have a lot of experience with that phone adapter, so this is news to us.

Michael - I must have misunderstood the CSR at Tivo about the three way call with Comcast. Apparently, my case will get kicked up to engineering, and they will contact Comcast if they feel the need to.

What happened yesterday went something like this. All done at Tivo techs request.
I read off some numbers and codes from the sys info pages. Was told everything looked good except for SNR. My SNR was 36-37 db, and was told that 35 db was optimal. Since I didn't have an attenuator, I put a splitter in the line which had no effect on the SNR.

We checked analog (CSRs term for non HD) channels to see if the grey screen delay was there...it was.
We pulled the cable card and checked the same channels again...the delay was even longer, it went from 2 seconds with the card to 3 seconds without. This seemed to stump the tech. After a few minutes on hold I was told the case would get kicked up to engineering, and that I should expect to hear back from them in about a week.

I am not feeling very optimistic about this issue being resolved.
Have you got any suggestions for alternative HD DVRs (any brand) that are Comcast compatable
I've been reading about the Tivo HD XL and its problems with grey screen freezes, requiring system reboot. I asked the tech about that and he said they had solved that problem just recently... And then put the Premiere on the market in its place?
I don't understand......if it took them years to work the bugs out of the HD XL, why take it off the market?

I'll post Tivo engineering findings when I hear from them.
Alan

The TiVoHD XL is still available, see:

http://www.weaknees.com/series-3-hd-tivo.php

Thanks for the link. I've printed it out for reference.

The final report

Waited more than 2 weeks for tivo csr to get back to me after kicking my case up (?) to engineering. He never called, so I called and asked for him.
He apologised for not getting back back to me, then read engineerings report and told me that engineering said "It is what it is".
So much for quality customer service.

Well, hopefully another software rev or two will speed things up. Sorry for the bad response from TiVo.