Are there different types of cablecards?
My cable provider states that my TIVO dual tuner HD DVR requires ''special'' TIVO cablecards - and that a regular cable card won't work with TIVO. I have not heard that cablecards come in varying''types'' - what's the truth?
Televison & Video - Tivo - Series3 Dual-Tuner HD DVR w/ 300-Hour Capacity
Answers & Comments
There are two types of Cablecards: S cards (can decode one channel at a time) and M cards (can decode multiple channels at the same time and is backwards compatible with S cards). The Series 3 TiVo requires two cards, as it can't use M cards to their full extent (it will treat them like S cards). The HD series is fully compatible with the M card. This all might be a bit confusing so summary below.
If you have an HD model (no buttons on the front), then one M card is all you need, though you can use two S cards if that's all they have.
If you have a Series 3, then it doesn't really matter which kind it is, but you'll be needing two of them. You can mix and match, both don't need to be the same type.
They're lying to you, to charge you more.
A cable card is a cable card is a cable card. If your provider stands by their "special card" BS, switch to a new cable provider.
They're probably trying to scare you into getting their DVR instead of Tivo. And it's not the same, ever. Tivo is far superior to any other DVR on the market, free or not.