Digital Trends

Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000

September 13th, 2004 | by Jeff Fila

Usage and Testing

Setup of the Explorer 8000 is usually performed by a cable company technician. But if you want to do it yourself or want to move the unit, setup is a very easy task. Simply plug your cable TV cable into the “cable in” port and your TV into the “TV out” plug. The 8000 can also be hooked up to a home theater system or receiver with analog and/or digital connections. Only shows that broadcast digital audio will use the digital output. Once all connections are made and the unit is powered up, it will run through a series of tests and be ready to use in a few minutes.

The remote control included with the Explorer 8000 is a universal remote, able to control not only your DVR, but also your TV, VCR, or DVD player — up to three additional devices. Your cable installer can also program the remote, but Scientific Atlanta also includes detailed instructions if you wish to do it yourself.

When we first started using the Explorer 8000 there was one problem that we thought would sway most people away from the product — an extreme amount of remote control lag. While changing channels, inputs made on the remote control would often take several seconds, even up to 30 or more, to register on the unit. This was frustrating to say the least and made even more annoying by the fact that you didn't need to hit an Enter button to change channels, often making the Explorer 8000 go to the wrong station while it lagged. For example, if you wanted to tune station 701, the remote lag would wait a few seconds, input 7 and 0, and then tune to channel 70. Then it would catch up and input 1. Of course by this time you may have thought the input wasn't recognized and tried to enter 701 again, thus creating an annoying cycle of incorrect inputs and slow channel changes.

Happily, this must have been a software issue because in a recent overnight update, the lag was fixed and a few new features were added. Since the week of August 30, the Explorer 8000 we tested with Time Warner Digital Cable in Albany, NY stopped exhibiting this remote lag. Button presses were recognized instantly and there was no lag whatsoever.

The Explorer 8000 allows you to pause and rewind live TV as well as record digital cable programs.

Recording shows is as easy as pressing the record button and either changing the record settings or just accepting the recording as is. The recording options include adjusting the start and stop times, adding future recordings, and selecting the amount of time the recording will be kept on the hard drive. Save time options include 1 Day, 2 Days, 7 Days, 14 Days, or “until I erase”. You can select to record shows one episode at a time or schedule a recording for each instance of the selected show. One problem the older version of the software had with recording “all instances” is that it really did record all instances of the show each week, including repeats and replayed episodes. If you planned on recording syndicated shows such as Seinfeld or The Simpsons, which are played on several channels several times a day, the hard drive quickly filled up with repeat episodes from all channels. But since the latest software upgrade, the Explorer 8000 gives you the option to record all episodes on a specific channel or all episodes on that channel only for the specified time slot. This makes much more sense and is very easy to manage.