Dorm Room Cable Television

<p>I know that the dorm rooms come with free digital cable tv and internet, but I was wondering if they allowed you to upgrade your digital cable box to an HD one. If so, how much is the cost. Also, since I will be staying in one of the super suites, I wanted to know if the living room had a cable outlet or not. Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>The living room will have a cable outlet, but you will have to take a cable box from one of the rooms if you wanted the full channel lineup. Comcast will have a table set up in the Ferg during the first week of classes where you can purchase whatever additional equipment or packages you want. I forget the exact cost for HD, but I think it is between $5 and $15 a month plus taxes. As for channel packages, I think that the free cable is Comcast’s Digital Starter package.</p>

<p>If interested, here’s the channel lineup and what’s available to upgrade to, although It doesn’t include the exact costs. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.ua.edu/financial/aux_svcs/vending/information/TuscaloosaChannelLineUp%207-7-09.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ua.edu/financial/aux_svcs/vending/information/TuscaloosaChannelLineUp%207-7-09.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Thank you very much. That’s just what I needed to know.</p>

<p>When I called Comcast a few months ago they told me it was $15.95 (give or take a few cents) to upgrade to HD with a DVR, and about half that for HD alone.</p>

<p>Something you should know about the cable boxes is that most are bolted into the wall so that they can not be removed (mine for some reason was not). You will have to take the whole thing out of the wall (faceplate included) to move it to the living room.</p>

<p>Thanks for the link, but not sure what will come with the room. Basic cable or digital?</p>

<p>Is there any special type of TV or antenna needed?</p>

<p>Looking again at the link, there’s a basic cable, an expanded cable, and then they list a few channels for digital starter. Would all three of these groups be available for viewing with just the package that comes with the room?</p>

<p>Digital cable. SEA_tide said above that you get the Digital Starter package for free with your room. You get a cable box in every bedroom, so any TV that is “cable ready” will work. Unless you’re bringing a TV from the before the 90s, you won’t have to worry about that. </p>

<p>If you want to upgrade to HD, bring an HDMI cable as those usually aren’t provided for (likewise, you’ll need to bring either a “regular” coaxial cable or an RCA cable (the ones with three heads (red/white/yellow) on each end) to connect the TV to the box if you opt for regular digital cable).</p>

<p>What I don’t know is if the package includes On Demand. When I tried to access it last year, I always got an error. It is the normal cable box for On Demand though, so I would think that it is included. You do get ESPN and Fox Sports, so you can watch every televised Bama football game (except for the pay-per-view one, that’s extra).</p>