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Help. I've become a person who can't hook up a DVD player. — Brooklynian

Help. I've become a person who can't hook up a DVD player.

harriet the spy
harriet the spy
edited November -1 in The Lounge / Random Stuff

Subject: Help. I've become a person who can't hook up a DVD player.

Yeah. One of those people I always snickered at. :oops:

So what do you do when you've read the instructions and followed them the best you could and you reach a point where they say "Do this" and you try to do that but nothing happens?

It's just me here, dealing with this--no handier significant other to help figure it out. And none of my friends are good at this stuff. Should I ask Time Warner to send someone out? I HATE calling Time Warner, and anyway, that seems like overkill. So does calling, say, a TV repair person. But I'll do it, if I have to.

What I'm looking for:
1. Expressions of sympathy (and perhaps a few reassurances by people who have felt as lame as I do).
2. Recommendations of a professional person who could come fix this for me.

Thanks for listening!

Comments

  • columbia_grad
    columbia_grad
    You can do it! Walk away from those instructions for a while, then try again.

    Time Warner sucks major ass, but they can walk you through the setup on the phone.
  • whyfi
    whyfi
    Help shouldn't be too far away but, um, why would TW help you with your DVD player?

    edit - I'll try to be a little more helpful, since I'm supposed to be a pro at this...

    - how did you connect it to the TV? (what types of cables - component, s-video, HDMI?)
    - it this running to a stereo/surround receiver?
  • karl the druid
    karl the druid

    Subject: Re: Help. I've become a person who can't hook up a DVD playe

    Harriet the Spy wrote: Yeah. One of those people I always snickered at. :oops:

    So what do you do when you've read the instructions and followed them the best you could and you reach a point where they say "Do this" and you try to do that but nothing happens?
    step 1: embrace the stolid spectre if middle age, he is your friend

    step 2: ask someone's child to set up your system through the aux port
  • straintest
    straintest
    Time Warner will help you hook up your DVD player if you are a customer, becuase you want to hook up your box, the DVD player and the TV and use the TW universal remote.
  • whyfi
    whyfi
    Flexichick wrote: Time Warner will help you hook up your DVD player if you are a customer, becuase you want to hook up your box, the DVD player and the TV and use the TW universal remote.
    Wow. Glad I've never had to resort to that!
  • chloeroyale
    chloeroyale
    Yep, desperate times call for desperate measures :-0 I still believe she can do it if she steps away for a while and tries it again.
  • meredeth
    meredeth
    Try this:

    http://www.timewarnercable.com/midohio/customer/hometheater.html

    You can also call the mfg of your DVD if they have a help line.
  • harriet the spy
    harriet the spy
    WhyFi wrote: Help shouldn't be too far away but, um, why would TW help you with your DVD player?

    edit - I'll try to be a little more helpful, since I'm supposed to be a pro at this...

    - how did you connect it to the TV? (what types of cables - component, s-video, HDMI?)
    - it this running to a stereo/surround receiver?
    I was thinking that (as Flexichick pointed out) Time Warner would help because if they have to hook you up to cable and you already have a DVD player, they have to hook everything up properly. (The people who actually come to your apartment/house seem to know what they're doing, but I don't know if they would send someone for that. I assume they might, if you pay for it.)

    (BTW Flexichick--I already did the stepping away and trying again thing!)

    I suppose I could call the Toshiba people for advice, but honestly, I think given the variables of the TV and cable box, they might have a hard time advising me (particularly because I would have a hard time explaining what the problem is).

    Now, I could detail here how everything is hooked up, but maybe it would be a good idea for me to first quote a loose piece of paper that was included with the DVD player (which actually, I should say, is a DVD/VCR recorder/player): "You cannot playback DVD or VCR when DVD input mode is selected. To playback DVD or VCR, press INPUT SELECT and set the channel to L1 or L2." The problem is, the remote to the DVD player doesn't elicit any more of a response from it than ON/OFF. I can turn the thing on with the remote, but none of the other controls do anything. So pressing INPUT SELECT does nothing.

    WhyFi: It's not running to a stereo reciever. I have very basic equipment. :) (Does your work involve this kind of thing?)

    Karl the Druid: A couple on the first floor has a ten-year-old, but they're even more helpless than I am about this stuff. Is it possible he could still figure this out somehow, perhaps via child-to-child morphic resonance? :shock:
  • yem
    yem
    I'd try TW before paying somebody...but I'm stubborn that way....and cheap :lol:

    You can lower your IQ a bit by drinking. That might help...... :cheers:
  • harriet the spy
    harriet the spy
    Flexichick wrote: I'd try TW before paying somebody...but I'm stubborn that way....and cheap :lol:

    You can lower your IQ a bit by drinking. That might help...... :cheers:
    I actually believe that trying to do this has already lowered my IQ, by killing off some overtaxed brain cells.

    I think TW will charge me, but I don't mind that....I just hate having to call and talk to the customer service reps there. They vary wildly in competence. Some of them seem unable to do anything besides read from a script. ("First, ma'am...would you...check to see...if your...modem...is plugged...in?")
  • ccs
    ccs
    They'd charge you to come over and do it, but not for the phone support if you are a customer.

    Eh, I'd give it a shot. After that, I'd do what I needed to to get somebody to come over and help
  • caseopele
    caseopele
    Do you have a digital camera? If so, take a picture of the back of the DVD player and the back of your TV, as well as the cables. What are the model numbers of your TV and DVD player? Or can you post a link to their manuals? I think it would be much easier to help if we could see what you're dealing with.

    BTW, it took me at least 10 tries to hook up my DVD/VCR player to my TV. I love my Wega but there are too many places to plug things in!
  • arlette
    arlette

    Subject: Dvd Hookup

    Hi...you are sooo not alone. I hate trying to hook up these things also as they make you feel sooo stupid and like you need a degree. I had to hook up my dvd,cab le,tv,vcr,yes vcr....and surround system. after numerous hours i got so frustrated i called a friend of mine. he hooked me up but he hooked everything so that it is controlled by my surround remote...dummy...since he moved and i couldnt reconnect things, everytime i wanted to use any of the components i had to turn on the surround system until my neighbors 14 year old heard me complaining and said he could help. I felt like a complete idiot as he fixed it in what seemed like 2 seconds. These kids always know electronics and computers.always amazes me.
  • harriet the spy
    harriet the spy

    Subject: Re: Dvd Hookup

    arlette wrote: Hi...you are sooo not alone. I hate trying to hook up these things also as they make you feel sooo stupid and like you need a degree. I had to hook up my dvd,cab le,tv,vcr,yes vcr....and surround system. after numerous hours i got so frustrated i called a friend of mine. he hooked me up but he hooked everything so that it is controlled by my surround remote...dummy...since he moved and i couldnt reconnect things, everytime i wanted to use any of the components i had to turn on the surround system until my neighbors 14 year old heard me complaining and said he could help. I felt like a complete idiot as he fixed it in what seemed like 2 seconds. These kids always know electronics and computers.always amazes me.
    Ooh--do you have the 14-year-old's number?? :wink:

    Caseopele, I really wasn't expecting anybody here to tell me what the problem is! I mean, if I thought it would help, I'd post pictures, give details about how everything's hooked up, but I was just thinking maybe someone would post a response like "I had the same problem, and this guy Ramon at Gowanus TV Repair came over and fixed it for $20." :D
  • pitu
    pitu

    Subject: Re: Dvd Hookup

    Harriet the Spy wrote: ...but I was just thinking maybe someone would post a response like "I had the same problem, and this guy Ramon at Gowanus TV Repair came over and fixed it for $20." :D
    If you're in the north end of things, walk into the appliance store J&R (7th Ave 'tween Union/President) and ask if someone there (or their 14 year old) will do it. Offer $20.

    Or ignore the destructions and freelance it.
    OUT of DVD, IN to TV where it says "DVD IN"
    It's probably a bundle of three RCA cables, just like a stereo, or a single cable with a wire in the middle, like a cable tv cable.

    It doesn't need to go through your cable box. It's probably not meant to go through your cable box. You set the TWC universal remote by telling the remote what make/model dvd you have, and it's probably a menu setting on the universal remote. That's the part TWC could talk you through, if needed.
    There is a row of buttons on the top of the remote - you hit dvd to have the remote work on the dvd, after you have established what kind of dvd it's supposed to be talking to.

    yes, I'm doing this all off the top of my head. I'm good at IKEA furniture too. (heh)

    good luck!
  • caseopele
    caseopele
    Harriet, I know what you mean. I've had to ask the 20 year old at my job what the heck some of the icons on my cell phone are!
  • harriet the spy
    harriet the spy

    Subject: Re: Dvd Hookup

    pitu wrote: [quote=Harriet the Spy]...but I was just thinking maybe someone would post a response like "I had the same problem, and this guy Ramon at Gowanus TV Repair came over and fixed it for $20." :D
    If you're in the north end of things, walk into the appliance store J&R (7th Ave 'tween Union/President) and ask if someone there (or their 14 year old) will do it. Offer $20.

    Or ignore the destructions and freelance it.
    OUT of DVD, IN to TV where it says "DVD IN"
    It's probably a bundle of three RCA cables, just like a stereo, or a single cable with a wire in the middle, like a cable tv cable.

    It doesn't need to go through your cable box. It's probably not meant to go through your cable box. You set the TWC universal remote by telling the remote what make/model dvd you have, and it's probably a menu setting on the universal remote. That's the part TWC could talk you through, if needed.
    There is a row of buttons on the top of the remote - you hit dvd to have the remote work on the dvd, after you have established what kind of dvd it's supposed to be talking to.

    yes, I'm doing this all off the top of my head. I'm good at IKEA furniture too. (heh)

    good luck!
    Thanks for all the advice! I drove past J&R earlier today and wondered if they might be able to help me.

    I remember being fascinated and impressed when the TW guy set up my remote. I wonder if it's time for a new one--mine doesn't even have "DVD" anywhere on it! But I'm guessing the "VCR" buttons are the same thing.

    BTW, I connected cables from the cable box to the DVD player/recorder and then from the DVD player/recorder to the TV because I assumed I might want to record something off cable....

    I'll mess with my cable remote and see if I can make any progress. If not, I'm calling J&R tomorrow.

    (I'm actually not bad at putting furniture together, probably because it's not a recent invention....)
  • harriet the spy
    harriet the spy
    caseopele wrote: Harriet, I know what you mean. I've had to ask the 20 year old at my job what the heck some of the icons on my cell phone are!
    Ha! I'm still mystified by a number of things on my cell phone.... :?
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