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Re: Thinking abotu buying a DVR box
snazzed #274846 10/13/09 05:07 PM
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I might add that I do have a DVR with my cable service, but it does not have enough storage space.

Also, Why on earth do you have to pay a monthly fee for tivo? Exactly what "service" are they providing for this fee?

Do all DVR's have a monthly fee? I was thinking that I could buy a unit and only pay $2 per month to my cable company for a cable card.

Ken, If I purchase the "regular" tivo HD box do I need to buy a special HD to upgrade capacity or will any HD do?

Last edited by terzaghi; 10/13/09 05:09 PM.

-David
Re: Thinking abotu buying a DVR box
terzaghi #274847 10/13/09 05:22 PM
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The service that you're paying for is TV listings. I recently found out that with Comcast's box, you can only record by time and date. WTH? With the TiVo, I've got wishlist searches (keywords, types of programs, whatever), season passes (record by program, whole season, with timing presets, etc.), and scheduling by program name. That's half the advantage of a DVR, to my mind.


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Re: Thinking abotu buying a DVR box
Ken.C #274858 10/13/09 06:03 PM
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Yeah, and that's where TiVo has anything else beat.

You can search keywords, or decide you want to automatically record every Hitchcock, even if it's on some obscure channel at 4am. I've had many times of remembering some old, obscure movie that I'd like to see again and, after entering the info, find that TiVo records it a couple of months later for me. It will also record programming that it thinks you will like based on past choices or how you "rate" programs.

True story that I've repeated here previously:

When I first set up my first TiVo, I had set it to record a few things overnight, as it was late and I was going to bed. I searched the guide and put in The Birdcage, another movie that I don't remember and another show that I don't remember anymore. I had the TiVo set to also record it's "suggestions".

The next morning, those three things were recorded, as well as about 9 other shows. It only took me half a minute to realize that, coincidentally, the two shows I put in besides The Birdcage had prominent gay characters. The reason I was even aware of it was because almost all the other shows it recorded on it's own had a gay theme or prominent gay characters.

Yes, my TiVo, with it's limited knowledge of my preferences at this point, decided I was gay. \:\)

Seriously, though, the TiVo "guide" capability is what makes it so superior to a "dumb" DVR....


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Re: Thinking abotu buying a DVR box
MarkSJohnson #274868 10/13/09 07:07 PM
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So now we know how to finish your new signature statement....

Kidding, of course. Not that there would be anything wrong with that........... (Some TV lines just never die.)


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Re: Thinking abotu buying a DVR box
pmbuko #274874 10/13/09 07:54 PM
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If you watch TV, get a Tivo. Period. It will change your relationship to television forever more. Seriously. I'd put Tivo right about up there about with the invention of the computer or the automobile. I don't know how we would survive without a DVR. Actually, yes I do, we'd either not watch any TV or we'd buy it from iTunes. But we'd never go back to the linear-TV-viewing model. Ever.

 Originally Posted By: pmbuko
Damn. Now I can't get the Tivo click-pop sound out of my head.


Heh. Like some languages that have clicks and whistles, our family language now includes the Tivo 'bee-boop' as part of our everyday vocabulary. If the remote holder forgets to fast forward when a commercial comes on? Someone will say.. 'hey! Bee-boop'. We're at someone else's home who doesn't have Tivo and commercials are on? My wife and I will look at eachother, make a 'bee-boop' noise and chuckle.

It's pretty sad.

Worse still, we don't even own a Tivo any more. We had one for several years before going to Dish Network due to problems with our cable company. Yes, Tivo technically works with satellite, but it's kind of a PITA to setup. So we use DN's DVR (vip 722). It's good, but not great. It's just sometimes a pain to use and set up. Nor is it as intuitive about recording things. It just isn't as smart nor as easy to use as Tivo. And that's after owning and using DN DVR's for 3+ years now.

Cable company DVR boxes are the same way. At least, the 2 or 3 that I've seen are. They function, but they lack the intuitiveness and glorious user interface that is the hallmark of a Tivo.


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Re: Thinking abotu buying a DVR box
PeterChenoweth #274877 10/13/09 07:59 PM
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And that's why TiVo won't survive, Peter.


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Re: Thinking abotu buying a DVR box
MarkSJohnson #274878 10/13/09 08:04 PM
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 Originally Posted By: MarkSJohnson

Seriously, though, the TiVo "guide" capability is what makes it so superior to a "dumb" DVR....


Indeed it is. #1 reason that other DVR's aren't as useful. After a couple of months of learning, our Tivo found dozens of shows and movies that we enjoyed. Shows that we otherwise had never heard of. Very useful.

And to a new user...

Yes, it can pick up on strange trends. For a while, my Tivo thought I enjoyed Nazis. I recorded a WWII documentary about Hitler. After that, for a short time it would occasionally record things related to Nazis, like a Jerry Springer skinhead episode. How lovely. But it's easy to correct (three thumbs down, or you can reset the suggestions). And it quickly learned that I wasn't really interested in all Nazi programming.

It only records 'suggested' material if the Tivo isn't doing anything else and it has the space to do so without losing any of your requested recordings. Or you can disable that feature all-together if you only want Tivo to record what you tell it to.


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Re: Thinking abotu buying a DVR box
PeterChenoweth #274879 10/13/09 08:09 PM
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 Quote:
Yes, it can pick up on strange trends.

Now there's an interesting way to randomize your tv viewing.


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Re: Thinking abotu buying a DVR box
Ken.C #274881 10/13/09 08:11 PM
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I will kick and scream before a Tivo leaves my house. Yes, I have to deal w/ Comcast but in the SF Bay Area, I have no choice.

Granted it's aging hardware but the GUI is untouched. I know the latest Media Center is good and so are some of the features of UVerse and DirecTV's H10 or 20 (I forget), but Tivo's always been consistent. Pair that with Neftlix, Amazon Unbox, and as of today, Blockbuster on Demand, it is a very good streaming client.

Network your Tivo and the door opens. You can use Tivo Desktop on a PC to move the shows to your PC and then transcode them for your iPod/iPhone/Touch/AppleTV, Zune, etc. On a Mac, you can use the open source iTivo to do the same. Use pytivo and then you can stream your PC or Mac's media (photos/vids) to your Tivo. Network multiple Tivos and you can share shows between the boxes and not have to record shows in multiple places. I go a step further and pair it w/ a Slingbox and now I can see multiple Tivos when I'm on travel. No more channel surfing on the hotel TV.

There are a ton of references on how to upgrade your Tivo HDD on your own. Weaknees.com or DVRupgrade.com are good resources. I've taken bare drives and used InstantCake to format. Easy peasy.

There are apps on the iPhone so you can have a Wifi remote to control the Tivo. And it's FAST because you are using a network connection, not infrared commands. You can also use an iPhone app or web browser to program your Tivo when you're not home.

Try find all of these features on any other box. Yeah, maybe you can build it into homebrew Media PC (there's even a Mac Mini version), but it'll never be as good as a Tivo.

And no, I don't work for them. ;\)

Does Tivo have staying power? Maybe, maybe not. But remember that this platform runs Linux. If Tivo dies, there's a HUGE dev community that'll keep this alive for a long time.

Moxi intro'ed their idea several years ago and tried to make it work. Much better in concept than Tivo. If you've never heard of them, then you now know how hard it is to compete against Tivo. Tivo's biggest hurdle is the carriers and their hesitance to support Cablecard.

Last edited by oldskoolboarder; 10/13/09 08:15 PM.
Re: Thinking abotu buying a DVR box
Ken.C #274882 10/13/09 08:11 PM
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 Originally Posted By: kcarlile
And that's why TiVo won't survive, Peter.


What do you mean? Because it's tricky to set up a Tivo with a cable or satellite box? If so, I agree.

Tivo was stupid by not licensing their technology to DVR manufacturers. They have the best system. I'd glady pay an extra few bucks a month for a Tivo-based system. Things looked promising when DirecTV had a Tivo box (killer combo), but then they discontinued it.

And HD Tivo is problematic if you have a cable company that doesn't understand/provide cablecards. Mine doesn't/won't, and so HD-Tivo isn't even an option.


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