Comments on: Tivo

By: geek ramblings » Finally joined the Tivolution

geek ramblings » Finally joined the Tivolution — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 23:40:03 +0000

[...] We finally got a Tivo. I bought an 80hr model off of eBay for $150. It arrived about two weeks ago, and I finally installed it last weekend. We set up some of our favorite shows as Season Passes and put Bruce Campbell in my actor wishlist (hey, I forgot that he was an extra in Darkman!). [...]

By: Double-oh Steven

Double-oh Steven — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 19:40:56 +0000

The real question is, what are the larger economic ramifacations of this? Is it a sign of TiVo's eventual demise, or a wise short-term business move? You be the judge.

By: Benny Hill

Benny Hill — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 23:52:29 +0000

I built a MythTV box about 3 months ago and I’ve been very happy with it. For less than the price of a Tivo and lifetime membership I have a full-blown PC that provides Tivo-like services as well as being a data repository (MP3′s, source control, etc.)

I’ve not read any of your other entries so I have no idea if you’ve messed with MythTV before or not, just thought I’d mention it.

By: David Duvel

David Duvel — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 01:25:39 +0000

Gosh, I wish I was geek!

By: Jacob

Jacob — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 17:36:40 +0000

I have had a TiVo for a little over a year now, and absolutely love it. You can use the (free) TiVo Desktop software to transfer recordings to your computer and store them, but they come over in .tivo format. I also don’t know how you can transfer them back, I think it’s only a one-way transfer. You can purchase DVD-burning software that can read the .tivo format, but I’ve been holding out for an open source alternative. Which means I have a hard drive full of recordings I didn’t want to delete.

I haven’t tried adding space to my TiVo, but I haven’t really needed to. You have several levels of recording quality to choose from, so I balance mine out a bit between shows I just want to watch on the TV (medium quality) and shows I want to burn to DVD (high quality).

The TiVo system picks up on your watching habits, and records other shows it thinks you may like, which is a pretty neat feature. You can always “Thumbs Up” or “Thumbs Down” (up to 3 thumbs either way) shows to adjust its recording habits. All in all though, TiVo’s Season Pass is the coolest thing since sliced bread. You can tell it to get only first-run shows, or non-duplicates, or all shows. You can adjust when it starts and stops recording (up to several minutes earlier/later as needed). These aren’t really “hacks”, per se, but if you’re really using your TiVo system, you won’t have to hack very much.

I bought a reconditioned series 2 80 hour unit from their website a while back, and it was about $150 after rebate. I use it with Dish Network just fine. The remote required a little bit of setup to work with my TV, a, but it wasn’t very difficult. Two small infrared transmitters sit around my satellite box from the TiVo unit which lets it change the channels. I never bothered to anchor them down, so they move around a bit, but I’ve never had a problem with them. The TiVo was a breeze to set up, even on my wireless network at home. I don’t understand why people have so much trouble with them. You’ll definitely want to go with the network hookup (required for transferring shows to your PC), and it also allows you to schedule new shows to be recorded from their website if you’re away from home. If you’re feeling generous, use my email address as a referral in Step 2 of the activation process

By: Slider

Slider — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 15:50:47 +0000

I second Pete’s comment about cable company DVRs. I’ve got a Scientific Atlanta box from Knology, and now we couldn’t live without it. (You may remember my comments to an email list before my purchase, and how I had to eat my words afterwards because I now appreciate the features I claimed I would never use.)

The pros are that it’s 100% integrated with the cable box, doesn’t require a separate data connection, and has TWO tuners. The rent I pay is actually less than the cost of a TIVO subscription. The cons are the inability to hack a bigger hard drive and the fact that the Title search is abysmal.

By: Pete Prodoehl

Pete Prodoehl — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 14:31:51 +0000

I don't own a TiVo, but my cable company offers a DVR in the form of a Moxi, I mentioned it here and here. The price is about $10 per month. You do give up the hackability of a TiVo, but it' ease of use and "just works" factor are nice.

By: Andrea Piernock Barrish

Andrea Piernock Barrish — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 14:03:55 +0000

I love the tivo, it ensures that if I fall asleep early I can still watch every episode of Tom Goes to the Mayor. The “season pass” feature rocks. I have noticed that it takes a while to transfer shows to the PC but that might just be the network in our house. All in all, good stuff.

By: logtar

logtar — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 12:25:49 +0000

TiVo besides being “upgradable” is one of the single most innovative devices, it changed the way I watched TV!

By: Geof F. Morris

Geof F. Morris — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 04:50:35 +0000

Join the TiVolution, Dougal! DO IT NOW!