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Roamio owner initial feedback

140K views 660 replies 147 participants last post by  rocket777 
#1 ·
Some of us could be receiving our Roamio as soon as tomorrow. Feedback on unboxing, setup and initial reaction might be interesting. We have read the reviews, now for some feedback from those who really count!!
 
#627 ·
I quickly glanced through your blog post and you have some mistakes in there. One, there is a way to go back to full screen once the video is in the window. It's the zoom button. Works just fine. Second, I'm pretty sure the video window works fine when you're watching a recording. It shouldn't switch to Live TV. If you're watching a recording and you press the Tivo button the video window will keep your recording. THen just press the zoom button to go back to your recording. Also, the pause button works as the stop button. Just pause the show and go where ever you want to go on the UI. No need for a stop button. Also switching tuners works much better on the Tivo as you can pause live tuners and switch back and forth which is very helpful for watching sports. Another Tivo improvement are the shortcuts on the remote (Tivo and 2 for the to do list, Tivo and Tivo again for the My shows list...). I'm sure there are many more improvements in the Tivo UI over the Fios DVR but I don't have the time now to go through them all. You'll probably learn them in time as you get used to the UI.

Like all products that you use for the first time, you need a little time to get used to it. But I feel that once you get used to it, you'll enjoy the Tivo much more than the Fios DVR.

My Mom has a Fios DVR and I've found it to be pretty terrible. Just kind of clunky and non-intuitive. It's your classic basic cable DVR but with whole home streaming. One thing that really pissed me off was when watching the Super Bowl a few years ago. We were recording the game and watching it about 20 minutes behind. When the recording ended, instead of just continuing the game from the point where the recording ended on the live buffer, it jumped to the current live TV point. Needless to say that it spoiled the end of the Super Bowl. Also, earlier we had issues where the DVR wasn't saving the pause point and was resuming the recording from the beginning every time we restarted the recording. Was very annoying.
I just tested this again; watch on basic, play a show recorded on the pro, press TiVo, the feed in the embedded window switches to live TV, not the show I was watching.

I agree the FiOS DVR used to be pretty awful two years ago, but the current version does work really well, and I find the menu system very intuitive, very responsive, and HD all the time.

I'm sure the TiVo will grow on me, but other than more tuners and more storage, I don't think the Roamio is really that impressive.

P.
 
#628 ·
I just tested this again; watch on basic, play a show recorded on the pro, press TiVo, the feed in the embedded window switches to live TV, not the show I was watching.

I agree the FiOS DVR used to be pretty awful two years ago, but the current version does work really well, and I find the menu system very intuitive, very responsive, and HD all the time.

I'm sure the TiVo will grow on me, but other than more tuners and more storage, I don't think the Roamio is really that impressive.

P.
It could be that happens when you watch a show from a different DVR. I don't believe it acts like that when watching a recording from that same DVR.

I tihnk the Tivo stuff will grow on you. THings like the unified search and the episode guides have been very helpful to me (though they really need to add Amazon Prime streaming) not to mention the very useful app, ios streaming, and computer archiving/transferring options.
 
#630 ·
Not happy - When i watch netflix, it reboots the tivo occasionally. i never had a premiere, but this has happened 3 times in the last 2 days. i have it hard wired.

should i return it and go back to using my series 3? (HD XL?)
Earlier on there was an issue with 1080p/24 causing Netflix reboots but I thought the 1st Roamio software update was supposed to address that. But if you do have 1080p/24 output enabled in TiVo Video settings you may try turning it off for now to see if it helps. I haven't used Netflix much lately but so far haven't suffered any reboots for my Roamio when I did use it.
 
#631 ·
Earlier on there was an issue with 1080p/24 causing Netflix reboots but I thought the 1st Roamio software update was supposed to address that. But if you do have 1080p/24 output enabled in TiVo Video settings you may try turning it off for now to see if it helps. I haven't used Netflix much lately but so far haven't suffered any reboots for my Roamio when I did use it.
I've used Netflix around twenty times, over the last five days, on my Romaio Pro. And did not have any reboots. My Romaio Pro is now my preferred device to watch Netflix streaming. The streams ramp up quickly to SuperHD and stay there. I only wish the Roamio had access to the 3D Netflix streams too.
 
#634 ·
Are you saying that Roamios won't do 3D on Netflix?
I only know that the 3D streams aren't an option. I have a bunch of titles in my queue that are available for streaming in 3D. If I use my Sony 3D BD players, those titles will show "3D" next to the "Super HD" at the title screen(the screen that shows audio options, subtitles, etc). And when I start the stream it asks if I want to view it in 3D. On the Roamio, like most Netflix players, only "Super HD" shows up at the title screen and of course it doesn't ask you if you want to play it in 3D.
 
#635 ·
woah I didn't know Netflix added 3D streaming. Might have to pick it up for a month again. Is there a separate section or have they made it impossible to find what limited titles they offer in the format? I noticed instantwatcher doesn't list 3D as a category (yet?). I assume/hope the PS3 Netflix client can view 3D content?
 
#636 ·
woah I didn't know Netflix added 3D streaming. Might have to pick it up for a month again. Is there a separate section or have they made it impossible to find what limited titles they offer in the format? I noticed instantwatcher doesn't list 3D as a category (yet?). I assume/hope the PS3 Netflix client can view 3D content?
The PS3 can view 3D content but it can't output 3D from Netflix in 1080P, it's limited to 720P. Another limitation from such an old platform. Just like the PS3 can't output Dolby TrueHD from a 3D BD either.

For the 3D titles I had looked at a thread somewhere to find a bunch of 3D titles to add to my queue. I added a bunch early this year. But I think you also need to find the 3D titles from a player that has access to them and can play the 3D titles.
 
#637 ·
Not happy - When i watch netflix, it reboots the tivo occasionally. i never had a premiere, but this has happened 3 times in the last 2 days. i have it hard wired.

should i return it and go back to using my series 3? (HD XL?)
This is happening to me too. I have the last version of the software and it rebooted while I was watching Netflix twice tonight.
 
#638 ·
Long lost Tivo user here (see my registration date here!)...after several years with Dish we ditched it and picked up a Roamio Pro and a couple of Minis. After some set up glitches, have been really happy with it. Still re-learning things. One glitch that has bugged us is that we've had to reprogram the Guide several times. I uncheck SD and other channels, and then a few days later they reappear on the guide. I'm sure there's a fix for that, but I haven't found it yet.
 
#640 ·
Long lost Tivo user here (see my registration date here!)...after several years with Dish we ditched it and picked up a Roamio Pro and a couple of Minis. After some set up glitches, have been really happy with it. Still re-learning things. One glitch that has bugged us is that we've had to reprogram the Guide several times. I uncheck SD and other channels, and then a few days later they reappear on the guide. I'm sure there's a fix for that, but I haven't found it yet.
Do you have the live guide options set to all or my channels? or do you mean the channel list under setting?
 
#641 ·
One glitch that has bugged us is that we've had to reprogram the Guide several times. I uncheck SD and other channels, and then a few days later they reappear on the guide.
Not normal at all... I haven't seen that since my DirecTiVo days. On Fios, I've unchecked most of my SD, and they've never reappeared.

Do you get a lot of messages about your lineup having changed?
 
#642 ·
Not normal at all... I haven't seen that since my DirecTiVo days. On Fios, I've unchecked most of my SD, and they've never reappeared.

Do you get a lot of messages about your lineup having changed?
Exactly. The only time I see an SD channel reappear is when they change the lineup and move channels. This will make them look "new" and reappear.
 
#643 ·
I switched from a Verizon FiOS box; primary benefit is number of tuners and storage space, the software and capabilities are worse than the Verizon box:
http://blog.insanegenius.com/2013/09/30/tivo-roamio-dvr-vs-verizon-fios-dvr/
Is that your blog? Because if it is, you have at least one major false statement there. Having in the past been on a cable board for 10 years, I can tell you first hand - and by federal law, that there is not such thing as an exclusive, noncompetitive agreement/contractor with a cable provider - period. That is one of the biggest fallacies that continues to be spread - though I see it being claimed less and less as time goes on.

If there is only one franchise agreement in your area, it is simply because in your area, no other provider has seen the financial benefit in rolling out and supporting their infrastructure in your area. Just like in any other service, the incumbent has an advantage in one area in that they have already made the initial investment (cable plant, etc) to deliver services. Sat/DBS needs no such infrastructure - and as you know - they already compete in your market without a franchise agreement. Any new provider would need to find sufficient profits in what they felt they could take away from the existing offerings - minus any people who might just "cut the cord" and compare that to their initial investment and then ongoing expense. By federal law, franchise authorities are explicitly prohibited from creating exclusive agreements - period. This was first stipulated even before the telecommunications act of 1996.
 
#644 ·
Not normal at all... I haven't seen that since my DirecTiVo days. On Fios, I've unchecked most of my SD, and they've never reappeared.
I may have to eat my words, because I just now found a lot of incorrectly selected and deselected channels on my Roamio. However, since it's a new unit, I'm not completely sure that I ever finished setting them up correctly in the first place. But I have now. I'll have to keep an eye on it.
 
#645 ·
Is that your blog? Because if it is, you have at least one major false statement there. Having in the past been on a cable board for 10 years, I can tell you first hand - and by federal law, that there is not such thing as an exclusive, noncompetitive agreement/contractor with a cable provider - period. That is one of the biggest fallacies that continues to be spread - though I see it being claimed less and less as time goes on.

If there is only one franchise agreement in your area, it is simply because in your area, no other provider has seen the financial benefit in rolling out and supporting their infrastructure in your area. Just like in any other service, the incumbent has an advantage in one area in that they have already made the initial investment (cable plant, etc) to deliver services. Sat/DBS needs no such infrastructure - and as you know - they already compete in your market without a franchise agreement. Any new provider would need to find sufficient profits in what they felt they could take away from the existing offerings - minus any people who might just "cut the cord" and compare that to their initial investment and then ongoing expense. By federal law, franchise authorities are explicitly prohibited from creating exclusive agreements - period. This was first stipulated even before the telecommunications act of 1996.
I find this very interesting in that our small town granted a renewal to a franchise agreement with Brighthouse a few years back.

As you said, in small towns it's hard to make enough money for another cable provider to enter the market.
 
#646 ·
By federal law, franchise authorities are explicitly prohibited from creating exclusive agreements - period.
Easily evaded by writing an agreement only one provider can or would want to sign. Frequently seen in government contracting. I also happen to believe that there's a gentleman's agreement between the cablecos not to expand into each other's territory. FIOS does well competing with BrightHouse in Tampa, why not expand to compete with them in Orlando?
 
#647 ·
Roamio base vs. Premiere base. I purchased a Premiere in the spring of 2010. I had recently cut the cord and was looking for a DVR that could record OTA. I was used to a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD. The Premiere was a delight in comparison. That being said, it was not without problems. It was a wonderful DVR that needed more tuners. It was also a streaming device with horrible streaming apps. Netflix was clunky and failed at times. Hulu Plus was clunky and failed at times. Amazon app was a disgrace to any platform and should be a model for "Don't let this app happen to you" for developers. The SD menus were dated and just plain ugly. The HD menus were slow. I'm going on my first week with the Roamio. Having four tuners for OTA recording is a joy, though some have complained about it not having separate cable and antenna inputs. It would have been nice, but I actually never used both of them at the same time. No built in Stream? That should have been in every box, but I did purchase one for the Premiere some time ago. I would have liked gigabit connection, but there is discussion in another thread that the gigabit connection on the Plus and Pro do not result in gigabit speeds. I'll leave that one to the experts. I do know that the Roamio tranfers shows to TiVo Desktop more quickly than the Premiere. I love the 1080p upscaling feature. The Netflix app has worked very well and I am pleased to see Dolby Digital Plus support. 1080p/24fps playback is steady. The Hulu Plus app is still not my favorite and still seems a bit glitchy. The remote control unit is improved. RF for the win! I do still like the logo on the Premiere remote control unit more than the one on the Roamio. The Roamio box is retro cool and looks like a 1950's radio. Streaming from the Premiere list of shows works beautifully. Can someone explain to me why streaming from TiVo Desktop rather than transferring is not possible to do. Or, am I missing something?Unfortunately, there are things I do not like about the Roamio experience. No cables in the box? Seriously, no cables of any kind in the damn box! MP3 only music streaming support? Am I wrong on this one? Still no PIP? Leftover SD menus? Seriously, leftover damn SD menus! Everybody should feel ashamed of themselves for this one. Amazon Instant app. Seriously, the damn Amazon Instant app! Disgusting! It is now 2013. TiVo wants to stay alive and flaunts a box that does it all and then proceeds to cripple the Roamio with the Amazon app from hell that still does not support Prime. I really like the TiVo Roamio. I am also very disappointed that the features most discussed about in the Premiere still are not fixed on the brand new box. I sincerely hope the out of network streaming feature comes sooner than later. Perhaps TiVo should have kept its mouth shut and launched the feature as a surprise. Anyhoo, the improvements from the Premiere are nice, but there really is no excuse for not fixing everything. Those issues should have been the first priority. Now, the improvements are being overshadowed by the rotting leftovers. TiVo is not a cheap experience. Offering a first class DVR in this new age is not enough. People want to stream and more and more of them want to be able to move media to their devices. I enjoyed my Premiere for the last three years. I'm sure I'll enjoy the Roamio for another three, but I expect the next box to have all HD menus, to have built in Stream on all models, to have gigabit connection on all models, support wireless ac, support more streaming codecs and have Amazon Prime in a flashy new app! If you made through all of this crap, I owe you a beer.
 
#649 ·
tre74,

A beer sounds good :D!

I am also OTA and find the Roamio a nice upgrade from my Premiere or Series 3 units. Could care less about streaming apps (have 1/2 dozen other devices that can stream pretty much anything if I want too), but did find the Dial/Android/YouTube thing interesting. What I do like is being able to sub to various pod casts and have them auto download.
 
#650 ·
Roamio base vs. Premiere base. I purchased a Premiere in the spring of 2010. I had recently cut the cord and was looking for a DVR that could record OTA. I was used to a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD. The Premiere was a delight in comparison. That being said, it was not without problems. It was a wonderful DVR that needed more tuners. It was also a streaming device with horrible streaming apps. Netflix was clunky and failed at times. Hulu Plus was clunky and failed at times. Amazon app was a disgrace to any platform and should be a model for "Don't let this app happen to you" for developers. The SD menus were dated and just plain ugly. The HD menus were slow. I'm going on my first week with the Roamio. Having four tuners for OTA recording is a joy, though some have complained about it not having separate cable and antenna inputs. It would have been nice, but I actually never used both of them at the same time. No built in Stream? That should have been in every box, but I did purchase one for the Premiere some time ago. I would have liked gigabit connection, but there is discussion in another thread that the gigabit connection on the Plus and Pro do not result in gigabit speeds. I'll leave that one to the experts. I do know that the Roamio tranfers shows to TiVo Desktop more quickly than the Premiere. I love the 1080p upscaling feature. The Netflix app has worked very well and I am pleased to see Dolby Digital Plus support. 1080p/24fps playback is steady. The Hulu Plus app is still not my favorite and still seems a bit glitchy. The remote control unit is improved. RF for the win! I do still like the logo on the Premiere remote control unit more than the one on the Roamio. The Roamio box is retro cool and looks like a 1950's radio. Streaming from the Premiere list of shows works beautifully. Can someone explain to me why streaming from TiVo Desktop rather than transferring is not possible to do. Or, am I missing something?Unfortunately, there are things I do not like about the Roamio experience. No cables in the box? Seriously, no cables of any kind in the damn box! MP3 only music streaming support? Am I wrong on this one? Still no PIP? Leftover SD menus? Seriously, leftover damn SD menus! Everybody should feel ashamed of themselves for this one. Amazon Instant app. Seriously, the damn Amazon Instant app! Disgusting! It is now 2013. TiVo wants to stay alive and flaunts a box that does it all and then proceeds to cripple the Roamio with the Amazon app from hell that still does not support Prime. I really like the TiVo Roamio. I am also very disappointed that the features most discussed about in the Premiere still are not fixed on the brand new box. I sincerely hope the out of network streaming feature comes sooner than later. Perhaps TiVo should have kept its mouth shut and launched the feature as a surprise. Anyhoo, the improvements from the Premiere are nice, but there really is no excuse for not fixing everything. Those issues should have been the first priority. Now, the improvements are being overshadowed by the rotting leftovers. TiVo is not a cheap experience. Offering a first class DVR in this new age is not enough. People want to stream and more and more of them want to be able to move media to their devices. I enjoyed my Premiere for the last three years. I'm sure I'll enjoy the Roamio for another three, but I expect the next box to have all HD menus, to have built in Stream on all models, to have gigabit connection on all models, support wireless ac, support more streaming codecs and have Amazon Prime in a flashy new app! If you made through all of this crap, I owe you a beer.
What would wireless ac get you when you are only getting up to 200mbps over a wired connection? Wireless N can easily exceed those speeds. Although I'm not sure what speeds you get from the Roamio wireless connection since I never tested it.
 
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