Wife won't delete recordings

[timckelley]

Before making both TiVos disappear, I think I should just make hers disappear and see if she actually tries to use mine. I can always make both disappear if need be, but I really hope that's not necessary.

[TivoGeezer]

Maybe you could turn on the parental controls to keep her from messing with yours.

[timckelley]

Originally posted by TivoGeezer
Maybe you could turn on the parental controls to keep her from messing with yours.

Excellent suggestion. If she really wants to be locked out of her TiVo so that she won't yield to temptation, parental controls would accomplish that. I'll see what she says about this.

Question: Are parental controls available on an unsubbed series one?

[ZeoTiVo]

Originally posted by timckelley
Excellent suggestion. If she really wants to locked out of her TiVo so that she won't yield to temptation, parental controls would accomplish that. I'll see what she says about this.

Question: Are parental controls available on an unsubbed series one?

put parental controls on the Series 2
put the remote in a locked drawer or hide it , etc.. ask her to box up all the tapes and store them away some where. See if she can do that.

If she really hits bottom and tries to break the parental controls or get at your remote then she may willingly see she needs a professional that can help her to deal with her TV/TiVo compulsion.

[timckelley]

I've got some somewhat alarming news to report. All through this thread, I've been assuming my wife has about 100 VHS tapes in the house, because that's what I thought it looked like. Well, the other day, out of curiousity, I counted them.

Including all the tapes she's bought with movies already on them, plus the blank ones that she's offloaded TiVo onto (the latter is much greater than the former), she's got in excess of 540 VHS TAPES!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

And the number is still growing.

Well, I'm just happy that her hobby isn't something more expensive.

[tivoman]

Originally posted by timckelley
She's got in excess of 540 VHS tapes! :eek:

And the number is still growing.

Well, I'm just happy that her hobby isn't something more expensive.
:D Thats funny, my co-worker collects DVDs and his collection so far is about 1,100 and still growing too plus he has about 4,000 VHS tapes from TV shows and movies.

[timckelley]

Originally posted by tivoman
:D Thats funny, my co-worker collects DVDs and hs collection so far is about 1,100 and still growing too plus he has about 4,000 VHS tapes from TV shows and movies.

HOLY CHRIST!!!!! :eek: :eek: My wife will probably be happy to hear that her habit is tame compared to some.

[Glen Graham]

Either that... or she'll go into "high gear" trying to regain her #1 spot from "the competition"

Still, the that many tapes takes up a lot of room... plus effort, etc. Perhaps she really needs a "work at home" job to focus her efforts on!

[ZeoTiVo]

Originally posted by Glen Graham
Either that... or she'll go into "high gear" trying to regain her #1 spot from "the competition"

Still, the that many tapes takes up a lot of room... plus effort, etc. Perhaps she really needs a "work at home" job to focus her efforts on!

TMCkelley should PM all those people posting about recording news feeds etc.. His wife may already have an archive of them

[goofyfanatic]

Originally posted by allan
I wouldn't bet on that! Some people take their TV very seriously.

If she was taking T.V. that seriuosly then she would have watched the shows already.

Expanding the drive in the current unit will only tempererly solve the problem. Give it another couple of weeks and the problem will return.

I think the getting her own box makes the most sense. How much will it cost. Get a refurbed 40 hr unit and the lifetime subscriptsion and you are on your way. Of course when hers gets filled (Which it will) she might just come back to your unit!

Seth

[TivoFan]

540 tapes x what 6-8 hours each? (I don't even remember the last time I recorded something on a tape so the # of hours is a guess). Plus an 80 hour tivo.

The truth of the matter is that more than likely she'll never watch 80-95% of the tapes.

I suggest you implement a tough-love system. Take all of her tapes and lock them up where only you have the key. Stop any purchases of new tapes. Allow her to keep 10 tapes outside of wherever you have them locked up. If she wants to watch one of the other tapes, she has to trade you a tape to get one out of storage. Only let her trade one a day. If she doesn't have enough room to record/archive something, then it gets deleted.

Your wife isn't recording shows for archival reasons. She's recording them to feed her addiction. To make her feel like she's able to manage everything. But she needs to learn that it's impossible to manage everything and learn to focus on the most important things.

[timckelley]

Originally posted by TivoFan
I suggest you implement a tough-love system. Take all of her tapes and lock them up where only you have the key. Stop any purchases of new tapes. There's one problem with that strategy. I want to stay married to her. :)

Update: The bad news is that last weekend, I just assembled yet another bookcase to hold her ever growing tape supply. The good news is that, now that she's admitted that she feels compelled to watch or tape even the Suggestions :eek:, she has agreed that it's a good idea to disable the Suggestions feature. I have done exactly that, and so now her TiVo will not provide anymore suggestions. I know that seems like a waste of TiVo's assets, but if my wife can't resist spending too much time with her TiVo due to beckoning suggestions, then I feel we've done the right thing here by disabling them.

[Marco]

Originally posted by timckelley
Update: The bad news is that last weekend, I just assembled yet another bookcase to hold her ever growing tape supply.

You're not an exhumer, you're an enabler.

[ZeoTiVo]

Good for Her :up:

put a parental lock on it and do not tell her the passcode. this will tell you both if she is really ready to kick the habit

[timckelley]

On the subject of selling it or keeping it for myself as my second TiVo, I'm undecided. I really don't have that many programming conflicts, so I probably really don't need two TiVos. But which to keep? Hers is subscribed; mine isn't. But mine has 194 hours of space, hers only 80. Also hers has folders, but mine doesn't (because mine's a series one).

I could sell hers, and then subscribe mine... that's a thought. But then I still wouldn't have folders, but folders aren't really that big a deal to me anyway. Or I could upgrade the series 2 to have more space and then sell my unsubscribed unit. (I wonder if a series 2 will upgrade to 194 hours worth?)

But then I have to figure out where to sell one. I guess I could try ebay, but I need to learn how to post an auction there. Plus my feedback score is only +7. (I've bought 8 things, all with positive feedback... two were from the same seller. I've never sold anything on ebay.) So I don't know how much bidding I'd get on my low feedback score.

I guess I could avoid the whole problem altogether and just keep both TiVos. :)



Edit: I forgot to mention that high on my priority list is to have more than just 80 hours of space. I really like recording everything at Best Quality.

[ZeoTiVo]

I could sell hers, and then subscribe mine... that's a thought. But then I still wouldn't have folders, but folders aren't really that big a deal to me anyway. Or I could upgrade the series 2 to have more space and then sell my unsubscribed unit. (I wonder if a series 2 will upgrade to 194 hours worth?)


if the OS is version 5x or higher it will support larger Hard drives. 7X definitley will.
You also could get a 120 hour drive from an upgrader already to go and add it as a second drive in the series 2 and still be below the 137 gig partition limit. Read up on their site about the power trip needed to keep a second drive from spinning up at the same time as the first adn pulling too much on the power supply.

[timckelley]

New question: If I put both TiVos together in the same room, is it okay for both to be plugged into the same phone line? Also, should I not plug them into the same UPS? I'm thinking that would cut down their ontime in half during a power failure. I already have two UPSes anyway, so I suspect that they each should continue having their own UPS even if they're in the same room. Any of you out ther have 2 TiVos in the same room? What do you do UPS-wise?

[ashu]

New question: If I put both TiVos together in the same room, is it okay for both to be plugged into the same phone line? Also, should I not plug them into the same UPS? I'm thinking that would cut down their ontime in half during a power failure. I already have two UPSes anyway, so I suspect that they each should continue having their own UPS even if they're in the same room. Any of you out ther have 2 TiVos in the same room? What do you do UPS-wise?

Shouldn't be a problem - just split the phone line. If they HAPPEN to dial out at the same time, only one will succeed, the other will try shortly thereafter. Calls occur every 24-36 hours and last (average) 10-20 minutes. Odds of an overlap are low.

UPS - sure, you'd halve the total up-life, but so what - if you can't shut it down in 5 minutes, how does 10 minutes help? :)

Upgrades and disks (suggestion) - should you decide to sell the Series 1 with Lifetime (great market for it, BTW), move the large disk (from it) to the S2! Upgrades are easy. Use the income (from selling it) to buy Lifetime for the S2!

[peteypete]

OOPS

[Polcamilla]

I can't help but wonder if getting rid of her TiVo in some way is really going to do the trick? I ESPECIALLY wonder if it will if she knows you have a functioning TiVo in the house (let alone two!). What will keep her from using yours? What will keep the situation from escalating as it always has before?

[catboy17too]

I agree with upgrading the harddrive. Unless of course you need to watch two things at once, for more space it makes much more economical sense to upgrade.

[DevdogAZ]

I would unhook her TiVo and hide it and tell her you sold it to someone at work or something. Then see how she handles the withdrawls and if she starts scheduling things on yours. If after a while she shows that she can handle it, but you are wishing you had a second one for conflict resolution, pull the other one out and hook it back up. However, if during your test, you also find you can live just fine with only one, then you really can sell the second one.

As for which to keep, as an owner of an upgraded series 1, I would prefer a S2. I'd like folders and HMO and TTG. It should be fairly simple to add another (or larger) drive to your wife's S2 so it has the capacity of your current S1.

[timckelley]

Your HMO and T2G comments are a really good point. If I ever want to use those features I better keep the series 2. I wonder if I could take a drive out of the series one and put it in the series 2? I know weakknees sells kits for adapting the power supply to handle two drives and also a better fan to keep the series 2 cooled with two drives. I wonder if I could buy their kit, minus the extra drive if I've already got one. Or would this drive have to be somehow prepared/configured first in some way, since it'd be coming from a series 1 and going to a series 2.

I guess I'm getting a little off topic here, as this question is better suited for the help forum.

[boscodegama]

I can understand your wifes problem. I had this problem a while back when I had my TV tuner card and was recording a lot of shows. I was keeping them for no apparent reason.

I do archive stuff off of my TiVo's now with TTG, but it's a very select group of programming. Any and all poker shows ( involving professionals that is, not celebrities ) :) and some other Discovery shows and stuff like that.

It sucks to be consumed and burdened like this and I can sympathize. It may be helpful to get rid of them or seek conseling if she can't deal with it on her own.

It's not a big deal, in my opinion, but it's definitely worth rectifying.

[mrjam2jab]

could set kids show to Keep at most 2 or some such low number....will only have 2 at any given time but they will alwasy be there.

[timckelley]

could set kids show to Keep at most 2 or some such low number....will only have 2 at any given time but they will alwasy be there.

To tell the truth My wife finally deleted those old 3 SPs for child shows. But a few weeks ago she convinced me to add 1 child SP to my TiVo :eek: She said she wants to watch an episode or two of this new show before deciding whether to keep or delete the SP. If she keeps it, she'll archive to tape (or get me to do that). But this was all before her recently renewed committment to stop watching TiVo. I haven't asked her yet how this effects the children SP on my TiVo.

Oh and as for the KAM=2, she prefers 'Keep all episodes'. I prefer KAM=1. I actually compromised with her and got her to agree with KAM=4 on this new SP.

[JYoung]

This problem is not going awaaaayyyy.....

[waldingrl]

We have had this problem, too. We upgraded our first Tivo and purchased a second. I generally watch the upstairs tv so it's loaded with my stuff and stuff for our son. The downstairs unit has all the programs we usually watch together, stuff for our son & my husband's stuff.

I tend to fall asleep during alot of things we watch together so I try to catch up on them. We have a rule - we keep 2 episodes of shows we watch together on the downstairs unit. If I fall asleep or miss for some reason it's my responsibility to catch up. If I dont it's my loss. Of course - there are exceptions for mini-series or season finales, etc.. I STILL haven't seen the rest of The 4400 but being married for 10 years my husband knows that he can't get away with deleting that one! :)

Wouldn't the home media option make it easier also? We don't have it, but you would be able to access the shows from multiple units.

If you have kids you could always take the kids for the day and order her to eat popcorn and ice cream and catch up!

[HTH]

Upgrade.

Your wife preferrably....

When I read this, my instinct was to immediately post, "Oh! I-i-if you do that, ca-can I have the old one?"

Then I read the rest of the thread. I don't think our hoarding activities should be combined. (There's something to be said for non-localized archive security anyway.)

I was going to suggest getting three Series2 boxes and using HMO to record the shows you both like on one, shows each of you like on your own, and use HMO to transfer from the common unit for shows one of you wants to keep and the other to eliminate.

But at least I know who to ask when I need to get a copy of some early 21st century television programs (especially commercials which tend not to survive). Um... she has labeled the tapes, has an organized filing system, and databased them, right?

You might also want to consider redesigning the shelves so that you can put them tightly against each other and spread any two sections apart to access them. Check some really big (book) libraries for ideas.

Lastly, make sure you have a system for their safe destruction en masse before the raid by the feds. Or get someone that can convince a jury that she is really only time-shifting. At the very least, get her to watch some of the first tapes and erase them to demonstrate that this is only temporary time-shifting and not eternal retention.

[timckelley]

As far as the legality of these tapes, they really are only for her personal use. Also HMO won't help us because my TiVo is only a series one.

[GBaz]

Dont take this the work way but, see is like an adict. Try having a hroing adict quit will leaving heroing easliy accesible. It does not work.
Sounds like she is a horder. Does she do this with anything else...i knew someone who had clsets full of string, yes string, just incase they everneed some they had 10,000 miles to choose from.
While your worried about staying married to her i think she is already married to the TiVo Guy. It may be time for her to join TA, TiVo Annonumus. No really dont be affended but i think this may be a bigger problem then you can handel on your own.

[wouldworker]

Dont take this the work way but, see is like an adict. Try having a hroing adict quit will leaving heroing easliy accesible. It does not work.
Sounds like she is a horder. ... No really dont be affended but i think this may be a bigger problem then you can handel on your own.How cud hee knot bee affended? You cald his wyfe a horder. Wear I come frum thems fiting wurds. iff u cald my wyfe a horder Id brake yor nos.

[DevdogAZ]

How cud hee knot bee affended? You cald his wyfe a horder. Wear I come frum thems fiting wurds. iff u cald my wyfe a horder Id brake yor nos.
LOL!! :D :D :D

I wanted to say something, but couldn't figure out how. You hit the nail on the head. :up:

[ashu]

How cud hee knot bee affended? You cald his wyfe a horder. Wear I come frum thems fiting wurds. iff u cald my wyfe a horder Id brake yor nos.

Funniest. Post. Today.
Thanks :D

[vanchaser]

This may seem mean. But IF a 2nd TiVo is too expensive (It IS the BEST solution), then you should try the following.

Set Seasame Street and Wiggles on a 5 show max (and at low quality). My daughter is happy to see Elmo and not the recording quality. 1) She shouldn't be in front of the TV for 5 hours at a time.. and every day a NEW hour of TV is added. (Personally I have mine to a 2 show max and it works out in our house) but the 5 show max is for your wife appeasment.

The one that will get you in trouble. Remove ALL the Keep Until you delete of all new recorded shows. Let them get recorded and AUTOMATICALLY removed.

WHEN she starts throwing pots.... explain the unit only has SO much room. She HAS to watch shows or else it fills up.

Finally make a season pass for TLC's CLEAN SWEEP. Have your wife watch this show.

1 Tivo for you and your child
1 Tivo for your wife.. .and let your WIFE try to keep hers working.... IS the best solution.

Another thing to consider... Calculate how many hours you and and your wife actually DO spend watching your TV shows. Then you have to make some hard decisions since the weekly shows MUST fit into the amount of time you have to enjoy the TV.

Remember whole shows can be written off and "caught up" once the season is released on DVD.

[timckelley]

My wife now knows about this thread, but hasn't read it. Well, actually I told about this thread a long time ago, but only recently have I brought up the idea of her reading it. Question: Do you think I should show it to her? I think it's funny and it makes me laugh when I read it, but I'm not sure if she'll take it that way. I kind of briefly (very briefly) described it to her, and she's not sure either how she'll react. Maybe I better play it safe and not let her see it.

[stevel]

It's rather long. I'd not encourage her to read it. If she finds it on her own, fine. If you push her, it will change her attitude about it.

[Philly Bill]

If she hasn't watched 'em by now she isn't gonna. Delete 'em.

[Polcamilla]

So you mentioned two weeks ago that she now knows about This Thread and might or might not want to read it. But you DIDN'T mention her current TiVo status. Last we'd heard, she was thinking about getting rid of hers and had a Season Pass (for a kid's show) set up on yours. So....did she get rid of the TiVo? Has she taken over yours? Has your child (who was, at the time, too young to appreciate some of the shows she was recording for him---MY kid, who is younger than yours, is now watching Reading Rainbow and Between the Lions) EVER watched ANY of these shows?

I wouldn't recommend that she read the thread (I mean, she CAN---I wouldn't prevent her if she was determined to) because I don't think it will make a difference. Psychiatrists and lightbulbs and all that.

[faspina]

Its a series two. Hook it up to your PC and download them to your PC, if you have a CD burner you can make VCD, 1 hour shows fit fine on a VCD you don't need a DVD burner.

Mike kids NEVER want me to delete stuff so I off load them to DVD/VCD

[timckelley]

So you mentioned two weeks ago that she now knows about This Thread and might or might not want to read it. But you DIDN'T mention her current TiVo status. Last we'd heard, she was thinking about getting rid of hers and had a Season Pass (for a kid's show) set up on yours. So....did she get rid of the TiVo? Has she taken over yours? Has your child (who was, at the time, too young to appreciate some of the shows she was recording for him---MY kid, who is younger than yours, is now watching Reading Rainbow and Between the Lions) EVER watched ANY of these shows?

I wouldn't recommend that she read the thread (I mean, she CAN---I wouldn't prevent her if she was determined to) because I don't think it will make a difference. Psychiatrists and lightbulbs and all that.

To answer these questions:

In her attempt to break herself of her TiVo/archiving habit, she and I did the following: Her TiVo room was filled with countless tapes, plus her TiVo, 2 TVs and 3 VCRs. We moved all her tapes upstairs to a different room, and moved her TiVo to the family room, which is where my TiVo was, and I moved my TiVo off to the living room. (We also moved her TVs and VCRs upstairs.) As far as I can tell (but I should ask her to make sure), she's mostly stopped her mad habit of archiving tapes. I haven't been putting together new bookshelves nor have I been seeing packages of blank tapes sitting around, so I think this is a safe bet. But she hasn't 100% stopped using the TiVo. She simply watches it in the family room now. But I think she's not using it to the excessive extent that she used to.

Supposedly, under this arrangement, she was giving me her TiVo, and I was going to move a lot of my SPs to it, but I don't see this happening, because the space is still mostly filled up on it with her stuff. We're in the off season anyway, so my SP's are dormant, so I'm waiting until fall to decide which TiVo to keep my SPs on. I have a feeling I'm still going to keep my SPs as manual recording on my own unsubbed TiVo, and that what we've really accomplished here is to shuffle what rooms the TiVos were in, but at least she doesn't seem to be archiving to tape so much, so that's something. I think her To Do list is no longer filled with stuff designed solely for archiving. But she still has her To Do List for stuff she wants to watch, hence she's using most of the space on her TiVo. But still, I did move one of my SPs to it, with a KAM=5, and the # eps I have on there really is usually around 3 because of the space limitations. This is a low priority SP of mine, so it doesn't bother me.

I'm certainly not greedy and don't expect that I should get two TiVos, and she gets zero, but it was her original idea to do this because she felt she was spending too many hours watching TiVo. But as you can see, I think she really still owns a TiVo, though she doesn't come out and admit it. But she's no longer complaining that she's neglecting her other duties because of TiVo, so I'm hoping her habit is under control, but admittedly it's been a long time since I've really talked to her about this.

Oh, and on my TiVo (the unsubbed one), she doesn't have a single thing sitting on it, nor does she have any SP on it, so this is truly my 100% TiVo.

And as for the question about my 5 year old son (who, btw, is autistic)... he still has never watched any show she's ever offloaded to tape. He rarely has watched shows directly from Now Playing, but mainly he likes to watch VHS tapes and DVDs.

Oh, and finally, after thinking about it, I've decided not to show her this thread. As things stand now, I don't think she'll stumble onto it either, because she hardly ever does any internet surfing.

[BillyT2002]

I've solved this problem before by buying a second TIVO. In my house, we now have a He-vo and a She-vo.

Another good idea is to never set up a season pass to save until you delete just set options to save until space is needed, save at most 1 or 2 episodes, record only first run episodes only, whenever possible.

Then, once something is recorded, you can save it indefinitely if you really want to.

Every once in a while you just have to give your wife the ultimatum that if she doesn't watch something or save it to VCR tape within so many days, her options are that you will either delete it, buy a new TIVO for yourself or seek a divorce, her choice. ;)

[timckelley]

Every once in a while you just have to give your wife the ultimatum that if she doesn't watch something or save it to VCR tape within so many days, her options are that you will either delete it, buy a new TIVO for yourself or seek a divorce, her choice. ;)

I never threaten divorce because she already uses that word a lot already. :) I'm afraid that if I threaten it, she'll say "okay - let's do it."

[Polcamilla]

Sounds like a lot of work, but it also DOES sound like some progress has been made (I guess you'll really see when the new TV season starts). It's great that she doesn't have ANY shows on your TiVo. If it were me, I think as long as that boundary was maintained, I wouldn't worry too much about what she does with hers. I can see how you feel that you having two TiVos is unfair, but her having two TiVos is equally unfair. :)

I do remember that your son is autistic and I don't think you've ever mentioned how moderate/severe it is (although, I know any level is challenging---we have friends with high-functioning autistic kids who seem to be absolutely charming the few times I've met them who still present many challenges to their families). I was more asking whether he's watched any shows as a gauge of her compulsion to preserve television for future need than because of his developmental needs. I don't know if this would be of any use to you, however, but we do have one autistic friend who made some real progress on his speech because he was fascinated with the Thomas the Tank Engine videos (which my son also adores). He watched the videos, then his mother gave him a small wooden Thomas engine and he immediately starting playing with and talking about the engine when previously he talked about almost nothing/no one at all. He is younger than both your son and mine, however.

Oh, the other thing I'd suggest to you is to go ahead and subscribe/upgrade the drive on your TiVo. Right now it seems like you're having to suffer the trial of manual recordings and a small drive for fear of feeding your wife's compulsion and there's no reason to punish yourself, particularly if she's getting things under control. If she DOES start to monopolize your box again, then you can just lock it up (perhaps get a fireproof box and drill holes in the back for the cables----then unlock the lid when YOU need to use it and lock it again when you're done) if you need to.

Thanks for the followup!

[timckelley]

I do remember that your son is autistic and I don't think you've ever mentioned how moderate/severe it is

I'd say he's moderate to severe. He's 6 years old now, and still hardly says any words, and communicating anything to/from him is still a challenge. Showing him photos works fairly well though, but you can only communicate so much through photos.


And now for an update: My TiVo is broken! :down: :( :down:

It's been showing the signs for awhile. At first occasional pixelation, then frequent stuttering and pixelation, and sometimes it just freezes and the remote does nothing, and I have to reboot. Lately the stuttering and freezing is so bad, that it's really unusable. And when it freezes, it won't record anything. My research in the Help forum suggests that it's likely a bad hard drive.

So for now, I've put all my SPs onto my wife's TiVo. Unfortunately the free space still hovers around zero, so it's tricky watching my shows before they delete.

I still refuse to use KUID on my shows, but most of my wife's stuff still has KUID, so this makes it hard to watch my shows without fear of deletion. I just approached my wife the other day and requested she curtail her use use of KUID. She says that any show she doesn't 100% know she's going to watch it in the next couple of days, she's going to use KUID.

It's still true though that she doesn't archive to tape anymore. I'm trying to decide between the following options:

1) Spend over $100 to get a new drive from weaknees and fix my TiVo
2) I have a spare drive I'm not using sitting in my house, so maybe I can fix it for free. But I don't know how to do this, and I'm not quite sure where to get the instructions for how to do it. I saw some Hinsdale instructions, but it looks like it's designed for upgrading, not replacing a hard drive. My case might be complicated too because I might have two drives in there now (at 194 hours, I suspect it's two drive), and I don't know if one or both are bad.
3) Since I never subscribed my TiVo to begin with, I could give up and buy a new TiVo. I don't need much space on it. 40 or 80 hours would be enough for me.

#2 is appealing because it saves money, but #3 is appealing because it won't take work on my part. My other issue is my lack of subscription. If I go #3, I'll have to subscribe unless I get another used series 1. But I've been wishing to be subscribed because I've lost a couple of shows to schedule changes I didn't catch in time, and a subscribed TiVo would have caught it for me. It's also so much easier to set up recordings when you're subscribed. So if I subscribe, #3 is viable, and has the extra benefit of making HMO possible. (Series 1 doesn't support HMO.)

But my wife often resists me spending more $ because she thinks if we need two TiVos, then she should stop hogging her TiVo and let me have most or all of it. She says this but it never seems to happen. I think I'm going to have another talk with her soon, because my TiVo is broken. Either she stops hogging her TiVo, or I buy a new second one, or fix the one I've got and subscribe it.

I also can't decide whether to subscribe for $6/ month or go lifetime for $300.

Actually, I'm starting to think that if I fix the series one, I should go for the $6/month because that way if I decide I want a series 2 later, I'm not locked into the series one. Also, the series one is getting to be an old unit, and I don't know if I should fork out lifetime for it.

I think I'm leaning towards fixing it for free ala Hisdale, and then paying $6 / month to subscribe it. I just need to educate myself on how to fix it, and how to diagnose the current drives that are in it. (Also, I'm told that dual drives are somehow 'married', and can't be split up. What if one drive is good and the other is bad? Is there really no way to reformat the good drive and keep it? Make it into a one drive/smaller system? It doesn't make sense to me that you can't do that.)

[BobCamp1]

The Tivo Upgrade Center has all kinds of advice on upgrading or replacing hard drives.

Since your Tivo is in sad shape, you probably can't get a good image from it. I can suggest Instantcake, which is easy to use and can turn any hard drive into one that your Tivo can use. It costs $20. http://www.ptvupgrade.com/products/instantcake/

[ZeoTiVo]

if you can figure which is the good hard drive you can use it and chuck the other. It will mean reformatting the drive and losing everything on it of course.

if it was me I would fix the sereis 1 and hold off buying until more is known about the new cable card model with dual tuner. Dual tuner would solve a lot of your TiVo problems

[timckelley]

Since your Tivo is in sad shape, you probably can't get a good image from it. I can suggest Instantcake, which is easy to use and can turn any hard drive into one that your Tivo can use. It costs $20. http://www.ptvupgrade.com/products/instantcake/

I thought there were were people in the upgrade forum willing to give an HDR212 image for free. (That's my model.) I'm not sure of this, but I think I should check into it before paying the $20.

if you can figure which is the good hard drive you can use it and chuck the other. It will mean reformatting the drive and losing everything on it of course.Yes, I really don't mind if I lose everything on the series 1. I was pretty much caught up when it went bad anyway.

if it was me I would fix the sereis 1 and hold off buying until more is known about the new cable card model with dual tuner. Dual tuner would solve a lot of your TiVo problemsI'm not sure about that course of action. By having two physically separate TiVos, it enforces separation of space between my wife an me. In effect, I "own" my space, and she owns her space. With one dual tuner TiVo, she could conceivably take over the whole TiVO.

Also, if I went the dual tuner route, I bet I'd have to resubscribe lifetime to it, but admittedly I could sell my current lifetime unit and get some money back. But now that I think of it, I'll certainly keep this in mind because sometimes I have conflicts between my own shows I need to resolve, and if my TiVo was dual tuner, it could be handy. So I agree with you that fixing my old TiVo makes sense because it keeps my options open as far as eventually getting a dual tuner model.

I wonder when those are going to come out? I have analog Time Warner cable. Do you supose the dual tuner cable card model will work for me?

[alyssa]

couple of thoughts
Owning ones own space is a positive thing... especially if one of those people like to keep (lots of) things.

Second with regards to your wife, just to kinda flip this around a bit, how about suggesting she archive her shows on to DVD via MyDvd ect. It'd give her something to do with the shows & ulitmatly they'd take up less room then tapes. Plus, she'd eventually have to decide if the show was worth her time to tranfer, edit, trancode & burn. My guess is that eventually she'd decide to keep less shows.

[StanSimmons]

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62430&perpage=20&pagenumber=7

[timckelley]

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62430&perpage=20&pagenumber=7

Thanks for that link. I still haven't had time to work on my TiVo, but the first thing I plan to do is to open it up and run some sort of fitness utility (if I can find one) to the drive(s) to see which are good and which are bad. After that's done, I'll revisit your link.

[ZeoTiVo]

up when it went bad anyway.

I'm not sure about that course of action. By having two physically separate TiVos, it enforces separation of space between my wife an me. In effect, I "own" my space, and she owns her space. With one dual tuner TiVo, she could conceivably take over the whole TiVO.


* grin * I actually meant a dual tuner for your own use so conflicts are no longer an issue for you. It sounds like your wife should stick with a single tuner TiVo ;)

and we are not yet 100% sure that CC dual tuner will give you two tuners off of analog. - that is my hope as well adn hopefully CES anouncements will tell us more on those kind of details

[timckelley]

* grin * I actually meant a dual tuner for your own use so conflicts are no longer an issue for you. It sounds like your wife should stick with a single tuner TiVo ;)

and we are not yet 100% sure that CC dual tuner will give you two tuners off of analog. - that is my hope as well adn hopefully CES anouncements will tell us more on those kind of details

Yes, in the latter half of my post, I started to realize (as I was typing), that I personally could use a dual tuner.

It's not common for me to have conflicts, so the dual tuner would be sort of a luxary.

However, two of my season passes conflict on Wednesdays: SouthPark and Law and Order. However, SouthPark repeats their first run eps several times, so this can be handled.

Today is exceptional though. This evening is the Rose Bowl (my home team Longhorns have a shot at winning the national title for the first time since 1970), Law and Order (first run), and SouthPark (first run). I've scheduled SouthPark to catch the repeat later in the week, so that's fine. But I had to choose between Law and Order or the Rose Bowl, neither of which will be repeated anytime soon. I chose the Rose Bowl, because that's just too important to miss.

[timckelley]

I thought there were were people in the upgrade forum willing to give an HDR212 image for free. (That's my model.) I'm not sure of this, but I think I should check into it before paying the $20.

Yes indeed, I'm downloading my free image as we speak. I've already opened up the TiVo and see 2 80G Maxtor drives, and I've verified one is good and one is bad, so I'll keep the good one. (I ran Maxtor fitness utilities on them.) I'm thinking of adding my puny 20G drive that I have laying around as a second drive for a total of 100G (which admittedly will mean a reduction from the 160G I've been enjoying.) Yes, I know 20G is puny, but I'm not using it anyway, so I may as well put it to use, and save money by not buying another drive. I personally think 100G is enough for me.

I hope I can understand the Hinsdale instructions (they look formidable to me), but we'll see. After I get this TiVo working, I intend to subscribe it. For a long time now, I've been living with an unsubscribed TiVo, but this last month, borrowing my wife's TiVo, I'm remembering how nice it was to have the features of subscription, so I'm going to take advantage of the multi-user dicount and pay $6.99 to subsribe my series 1. Later if I want to upgrade my series 1, I won't have to worry about being locked into lifetime. (Of course this means I need to commit to a one-year contract, and so I'll be using my series 1 for at least a year. I feel like I can live with that.)

For the last week or two, my wife's TiVo has had about 6-10 shows in Suggestions, but now it only has one, and my wife yesterday warned me that she's pumped a recent surge of stuff into the To Do list, so I think I should watch my shows promptly after their appearances into Now Playing, to avoid deletion. Of course if she fills it all with KUID, I'm up a creek, so I have an incentive to get my series 1 fixed. (Yes, she still has most of her stuff as KUID, which I really don't agree with.)

I originally proclaimed myself liberated when I first bought the second TiVo, but at the moment I'm not. I look forward to my fixed TiVo.

[timckelley]

After about 3 days of trying to figure out the Hinsdale guide and getting many questions anwered by the helpful people over on the Upgrade Forum, it appears I've successfully fixed my series 1 TiVo. It's now a 115 hour TiVo, as I pulled out the bad hard drive, and replaced it with a smaller hard drive I had hanging around. (It was 80G + 80G, but now it's only 80G + 20G). True, it's a step down, but it was free because that hard drive was just sitting left over from my last computer whose motherboard had gone bad, and I really don't need more than 115 hours.

I also just bit the bullet and subscribed it at $6.95 per month. I'll give my wife the option of which TiVo she wants: series 1 @ 115 hours, or series 2 @ 80 hours. It's quite possible my wife will prefer the series 2, even with it's smaller space, because it has folders, and I think she really likes the folders feature. Of course, now that I've finally become educated in the ways of Hinsdale, I suppose I could even attempt to upgrade her TiVo, if she wants.

Question: if for some reason after using this TiVo for awhile the old problems resurface (but I doubt that will happen), I can cancel my new subscription in the first 30 days. If I then decide to buy a new TiVo (say, if I can't fix this one), could I restart a new monthly on that unit? If so, it seems like kind of a loophole. Somebody could repeatedly start a sub, and then cancel within 30 days, alternating like that, and effectively get perpetual free service.

[Polcamilla]

If so, it seems like kind of a loophole. Somebody could repeatedly start a sub, and then cancel within 30 days, alternating like that, and effectively get perpetual free service.

I'm pretty sure that the TiVo mothership can recognize individual TiVos by serial #, so you'd pretty much need to keep buying a new TiVo every 30 days, which would cost *far* more than the $7/mo. of the subscription. Besides which, the perpetual subscribing and calling to cancel would be a tremendous amount of work----would anybody *really* want to spend 2-3 hours of their time every month to save $7?

[timckelley]

Uh oh... new update that caught me off guard. It didn't appear to me that this whole having my TiVo unsubscribed made it so unattractive to my wife, and maybe that's whay she's always stayed off of it for the two years I've had it. Now that it's subscribed, she asked me if she could move her General Hospital (soap opera) SP onto it temporarily. Her TiVo is mostly filled up, and she wants a chance to widdle it down, and apparently, to offload some stuff to tape. With the moving of TiVos around the house lately, the VCR hasn't been hooked up to her TiVo, so stuff has built up. It's hooked up now, though.

She wanted to put her SP on my TiVo as KUID. I asked her if she could refrain from sticking anything on my TiVo as KUID, because I really dislike to the use of this. She compromised and agreed to 'keep until 5 days'.

(the good news, also, is that of her SPs, General Hospital is one she does a pretty good job keeping up with. Her mother and her watch it on most weekdays.)

Now admittedly, I have more space than her (115 hours at basic, vs her 80 hours at basic), and she even considered trading TiVos with me once I subscribed mine, but since mine is series 1, we can't do HMO, which means she can't export her shows to my TiVo, so she decided to keep her TiVo. I told her I'd still consider upgrading the size of her TiVo, especially now that I've had hands on experience with the Hinsdale instructions. Well, it hasn't gotten to that point yet, because my TiVo still has scads of room on it.

BTW, I'm liking the suggestions feature of my TiVo, because right now a lot of my SPs aren't generating new eps due to the off season, and the suggestions feature is doing not too bad a job on my TiVo.

[timckelley]

Oh no! My wife has asked me to stop deleting my Scrubs eps after watching, because the next several eps have a guest star that she's interested in watching. I suggested that we then record on both TiVos, and that way each person can delete their copy when they're finished.

But her TiVo is about tapped out of space, and she pointed out that I have *lots* of space on my TiVo, and that I'd be pretty selfish not to cooperate with this request. I could tell she was about to get emotional, so I stopped arguing. :(

Well, to keep peace I'll do this, but I'll be monitoring my TiVo to make sure she doesn't creep too much onto it. In fact, in my mind, it's not enough to make sure I have several hours of free space. I like having lots of free space because lots of free space = lots of Suggestions = good chance some of the Suggestions are shows I like.

[ZeoTiVo]

setup to record anything - record CNN in 1 hour blocks

fill up your TiVo while you can and she will then think there is no space :)

[timckelley]

setup to record anything - record CNN in 1 hour blocks

fill up your TiVo while you can and she will then think there is no space :)

:D This is war! I must defend my TiVo against foreign invaders. :)

[JYoung]

You realize that you are on your way to buying a third TiVo.

[dnthewind]

I never thought that a thread on a message board could make me appreciate my wife so much... I just read the 1st 2 and last 2 pages of this thread and the transformation is inspiring/hysterical.

Tim, you're a good man. :up:

[timckelley]

Oops. I mistakenly thought this thread got archived, and so I continued the story onto a new thread. The new thread is here:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=309930

[murgatroyd]

Tim, it's a real pity that the DVD-recorder units don't work better. Just think, you could buy her the 300-hour upgraded model from Weaknees and then she would have plenty of room, AND she wouldn't have to have the VCR hooked up in order to dump off her shows. ;)

However, given what I'm hearing from my friend who bought one of the Humax recorders, I suggest you not buy one without reading the various threads here outlining the problems that some of these units have. :(

Jan

[JYoung]

Told you to stand firm :) (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=1630790&&#post1630790)

[timckelley]

Oh NO! I am now down to LESS THAN ONE SCREEN worth of suggestions. :eek: I told my wife yesterday about this problem again.... she is now feeling free to simply walk in and schedule stuff on my TiVo. THis is because her TiVo is full.

I think because I subscribed my TiVo half a year ago (I used to do everything via manual recordings, unsubbed), she is now finding my TiVo sufficiently user-friendly to invade. I guess I could hide the remote but I think that would provoke her.

I might not have mentioned this, but I just recently bought a standalone DVD-burner for less than $100, and have so far burned two of her movies on it. I like it much better than the old VCR-archiving method. It's right now hooked to the cable feed but not to either TiVo. She just told me she's thinking this weekend she wants me to hook the DVD-burner to her TiVo. Hopefully that means she's about to offload stuff and make room so she can get off my TiVo. :D

I also told her yesterday that because I'm now down to less than a screen of suggestions, that maybe she should give me the go-ahead to upgrade her TiVo. :up: I told her that for just under $100, I can increase her from 80 hours, to more than 300 hours. :up: She likes the idea of upgrading, but she hesitates for me to do it now, because she doesn't like me spending a lot of time working on upgrading her TiVo when I could be working on other more important house projects. :down:

But I'm going to closely monitor things for the next few days, including DVD burner activity, etc, and if I don't see progress soon, I'm definitely going to advocate going forward with upgrading her TiVo.

[JustAllie]

I can't believe this thread has been alive since 2003, and you still have a problem.

[timckelley]

Surely I'm not the only one. :) Isn't there anybody else out there in TCF land that has husband/wife TiVo problems?

BTW, her latest space hog is dozens of eps of General Hospital. (She has no intention of archiving those - she simply wants to watch/catch up on them.)

Also, the latest thing that set her back, TiVo wise, is that a couple of weeks ago she went to the beach for a week with her family and my son, while I stayed home and did house projects. I know that sounds bad that I couldn't even go along on a beach vacation, but I had fallen horribly behind in paperwork, and I don't know when else I could have caught up. Unlike most people I know, who can have their child play alone for an hour or two, we can't do that because of his autism. My wife watches him all week, and then when I'm off for the weekend, I try to give her a break, and then I watch him, which leaves me almost no time to get housework done.

During that week, she got more backlogged.

[Adam1115]

What your too cheap to upgrade the hard drive? You know you can put 1.5 terrabytes of space on a tivo...

[JYoung]

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/jonathany/images/icons/meh.gif

If she's literally dozens of episodes behind on a daily (5 times a week) soap opera, she will likely never catch up.

[maki]

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/jonathany/images/icons/meh.gif

If she's literally dozens of episodes behind on a daily (5 times a week) soap opera, she will likely never catch up.

I don't know what kind of seasons soap operas go on but if it's anything like my daily talk shows there's always a time like the summer for some serious catching up. :D

[timckelley]

What your too cheap to upgrade the hard drive? You know you can put 1.5 terrabytes of space on a tivo...

To be honest, I'm all in favor of paying the $100 to upgrade her to over 300 hours. The roadblock is her hesitance to divert me from my other housework to do this. But like I said, if my TiVo stays this low or gets lower, I'm going to press the issue and make it a higher priority to-do item.

[DevdogAZ]

To be honest, I'm all in favor of paying the $100 to upgrade her to over 300 hours. The roadblock is her hesitance to divert me from my other housework to do this. But like I said, if my TiVo stays this low or gets lower, I'm going to press the issue and make it a higher priority to-do item.
Dude. Sack up!! It's not like upgrading the TiVo is akin to building a new wing on the house. It should only take you a couple of hours. You waste that much time here on TC every day. I guarantee that whether she "approves" it or not, you will both be much happier in the long run if you just go ahead and upgrade her TiVo.

[mattack]

If she's literally dozens of episodes behind on a daily (5 times a week) soap opera, she will likely never catch up.

I'm dozens of episodes of Letterman's show behind (a few months' worth), but I'm going to watch them.. Though admittedly I didn't catch up during his 2 weeks off (busy with a developer conference). I am recording them from my Tivo to my other recorder where I can watch them at 1.5x speed with sound though..

[alansplace]

I am recording them from my Tivo to my other recorder where I can watch them at 1.5x speed with sound though..i love that feature about my Toshiba RD-XS32S.
--
Alan :D

[timckelley]

Dude. Sack up!! It's not like upgrading the TiVo is akin to building a new wing on the house. It should only take you a couple of hours. You waste that much time here on TC every day. I guarantee that whether she "approves" it or not, you will both be much happier in the long run if you just go ahead and upgrade her TiVo.

Well, only once before did I replace a TiVo hard drive, and it took way more than a couple of hours to replace. It took 3 evenings of research, working, and asking questions when I got stuck. I really didn't find the Hinsdale instructions all that user-friendly to somebody of my knowledge. And that was a case where I didn't mind losing the programs on my disk. In this case, she's going to want me to copy all her shows onto the new disk as well, which will also mean we'll need to schedule this at a time when her To Do List has a big enough gap in it that she won't miss her recordings. I'm told the copy operation takes hours to complete.

[Timber]

I'll stick with the suggestion I made months ago, delete shows that you don't think she'll notice have gone and if she does blame it on TiVo.

-=Tim=-

[JYoung]

I'm dozens of episodes of Letterman's show behind (a few months' worth), but I'm going to watch them.. Though admittedly I didn't catch up during his 2 weeks off (busy with a developer conference). I am recording them from my Tivo to my other recorder where I can watch them at 1.5x speed with sound though..


Most soaps (including General Hospital) don't have an off season or a vacation.
They show new episodes year round (except for a few holidays and the like).
So probably 255 episodes a year.

[weetoots]

Throw a 120gb drive in there to add to your 80gb.

Is it as easy to add a second HD, as it is in a computer? Any sites with how-to's?

Al

[timckelley]

Is it as easy to add a second HD, as it is in a computer? Any sites with how-to's?

Al

No, actually it's considerably harder, which I can attest to, since it took me 3 evenings of working and asking questions when I got stuck (when I replaced a bad HD in my series 1 TiVo.) When I say harder, I don't really mean it's a lot of work - I just simply didn't find the Hinsdale instructions all that straightforward. Just replacing an HD in a PC is childsplay (imo) in comparison. Also, btw, opening the case of a TiVo is a bit more work than opening a computer case.

BTW, throwing in a second HD into a series 2 always causes power and cooling issues, but somebody else in this thread already suggested replacing, instead of adding to, the HD. That seems simpler, and is what I plan on doing.

[DevdogAZ]

No, actually it's considerably harder, which I can attest to, since it took me 3 evenings of working and asking questions when I got stuck (when I replaced a bad HD in my series 1 TiVo.) When I say harder, I don't really mean it's a lot of work - I just simply didn't find the Hinsdale instructions all that straightforward. Just replacing an HD in a PC is childsplay (imo) in comparison. Also, btw, opening the case of a TiVo is a bit more work than opening a computer case.

BTW, throwing in a second HD into a series 2 always causes power and cooling issues, but somebody else in this thread already suggested replacing, instead of adding to, the HD. That seems simpler, and is what I plan on doing.
I didn't find it very difficult when I did it previously. Hopefully having done it before, it will be easier for you the second time.

As for replacing the HD in your wife's TiVo, you do realize that by doing so, she'll first have to copy all her shows off of it, or just lose them, right? If she's willing to lose them or copy them all off to some other medium, then your problem is solved and you don't need to add a HD.

[timckelley]

As for replacing the HD in your wife's TiVo, you do realize that by doing so, she'll first have to copy all her shows off of it, or just lose them, right? If she's willing to lose them or copy them all off to some other medium, then your problem is solved and you don't need to add a HD.

Yes, I knew that, and no, she doesn't want to lose her stuff. I planned on copying her shows off the old drive onto the new drive I buy. Admittedly I've never done that before (as the one other time I replaced an HD it was to my TiVo, and I didn't mind losing my shows and settings.)

I'm told it's possible to preserve the old shows by moving them to the new drive.

[baw]

Haha, my wife is the same way. She has shows dated from November last year. "Don't delete that! I'm going to watch it!"

[timckelley]

Haha, my wife is the same way. She has shows dated from November last year. "Don't delete that! I'm going to watch it!"

HA! So I'm not the only one in this boat. :cool:

[TivoFan]

Seriously, are we still posting in a three year old thread?

[maki]

Do your wives know you're talking about them??

[timckelley]

Seriously, are we still posting in a three year old thread?

Nope. It's your imagination. :)

[ZeoTiVo]

Nope. It's your imagination. :)


the three old thread was not picked up on so timckelley started a new one.


MFStools 2.0 will allow you to easily copy the shows and settings to the new hard drive with no hassle if it is going back in the same DVR. With a little more research you can also copy shows and settings to a different DVR as long as it is the same model

[JustAllie]

To be honest, I'm all in favor of paying the $100 to upgrade her to over 300 hours. The roadblock is her hesitance to divert me from my other housework to do this. But like I said, if my TiVo stays this low or gets lower, I'm going to press the issue and make it a higher priority to-do item.
Her recording backlog is causing the problem.

She shouldn't get to decide whether you spend your time solving the problem. Either she okays the time, or she deletes her shows from your TiVo. Or she doesn't complain when you go out and buy a third TiVo and hide the remote from her. :p

[Melwani97]

VHS your wife's shows too???

Sorry to state the obvious, but that's all I got!

[timckelley]

VHS your wife's shows too???

Sorry to state the obvious, but that's all I got!

Yes, I could do that to get them off, but

a) There so many shows it'll take some work to do this. There is no 'batch save to VCR command' - such a command would be quite useful. I don't particularly enjoy the work, and also my wife is picky about how to label the tapes, so I prefer to let her take care of it. BTW, we do have a DVD burner, but it's hooked up to her TiVo, not mine. There is a VCR on my TiVo though.

b) There are some shows she really is preferring to watch on my TiVo and not tape off at all. I could be strict and tell her it's going to tape by this week if she doesn't watch it, but she gets touchy sometimes, so I haven't pressed it yet. I have a feeling though that part of her touchiness is being caused because inside she feels guilty for invading my TiVo.

Once I upgrade her though, I still have to deal with all the stuff of hers that currently sits on my NP. At least (I assume) no new stuff will show up. I'm sure she'll eventually get if off my TiVo herself though once she's upgraded. I mean she's doing that now - the problem is that new stuff of hers shows up on my TiVo about as fast as she gets old stuff off. Apparently while I'm at work, she is helping herself to my remote and scheduling new stuff. :)

Once she's upgraded, I think we need to revisit the house/ground rules. She can possibly justify her invasion because I have a bigger TiVo than she does, even though she likes to record a lot more stuff than I do. But once she's upgraded, she'll have 2 to 3 times more space than I, and so she really won't have a lot of justification for invading my TiVo. I think I need to get her to sign off on the agreement to stay off my TiVo. :)

[ZeoTiVo]

Apparently while I'm at work, she is helping herself to my remote and scheduling new stuff. :)

OK right there all bets are off. It is time for some tough talk. You are posting about how you don't want to upset her by not doing the other house chores before upgrading a TiVo or deleting her shows or putting Kid Zone on your TiVo to keep her from adding or whatever.
Then she totally ignores your feelings and just does as she pleases.
That is not a 50 50 relationship and you either need to make it 50 50 by doing what you know is right or just admit to the 10 90 relationship and just give her both TiVos and doing whatever she tells you to do next.

Otherwise why drag out yet another thread going on about this nonsense.

[classicX]

To be honest, I'm all in favor of paying the $100 to upgrade her to over 300 hours. The roadblock is her hesitance to divert me from my other housework to do this. But like I said, if my TiVo stays this low or gets lower, I'm going to press the issue and make it a higher priority to-do item.

Whu-PSSHT!

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

It doesn't take long to do the upgrade - are you THAT swamped with housework? Why do you even watch TV if you can't get away from your housework long enough to enjoy a show?

My point is, that hour or two or seventeen that you spend a week watching recorded shows, can be spent upgrading the Tivo.

[timckelley]

Also, remember, copying her shows to the new drive could be an overnight operation, so I'll have to negotiate a time when her To Do List has a big enough gap in it.

[SMWinnie]

Also, remember, copying her shows to the new drive could be an overnight operation, so I'll have to negotiate a time when her To Do List has a big enough gap in it....or, alternatively, just manually schedule her shows for that evening on her other* TiVo. Insane though your description of her sounds, I can't imagine she'd be unwilling to watch one night of material on her backup machine.

* You know, the larger one that you consider yours here but not at home.

[Stanley Rohner]

Also, remember, copying her shows to the new drive could be an overnight operation, so I'll have to negotiate a time when her To Do List has a big enough gap in it.

Holy cow !! She sure has got you whipped !

What would happen to you if one of her shows didn't get recorded because the TiVo was being upgraded ?

[JYoung]

Once I upgrade her though, I still have to deal with all the stuff of hers that currently sits on my NP. At least (I assume) no new stuff will show up. I'm sure she'll eventually get if off my TiVo herself though once she's upgraded. I mean she's doing that now - the problem is that new stuff of hers shows up on my TiVo about as fast as she gets old stuff off. Apparently while I'm at work, she is helping herself to my remote and scheduling new stuff. :)



You need to take your remote with you when you go to work.

Honestly, is she recording so much stuff that you can't take 4-6 hours to do the upgrade?

Of course, you're still only delaying the inevitable.
Sooner or later, she will fill up her TiVo again and then she'll be recording on yours, "just for a little while".

Have you reminded her of the simple equation of x hours of material recorded = x hours to watch?

[mattack]

Have you reminded her of the simple equation of x hours of material recorded = x hours to watch?

You must be watching mostly noncommercial stuff.

for me, X hours of recorded material ~= .75X hours to watch..

(less if I FF with captions on, like a lot of the repeated stuff in the Last Comic Standing Finale... less if I watch on my non-Tivo recorder, where I can watch at I think 1.5x with sound. for things like Big Brother, I watch at 1FF the whole time.. For America's Got Talent, I 1FF through everything BUT the actual performances, which I watch at regular speed.)

[JYoung]

You must be watching mostly noncommercial stuff.

for me, X hours of recorded material ~= .75X hours to watch..



I'm aware of that however, I don't think that the OP should overly complicate the argument.

[timckelley]

I've had these arguments before, but I don't think they've sunk in. She still likes to bite off more than she can chew. She tends to not think as logically as I do. Oh well, hopefully the upgrade will solve things.

[TivoZorro]

You've got to decide what kind of life you want to live. Do you want to be controled by a total control freak or do you want to live in peace.

My brother lives with a control freak. She controls what tv shows he watches, what he eats and what sports he plays among other things. He has been married ten years and is happy. Personally I never would have married her and I told him that when he asked me for advice.

Your wife has total disregard for you. if I were you I would be getting a divorce. That's just my opinion. You need a break from her. Rent an apartment and take your Tivo with you. And don't give her a key to the place. Maybe after a few days of living without you she'll learn to accept your boundaries but i doubt it. Sometimes you have to lookk at for yourself. Or as others have suggested take your Tivo Remote to work.

You've issued plenty of threats and demands and she doesn't take any of them seriously because she knows you won't go through with any of them. All she has to do is pull her sensitive routine and she's got you right back where she wants you.

I issued plenty of threats to my ex-spouse. I kept telling him that I was going to leave him if he didn't straighten up but he didn't take me seriously until my dad called him into his office and gave him the bad news. My brother stayed with me at my apartment and I moved all of his things out to the garage where he could pick them up. My dad made it clear that I didn't want to see or talk to him ever again. He tried calling me a couple of times on the phone but I made it clear that I didn't want to talk to him and hung up.

I realize that you have a child and that makes things more difficult. I guess it comes down to how much do you love her and how much are you willing to put up with. But you do have options.

[ZeoTiVo]

She tends to not think as logically as I do.

and it is working for her and not for you.

[Stanley Rohner]

Also, remember, copying her shows to the new drive could be an overnight operation, so I'll have to negotiate a time when her To Do List has a big enough gap in it.

Cough{wussy}Cough

[timckelley]

Cough{wussy}Cough

True, I'm stronger than her, and I could put my foot down, but the reality of the situation is that being macho and dominant creates more problems than it solves. She can get emotional and start yelling and crying, and generally make life difficult (including threatening divorce, etc.) This is an atmosphere I really don't want to live with. She already yells enough and has enough anger already, I don't need the stress of more yelling and arguing, and my son certainly doesn't need to witness that. (Not to mention she's being medically treated for depression by her psychologist, and having an autistic son that needs almost constant supervision, and protection from dangers - like being run over by cars, among other things - even now at his current age of almost 7 - doesn't make things easier.)

So this is why I don't always put my foot down. But I haven't been lying down totally like a wussy either. I've had quite a few conversions with her, and she knows my feelings on this. Just today, I asked her if, after the upgrade to over 300 hours, will she then agree to stay off my TiVo. At first she said "no", because her TiVo is hooked to a DVD burner, but mine is hooked to a VHS machine, and she wants the option to archive her shows in either format. This is easily solved with an A/B switch that I just bought at Walmart, so I rephrased the question: "If I give your TiVo the option of saving to DVD or VHS, and if you have over 300 hours of space, do you foresee needing to put stuff on my TiVo?". At this point, she accused me of being selfish with my TiVo. I immediately told her it wasn't selfishness. I told her that we have the means of setting ourselves up with TiVos/accessories beefy enough to satisfy both our needs, and I see no reason why we shouldn't avail ourselves of this ability to set ourselves up. She needs a fair amount of space, and she needs to be hooked up to a DVD burner and a VCR. I want/need a fair amount of space so that I'll have a nice selection of Suggestions to choose from. Also, when she sets stuff up on my TiVo, if I'm not mistaken, it defaults to a one-thumbs up for all her stuff, which could be goofing up my thumbs settings.

So, we each have our needs, and I see a way to meet those needs, and I'd like to set things up like that, and I don't consider that to be selfishness. When I put it like that, she agreed with me and said she'll stay off my TiVo.

Anyway, I intend to order off for the new hard drive by this afternoon, and will install it sometime later after it gets shipped to me.

[ZeoTiVo]

Also, when she sets stuff up on my TiVo, if I'm not mistaken, it defaults to a one-thumbs up for all her stuff, which could be goofing up my thumbs settings. you are correct any season pass will automatically add one thumb up when it is setup. You can go to any show after it is set and one thumb down to make it neutral again.

So, we each have our needs, and I see a way to meet those needs, and I'd like to set things up like that, and I don't consider that to be selfishness. When I put it like that, she agreed with me and said she'll stay off my TiVo.

Anyway, I intend to order off for the new hard drive by this afternoon, and will install it sometime later after it gets shipped to me.
Good - I recall the earlier thread and the difficulties you face but just wanted to see you make things work for yourself. No one else in your family will, unfortunately. Hope the upgrade goes smoothly. the second one usually does. :up:


PS - compare price against this page from outpost.com to get a good deal - the larger hard drive you put in now - the easier fro both of you later.
http://shop1.outpost.com/search?query_string=&sort=price&order=desc&cat=-48950&pType=pDisplay&from=0&to=24&order_by=p04d

[Stanley Rohner]

She can get emotional and start yelling and crying, and generally make life difficult (including threatening divorce, etc.)

She already yells enough and has enough anger already, I don't need the stress of more yelling and arguing.

Did you witness any of this behavior before you got married ?

[timckelley]

She can get emotional and start yelling and crying, and generally make life difficult (including threatening divorce, etc.)

She already yells enough and has enough anger already, I don't need the stress of more yelling and arguing.

Did you witness any of this behavior before you got married ?

To tell the truth - no. Then again, she didn't develop her clinical depression until after marriage.

[billb914]

forget the new drive - you need a second box - one for her stuff, one for yours.

[TivoZorro]

forget the new drive - you need a second box - one for her stuff, one for yours.

I think she already has her own box, which is full and that is why she is taking over his Tivo. I'm afraid that she'll just fill up the 300 hours on her upgraded box and then she will be back to scheduling things on his. It's a vicious cycle that I don't see how it can be broken.

I have a 700 hour Tivo, two 80 hour Tivos and one 30 hour Tivo. And I know that it is my responsibility to take care of my tv shows. If I get behind and my Tivos get full I either have to dump them to my PC or to tape. I have to have shows ready on tape for when I go pet sitting. I can't imagine sharing my Tivos with anybody else. Of course part of the deal of living with my parents is that I do record shows for my mom or dad (like Prison Break or Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives) which I am recording for myself anyway. I just dump them to tape for them. They aren't interested in using the Tivos per say which is a good thing.

[TivoFan]

Your wife is an addict. Cut her off completely. It's for the best.

[timckelley]

Your wife is an addict. Cut her off completely. It's for the best.

When I quoted this to her, she laughed and said you're probably right. Other times, when her mother brings up the subject, she protests by saying it's her hobby, and that everybody has hobbies, and this is hers.

[timckelley]

Oh, I have an update and a question for you people. The other day when I said I was going to order my hard drive that afternoon: My wife and I got into discussions about whether it was better to upgrade or get a third TiVo. She started pitching the idea for a 3rd TiVo because she wants to do her archiving stuff upstairs in a room that my son doesn't play in, but when she's downstairs, she wants to be able to watch General Hospital.

At first I thought I could get a cheap lifetime used TiVo off of ebay, because I saw some auctions with low bids and reputable sellers. But then the bid shot way up in the last day, and then when I searched completed auctions, I see it's really hard to get a lifetime for under $300 unless it's a series 1 with very little space.

So after more talking we agreed to the original plan of simply upgrading her current TiVo. I can still accomplish what she wants though because I have some AVcast equipment that I used to have installed, which is currently uninstalled. This equipment lets you watch a TiVo from a different TV than the one it's hooked up to. I used to use this equipment when my TiVo was unsubscribed because I wanted to be able to see my wife's guide data from my TV. Anyway, I can hook this equipment up again, which will allow her to watch her TiVo from downstairs, so this is really the best solution.

So now my next question is which hard drive to buy. Two of you above have posted links for me for suggested hard drives.

One link is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144392

Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200JB 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM
$90.99


In Stock
$5.64 Three Day Shipping (Not available in HI, AK and PR)

Another link is:

http://shop1.outpost.com/search?query_string=&sort=price&order=desc&cat=-48950&pType=pDisplay&from=0&to=24&order_by=p04d

Seagate 300GB ST3300631A-RK Parallel ATA Retail Hard Drive
Item # 4596277 Seagate Same Day $79.99 ships free

Maxtor 300GB L01R300 16MB Buffer Ultra ATA/133 - Retail Hard Drive Kit.
Item # 4187703 Boxed Hard Drives Kits - 300GB & Above - 7200RPM Same Day $79.99

I see the cheapest is the Seaqate 300MB one. Should I be wary of certain brand names? Is there a reason why I should pick a different one that the cheapest above? Seagate is compatible with TiVo, right? BTW, even though the Western Digital says 320 MB, the comments from the consumers say that when formatted, it's just under 300 MB.

[classicX]

she wants to be able to watch General Hospital.

:eek:

+1 for cutting off her TV completely. She needs a new "hobby."

[timckelley]

:eek:

+1 for cutting off her TV completely. She needs a new "hobby."

In her defense, she watches it while she's folding the laundry.

[RangersRBack]

Holy Mother of God!

I somehow just read this thread for the first time. Three years of the same posts over and over again...what kind of life do you have? And what kind of marriage?

She spends all of her free time recording and hoarding shows, and maybe even spends a little time watching them too. You spend all of your free time doing housework and negotiating time when you can feed her habit.

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

Do you two have any kind of relationship whatsoever that doesn't involve Tivo? Do you ever do anything together with your child? Ever go to the park? Do you ever do anything together that involves just the two of you? No surprise that you only have one child, she can't get pregnant through the remote.

For the posters who suggested he cut his wife off from the recordings, I totally agree. I also submit that we should cut this guy off from his addiction to coming on here and discussing his horrible personal life, and his questions about technology that never address his ultimate problem.

IMHO he needs to spend less time on here, and instead spend some quality time with his wife. Or some quality time at a lawyer's office getting away from his wife. Or some quality time standing up to his wife, let the tears flow and then take it from there. She may thank you for it later.

To me this barely sounds like a marriage. Ten years later he'll still be here asking about hard drives and the cost of upgrading, instead of addressing the real issues in his marriage.

Jeesh.

[timckelley]

You exaggerate the situation. The only TiVO watching I ever do is late at night after my son has gone to sleep. I spend most of my other time that I'm not at work, by playing with my son or doing housework. Most evenings I take my son for bike rides or walks, and at least once per weekend I usually go on hikes with him, and my wife and he and I often go swimming in our backyard swimming pool.

The problem with my wife is that she schedules a lot more stuff on her TiVo than she really has time to watch, and so it backs up on her.

[RangersRBack]

The problem with my wife is that she schedules a lot more stuff on her TiVo than she really has time to watch, and so it backs up on her.

The problem with your wife goes far beyond having her Tivo back up on her. Re-read your posts.

Your marriage needs help.

[timckelley]

The problem with your wife goes far beyond having her Tivo back up on her. Re-read your posts.

Your marriage needs help.

Actually, you're right but not for the reasons you had just posted, which is why I corrected your statment that we have no time for each other or for our son. We are, in fact, getting help. We're participating in marriage counseling currently, and in fact I've just finally arranged respite care for our disabled son once a month, so that we can hopefully finally have time to do things together without necessarily having our son with us all the time.

I've also been asking her for a long time that we should eat lunch together at least once a week while my son is at school, but she's always too busy for that. Yesterday, she said she intends to make time for this.

Having said that, yes she still has a problem with being obsessed with her TiVo, but it's more harmless than more expensive hobbies might be, or doing drugs, etc. She does need a hobby and there are worse ones to have. Meanwhile, I'd like to pursue this cheap upgrade to her TiVo as a means of reclaiming my own TiVo back again.

I recently noticed I had less than one screen of suggestions, and I told my wife, and she made progress and cleared up some stuff, but now I see she's scheduled a bunch of movies on my TiVo, some of which are currently in NP. Also, the new season has started, and my To Do list suddenly has several eps of my shows scheduled.

I took the action last night, and changed my SPs to KUID to combat with her KUID stuff, and I note that not quite all can be changed to KUID without getting warnings of earlier than desired expiration dates being assigned to my shows. I warned my wife this morning, but we barely had time to talk about it.

What I plan to do in the meanwhile before the upgrade is complete is to keep careful watch of my To Do List. If one of my eps is projected not to record due to lack of space, I really feel that I should delete one of my wife's movies, or delete one from the To Do List, in order that I get my show record. But in fairness I think I should let her know my plan, and I hope she sees the reasonableness in my logic that if my show is not recorded vs her show not being recorded, my shows should get priority, since it is my TiVo we're talking about. Meanwhile I should get moving on this upgrade so that less of this problem has to surface.

[JYoung]

Your wife is not respecting your boundries.
Time to hide your TiVo remote with you when you're not using it.

And of the drives you listed, I like the Seagate the best.

I have a Seagate running in my Series 2 with no issue so far.

[RangersRBack]

Actually, you're right but not for the reasons you had just posted, which is why I corrected your statment that we have no time for each other or for our son. We are, in fact, getting help. We're participating in marriage counseling currently, and in fact I've just finally arranged respite care for our disabled son once a month, so that we can hopefully finally have time to do things together without necessarily having our son with us all the time.

I've also been asking her for a long time that we should eat lunch together at least once a week while my son is at school, but she's always too busy for that. Yesterday, she said she intends to make time for this.

Having said that, yes she still has a problem with being obsessed with her TiVo, but it's more harmless than more expensive hobbies might be, or doing drugs, etc. She does need a hobby and there are worse ones to have. Meanwhile, I'd like to pursue this cheap ugrade to her TiVo as a means of reclaiming my own TiVo back again.

I recently noticed I had less that one screen of suggestions, and I told my wife, and she made progress and cleared up some stuff, but now I see she's scheduled a bunch of movies on my TiVo, some of which are currently in NP. Also, the new season has started, and my To Do list suddenly has several eps of my shows scheduled.

I took the action last night, and changed my SPs to KUID to combat with her KUID stuff, and I note that not quite all can be changed to KUID without getting warnings of earlier than desired expiration dates being assigned to my shows. I warned my wife this morning, but we barely had time to talk about it.

What I plan to do in the meanwhile before the upgrade is complete is to keep careful watch of my To Do List. If one of my eps is projected not to record due to lack of space, I really feel that I should delete one of my wife's movies, or delete one from the To Do List, in order that I get my show record. But in fairness I think I should let her know my plan, and I hope she sees the reasonableness in my logic that if my show is not recorded vs her show not being recorded, my shows should get priority, since it is my TiVo we're talking about. Meanwhile I should get moving on this upgrade so that less of this problem has to surface.

Stop already, just stop.

Stop with the SP's and the KUID's and hoping she sees the reasonableness of your logic. You're past that now, if it hasn't changed in the last three years it won't change now.

You're just going to keep going back and forth, and in ten years you'll still be here posting about your latest idea that hopefully won't make her mad, and you'll be up to 35,000 posts (dude you're averaging like 200 a month).

She needs to walk away from the Tivo, and you need to walk away from this forum. You're both addicted, and your marriage is virtually over because of it.

[classicX]

tim, while RangersRBack is being a bit rude and sensationalistic, I tend to agree, but I don't think that your marriage is over. Without getting too deep into your personal life, judging by your posts here, it seems that there are bigger issues than the Tivo.

You and possibly your wife as well are using the Tivo as an excuse.

That said, you may not get to the root cause without some drastic measures. I said it jokingly before, but disconnecting the Tivo's is probably a good start. It will likely cause a big argument, but tell her it's because you want to spend more time with her and your son and don't want any excuses. Tell her you love her.

It will get worse before it gets better, but I think it's worth it, don't you?

For what it's worth, it's just TV. What will happen to her if she misses some shows? It won't kill her. I used to be the same way, recording show after show and always making time to watch TV, when it should be the other way around - if there is something better to do with your time (rather than watching TV), do it.

Tell her if she wants to watch General Hospital while folding the laundry, then fold the laundry while General Hospital is ON.

Be sure to let it be known that you are denying yourself from the Tivo as well. Take the Tivos and put them in a box and store them somewhere, for a good long while. Trust me, it won't be the end of the world. Not even your world.

But underlying issues will only be exacerbated by smaller "surface" issues. The quicker you get to the real issues, the quicker they can be resolved.

Tivo may lose a customer but you will gain a life.

And not just a 1UP mushroom.

[sushikitten]

Oh. My. God.

I just now read through all 13 pages of this thread. I had hoped it was just a controversial thread that garnered a lot of responses....so imagine my surprise when I saw it had been going on for THREE years.

I am seriously amazed that you can live with this. I know people have to pick their battles, but this would drive me INSANE! It doesn't matter how many boxes you have or how big you upgrade to, this is always going to be a problem. So why even bother??

Oh, and +1 for your wife going cold turkey. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

[timckelley]

but tell her it's because you want to spend more time with her and your son and don't want any excuses.

I don't understand this statement. I'm currently not sacrificing any time with her or my son by watching TiVo. I've said many times in this thread that I only watch it late at night when my wife and son are asleep. My TiVo usage really is not causing any other part of my life to suffer. You could possibly make the argument that having my TiVo in the house is too great a temptation for my wife, but it's not true that I personally am sacrificing other things I should be doing instead.

Also, I really don't spend a lot of hours a week watching TiVo. I'm far from being controlled by it. But what few hours I spend, I feel it would be nice if I could use technology to make most use of those hours. (e.g. TiVo lets me FF thru commercials.) One of the big selling points of TiVo is that it lets you get higher quality TV viewing done is less time. I really think I use my TiVo the way it's meant to be used, and I'm not addicted to it. My wife may be, but I'm not.

As far as, is my wife spending less time with me and my son? She doesn't spend less time with my son, because she watches it mainly when he's in school. This is why she's so backlogged right now. His summer vacation (which is 1 1/2 months for him) just ended, and during that time, she didn't have a lot of time to watch TiVo. The fact that she's usually too busy to eat lunch with me, though, could be a sign she spends too much time with her TiVo. You could argue that if she spends less time with TiVo, she could have more time to finish her other house work, and have more time to spend with me at lunch, but that's fairly minor in the scheme of things, timewise, since lunch doesn't last very long. (BTW, every Friday all 3 of us already eat lunch together because my son gets off from school at lunchtime on Fridays.)

I think she suffers most from her TiVo because she gets backlogged in her housework. I do think she needs a hobby, but she does seem to get obsessed with TiVo.

But to give up TiVo so I can spend more time with my wife and son? That doesn't make sense. Giving up my TiVO watching would make no difference, since they're asleep anyway.

[timckelley]

Oh. My. God.

I just now read through all 13 pages of this thread. I had hoped it was just a controversial thread that garnered a lot of responses....so imagine my surprise when I saw it had been going on for THREE years.

I am seriously amazed that you can live with this. I know people have to pick their battles, but this would drive me INSANE! It doesn't matter how many boxes you have or how big you upgrade to, this is always going to be a problem. So why even bother??

Oh, and +1 for your wife going cold turkey. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

It may be hard to tell by reading the thread at one whack, unless you pay close attention to the date stamps on each post, but really since I bought my TiVo 2 1/2 years ago, it's only in the last month I've had a problem with her hogging my space on it. For over two years I've actually lived in TiVo happiness.

True, she's infringed on it slightly over the last two years, but only to a very very small percentage of my free space. Now, in the first year (i.e. 3 1/2 years ago) of TiVo ownership, that's another story. At that time, we only had one TiVo, and there were quite a few months of conflict on that TiVo.

But you might have a false impression that I've spent 3 1/2 years of solid TiVo misery; that's not the case.

Also, if you think upgrading will not solve problems, it might at least extend it another 2 1/2 years like the last upgrade did. But I'd like to think that if my wife does develop 300 hours of backlog, she'll face reality and accept that that's too much and do something about it. From talking to her about this aspect, she agrees. She thinks an 80 hour (at basic quality - it's much much less than that at High or Best Quality) TiVo is not enough space, but 300 hours is. There actually is a certain amount of logic to that statement.

[RangersRBack]

It may be hard to tell by reading the thread at one whack, unless you pay close attention to the date stamps on each post, but really since I bought my TiVo 2 1/2 years ago, it's only in the last month I've had a problem with her hogging my space on it. For over two years I've actually lived in TiVo happiness.

True, she's infringed on it slightly over the last two years, but only to a very very small percentage of my free space. Now, in the first year (i.e. 3 1/2 years ago) of TiVo ownership, that's another story. At that time, we only had one TiVo, and there were quite a few months of conflict on that TiVo.

But you might have a false impression that I've spent 3 1/2 years of solid TiVo misery; that's not the case.

Also, if you think upgrading will not solve problems, it might at least extend it another 2 1/2 years like the last upgrade did. But I'd like to think that if my wife does develop 300 hours of backlog, she'll face reality and accept that that's too much and do something about it. From talking to her about this aspect, she agrees. She thinks an 80 hour (at basic quality - it's much much less than that at High or Best Quality) TiVo is not enough space, but 300 hours is. There actually is a certain amount of logic to that statement.

Dude you've been posting about this for three years...THREE YEARS.

Part of me thinks you're making this all up to show us how dependant we've all become on our tivos. You speak of such an extreme example with thousands of hours of recordings, someone who is so obsessed with Tivo it sounds like she doesn't think of much else, and a marriage that sounds more like two people trying to figure out how to share Tivo, instead of trying to figure out how to share a life.

Now I don't think this is really the case, but for crying out loud already...THREE YEARS and you're still discussing the same basic issues.

Go to the movies for once, or a baseball game or something. Or exercise. I love Tivo but I have other interests too.

[timckelley]

Go to the movies for once, or a baseball game or something. Or exercise. I love Tivo but I have other interests too.

You might notice from my post count that I have posted on many, many other subjects than just TiVo (on the other TCF subforums.) This is a 3 year long thread, but the amount of time I've spent per month posting to this particular thread has been very small. Sometimes months go by without me putting in a single post.

Also, as for other activies (movies, etc), did you not notice how I said I only watch TiVo late at night after my family is asleep? During the day I have various other activities I participate in.

However this forum is the Coffee House forum, and in this forum we are only allowed to post about TiVo. Hopefully that explains why I've confined my discussion here to TiVo, and how a 3 year thread could be devoted to that subject.

[murgatroyd]

... but now I see she's scheduled a bunch of movies on my TiVo, some of which are currently in NP.

May I suggest a separate negotiation for the movies?

I personally don't see the value in setting up my TiVo to record movies for me unless there is no other way to see the movie. I'd much rather get the DVD, which can be watched without FFing through commercials, comes with extras (I especially enjoy commentary tracks) etc.

If your budget allows, perhaps she could get some of these movies some other way. If not, perhaps a 'house rule' could be negotiated that summertime when she is likely to be behind in watching her other stuff is not a good time to go out looking for movies to record.

If you have a TiVo, sooner or later you have to learn that you can't record everything you might like to see and you can't watch everything that gets recorded. You have to be able to let some stuff go.

I recently had to go on a trip with an open-ended return date. I too have a backlog of shows I need to dump off to VCR. I gutted my SPM, tossing out a lot of SPs for stuff I really didn 't care about, turning off auto-recording for a bunch of ARWLs, etc. so that I could keep the stuff I needed to put at KUID and have space to record the stuff we absolutely wanted to see that would air while we were gone. CBS News Sunday Morning is great, but would we care about watching a two-week-old recording? No, so off the To Do list it went. The manual five-minute recordings we use to change the channel for the morning news -- out! And so on.

If the movie in question has never been out on DVD and can't be rented or gotten in some other way, that's one thing. But if it is something that's readily availble on another format, why waste valuable TiVo space?

If you like, point out to her how much movies are edited for TV. Sell her on the better movie-viewing experience she could have if she chooses not to fill up your TiVo with movies.

Negotiate, but give her a chance to come around so she'll make the decision and she'll be happy with what she chooses to keep or toss.

P.S. to the rest of you -- give Tim and his wife a break. They have the right, and deserve the chance to work things out to their satisfaction, not ours. If they have a disabled kid, they have stuff to worry about that a lot of the rest of us don't have. So what if they fight a little over the TiVos? It's better than fighting about other stuff.

Jan

[RangersRBack]

You might notice from my post count that have posted on many, many other subjects than just TiVo (on the other TCF subforums.) This is a 3 year long thread, but the amount of time I've spent per month posting to this particular thread has been very small. Sometimes months go by with me putting in a single post.

Also, as for other activies (movies, etc), did you not notice how I said I only watch TiVo late at night after my family is asleep? During the day I have various other activities I participate in.

However this forum is the Coffee House forum, and in this forum we are only allowed to post about TiVo. Hopefully that explains why I've confined my discussion here to TiVo.

Yet three years later you're still posting about the exact same issue...your wife infringing on your tivo space. It's getting old now, literally, and to me 9,000 posts in less than four years is a lot. 200 posts a month on a tivo forum is excessive, regardless of the subject you're posting about...it's still Tivo.

There is a lot of obsession going on in your house, and maybe it's time to do the unthinkable...get rid of Tivo altogether. Both you and your wife may find it liberating that you're not tied to the machine anymore, and maybe you can move on to more important things...like real life.

[timckelley]

Yet three years later you're still posting about the exact same issue...your wife infringing on your tivo space. It's getting old now, literally, and to me 9,000 posts in less than four years is a lot. 200 posts a month on a tivo forum is excessive, regardless of the subject you're posting about...it's still Tivo.

There is a lot of obsession going on in your house, and maybe it's time to do the unthinkable...get rid of Tivo altogether. Both you and your wife may find it liberating that you're not tied to the machine anymore, and maybe you can move on to more important things...like real life.

If you're complaining about 200 posts per month (it's actually less than that btw) you need to complain to quite a few users here besides me. My post count is lower than many. If you're complaining that I let a thread last this long, there is no rule or expiration date set on threads. You have the option of not reading this thread if you're getting bored by it. I have gotten the impression that not everybody is bored from it.

Also, I don't need liberation from my TiVo, because frankly, I don't spend that much time on it. Percentagewise, the vast majority of my life is not spent on TiVo related activities.

Lastly, I haven't been posting about the same thing these 3 years. The fact that she's infringed onto a TiVo that has been exclusivly assigned to me is a fairly recent development.

[ZeoTiVo]

Lastly, I haven't been posting about the same thing these 3 years. The fact that she's infringed onto a TiVo that has been exclusivly assigned to me is a fairly recent development.

but even if you put a 300 gig drive in - she will still at some point be back to your TiVo becasue she has filled up her space again.


ask yourself why she needs to make so many VCR tapes she never watches? What void is she filling by collecting shows?

[timckelley]

but even if you put a 300 gig drive in - she will still at some point be back to your TiVo becasue she has filled up her space again.


ask yourself why she needs to make so many VCR tapes she never watches? What void is she filling by collecting shows?

I've talked to her about this. She stopped working when our son was born almost 7 years ago, and I think she doesn't feel completely fulfulled as her career has ended. I've told her she's welcome to start working again - we'd have to find childcare. But so far she doesn't want to. As for saving all those tapes? Much earlier in this thread, I might have mentioned that she disposed of a whole bunch of them, so she doesn't own as many tapes as she used to. But she's slowly starting to build them up again. She claims she wants them to watch in her old age, or for our son to have access to when he gets older. She actually regrets disposing of some of those tapes. She felt pressured into it, and regrets doing it.

Also, I'm pretty sure I mentioned my son is autistic and still can't speak and needs a lot of supervision, and this puts a lot of of stress on her.

As for the 300 gig only delaying the problem - I have already addressed this in recent posts

a) She only has 80G now, which is really not very big. In a way, I don't blame her for having space problems. 80G is not much - I think if she's going to have and use a TiVo, it's not unreasonable for her to have more than a measly 80G.

b) I'm hoping that if she still fills up a 300G drive (sHe has never had that massive a backlog in her life yet, so I'm not prepared to predict with certainty she's going to now), then I'd like to think she'd see the awesome size of the backlog and face facts that she's recording too much stuff and start pruning her SPs.

c) Even if the above fails, well, the last time I upgraded I got 2 1/2 years of happiness on my TiVo with no space problems. Maybe we'll get another 2 1/2 years of happiness out of this upgrade. Maybe more, because this is a bigger upgrade than last time. That alone is worth it.

[greg_burns]

BTW, even though the Western Digital says 320 MB, the comments from the consumers say that when formatted, it's just under 300 MB.

They all format like that. Drive manufacturers let their ad departments lie. Must drive their engineers mad. I have that WD in my Tivo. Would highly recommend.

[timckelley]

They all format like that. Drive manufacturers let their ad departments lie. Must drive their engineers mad. I have that WD in my Tivo. Would highly recommend.

Thanks for this feedback. :)

JYoung likes the Seagate, which is cheaper, but you and one other person have recommended the WD. Hmmmmm.... hard decision.

[JYoung]

Thanks for this feedback. :)

JYoung likes the Seagate, which is cheaper, but you and one other person have recommended the WD. Hmmmmm.... hard decision.

Well, the Seagates still come with a 5 year warranty while the Western Digital's come with a 1 or 3 year warranty.

I don't think that there is anything wrong with the WDs, I have two in my server. Of course the OS drives are Seagates and I have yet to see a Barracuda crap out in less then five years.

I'm personally avoiding Maxtor right now, I've seen a number of them crap out in the past year (and yes I know that Seagate bought them)

[timckelley]

Well, the Seagates still come with a 5 year warranty while the Western Digital's come with a 1 or 3 year warranty.

I don't think that there is anything wrong with the WDs, I have two in my server. Of course the OS drives are Seagates and I have yet to see a Barracuda crap out in less then five years.

I'm personally avoiding Maxtor right now, I've seen a number of them crap out in the past year (and yes I know that Seagate bought them)

Interestingly, the one TiVo hard drive that went bad on me was a Maxtor.

[greg_burns]

Well, the Seagates still come with a 5 year warranty while the Western Digital's come with a 1 or 3 year warranty.

The WD linked had a 3-yr. But I would choose WD for its acoustic noise level. I know you can use the Hitachi Feature Tool (http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm) to quiet down Hitachi, Maxtor and WD drives. Don't believe it works on Seagates. (Maybe they have their own software, or maybe it isn't even necessary.)

[ZeoTiVo]

a) She only has 80G now, which is really not very big. In a way, I don't blame her for having space problems. 80G is not much - I think if she's going to have and use a TiVo, it's not unreasonable for her to have more than a measly 80G.

on that I do agree. I have an 80 gig Dual Tuner and it drove me nuts keeping things from falling off it. The new TV season would just not work on it at all.

I put in a 500Gig Maxtor recently and am much happier with the room. I currently have about 200 suggestions on it :p

The maxtor was well priced at $180 from outpost.com but the drive is fairly noisy when it writes. I would not get it again. Good thing it is in the family room where the noise is not a big deal.

[greg_burns]

The maxtor was well priced at $180 from outpost.com but the drive is fairly noisy when it writes.

Did you try the Hitachi Feature Tool or AMSET (http://greg_burns.home.comcast.net/maxtor/setacm.exe) (Maxtor's own acustic managment software) on it to try quieting it down? You can still pull it and do it now. It doesn't alter the data on the drive.

[RavenFan]

Yet three years later you're still posting about the exact same issue...your wife infringing on your tivo space. It's getting old now, literally, and to me 9,000 posts in less than four years is a lot. 200 posts a month on a tivo forum is excessive, regardless of the subject you're posting about...it's still Tivo.


And exactly how does the existence of this thread negatively impact your life so much that you feel compelled to repeat your same argument with this guy over and over again?

Read the thread. Don't read the thread. Who cares? Just understand that we all have the right to post TiVo related issues to this forum. If you won't like the thread, don't read it.

By the way, this thread contains what? 13 pages? In 3 years? That averages out to about 1/3 of a page per month. Not that much in the big scheme of things.

[RangersRBack]

And exactly how does the existence of this thread negatively impact your life so much that you feel compelled to repeat your same argument with this guy over and over again?

Read the thread. Don't read the thread. Who cares? Just understand that we all have the right to post TiVo related issues to this forum. If you won't like the thread, don't read it.

By the way, this thread contains what? 13 pages? In 3 years? That averages out to about 1/3 of a page per month. Not that much in the big scheme of things.

Relax. The point I was trying to make is that he has other issues besides which hard drive to buy. How does the existence of my post negatively impact your life so much that you feel compelled to answer? Read my post, don't read my post, who cares? Just understand that we all have the right to post. If you don't like my post, don't read it.

And if you took the time to read the thread you would see that others agree with me, but I'm the one who came out and said it a little more directly than most.

[Polcamilla]

First of all, don't stop posting because checking into this thread every few months is my own personal General Hospital. :)

Our first TiVo was 60 hrs. and did fine by us for many years before we bumped it up to 100 or so. You're right that the 300 hr. machine will keep her occupied for a while, but it won't be a permanent solution. Eventually, 300 hrs. won't be enough, then 500 hrs. won't be enough, etc. As you said, she already regrets getting rid of those tapes she purged. She's still hoarding and she's able to see that more space will allow her to save more (even if she doesn't *mean* to---how many years has she been saying she'd find time to 'catch up'?). If you're skeptical, consider that when you offered her the 300 hr. box *plus* the DVD recorder *plus* the VCR, she said *you* were being selfish for not letting her use your 100 hr. machine as well. There will never be enough space to permanently sate her.

Having the whole family take a break from the TiVo probably is an excellent idea. No, you aren't addicted to your TiVo, but your relationship with your wife with regards to the TiVos has become very complex. She may not be able to work through the issues she needs to address if you still have a functioning TiVo. I know, even if I knew I had a problem, I would definitely resent my husband for indulging in my addiction around me (even if it was when I was out of the house/asleep) much like an alcoholic has trouble seeing others drink socially. You are watching your TiVo responsibly, but together you and your wife are really struggling to manage your TiVo resources and the 'mine/yours' approach just isn't working (and won't work again once she fills up her 300 hrs.). You need a dramaticly different approach to resolve the issue and if no one is using TiVo, then everyone can work together on finding ways to meet their needs TiVo-less. Yeah, you'll lose some time, but if it strengthens your relationship, it will hopefully be worth the sacrifice.

Oh, and if you do upgrade (and it sounds like you're going in that direction) and are worried about her missing programming, I have an idea. Buy another Series 2, set up the shows she wants for the time hers will be in the shop, subscribe the machine (hrm, not in that order), upgrade hers, then cancel the subscription anre return the S2 (once she's watched/offloaded what she recorded, that is). If she doesn't get the shows off the "rented" machine before the return deadline, then she'll have to cough up the price of the machine. *And* once you've upgraded, don't just hide your remote. Our old S1/DTiVo/S2 remotes work completely interchangeably in our house, so she'd be able to use her remote to set up shows on your TiVo. Clear her stuff off, then set up parental controls so she can't set up anything to record on your machine. That will probably upset her, but you can tell her you love her and that you got her a Netflix subscription. Not only can she get movies, but they have a *lot* of boxed sets of television programs. About the only things she'd miss are daytime programming and sports (and shows so bad *nobody* wants them on DVD).

Good luck!

[JYoung]

Oh, and if you do upgrade (and it sounds like you're going in that direction) and are worried about her missing programming, I have an idea. Buy another Series 2, set up the shows she wants for the time hers will be in the shop, subscribe the machine (hrm, not in that order), upgrade hers, then cancel the subscription anre return the S2 (once she's watched/offloaded what she recorded, that is). If she doesn't get the shows off the "rented" machine before the return deadline, then she'll have to cough up the price of the machine. *And* once you've upgraded, don't just hide your remote. Our old S1/DTiVo/S2 remotes work completely interchangeably in our house, so she'd be able to use her remote to set up shows on your TiVo. Clear her stuff off, then set up parental controls so she can't set up anything to record on your machine. That will probably upset her, but you can tell her you love her and that you got her a Netflix subscription. Not only can she get movies, but they have a *lot* of boxed sets of television programs. About the only things she'd miss are daytime programming and sports (and shows so bad *nobody* wants them on DVD).

Good luck!

If He gets another Series 2, he'd better work fast and get it from somewhere with a liberal return policy.

Due to the One year commitment of TiVo service that is now required, of course.

[Polcamilla]

Hrm...TiVo no longer allows you to cancel within 30 days and get a full refund on the subscription if you're not satisfied?

[Genkitty]

Oh... my.

I just read this read from start to finish. I think I must go hug my sweeties now. We've survived for YEARS (since 9/2000) with our original Series 1 35 hour DirecTiVo (3 adults in the house, 40-some season passes, no archiving). The second TiVo mentioned in my sig was just purchased off ebay and is en-route - we were spurred to upgrade because of the Series3 buzz which jostled us out of our rut.

You have my sincerest sympathies, Tim.

[ZeoTiVo]

Hrm...TiVo no longer allows you to cancel within 30 days and get a full refund on the subscription if you're not satisfied?

you can get a full refund on hardware or bundle - no problem and no penalty if within the first 30 days.
now prepaid cards are another matter

[gonzotek]

Official Text of the 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee (http://tivo.com/0.3.asp), culled from the TiVo Service Payment Plans (http://www.tivo.com/5.11.6.asp) page.

[JYoung]

you can get a full refund on hardware or bundle - no problem and no penalty if within the first 30 days.
now prepaid cards are another matter

You're assuming that she'll be done with it in 30 days...........

[ZeoTiVo]

You're assuming that she'll be done with it in 30 days...........No, I am saying TiVo will honor a 30 day money back guarantee.

Whether she will fill up another TiVo and latch onto it or be done with it in 30 days I am not commenting on at all ;)

[timckelley]

Well, I have had the new hard drive here for a couple of weeks, but I haven't installed it yet. It has to be on a Friday or Saturday evening, because I'm going to do the lengthy copy operation of her backlog onto it overnight which means the installation must begin at night and complete in the morning. (i.e. I'll be sleeping during the copy operation.) So I can't really do it on a morning when I go to work. So far, her To Do List has prevented me from doing it on any weekend. I told her I don't want to put this off, because for one thing, what if the hard drive is bad? I would need to make a warranty claim during the warranty period.

But tonight I intend to do this. In 15 minutes, her To Do List is about to hit a gap, and starting 10:30 tonight her To Do List will be idle until 2:30 tommorrow afternoon. This presents a window of opportunity for me to upgrade her. So barring technical difficulties, our Holy Ground rules of my TiVo is mine, and hers is hers will be reinstated by tommorrow morning. :cool: I've just talked to her tonight and gotten her to sign off on this renewed treaty/contract/understanding. :D :cool:

She blames a lot of her backlog on trying to keep up with General Hospital, and she said she's seriously considering canceling that SP.

[murgatroyd]

Good luck with the upgrade, Tim.

Jan

[Kharizzmatik]

:p lol I just read all 14 pages of this, when I already should've been asleep... Definitely interesting. I think those hassling him for "putting up with" his wife and her habits should really get off of his back. Everyone handles situations differently, he chose to try to work with her through it all which I think is wonderful. It may have been a pain in the rear and 3 years later he may still be back at square one dealing with the same issue, but marriage is all about cooperation and working things through.

But before i went to sleep I wanted to pipe in and just add that i watch General hospital every day, and have since I was born (my mom watched it every day...). You honestly could delete two-three weeks worth of shows and she'd probably still know exactly everything that was going on in the new episodes. They tend to drag out story lines ridiculously lol..... :p I'll miss a weeks worth of shows and then pick back up and it'll be like I never missed a single moment...

[gonzotek]

:p lol I just read all 14 pages of this, when I already should've been asleep... Definitely interesting. I think those hassling him for "putting up with" his wife and her habits should really get off of his back. Everyone handles situations differently, he chose to try to work with her through it all which I think is wonderful. It may have been a pain in the rear and 3 years later he may still be back at square one dealing with the same issue, but marriage is all about cooperation and working things through.

But before i went to sleep I wanted to pipe in and just add that i watch General hospital every day, and have since I was born (my mom watched it every day...). You honestly could delete two-three weeks worth of shows and she'd probably still know exactly everything that was going on in the new episodes. They tend to drag out story lines ridiculously lol..... :p I'll miss a weeks worth of shows and then pick back up and it'll be like I never missed a single moment...My fiancée and her best friend were GH-aholoics. It started to draw me in for a few weeks, but when I realized that nothing ever fully resolves, I quit watching. My fiancée quit a few weeks later of her own free will(really...:)). Her friend had a different solution: when she starts getting back-logged, she'll just watch the friday episodes, which are apparently the 'good ones', where all the action of the week generally takes place.

Hope the upgrade went smoothly, Tim!

[timckelley]

Hope the upgrade went smoothly, Tim!

http://www.geocities.com/timckelley/WifeUpgrade.JPG

:D :D :cool: (I erased personally identifying info from the pic.)

So: even more hours than I'd hoped. (340 hours now, more than quadrupling her space. :) ) -- of course that's 340 hours of basic quality, which in the real world is much less. Still, her space is more than quadrupled, because before she had 80 hours of basic quality.

BTW, isn't there a screen that will show me how many hours there are at Basic vs Good vs High vs Best quality?

Edit: I just notice the pic is gone. It's because my geocities account was purged some time ago. When I get home, I'll upload the pic to my photobucket account, as I know I still have the pic.

[timckelley]

However, to answer your question, it wasn't all that smooth. I got stuck on the part where I needed to download the MFS utilities for SIX HOURS. :eek:

The last time I did an upgrade, I made a boot diskette with these utilities, but that only works if the HD < 137 GB. Since my new HD = 300GB, I needed a boot CD, not a boot diskette. I struggled quite a bit in burning one that would actually be bootable. Windows XP burning commands didn't seem to work, so then I downloaded a trial version of NERO, and that didn't work either. Finally after a LONG time, I decided to install NERO on my second computer. I immediately had better luck, as I could now see not just an ISO file burning, but the files that are inside the ISO file were starting to be viewable, where before they weren't. But I kept erroring out towards the end of the burn. I went through more than a dozen CDs before I got a successful burn. It could be my CDs are old and gone bad, or maybe, when I was tweaking the NERO settings (burn speed, etc), I just stumbled on a setting that worked.

Once I got that bootable CD, the rest was easy. I'm saving that CD in case I ever do another upgrade. Next upgrade will be easy, now that I have this CD.

[JYoung]

BTW, isn't there a screen that will show me how many hours there are at Basic vs Good vs High vs Best quality?


Yes.
Messages & Settings - Settings - Recording - Recording Quality.


I give her six months before she starts encroaching in your TiVo again....

[timckelley]

Ever since I upgraded her TiVo I've lived in TiVo happiness once again. :) :up:

She still has some stuff on my TiVo, but she's steadily draining it off, and there is no inflow of shows to counteract the outflow. (i.e. all her new To Do's are going to her TiVo, not mine.) So her list of shows on my TiVo is steadily shrinking. I now have two screens of Suggestions. :cool:

I actually have more of my own backlog than I've had in a long time. But if it gets too out of hand, I can suspend or cancel one of my SPs, or let KUSN handle it. But the main thing is, I have control over my TiVo. :)

[echodave]

Funniest.

Thread.

Ever.

Thank you, thank you, for not only making me realize that having five tivos isn't insane, but that my wife isn't as crazy as I'd feared. :D

[JYoung]

Ever since I upgraded her TiVo I've lived in TiVo happiness once again. :) :up:

She still has some stuff on my TiVo, but she's steadily draining it off, and there is no inflow of shows to counteract the outflow. (i.e. all her new To Do's are going to her TiVo, not mine.) So her list of shows on my TiVo is steadily shrinking. I now have two screens of Suggestions. :cool:

I actually have more of my own backlog than I've had in a long time. But if it gets too out of hand, I can suspend or cancel one of my SPs, or let KUSN handle it. But the main thing is, I have control over my TiVo. :)


I really don't use Suggestions.
I have 200 GB on one TiVo and 240 GB on the other and I often save shows for viewing during the lull periods.

[zilogky]

Buy her a Tivo and have her pay the monthly fee on it if she wants to fill it up with her videos. I believe Tivo has something where they only charge you 6.95 a month for the second Tivo, check it out. If it is true just buy a bigger Tivo for yourself and give the smaller one to her.

[JustAllie]

Buy her a Tivo and have her pay the monthly fee on it if she wants to fill it up with her videos. I believe Tivo has something where they only charge you 6.95 a month for the second Tivo, check it out. If it is true just buy a bigger Tivo for yourself and give the smaller one to her.Wow, his first post, and it's a smeek (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4356270#post4356270)! :D

Welcome to the forum, zilogky! :)

[revemd]

You could also sneakily rejig the settings on season passes so that it only keeps 3 or 4 episodes before deleting them. This saved my marriage. But shhh. Don't tell.

--Dio

[timckelley]

I was alarmed yesterday when I took a peek at my wife's recently enlarged TiVo and found only 4 shows in Recently Deleted. It made me think it was already mostly filled up. :eek: That would have been horrible as it would make me think that my TiVo might soon get retargeted by her ravenous TiVo-appetite. :D

But I talked to her, and it turns out that she oftens manually deletes stuff from Recently Deleted. I told her that's not needed, because RD doesn't subtract from available space. Her reasoning is that she likes to delete stuff she knows she will absolutely never need to undelete, so that, in a way, she is controlling which part of the RD folders deletes first, thus sort of protecting the RD entries that might have a small chance of eventually needing to be undeleted.

Whew! She still has lots of space. :cool:


Oh, by the way, she's been steadily taping off the General Hospital eps from my TiVo, and there is only one ep left on it. Plus there's just a few assorted over entries on my Now Playing that are hers. I notice though that there are at least a dozen General Hospital eps on her TiVo. Plus, I bet she hasn't had time to watch the taped backlog of General Hospital, so when I remember, I think I'll ask her if she's still considering giving up her General Hospital.

Oh, I guess I could also mention to her a tip that I read earlier in this thread from sombody: that she could just skip two weeks of it, and still figure out what she missed by watching the later eps. :)

[timckelley]

WOW! I just got a chuckle out of a conversation I just now had with my wife. I asked her what the latest is with her idea of nixing her General Hospital SP and her stoppage of watching that show. I noticed she has as lot of eps of it on her TiVo.

She told me that she wants to watch it until they kill off 'Manny' (whoever that is), and see a little of the aftermath of it, then she'll stop watching the show, because the rest of the subplots are getting silly lately. I then asked her how far behind she is in watching the show.

She said she's up the JUNE 29TH EPISODE!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:. WOW! That means she's got THREE MONTHS of that show's eps stored up waiting to watch. I know that at least a month of that, maybe more, is sitting on VHS tapes, and the rest is in her Now Playing. I told her that this is an amazing amount of backlog. She replied that she's an amazing person. :D

The other problem is that since she's this far behind, she doesn't know the air date of the last eps she'll be interested in watching. In fact, Manny's death may have happened weeks or months ago, and she doesn't know it yet, so she may be needlessly recording more eps of the SP. She won't know until she watches it. So meanwhile, to be safe, she still records the daily ep of General Hospital. Whenever she catches up and watches all the eps from June 29th until the point where she's satisified, then she'll delete the SP and also delete all the excess eps she's got on her TiVo.

So at least there's a light at the end of this tunnel. :)

[TivoZorro]

I have some good news and some bad news about the death of Manny.

A blog indicates that Manny was killed off the week of 7/10/06. Hence the good news. Here is the link with the details.

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/07/10/110236.php

But after all this is a soap and it indicates that Manny may not be dead alfter all, hence the bad news. There may be no light at the end of the tunnel.

[timckelley]

But after all this is a soap and it indicates that Manny may not be dead alfter all, hence the bad news. There may be no light at the end of the tunnel.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Hopefully she still deletes the SP. :)

I have a vested interest in this because if she deletes the SP, it'll take longer for her to fill up her new upgraded TiVo. :cool:

[JYoung]

You'd better encourage her to kill the SP.
As I said earlier, if she's that far behind, she will never catch up.

However, if she is firm in her killing the SP after the "death of Manny", she only has about two weeks left to watch.

[timckelley]

Oh by the way, she has officially killed the General Hospital SP. I'm not sure if she's still watching the backlog or not though. Hopefully she's done watching it. She told me a couple weeks ago that the SP has been axed. But the funny thing is, just the other day she told me that Luke and Laura are going to be on General Hosptal together again, so I wonder how she knows this if she axed the SP? I think I should ask her this. :)

[TivoZorro]

Oh by the way, she has officially killed the General Hospital SP. I'm not sure if she's still watching the backlog or not though. Hopefully she's done watching it. She told me a couple weeks ago that the SP has been axed. But the funny thing is, just the other day she told me that Luke and Laura are going to be on General Hosptal together again, so I wonder how she knows this if she axed the SP? I think I should ask her this. :)

Maybe she's reading the latest soap magazines or the soap internet sites. I think it goes like this, Laura has awoken from a three year coma ......

[JYoung]

I was alarmed yesterday when I took a peek at my wife's recently enlarged TiVo and found only 4 shows in Recently Deleted. It made me think it was already mostly filled up. :eek: That would have been horrible as it would make me think that my TiVo might soon get retargeted by her ravenous TiVo-appetite. :D

But I talked to her, and it turns out that she oftens manually deletes stuff from Recently Deleted. I told her that's not needed, because RD doesn't subtract from available space. Her reasoning is that she likes to delete stuff she knows she will absolutely never need to undelete, so that, in a way, she is controlling which part of the RD folders deletes first, thus sort of protecting the RD entries that might have a small chance of eventually needing to be undeleted.



Hmmmm, I wonder if there isn't another reason she's deleting from Recently Deleted.

[timckelley]

Oh, I caught her watching General Hospital last night, and she admits she's back to watching it again. I think the return of Luke and Laura was too much for her to resist. I'm curious what sort of backlog she has of General Hospital, but she was in sort of a snippy mood last night, so I didn't ask. Well my upgrade to her TiVo is still working nicely though, and she still is off of my TiVo.

I'm actually down to less than 2 screens of suggestions on my TiVo, but it's my fault, not my wife's. I'm caught up on all my shows, except I must have a month worth of Simpsons eps on there. That's clearly too much, and I consider the Simpsons my lowest priority SP, so I'm considering just deleting a bunch of eps off my NP. I'm not deleting the SP because I watch Simpsons sometimes. But I don't need 60 eps on my NP.

I also have Simpsons set as KUSN, so I really could just let it fill up and then I'll lose my old eps. The only reason I'm considering not doing that is because I like having a certain amount of Suggestions, so I don't think I'm going to let my TiVo fill up.

Unlike my wife though, I don't feel compelled to watch all those back eps. I'll just delete them. :) (I can't remember if I said earlier in the thread, that the reason there are so many of these eps is because Simpsons shows reruns all the time, but they're not reruns to me, because I haven't been watching the Simpsons for quite a few years. I must say I like the show, now that I'm watching it.)

[jtlytle]

1. Make sure all shows are set for BASIC quality..
2. Buy a new S2 DT 186 hours TiVo for YOURSELF.. then..
3. learn how to say " Tough Sh*t" if she compalins that HER TiVo is full and want to use yours.

[timckelley]

My shows are all set at Best Quality.

[jtlytle]

My shows are all set at Best Quality.


That explains why your hard drive got full too fast.

[timckelley]

That explains why your hard drive got full too fast.

Yes, but I'm not complaining. I have plenty of space, even at Best Quality. Actually, my hard drive really did not get full 'too fast'. It's filled with dozens of eps of "The Simpsons". I really don't need that many eps, and and so I'll probably delete a bunch without watching them. I have no desire to have half a hundred backlogged eps that I feel I must watch. I mainly just want my TiVo to always have shows available for me to watch that I like, and I also don't want to miss any episodes of any of my SPs except for "The Simpsons". (It's okay if I miss eps of the Simpsons.)

My TiVo is already meeting all these needs currently, so I have no need to go to Basic Quality, nor do I need more hard drive space. The space I have, even at Best Quality, provides me with more than enough eps on all Season Passes to achieve all my above goals.

[jtlytle]

My apology, I didnt realized that this threat started 3 years ago, I am sure the problem has solved by now.

[Havana Brown]

Her reasoning is that she likes to delete stuff she knows she will absolutely never need to undelete, so that, in a way, she is controlling which part of the RD folders deletes first, thus sort of protecting the RD entries that might have a small chance of eventually needing to be undeleted.



I think the only times I've undeleted is when I forgot to keep the episode for someone else to watch. I don't usually re-watch shows, and my tivo is pretty full that I don't have time to catch up on lots of things. I can't remember the last DVD I saw because I still have too much stuff on the tivos.

[RangersRBack]

My apology, I didnt realized that this threat started 3 years ago, I am sure the problem has solved by now.

LOL. Yeah, THREE YEARS AGO!

Personally I think this thread has another 5-10 years in it, but that's just me. The characters on Lost will figure out how to beam themselves back to the states before this guy and his wife figure out how to manage Tivo, and the rest of their life!

[Havana Brown]

LOL. Yeah, THREE YEARS AGO!

Personally I think this thread has another 5-10 years in it,

Unless Tivo broke up their marriage.

[RangersRBack]

Unless Tivo broke up their marriage.

It's much worse than that. I love Tivo, but in this case Tivo broke up all vestiges of common sense!

You have to invest a few hours and read the entire thread to believe it, and also believe that three years later we're discussing basically the SAME THING!


This is my favorite thread of all time!

[Havana Brown]

It's much worse than that. I love Tivo, but in this case Tivo broke up all vestiges of common sense!

You have to invest a few hours and read the entire thread to believe it!

I have (just didn't want to say it)

[edickison78]

Speaking as a wife, yours needs to learn to share. I'm all for upgrading, have just done so myself. An even better idea would be to tell her to get her own TiVo, these here be modern times :eek:

[RangersRBack]

Speaking as a wife, yours needs to learn to share. I'm all for upgrading, have just done so myself. An even better idea would be to tell her to get her own TiVo, these here be modern times :eek:

Wow I wish someone would have thought of posting that THREE YEARS AGO!

Oh wait, someone did. Two years ago too. And last year for that matter. Still, the thread rolls on...........

Question, when a thread hits it's five year anniversary mark, and WE'RE STILL DISCUSSING THE EXACT SAME ISSUE, does the original poster get a present?

Or does it have to wait until the 10 or 15 year mark? Because don't worry, we'll get there.

[Havana Brown]

For 5 years it's wood, for 10 it's tin and for 15 it's crystal.

[DevdogAZ]

Speaking as a wife, yours needs to learn to share. I'm all for upgrading, have just done so myself. An even better idea would be to tell her to get her own TiVo, these here be modern times :eek:
She does have her own TiVo. It's full and she's now wanting to add Season Passes to Tim's.

[RangersRBack]

She does have her own TiVo. It's full and she's now wanting to add Season Passes to Tim's.

Just like three years ago.............

[ZeoTiVo]

She does have her own TiVo. It's full and she's now wanting to add Season Passes to Tim's.


Tim needs to make use of the new technology that was developed and came out while this thread was running its course. I say he gets a Series 2 and then turns on the Kid Zone feature so his wife can watch shows on his TiVo but can not add new scheduled recordings ;)

[RangersRBack]

Tim needs to make use of the new technology that was developed and came out while this thread was running its course. I say he gets a Series 2 and then turns on the Kid Zone feature so his wife can watch shows on his TiVo but can not add new scheduled recordings ;)

Hey there's an idea, let's talk about what happened since this thread started, and all the got resolved or changed in the world while our poor friend still can't figure out how he and his wife can't share Tivo:

1. The Red Sox won a world series.
2. The NHL shut down for an entire season, came back, played an entire season, and moved onto the next one.
3. Lebron James moved from high school to th NBA.
4. Britney got married and divorced. Sort of.
5. Everyone started drinking green tea.
6. The Chicago Bears went from laughingstock to good.
7. The Chicago Cubs went from laughingstock to laughingstock.
8. One season of the Sopranos aired.
9. American Idol took over America every Spring.
10. Jack Bauer saved the world THREE TIMES!

(What else am I missing?)

Yet this guy and his wife are still having basically the SAME PROBLEM regarding TV!

[timckelley]

I should clear up misconceptions that the same problems have occurred for the last 3 years, and also the misconception that 3 years ago she was hogging my TiVo.

3 1/2 years we got our first TiVo. Within a few months I started having the 'running out of space problems'. Then about 3 years ago, my wife totally caught up with her backlog, and there was no problem. By December, 2003, the problem was back. January, 2004 I bought a second TiVo, and gave her the original TiVo. That solved our problems. That is, until this year. Note that's a two-and-a-half year continuous stretch of no problems. It was only this year that she had taken over a large fraction of my TiVo. I then upgraded her from 80 hours (basic quality) to more than 300 hours (basic quality). That instantly solved the problem, and here I sit right now with no problem.

So no, you're mistaken when you say it's been 3 years of the same problem.

[RangersRBack]

I should clear up misconceptions that the same problems have occurred for the last 3 years, and also the misconception that 3 years ago she was hogging my TiVo.

3 1/2 years we got our first TiVo. Within a few months I started having the 'running out of space problems'. Then about 3 years ago, my wife totally caught up with her backlog, and there was no problem. By December, 2003, the problem was back. January, 2004 I bought a second TiVo, and gave her the original TiVo. That solved our problems. That is, until this year. Note that's a two-and-a-half year continuous stretch of no problems. It was only this year that she had taken over a large fraction of my TiVo. I then upgraded her from 80 hours (basic quality) to more than 300 hours (basic quality). That instantly solved the problem, and here I sit right now with no problem.

So no, you're mistaken when you say it's been 3 years of the same problem.

Dude just a month ago you're posting about too many SP's and backlogs, and filled hard drives, just like you were three years ago. That's three solid years of the same basic problem!

And read the thread, there have been fixes before over the years, but inevitably you get back to the SAME PROBLEM!

So don't worry, if you have no problem at the moment I promise you this thread will start up again in a week or a month with 'My wife is now doing blah blah blah, even though she said she wouldn't', and now I have a Tivo problem again........

I'm one of the morons who reads this whole thread and has been paying attention, and every time you think you have the problem solved, or your wife figured out, the SAME THING HAPPENS!

This thread is funnier than Entourage! And lasts a lot longer too!

[marrone]

Seems like an external RAID would help here.

Wasn't someone selling a 1.4TB raid a while back for a Tivo?

-Mike

[timckelley]

Dude just a month ago you're posting about too many SP's and backlogs, and filled hard drives, just like you were three years ago. That's three solid years of the same basic problem!

three years ago: yes
one month ago: yes

three solid years: no. The key word is solid. Like I said, there were two and a half solid years of no problem in between 3 years ago and 1 month ago.

[RangersRBack]

three years ago: yes
one month ago: yes

three solid years: no. The key word is solid. Like I said, there were two and a half solid years of no problem in between 3 years ago and 1 month ago.

Two and a half solid years of no problems between 3 years ago and 1 month ago? Are you serious? Please check your posts dated 6/3/2003 (the original post), 7/22/2004, 8/4/2005, and the last two months. No problems??? Please. Your problems are obviously ongoing.

And there are many many other posts by you other than on those dates.

No problems? Did your wife delete part of your brain when she should have been deleting recordings?

:confused:

[timckelley]

Two and a half solid years of no problems between 3 years ago and 1 month ago? Are you serious? Please check your posts dated 6/3/2003 (the original post), 7/22/2004, 8/4/2005, and the last two months. No problems??? Please. Your problems are obviously ongoing.

And there are many many other posts by you other than on those dates.

No problems? Did your wife delete part of your brain when she should have been deleting recordings?

:confused:


8/4/2005 is right in the middle of the two-and and a half year range where I wasn't having problems. I checked that post and don't see any reference to my problem of running out of TiVo space. The only problem I see there is one my wife had (not any problem I was having), separate from the basic problem you're claiming to exist for a solid three years. That was the post where my wife was trying to deal with her TiVo addiction. Reread that post and you'll there is no space shortage problem being dealt with at that time.

If anything, that post illustrates how this is not 3 years of the same problem.

[RangersRBack]

8/4/2005 is right in the middle of the two-and and a half year range where I wasn't having problems. I checked that post and don't see any reference to my problem of running out of TiVo space. The only problem I see there is one my wife had (not any problem I was having), separate from the basic problem you're claiming to exist for a solid three years. That was the post where my wife was trying to deal with her TiVo addiction. Reread that post and you'll there is no space shortage problem being dealt with at that time.

If anything, that post illustrates how this is not 3 years of the same problem.

You're talking semantics to avoid the basic issue.

What I said was, it's three years of the same basic problem...you and your wife having problems living together with Tivo. Three solid years.

Sure the specifics may change from year to year...uprade issues, tape issues, general hospital issues, whatever...but the bottom line is you've been having the SAME BASIC PROBLEM for three solid years.

I promise you this thread will still be alive five years from now, with a different yet similar problem regarding how you and your wife can't figure out how to live together with Tivo.

Here's a thought...throw Tivo out the door and just watch some TV together, whatever is on...together.

[timckelley]

You're talking semantics to avoid the basic issue.


I submit it is you talking semantics if now you're lumping in her desire to watch less TV with my problem of lack of space. Still, your comment of 3 solid years is still completely false even if I were to include that secondary problem. If you look at my number of posts here divided by time, you'll see I post to this thread relatively seldom. That's because the vast majority of the time, I'm not having problems to report. Like I said, I personally didn't have problems for 2 1/2 SOLID YEARS. My wife might have, but even then, hers weren't solidly throughout that 2 1/2 years.

Overall, my TiVoing is going quite smoothly, even now as I speak, so I have no need nor desire to get rid of it. It's working as designed.

Watching TV together, as you suggest also isn't practical since our free time is usually not at the same time. That's why we have TiVos to begin with.

[jtlytle]

No problems? Did your wife delete part of your brain when she should have been deleting recordings?

:confused:


no no, It's "WIFE" thing you don't understand.. Unless you have one, Well, Maybe it's YOU We are confused with.. :D

[RangersRBack]

I submit it is you talking semantics if now you're lumping in her desire to watch less TV with my problem of lack of space. Still, your comment of 3 solid years is still completely false even if I were to include that secondary problem. If you look at my number of posts here divided by time, you'll see I post to this thread relatively seldom. That's because the vast majority of the time, I'm not having problems to report. Like I said, I personally didn't have problems for 2 1/2 SOLID YEARS. My wife might have, but even then, hers weren't solidly throughout that 2 1/2 years.

Overall, my TiVoing is going quite smoothly, even now as I speak, so I have no need nor desire to get rid of it. It's working as designed.

Watching TV together, as you suggest also isn't practical since our free time is usually not at the same time. That's why we have TiVos to begin with.

Yeah. Smoothly. If everything was going smoothly this thread would go away, but it never does. And never will. Trust me, in ten years we'll still be discussing the SAME BASIC PROBLEM.

To jlytle, yes I am married, and every time I read another post from this guy, I walk over and give my wife a kiss. She has no idea that I'm thanking her for not being this woman. And we have an actual relationship, where we watch some TV together and some not, and actually do things together that don't involve the TV as well.

Sounds like this woman spends her entire life trying to catch up to shows she recorded.

[timckelley]

Yeah. Smoothly.Exactly. Long periods of smoothness interspersed with shorter periods of roughness. :cool:

If everything was going smoothly this thread would go away, but it never does.I don't follow that logic. Once things go smoothly doesn't mean it will permanantly remain smooth.

And we have an actual relationship, where we watch some TV together and some not, and actually do things together that don't involve the TV as well. We also do many things together. It's these other things that are partly responsible for her backlog. I don't see how you can possibly infer that because she has a backlog, that we don't do things together. For example, a week and a half ago, my wife and I and my son all drove out to Central Texas and spent the day there hiking and climbing to the peak of "Enchanted Rock" (A site in a state park.) Where in any of my posts have I implied we don't do things together? :confused:

[RangersRBack]

True, I'm stronger than her, and I could put my foot down, but the reality of the situation is that being macho and dominant creates more problems than it solves. She can get emotional and start yelling and crying, and generally make life difficult (including threatening divorce, etc.) This is an atmosphere I really don't want to live with. She already yells enough and has enough anger already, I don't need the stress of more yelling and arguing, and my son certainly doesn't need to witness that. (Not to mention she's being medically treated for depression by her psychologist, and having an autistic son that needs almost constant supervision, and protection from dangers - like being run over by cars, among other things - even now at his current age of almost 7 - doesn't make things easier.)

So this is why I don't always put my foot down. But I haven't been lying down totally like a wussy either. I've had quite a few conversions with her, and she knows my feelings on this. Just today, I asked her if, after the upgrade to over 300 hours, will she then agree to stay off my TiVo. At first she said "no", because her TiVo is hooked to a DVD burner, but mine is hooked to a VHS machine, and she wants the option to archive her shows in either format. This is easily solved with an A/B switch that I just bought at Walmart, so I rephrased the question: "If I give your TiVo the option of saving to DVD or VHS, and if you have over 300 hours of space, do you foresee needing to put stuff on my TiVo?". At this point, she accused me of being selfish with my TiVo. I immediately told her it wasn't selfishness. I told her that we have the means of setting ourselves up with TiVos/accessories beefy enough to satisfy both our needs, and I see no reason why we shouldn't avail ourselves of this ability to set ourselves up. She needs a fair amount of space, and she needs to be hooked up to a DVD burner and a VCR. I want/need a fair amount of space so that I'll have a nice selection of Suggestions to choose from. Also, when she sets stuff up on my TiVo, if I'm not mistaken, it defaults to a one-thumbs up for all her stuff, which could be goofing up my thumbs settings.

So, we each have our needs, and I see a way to meet those needs, and I'd like to set things up like that, and I don't consider that to be selfishness. When I put it like that, she agreed with me and said she'll stay off my TiVo.

Anyway, I intend to order off for the new hard drive by this afternoon, and will install it sometime later after it gets shipped to me.

Was this part of the smoothness? Because this sounds about as rough as it can get.

My opinion is she's addicted to Tivo and you're addicted to this thread.

[timckelley]

Was this part of the smoothness? Because this sounds about as rough as it can get.

My opinion is she's addicted to Tivo and you're addicted to this thread.

At that point it was not smooth. May I add that I'm the OP and it makes sense I'm here. I'm starting to think you're the one addicted to this thread.

[jtlytle]

To jlytle, yes I am married, and every time I read another post from this guy, I walk over and give my wife a kiss. She has no idea that I'm thanking her for not being this woman. And we have an actual relationship, where we watch some TV together and some not, and actually do things together that don't involve the TV as well.

Excellent :)

[RangersRBack]

At that point it was not smooth. May I add that I'm the OP and it makes sense I'm here. I'm starting to think you're the one addicted to this thread.

I already told you that I'm one of the few who watches this thread. Not sure if addicted is the right word, it's more like driving past a car wreck and not wanting to look, but you look anyway and hope it's not bad.

And not unlike when you drive past a car wreck and say a little prayer for those involved, and then thank God it wasn't you, I thank God every time I read this thread that my wife is...well...different from yours!

[timckelley]

I thank God every time I read this thread that my wife is...well...different from yours!

Yes, my wife has problems I have to deal with. Thank you for gloating over your lack of problems with your wife, and for making fun of my marriage.

[RangersRBack]

Yes, my wife has problems I have to deal with. Thank you for gloating over your lack of problems with your wife, and for making fun of my marriage.

Don't worry, I have different problems! Who doesn't?

I just don't post them on a public forum for three years! Actually, at least you're saying you have problems, that's the first step to solving them. Your other e-mails make it sound like everything is peachy.

[HiDefGator]

Sorry I haven't read this whole thread but my solution was to do a clear and delete one day and then blame it on the Tivo reseting itself. Solved the problem for months.

Getting a second Tivo will not solve this problem long term. Eventually it will fill up too. If you record 10 hours of TV a week but watch only 5 something eventually has to be deleted.

[RangersRBack]

Sorry I haven't read this whole thread but my solution was to do a clear and delete one day and then blame it on the Tivo reseting itself. Solved the problem for months.

Getting a second Tivo will not solve this problem long term. Eventually it will fill up too. If you record 10 hours of TV a week but watch only 5 something eventually has to be deleted.

Sorry, that was suggested two years ago.

Next!

[timckelley]

Don't worry, I have different problems! Who doesn't?

I just don't post them on a public forum for three years! Actually, at least you're saying you have problems, that's the first step to solving them. Your other e-mails make it sound like everything is peachy.

My intention in my postings wasn't to say I've had a solid 3 years of no problems, because I certainly haven't, as this thread testifies. My point is that it's not 3 solid years of problems. In fact, the vast majority of those 3 years have been pretty much problem-free (from my point of view) due to a) adding a second TiVo, and b) upgrading the first TiVo.

The main reason this thread has lasted for 3 years is that when a new problem (say, 2 1/2 years later) surfaces, I choose to update the original thread. Others here choose to start new threads, but I think it's more organized to keep it all to one thread.

A secondary reason this thread has lasted, is because several people have asked for updates, so there is evidently interest in this thread. If interest dissapears, then this thread will likely die.

[RangersRBack]

My intention in my postings wasn't to say I've had a solid 3 years of no problems, because I certainly haven't, as this thread testifies. My point is that it's not 3 solid years of problems. In fact, the vast majority of those 3 years have been pretty much problem-free (from my point of view) due to a) adding a second TiVo, and b) upgrading the first TiVo.

The main reason this thread has lasted for 3 years is that when a new problem (say, 2 1/2 years later) surfaces, I choose to update the original thread. Others here choose to start new threads, but I think it's more organized to keep it all to one thread.

A secondary reason this thread has lasted, is because several people have asked for updates, so there is evidently interest in this thread. If interest dissapears, then this thread will likely die.

OK so please give an update. How many hours of stuff does your wife currently have to watch? And how many hours a day would you say she spends watching it?

[timckelley]

OK so please give an update. How many hours of stuff does your wife currently have to watch? And how many hours a day would you say she spends watching it?

I honestly don't know how many hours she has backlogged, as I don't operate her TiVo. She did watch some of her backlog last night though, after our son went to bed. I was on the computer doing work during that time. It's probably safe to say that she has lots of free space though because of the recent upgrade I did. I also saw her maintaining her recently deleted list just a few days ago, and it looked like a lot of stuff was in it, so apparently she's must have recently deleted some backlog. I don't know if she actually watched it, or if she deleted without watching, though.

[RangersRBack]

I honestly don't know how many hours she has backlogged, as I don't operate her TiVo. She did watch some of her backlog last night though, after our son went to bed. I was on the computer doing work during that time. It's probably safe to say that she has lots of free space though because of the recent upgrade I did. I also saw her maintaining her recently deleted list just a few days ago, and it looked like a lot of stuff was in it, so apparently she's must have recently deleted some backlog. I don't know if she actually watched it, or if she deleted without watching, though.

So approximately how many hours a day do you think she spends watching TV?

[RavenFan]

So approximately how many hours a day do you think she spends watching TV?

Probably fewer than you jave spent antagonizing this guy for the past few days.

My TiVo gets backlogged because I don't watch a lot of hours of TV per week.

[timckelley]

My TiVo gets backlogged because I don't watch a lot of hours of TV per week.

I'm sure the exact same is true for my wife. She's spends a lot of time doing things because of, and around our son, which is why she gets backlogged.

[RangersRBack]

I'm sure the exact same is true for my wife. She's spends a lot of time doing things because of, and around our son, which is why she gets backlogged.

So approximately how many hours does she actually watch per day?

[timckelley]

So approximately how many hours does she actually watch per day?

I'll need to ask her, because I don't know. But I do know that she doesn't watch it every day.

[murgatroyd]

Tim, I think you're a great guy, and totally undeserving of all the abuse that has been heaped upon your head in this thread.

The plain fact of the matter is, some guys think they should be able to do whatever self-indulgent thing they want, because they are guys, and that's just the way things are. Meanwhile housework and child care and other stuff should happen automagically, done by the housework and child-care fairies. They don't care how that stuff gets done, because it's not 'man stuff'.

Basically, they are demanding that you turn in your man card because you actually have a clue that your wife is a human being and likes to watch TV in her (few) off-hours, just as you yourself do.

If anyone in this thread comes off looking bad, it's the boo birds. Their reading comprehension isn't very good. ;)

I wish you both many happy hours of family time and TiVo-space juggling in the future.

Jan

[RangersRBack]

Tim, I think you're a great guy, and totally undeserving of all the abuse that has been heaped upon your head in this thread.

The plain fact of the matter is, some guys think they should be able to do whatever self-indulgent thing they want, because they are guys, and that's just the way things are. Meanwhile housework and child care and other stuff should happen automagically, done by the housework and child-care fairies. They don't care how that stuff gets done, because it's not 'man stuff'.

Basically, they are demanding that you turn in your man card because you actually have a clue that your wife is a human being and likes to watch TV in her (few) off-hours, just as you yourself do.

If anyone in this thread comes off looking bad, it's the boo birds. Their reading comprehension isn't very good. ;)

I wish you both many happy hours of family time and TiVo-space juggling in the future.

Jan

Yeah, Tim, You Da Man!

But what is Tim doing that's so self-indulgent?

[RAZUR_BLADEZ]

Tim, No disrespect use really asked for it posting such a stupid thread. Still going 3 years, how stupid. Sorry my 2 cents.

david

[timckelley]

Tim, No disrespect use really asked for it posting such a stupid thread. Still going 3 years, how stupid. Sorry my 2 cents.

david

You're mistaken... reread the thread. My problem is currently solved. BTW, this whole thread started, partly to ask for advice (3 years ago) on techniques of getting my wife's shows deleted. Partly it was also simply to share my interesting story. Other purposes, which were answered early in the thread, were to ask various questions concerning functionality and features of TiVo. How was that 'stupid'? If you had no answers nor anything very useful to contribute, you most probably would have been better served not participating in the thread.

Also, btw, this thread which you claim is 'stupid' has been proclaimed by some as being their favorite thread of all threads in TCF. (Not that I'm trying to boast or anything - I'm simply refuting your statement.)

Lastly, the vast majority of the antagonism in this thread has come from only one person, which tends to cast doubt on the legitimacy of complaints against this thread's existence. If this thread were indeed stupid, I'd've gotten grief from a lot more people.

[TivoZorro]

I guess I take a different approach to this thread and why it should end.

Tim, you and your wife are both adults and should be able to work out your problems on your own, if not you both need to see a counselor together.

If you are content with her taking over your Tivo periodicaly and have no desire to do anything about it except placating her, then keep quiet and live with it and quit pestering the Community for solutions.

My brother has a controlling wife who tells him what TV shows he can watch and what food to eat among other things. I told him before he married her not to do it, but he has been happy with her for ten years with no complaiints. To each his own. I wouldn't live like that, but hey I'm not married to her.

I wish you and your wife all the luck in the world and if you are happy with the way things are then go for it.

[timckelley]

You all are taking this way too seriously. This is a TiVo forum where threads about TiVo are supposed to be welcomed. You who are not interested don't need to read the thread. That's how forums work. Enough people have been interested in this thread, that its existence is legitimate. It's one thing if everybody was pestered by it, then you could make the case that I'm a troll and should go away. However, when enough people show interest, and when in addition, I get useful information from the thread, then it's appropriate, and those people bugged by it should be the ones to go away (i.e. don't read this thread.)

As it, like I've said many times, my problem for now is solved, and I don't foresee needing to post more updates to this thread unless things change. And if things do change, but I perceive no further interest in the thread, and I don't think I will get any more information useful to myself from posting here, then of course I won't post anymore. Other than that, it's not inappropriate for me to post here. This is the TiVo Coffee House. The way you use this forum is to visit the threads that interest you, and stay away from the ones that don't.

Also, remember I'm the OP of this thread, so it's not like I'm invading somebody else's thread, threadcrapping on it.

OK I think I'm the person Tim is referring to in both these paragraphs [above]Actually, you're not the only one.

[RangersRBack]

Also, btw, this thread which you claim is 'stupid' has been proclaimed by some as being their favorite thread of all threads in TCF. (Not that I'm trying to boast or anything - I'm simply refuting your statement.)

Lastly, the vast majority of the antagonism in this thread has come from only one person, which tends to cast doubt on the legitimacy of complaints against this thread's existence. If this thread were indeed stupid, I'd've gotten grief from a lot more people.

OK I think I'm the person Tim is referring to in both these paragraphs. It's true I can't for the life of me imagine posting here for three years about the same basic problem. I'm sure our friend will come on with a few paragraphs explaining why it's NOT the same exact problem every time, but the truth is the problem just manifests itself over and over and over again, in different forms.

I'm also the one who has proclaimed this to be my favorite thread, it's been the source of years of entertainment. I think my favorite part is when he says "I'm currently in negotiations with my wife on blah blah blah recordings, and she hasn't gotten back to me yet". :D

Some of the basic tenets of marriage have gotten trampled here, apparently for at least the last three years.

[iaflyer]

First, I wanted to say that I have found this thread fascinating over the years and I'm subscribed to it.

One think I was wondering about is whether she is still offloading stuff onto videotapes. I remember her doing it in the past, both shows for your son and to free up some space on the Tivo (I can't remember if it was hers or yours). Is she still doing that?

[timckelley]

First, I wanted to say that I have found this thread fascinating over the years and I'm subscribed to it.

One think I was wondering about is whether she is still offloading stuff onto videotapes. I remember her doing it in the past, both shows for your son and to free up some space on the Tivo (I can't remember if it was hers or yours). Is she still doing that?

She's mostly broken herself of that habit. In fact, it used to be she watched almost no TV. Her activity was mostly confined to simply offloading stuff without watching it, and not really watching TV hardly at all. Now, she actually watches TV and deletes her stuff after watching it, and only once in awhile offloads stuff to tape or DVD. (We now have a DVD burner.) Well I do remember a few months ago there being a James Bond marathon, and she burned just about every James Bond movie there is to DVD. But in the last few months, I can't think of much else she's offloaded. Well just before I recently upgraded her TiVo, and she was depleting my space, she offloaded the eps of General Hospital from my TiVo, but again, that was a couple of months ago.

Since the TiVo upgrade I haven't witnessed her offloading (not that she couldn't do it in my absence), but has told me she doesn't offload like she used to.

[sk33t3r]

On my wifes TIVO the standard on she records who knows what, but now that I have it seetup to stream from the tivo to her PC she is happy, she doesnt have to sit in the back room and watch them, she can sit at her desk and work and watch them.

But the clear and delete does wonders from time to time, I dont record that much, I mainly record something that way I have more than a 30 min buffer, as soon as I catchup or watch the shows bye bye, I delete them.

[timckelley]

Hmm almost 3 months since my last post here, and just one minor update to make: During the day, my wife wants to watch TV downstairs, but at night in bed she'd like to watch it from bed. My TiVo is in the bedroom, and my wife likes "American Idol", so she has taken the liberty of PUTTING A SEASON PASS for "American Idol" on MY TIVO. :eek:

Well, it's not as dire as I paint it, because:

a) I have between 3 and 4 screens of suggestions on my TiVo, so I'm not low on space.
b) I kind of like "American Idol", though it's not my favorite show by a long shot
c) She likes to make fun of the contestants, but doesn't particularly enjoy doing it unless she's watching it with somebody else, so I watch it with her in our bedroom at night. So I guess I partly own the SP in that sense.

But by no means would I have scheduled that SP on my own onto my TiVo. I don't consider it that good a show. But it's not that bad either, so I watch it with her. One drawback is that she sometimes falls asleep before the ep is over, and she doesn't want to miss it, so I can't just finish watching it and delete. I have to pause it at the point where she fell asleep, and resume another day.

This is just a recent development, so there's very little backlog. Yesterday there were two eps in NP, and we watched 1 1/2 of them before she fell asleep, so right now there's just 1/2 an ep on there. So it really is not a problem right now.

If it were to become a problem, I suppose buying a 3rd TiVo (and assigning ownership of it to her) and putting it upstairs would solve things, but I don't want to do that, because the lifetime option is gone now.

(Oh, and to preempt that guy who says this thread is 3 years of the same thing, this isn't. She's not overflowing to my TiVo due to lack of space on hers.... she simply wants the flexibility to watch from downstairs or upstairs.)

[ZeoTiVo]

yah we had this discussion back when you were deciding to upgrade the series 1 or not. MRV is a very useful feature in our house. It would be worth the 6.95 a month in my opinion.

but anyhow this one does not sound like encroachment to me as it sounds a lot more like the two of you get to spend some time just laughing at the world at night before bedtime. That is, as they say, priceless.

[jtlytle]

But by no means would I have scheduled that SP on my own onto my TiVo. I don't consider it that good a show. But it's not that bad either, so I watch it with her. One drawback is that she sometimes falls asleep before the ep is over, and she doesn't want to miss it, so I can't just finish watching it and delete. I have to pause it at the point where she fell asleep, and resume another day.

This is just a recent development, so there's very little backlog. Yesterday there were two eps in NP, and we watched 1 1/2 of them before she fell asleep, so right now there's just 1/2 an ep on there. So it really is not a problem right now.



Have you thought of wake her up and say, "wake up, the show isn't over yet!" :D

[RangersRBack]

Hmm almost 3 months since my last post here, and just one minor update to make: During the day, my wife wants to watch TV downstairs, but at night in bed she'd like to watch it from bed. My TiVo is in the bedroom, and my wife likes "American Idol", so she has taken the liberty of PUTTING A SEASON PASS for "American Idol" on MY TIVO. :eek:

(Oh, and to preempt that guy who says this thread is 3 years of the same thing, this isn't. She's not overflowing to my TiVo due to lack of space on hers.... she simply wants the flexibility to watch from downstairs or upstairs.)

Cool, my favorite thread is back, starring my favorite couple, Mr. & Mrs. Tivo! ;)

Yep, I'm the guy who says this is three years of the same thing, but I am in fact wrong...now we're up to three years and eight months!!! 2/3 of the way to four years!!! Gotta love it!

June 3, 2003...my wife and I are having Tivo problems. February 2, 2007...my wife and I are having Tivo problems.

I will continue to say I understand you haven't been having the EXACT same problem for almost four years, but this is still the SAME BASIC PROBLEM! You and your wife having Tivo capacity issues.

Let's see, we're less than four months from the FOUR YEAR anniversary of this thread, and next year we'll hit the FIVE YEAR anniversary! And the nay-sayers said it couldn't be done...oh ye of little faith.

I stand by my prediction that this thread is capable of a good 10-15 year run...it's like the LES MISERABLES of forum threads...in more ways than one! :D

Yeah, have a good time making fun of those American Idol contestants...doesn't it feel good to make fun of wacky people??? :cool:

[JustAllie]

If, starting back in 2003, Tim had put $1 into a savings account for every post that appeared in this thread, he could have bought several more TiVos and/or larger hard drives by now. :D

[ZeoTiVo]

If, starting back in 2003, Tim had put $1 into a savings account for every post that appeared in this thread, he could have bought several more TiVos and/or larger hard drives by now. :D
yah but if it cost him a dollar every time he posted he would not have posted much if at all in his thread ;)

[od111]

Reach down between your legs to confirm your masculinity!!

Then give her a handfull of vhs tapes.

or...

Just go out and buy another Tivo!
I'm guessing she handles all the bills (as most head of housholds do)
She now has the option to return YOUR Tivo (to save some money) and must finally watch her shows. If she's not willing to compromise YOUR Tivo Stays!!!!

[JustAllie]

yah but if it cost him a dollar every time he posted he would not have posted much if at all in his thread ;)140 posts by Tim so far in this thread. So $140 down... a few more posts will get him a dual tuner model... ;) Oh, and look, I just posted here twice today, costing Tim two more dollars.... :D

[RangersRBack]

Reach down between your legs to confirm your masculinity!!

Then give her a handfull of vhs tapes.

or...

Just go out and buy another Tivo!
I'm guessing she handles all the bills (as most head of housholds do)
She now has the option to return YOUR Tivo (to save some money) and must finally watch her shows. If she's not willing to compromise YOUR Tivo Stays!!!!

Pretty sure that was suggested back in 2004...or was it 2005? I forget...so hard to keep track!

[ZeoTiVo]

Pretty sure that was suggested back in 2004...or was it 2005? I forget...so hard to keep track!
both :)

[od111]

Pretty sure that was suggested back in 2004...or was it 2005? I forget...so hard to keep track!


Sorry, as you see this was my first post.

Guess I didn't go deep enough into the Tivo dramas past.

- no too sure I want to

[timckelley]

I'm guessing she handles all the billsTo tell the truth, I handle all bills, all investments, and do all the taxes.

Oh, and my wife is still off the wagon (or is it 'on the wagon'?) with her VHS problem. i.e. she is no longer archiving stuff to tapes like she once madly did. Her upgraded TiVo still has lots of space on it, and my TiVo currently has no American Idol on it, as we are both watching the eps fairly promptly after they air.

I currently have over 4 screens of Suggestions on my TiVo, so I have lots of space too. I confess that American Idol is a bit more entertaining to me that I thought at first when I watched it, so I don't really mind keeping it on my TiVo, especially since my wife wants to watch it from upstairs. Still, I would never on my own had scheduled that SP.

My wife's twin sister is also a huge fan of American Idol, and she records it on her Time Warner DVR. Last week I was over there when she was playing it, and it was my first gander at a Time Warner DVR. I did not like it as much as TiVo.

[rdrrepair]

Get another TiVo - Get yourself (you deserve it) one of those new Series 3 - I got another TiVo and upgraded mine - She got my old one (500hrs) after I transfered all of her shows into it.

The kids have there own and everyone is very happy!!!

[RangersRBack]

My wife's twin sister is also a huge fan of American Idol, and she records it on her Time Warner DVR.

Oh no, this is new intel...your wife has a twin sister who is also armed with a DVR? Note to the world...be afraid...be very afraid.

[JustAllie]

Oh no, this is new intel...your wife has a twin sister who is also armed with a DVR? Note to the world...be afraid...be very afraid.It's actually Tim's wife's sister's husband's DVR, of course. ;) ;) ;)

[timckelley]

It's actually Tim's wife's sister's husband's DVR, of course. ;) ;) ;)

BTW, they are still in the dark ages; i.e. one DVR for the whole house. And they have two daughters, ages 16 and 9. Maybe they'll grow up with the same personalities as my wife and their mother. :D

[QuietPower]

I had the same problem with a girlfriend then i hook up tivo togo and dump all her backlogged movies to a PC.

She loves making shows do not delete :(

[RangersRBack]

It's actually Tim's wife's sister's husband's DVR, of course. ;) ;) ;)

Except there's a little problem with her encroaching onto his hard drive!

[RangersRBack]

BTW, they are still in the dark ages; i.e. one DVR for the whole house. And they have two daughters, ages 16 and 9. Maybe they'll grow up with the same personalities as my wife and their mother. :D

Or maybe they do things other than watch TV...

[timckelley]

Or maybe they do things other than watch TV...

I typically watch about an hour per day of TV. Is that excessive? Maybe if we spent our lives watching TV, backlog wouldn't have been an issue. (Which btw, currently isn't.) Also, I do all my watching late at night, because during the day I'm doing nonTV stuff.

[RangersRBack]

I typically watch about an hour per day of TV. Is that excessive? Maybe if we spent our lives watching TV, backlog wouldn't have been an issue. (Which btw, currently isn't.) Also, I do all my watching late at night, because during the day I'm doing nonTV stuff.

I think we had this discussion back in 2003 or 2004, so I'm going to skip it this time.

[timckelley]

To be more accurate, the conversation happened less than 3 months ago, and as I recall, it ended without any point ever being demonstrated that either my wife or I watch too much TV. We spend most of our lives doing nonTV activity.

The problem this whole thread has never been that we spend too much time watching TV. If anything, it's the opposite. My wife accumulated a backlog because of how little she watched. In fact, years ago when her backlog was a problem, there was a period when she typically would watch close to zero TV, and spend most of her time simply offloading her NP list to tape.

She's changed her habits now. Now, she watches a bit more TV, so she can actually delete stuff, and she's doing practically zero archiving, and the big thing now is that she doesn't swamp her To Do List so heavily as she used to do. We'll see if that keeps up.

Still, swamping a To Do List <> watches TV.

[JustAllie]

I don't think it's so much an issue of time spent watching TV as the fact that TV shows appear to be a source of conflict, concern, or stress. TV should be fun. It shouldn't run your life.

I do understand your concern about your wife encroaching on your TiVo space, Tim. I think you're gun-shy because she has had packrat tendencies in the past. It's really hard for her to admit that she won't watch a show and thus can delete it unwatched. The thing is that these days, a show deleted is not a show that's gone forever. There are reruns, DVD rentals, iTunes downloads, online versions from the network website, etc. It sounds like she has already started getting better about this, though. And you admit that American Idol is something you two enjoy watching together -- which makes it good TV, not bad TV. (Well, for you, anyway. :D)

So the issue then is that she put a season pass on your TiVo without asking you. You're thinking back to how things were in 2003 and imagine this getting worse, until your TiVo is overrun with stuff she won't delete. Maybe, instead, it'll get better, as having TiVo helps her let go of her inner packrat. ;)

[RangersRBack]

To be more accurate, the conversation happened less than 3 months ago, and as I recall, it ended without any point ever being demonstrated that either my wife or I watch too much TV. We spend most of our lives doing nonTV activity.

The problem this whole thread has never been that we spend too much time watching TV. If anything, it's the opposite. My wife accumulated a backlog because of how little she watched. In fact, years ago when her backlog was a problem, there was a period when she typically would watch close to zero TV, and spend most of her time simply offloading her NP list to tape.

She's changed her habits now. Now, she watches a bit more TV, so she can actually delete stuff, and she's doing practically zero archiving, and the big thing now is that she doesn't swamp her To Do List so heavily as she used to do. We'll see if that keeps up.

Still, swamping a To Do List <> watches TV.

Dude I wasn't talking about excessive TV watching. I think we did discuss that back in 2004 or so, but that was when I was young and foolish. I'm older than that now.

I just love this thread. I love that we get updates, I love that different Tivo capacity problems keep popping up that you share with us, and I love that in 10 years we'll still be discussing your Tivo capacity problems.

I'm going to nominate you for poster of the decade!

[RangersRBack]

I don't think it's so much an issue of time spent watching TV as the fact that TV shows appear to be a source of conflict, concern, or stress. TV should be fun. It shouldn't run your life.

I do understand your concern about your wife encroaching on your TiVo space, Tim. I think you're gun-shy because she has had packrat tendencies in the past. It's really hard for her to admit that she won't watch a show and thus can delete it unwatched. The thing is that these days, a show deleted is not a show that's gone forever. There are reruns, DVD rentals, iTunes downloads, online versions from the network website, etc. It sounds like she has already started getting better about this, though. And you admit that American Idol is something you two enjoy watching together -- which makes it good TV, not bad TV. (Well, for you, anyway. :D)

So the issue then is that she put a season pass on your TiVo without asking you. You're thinking back to how things were in 2003 and imagine this getting worse, until your TiVo is overrun with stuff she won't delete. Maybe, instead, it'll get better, as having TiVo helps her let go of her inner packrat. ;)

Wow, I'm impressed...you've been following along at home. I thought I was the only knucklehead who has been paying attention to this thread all along!

:D

[JustAllie]

Wow, I'm impressed...you've been following along at home. I thought I was the only knucklehead who has been paying attention to this thread all along!

:DI didn't come in here until six months after it started (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=1589497&&#post1589497), but this thread has continued to amaze me. :D