Should I come back to Tivo?

[Monoment]

I have had Tivo since early 2000. First an old Series1 that has been switched for a Series2, but then I switched last year to a Comcast DVR, which has served me fairly well so far. I mainly switched, because of the dual-channel tuner of the Comcast DVR. Now that Tivo offers the new Series2 with dual-tuner, I am wondering, if I should switch back!? I am a little hesitant, because of the "new" advertising plot from Tivo, but I do like to use TivoToGo and all the other features again that the Comcast DVR does not offer. :confused:

What has been changed and/or improved since last year? Does the dual-tuner work well?

[jsmeeker]

Do you want to record HiDef? If so, you may want to come back when the Series 3 is released later this year.

[puckettcg]

The Tivo DT works very well. I have a Comcast DVR which I'm using exclusively for HD recordings - and if it didn't have the ability to record HD I would dump it in a heartbeat. Tivo To Go, Multi-room viewing, 14 days guide data, wish list, ease of search function, and overall reliability are reasons to get Tivo.

[Monoment]

I don't have HD and don't plan on it for a while, unless someone can match my current 63" "old" TV with an affordable HDTV of the same size. The benefit of HD is minimal for me - for now.

[jsmeeker]

do you record a lot of the digital channels? Or do you have plain, analog cable?


Also, what's affordable for a 63" TV? :)

[Monoment]

I have digital cable and I believe that the only benefit for me to wait for a Series3 would be to able to record 5.1 surround and, yes, a somehow better quality, no?

Also, I still have an old Series2 with a cancelled subscription, but I could not find any information on the website how much the subscription would cost for an additional Tivo?

I do believe that I pay around $12 for the Comcast DVR per month. So, if I would return the DVR, I would need to lease a digital non-DVR box again.

So, hmmm...right now everything is so neat in one box and I would hate to clutter it up, but I would love to archive some shows with TivoToGo, multi-room sharing AND have a dual tuner.

[ZeoTiVo]

the current sereis 2 Dual Tuner TiVo only has on IR blaster to control a digital cable box. You will need the digital cable box to decrypt the digital channels.

so the DT will record one tuner of digital or analog adn one tuner analog only.

bottom line is - if you record only one digitial show at a time. A movie from HBO or Sopranos or whatever and havet he conflicts on analog channels then the current Sereis 2 DT will serve you adequately, but still have the IR blaster setupadn require a set top box from the cable company. at 100$ for the DT though it is a good bargain.

the series 3 will use the cablecard (has room for 2 single stream cards if needed) adn thus not need a sett top box from cable company and will change channels directly with no IR blaster and can record two digital channels at the same time.
it will most likely cost 600 to 800$ though.


the sub for a tIvo is 12.95 for the first one and 6.95 for the second (there is no sub price difference on a dual tuner vs single tuner TiVo)

and MRV and TiVoToGo and so forth is faster on the DT :up:

[jfh3]

Don't make your decision on the "advertising plot" - I presume you are referring to Product Watch, which is both opt-in and non-intrusive.

Besides, it's a good thing - if Tivo can make enough money from advertisers by having interested Tivo subscribers voluntarily watch their commercials, then at some point they may have enough advertising revenue to at least partially subsidize the monthly fees charged to subscribers.

[jsmeeker]

I have digital cable and I believe that the only benefit for me to wait for a Series3 would be to able to record 5.1 surround and, yes, a somehow better quality, no?

Also, I still have an old Series2 with a cancelled subscription, but I could not find any information on the website how much the subscription would cost for an additional Tivo?

I do believe that I pay around $12 for the Comcast DVR per month. So, if I would return the DVR, I would need to lease a digital non-DVR box again.

So, hmmm...right now everything is so neat in one box and I would hate to clutter it up, but I would love to archive some shows with TivoToGo, multi-room sharing AND have a dual tuner.


Pretty much what ZeoTiVo said. While HD is the biggest feature of the Series 3, it can still have a lot of value for people who don't have HD displays, but have digital cable TV.

It would let you dump the cable box and record ANY two things at the same time, no matter if it was analog or digiital. Standard or premium.

[Monoment]

Thanks ZeoTivo,

Ouch! THAT has convinced me NOT to get a Dual-Tuner Series2 and stay with my Comcast DVR. I'll wait for the Series3 and wait for a subscription based offering a la Series2 now. Two digital converters and one Tivo = 3 devices (with a lease/subscription for each one) for something that I have now in ONE box for $12 is not an option.

Thanks for the help.

[BriGuy20]

I have the Cox HD DVR (Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD, I believe), so this may or may not be analogous to your situation.

While I like the ability to record HD (and 2 channels at once) on the Cox DVR, I intensely dislike almost everything else about it. The interface is kludgy (it looks like they took the overlays from Apple II code), there's no 30 second skip (easy to enable on your TiVo), there's no auto-rewind when you fast-forward (you take it for granted when you have it with TiVo), and the recording isn't NEARLY as robust as the series pass system with TiVo.

While I don't hate the DVR enough to get rid of it (especially since it's technically belongs to the whole family, or if you want to get down to semantics, my parents), I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT WAIT for the Series 3. Couple the Dual HD recording with TiVo's features, and I can't imagine wanting to deal with the Cox DVR again (unless a timeslot is triple booked).

[cwerdna]

BriGuy20, puckettcg and Monoment: What software is on your boxes? You all may not be comparing apples to apples.

[puckettcg]

BriGuy20, puckettcg and Monoment: What software is on your boxes? You all may not be comparing apples to apples.

I have SARA

[HiDefGator]

Let me see if I have this right...

The guy can't afford a new HD TV, but the new (very expensive) S3 is what is being recommended? That makes sense.

[yunlin12]

I have digital cable and I believe that the only benefit for me to wait for a Series3 would be to able to record 5.1 surround and, yes, a somehow better quality, no?


Does your cable carry analog channels as well? I have Comcast digital cable here in San Jose, they do ADS (analog digital simulcast) on channels 2-99, meaning I can use a TV or VCR to pick up those channels without a cable box. If this works, then a dual-tuner Tivo can pick them up as well. Look at all the shows that you watch, if they are on analog channels, as most popular channels are in my area, such as ESPN, Comedy, SciFi, TBS, etc, then a DT Tivo can be used without a cable box. If you watch a lot of HBO, Showtime or other digital channels, then you need a cable box, and have it send video through S-Vid to the Tivo box, and have the Tivo box control it through IR. With this setup, you can record 2 analog channels at the same time, or record one analog and one digital channel at the same time.

The S3 will be expensive, if you can get away with using a dual-tuner, you should try it. Regarding DD5.1, only channels like HBO and Showtime would have them, so you are the one to judge how often you would need to have it.

[ZeoTiVo]

Does your cable carry analog channels as well? I have Comcast digital cable here in San Jose, they do ADS (analog digital simulcast) on channels 2-99, meaning I can use a TV or VCR to pick up those channels without a cable box. If this works, then a dual-tuner Tivo can pick them up as well. Look at all the shows that you watch, if they are on analog channels, as most popular channels are in my area, such as ESPN, Comedy, SciFi, TBS, etc, then a DT Tivo can be used without a cable box. If you watch a lot of HBO, Showtime or other digital channels, then you need a cable box, and have it send video through S-Vid to the Tivo box, and have the Tivo box control it through IR. With this setup, you can record 2 analog channels at the same time, or record one analog and one digital channel at the same time.

The S3 will be expensive, if you can get away with using a dual-tuner, you should try it. Regarding DD5.1, only channels like HBO and Showtime would have them, so you are the one to judge how often you would need to have it.


well clarified yunlin12 :up: I was making that point in just one sentence about conflicts between say HBO and showtime. I don't use premium cable so I forget that many "digital" channels can still be picked up via an analog equivalent with the simple test of just hooking your cable straight up to a TV and seeing what comes in on 1-99. If you can tune it then TiVo will have the guide data for it or will fix theri guide data to include it.

I actually thought the 600-800$ price tag would have made the OP pause and reflect on how important it is to record digital channels if you do not care about HD.