Oh no, did I just kiss my Tivo goodbye?

[Handust]

I have spent the better part of this evening trying to read through the threads here to avoid answering what surely must be a dumb question, or at the very least, a redundant one. But having endured a day of installations for internet, phones and DirecTV in one day (we just moved back into our newly renovated house), I'm so tired and utterly confused that I can't find the answer to my problem. Please take pity on me!

We are long term (10 years) DirecTV customers. Also long term Tivo users and faithful devotees. When we were renovating our house, we paid to have some prewiring of the house done for TV, sound system, etc. The family room and master bedroom were wired for HD TV.

We had the original 14-hour Tivo, then later a Sony DirecTV Tivo receiver (several years old, but going strong) and most recently we bought a Humax 40 hour DVR (some don't like theirs, but we found it to work very well).

Well, my DirecTV installer informed me what you all apparently know -- I can't use any Tivo units at all with the HD receivers? Even a standalone Tivo?

I now don't know what to do. I am currently Tivo-less (going through withdrawal already, and my kids don't even know how to work a TV without Tivo). I am going to use the Sony Tivo for an upstairs den (mostly for the kids), but that leaves our two main TVs (family room & master bedroom) with no Tivo.

Do I have no other option than DirecTV's DRV now? I keep hearing bad things about it, and I love my Tivo! If it weren't for the fact that the hardwiring for HD has already been done and run through the walls, I'd say forget it -- I guess I'm not really all that into HD. But I've got it now.

So I have to trash my 5 month old Humax (which I've grown to love) and get the non-Tivo units? Or is there an option that I haven't uncovered yet?

I'm so bummed out. I had no idea an upgrade would actually mean a downgrade (as far as I'm concerned).

TIA for any suggestions.

Handust

[mick66]

1st your post has nothing to do with stand alone HD Tivos (namely the S3 since it's the only one) so it shouldn't be here.

2nd
The only HD DVR that DirecTV has to offer is a Tivo unit. So you can have DirecTV, HD and Tivo all at the same time.

[Arcady]

The only HD DVR that DirecTV has to offer is a Tivo unit.

That is not correct. The new HR20 is often being supplied, even when the user asks for an HR10. (The HR20 is not a TiVo-based unit.)

[Handust]

Well, thank you, Mick. I actually thought long and hard about which board to post my question on, since I've seen how little tolerance some people have for mistakes. I chose this one since what I am looking for is a standalone Tivo unit that supports HD and that seemed to be what this board is about. I do not want a DirecTV DVR or I would have posted on that board. But thank you for making a newcomer feel welcome, just the same.

I guess I hadn't quite gotten around to asking about the upcoming S3 specifically, but I will read up more on that one and see if I can find out what I need to know.

Thanks.

[jdk]

I believe this sub-forum is mis-named. "Standalone", __IF__ used in the same meaning for the original or Series 2 Tivos does not mean the same thing as a Series 3 Tivo.

People associate "standalone" to mean that you take the output of your cable box or DirecTV tuner, plug it into the Tivo, set up the IR blaster, and you're good to go... Ironically, "stand alone" in this context means that the Tivo must work with a second box.

There is no ability (at prices that consumers can afford) to take an analog HD signal and re-encode it for storage on a hard drive. THerefore, the Series 3 Tivo actually truly must "stand alone" and contains everything inside to receive, record and decode the already compressed signals from your Cable Provider (using a cable card to decode encrypted channels)

I bet this issue gets confused at least a dozen times by the end of the week. Anyone up to creating a sticky FAQ for all the new people looking into the wonderful "standalone HD Tivo" just released?

[Arcady]

A S1 or S2 standalone can record from an antenna, which makes it truly standalone (ie; no cable or sat box needed.) However, a Dtivo only needs a dish to record, so isn't that standalone too? The S2DT can record from analog cable without a box, so that's standalone too.

Come to think of it, the name "standalone" is really misleading. If any of these boxes were truly standalone, they would get every channel without plugging them into anything. And of course, none of them do that.

[vman41]

A S1 or S2 standalone can record from an antenna, which makes it truly standalone (ie; no cable or sat box needed.) However, a Dtivo only needs a dish to record, so isn't that standalone too? The S2DT can record from analog cable without a box, so that's standalone too.

A Dtivo is mated to DIRECTV subscription, SA TiVos work with free OTA programming as well any cable company or satellite service.

[Handust]

Thanks, JDK -- you're right, it does get confusing. Your post helped me sort it out a bit. The whole HD thing as a whole is very new to me and although I'm usually pretty techie, I'm having a hard time keeping up with this particular technology.

I'll keep reading along, although I think I've pretty well figured out that I'm going to be stuck with DTV's version of a DVR, since I detest cable in this area and won't use anything but satellite. Again, I'm pretty sick about it. I don't think I would have bothered wiring with HD had I known -- it just seemed like the thing to do when the walls were open.

[DrDravenStone]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but there should be nothing stopping you from outputting the DTV SD signal to the SA S2 Tivo's? You would have to watch the HD live via a separate input on your set, but the SD channels should record fine no?
The only issue I can imagine (and I've never had a DTV HD receiver, so I don't know) is if they don't have an output that the S2 can handle, but I would doubt that...

-ds