Wow that was easy

[wolverines]

So I finally gave in on Wednesday and ordered an S3 from digitalhotbuy. Got it on Thursday afternoon, no problems (we won't discuss the serial cable that I ordered that came the next day and damaged).

Hooked up the cable and OTA to test out. Taped Grey's Anatomy on Thursday night and whole time kept saying, why did we wait so long?

Friday morning I called Cablevision for the cablecard install. Told them I wanted 2 cards and the guy says "that's for a Tivo, right?". He knew right away. They offered Saturday from 11-2 and I took it. This is a good sign.

Saturday (today), guy shows up at 11.30 (called 5 minutes before). He's done these before. Puts first card in. A few minutes later it's working. He calls to activate. Another 5 minutes and he inserts the second one. Working, but then it downloads a firmware upgade for the card. Have to wait another 30 minutes then it's working and he's gone. I redo setup to get the cable channels and have been enjoying it since!

Now I need to call the VIP line tomorrow and transfer one of the season passes, then put another S2 with lifetime up for sale on ebay and I'll be all set.

With all the bad stories we read on this board I thought you'd like to hear a good one for a change.

[hookbill]

So I finally gave in on Wednesday and ordered an S3 from digitalhotbuy. Got it on Thursday afternoon, no problems (we won't discuss the serial cable that I ordered that came the next day and damaged).

Hooked up the cable and OTA to test out. Taped Grey's Anatomy on Thursday night and whole time kept saying, why did we wait so long?

Friday morning I called Cablevision for the cablecard install. Told them I wanted 2 cards and the guy says "that's for a Tivo, right?". He knew right away. They offered Saturday from 11-2 and I took it. This is a good sign.

Saturday (today), guy shows up at 11.30 (called 5 minutes before). He's done these before. Puts first card in. A few minutes later it's working. He calls to activate. Another 5 minutes and he inserts the second one. Working, but then it downloads a firmware upgade for the card. Have to wait another 30 minutes then it's working and he's gone. I redo setup to get the cable channels and have been enjoying it since!

Now I need to call the VIP line tomorrow and transfer one of the season passes, then put another S2 with lifetime up for sale on ebay and I'll be all set.

With all the bad stories we read on this board I thought you'd like to hear a good one for a change.


Congratulations. Really, this is the more common occurrance. And as time goes on more cable people are becoming aware of the S3. Enjoy! :)

[yanasina]

Congratulations. I hope my trouble has come early and the rest will go smoothly. Mine was stolen out of the UPS warehouse before they could deliver it. Replacement on the way....

[moyekj]

Standing in line at my local Best Buy today I saw a couple of people with S2DT. I mentioned they should be getting the HD S3 version (not available in that store) and they didn't even know HD version of Tivo existed. Of course when I mentioned the price (around $600) they laughed and said no thanks... I guess J6P is not ready for it yet. It's quite amazing to me how many purchases are made with no research - it's so easy to get online today and find out all the gory details of just about any big electronics purchase these days.

[synch22]

congrats, encouraging post for those on the fence like me.

[wolverines]

Congratulations. Really, this is the more common occurrance. And as time goes on more cable people are becoming aware of the S3. Enjoy! :)

Exactly. I wanted to post this because I've read so many problems. The reality is the vast majority of installs go smoothly. Only the problems tend to get posted. Hopefully it helps some of you on the fence to realize that more often than not, things go well.

[pvthndl]

Thanks Wolverines. I read this board and agonized over the potential problems and cost of having to return the S3 and re up for the Moxi if it all didn't work. When it came to the intall, the techs were here for 30 minutes, most of it BS time with me.

So, to all those worried about problems, there are lots of times it all goes very smoothly. And, it is SO, SO worth it!

[pl1]

Everything has been extremely smooth with my setup from the start. My only issue has been lost recordings during an Emergency Alert System broadcast and a lost recording when shutting down my TiVo while recording. I am hoping this will be resolved in the future, but otherwise, it is awsome having such a great quality HD picture for my TiVo!

[Georgia Guy]

Basically, same story here. I thought it was going to be a rough process, but it was perfectly easy. Been working without a hitch for 2.5 months.
I love it.

[randywalters]

My Cablecard install went very smoothly a few weeks ago and so far they're working perfectly. The primary Technician was very familar with the S3 and brought a field tech along and instructed him how to do the install. They installed both cards at the same time (despite my protest), but the guy knew what he was doing and when he called in he authorized the #1 card first, verified that it was working properly, then authorized the #2 card which was successful also. I finished the Guided Setup after they left and everything went perfectly. I was very relieved.

But whomever he was talking to on the phone somehow disabled my SA8300HD DVR service so i had to call back a few times to get em working again. The first CSR was obviously new and initially (and incorrectly) said that because i got the Cablecards on my account, the DVR service will no longer work. I got ahold of someone else and they fixed the problem within a few minutes and restored full functionality.

So the Cablecard install and initialization went fine, but the bonehead chick at TWC headquarters screwed up my account for about an hour.

[SugarBowl]

Standing in line at my local Best Buy today I saw a couple of people with S2DT. I mentioned they should be getting the HD S3 version (not available in that store) and they didn't even know HD version of Tivo existed. Of course when I mentioned the price (around $600) they laughed and said no thanks... I guess J6P is not ready for it yet. It's quite amazing to me how many purchases are made with no research - it's so easy to get online today and find out all the gory details of just about any big electronics purchase these days.

Maybe they don't know that the Save To VCR function still exists.

[dianebrat]

Congrats on getting your S3 up and going painlessly..

A lot of us have had the same experience and it's just so enjoyable to sit and watch HD with it.. (as opposed to the pain of going "I have to use the motorola box for this?)

Diane

[CraigHB]

Ordered mine from costo.com, should be here by the end of the week. I'm going to get HD OTA only so I'll just be running the basic digital cable package. Hopefully that will make things simpler for me with cablecard.

[digitaldna]

My S3 arrived on Friday. Opened it and immediately pulled the HD and upgraded it from the standard 250GB HD to a 750GB HD (thanks Newegg!). After the upgrade, I booted it up, installed the (2) Motorola Comcast CableCards which I have been using in my existing Sony XBR flat screens and the TiVo recognized them immediately. To get it on the network, I connected my S3 into my Apple Airport Express. Talk about a seamless install and setup! I too kept saying "What took me so long to get this HD Tivo?". Needless to say, I'm in heaven. Now if I can only get multi room viewing and that little eSATA port enabled on the back, I'll be buying more TiVo S3s! :)

A few other thoughts, observations, and questions...

+ I used to be a TiVo owner with a house full of Sony TiVos but later swapped them for Replays because I wanted (and absolutely LOVED the multi-room viewing capabilities). I hear the MRV is coming for the S3 and hope that day will arrive sooner than later.
+ I love the Mac TiVo Desktop where I can see my music library and photos on the S3--very nice. Now if I could only have video support with my TiVo Desktop I'm really good to go. Forget that idea of picking up an Apple TV!
+ Still trying to figure out how I can see how much disk space is used / remains. Is there a status bar or menu to see what's used? If so--where?
+ Is there any way to add your own IP applications to the TiVo menu system such as Yahoo Weather, Traffic, etc.? It would be cool to open this up and design your own custom web services.
+ I used to have the Comcast/Motorola/Microsoft set top box and hated it. Yeah, mine rebooted at least 10 times per day--fun huh? Let me just say, I loved the feeling when I disconnected that b*stard of a box. Despite the Comcast/TiVo announcement, I still bought a S3--why? Because I can easily add my own 750GB (and soon 1TB HD). If MRV comes online any time soon, I'll still keep one Comcast/Mot/MSFT STB in the house just for On Demand use.
+ The lifetime service was not available to me which was dissapointing. If it were there, I would have bought it... instead I picked up the 3 year (1 year free) pre-pay which I feel is a great deal considering the quality of this product and service.

In summary... now, I'm not only a TiVo fan, I'm a fanatic! What took me so long to get this S3?!? GO TiVO!!! :)

[hunts]

My S3 arrived on Friday. Opened it and immediately pulled the HD and upgraded it from the standard 250GB HD to a 750GB HD (thanks Newegg!).

What hard drive did you get? I am curious if/when I should force an upgrade on mine.

[digitaldna]

I highly recommend this very simple upgrade. Item # N82E16822148134 from Newegg. Good luck!

[mtchamp]

Between me and friends we have activated 3 Series3's so far with Comcast in South Coast area MA with absolutely no problems. All done in about 30 minuets. We are charged zero for the first card and $2.75 each additional cable card. Time is running out on Lifetime transfers (01/31/07), so do it! PQ and sound are better than the Motorola box. It's so nice to own your own equipment like I did with DirecTV. It's better than DirecTV with TiVo!

[Monty2_2001]

Mine went relatively easy. I bought it off PCSuperdeals.com, got it in under a week, had the cable guys come out, and they took about 2 hours to finish it. They had to keep fighting with the second card for about 45 minutes and I was getting worried, but it got better.

[mattack]

+ I love the Mac TiVo Desktop where I can see my music library and photos on the S3--very nice. Now if I could only have video support with my TiVo Desktop I'm really good to go. Forget that idea of picking up an Apple TV!
+ Still trying to figure out how I can see how much disk space is used / remains. Is there a status bar or menu to see what's used? If so--where?


If you mean video transfers in the first item, those aren't enabled at all on the series 3 now. But for video transfers to a Mac on series 2s, you need to buy the newest version of Toast... (Presumably that will support the S3 Tivo to Go when/if it is enabled too.) Kind of stinks that it's free on Windows PCs, but costs money on the Mac.

There has NEVER been a way on Tivos to see how much disk space is used/remains. I think that's my biggest feature request. (Search for "free space indicator", especially in the main forums, to see how popular it is.)

The only lame workaround is to turn on Suggestions. Then you have a *vague* idea of how much free space there is.. (When the software is upgraded and you get the Recently Deleted folder, of course you'll have to add up suggestions AND recently deleted to get an even more accurate guesstimate.) Of course with HD, SD, and analog recordings, it's more difficult to get an accurate gauge.. (Though my non-Tivo hard drive/DVD recorder has no problem with giving me a free space amount at my current recording quality choice. Even if Tivo chose the highest resolution HD rate and said that I had _at least_ that much free, that would be better than nothing..)

[kjmcdonald]

If you mean video transfers in the first item, those aren't enabled at all on the series 3 now. But for video transfers to a Mac on series 2s, you need to buy the newest version of Toast... (Presumably that will support the S3 Tivo to Go when/if it is enabled too.) Kind of stinks that it's free on Windows PCs, but costs money on the Mac.

I agree it's a shame there's no free way to get just the video transfer software.
But, to get the other stuff Toast includes cost about the same price on the PC.

There has NEVER been a way on Tivos to see how much disk space is used/remains. I think that's my biggest feature request. (Search for "free space indicator", especially in the main forums, to see how popular it is.)

It's not user freindly, but in 8.1, on the info screen for a program, tivo will tell you how many GB, and what % of the disk a particular program takes up.

I've never understood what the need for a free space indicator was.

Just what would people do when they saw they were getting low on space?

If it were me, I'd go:

1) empty the 'recently deleted' folder
2) empty the suggestions folder
3) then delete the oldest shows not marked 'keep forever'.

Hmm. wait.... That's exactly what the Tivo does for me. ;)

If there are too many 'keep forever' shows, then Tivo warns me when I schedule new things, or when i bring over programs through MRV or TTGB. It pops up a screen that shows me how much sooner than normal things might be deleted, or things that might not record.

Now, maybe there should be an option to have that warning pop up if needed when you hit the Tivo button to go to Tivo central - for those who don't schedule new things or transfer recordings very often.

Other than that, Why not just let the Tivo do it's job and not worry about it?

-Kyle

[Grandpasteve]

Standing in line at my local Best Buy today I saw a couple of people with S2DT. I mentioned they should be getting the HD S3 version (not available in that store) and they didn't even know HD version of Tivo existed. Of course when I mentioned the price (around $600) they laughed and said no thanks... I guess J6P is not ready for it yet. It's quite amazing to me how many purchases are made with no research - it's so easy to get online today and find out all the gory details of just about any big electronics purchase these days.

I did all my research and bought an S2 dt. HD in general - monitor, service, S3, is way far and above what I want to spend for television entertainment however the home nework features and time shifting are really all I want and very reasonable now.

HD in 2 or 3 years maybe.

[flar]

Just what would people do when they saw they were getting low on space?

If it were me, I'd go:

1) empty the 'recently deleted' folder
2) empty the suggestions folder
3) then delete the oldest shows not marked 'keep forever'.

Hmm. wait.... That's exactly what the Tivo does for me. ;)

Other than that, Why not just let the Tivo do it's job and not worry about it?

-Kyle
First, just going by your list that isn't actually what I would do. I would probably delete the trash first, and then I might scan the suggestions to see if there is something I want to keep, but TiVo won't do that for me. Then I would delete my shows out of order. There are reruns that I record that I would delete in preference to the oldest non-rerun, but TiVo won't make that distinction. There might be new shows that I watched at a friend's house and so don't need to see on mine, but those shows are recorded as "never delete" to force reruns to be deleted in preference, but in this case maybe I want that new show deleted first. I might also want to delete new shows for my lower priority season passes before new shows for my higher priority shows, but TiVo goes solely by date (and "save until" setting), no?

Second, this isn't usually a concern in my daily life - there is a context that you aren't taking into account. Let's say you are going away for the weekend or even a week. TiVo will magically delete things "for you" while you are gone - great! Or is it? What will it be deleting? How much room does it have before it starts deleting things? Have you set up your priorities properly? Are there factors in choosing which program to delete that cannot be expressed by your priorities? Should you maybe hurry up your packing so you have time to delete some extraneous programs or watch a couple of hour-long HD programs before you leave or should you just relax? How do you know? Should you scan the suggestions to see if there is anything fun that you might want to watch (it might be easy to scan the titles and save things you recognize, but doing it in depth might require spending 15 minutes or so reading the descriptions, etc.)

A free space indicator could give you a rough estimate of how much you need to worry about this - you might have some idea of how much content is recorded over the weekend or over a week and so knowing that it is 50% full vs. 95% full can give you a rough idea as to whether the auto-deleting is coming up soon.

It wouldn't be the best indicator, but there's no reason not to have it - it would take maybe 2 minutes for an engineer to add.

For a better indicator it might be nice to have a screen that gives an indication of when deleting will need to take place given the current ToDo list - for instance "will start deleting suggestions on Date/Time - will start deleting recorded programs on Date/Time - will be unable to record any more programs on Date/Time.

[BoyScout]

WOW! I wish this would have been my case! My comcast guy didn't even speak English let alone know how to install cable cards. BTW, he didn't even BRING the cable cards.

Installation starts at 3:30 PM last Friday. At 9 PM I told him we were going to bed and he would have to come back manana. He asked what time and I said 9 AM. I futzed around with the internet for a couple hours and got it working at about midnite.

9 AM comes around, no Comcast tech. 10 AM I call Comcast and ask WTF? The tech's supervisor calls at 11 AM and says he'll be right there. 1 PM he shows up. Still no cable cards, but he finishes the install in about a half hour.

We go down to the local Comcast shop to pick up the cable cards and a forgotten receiver. The receiver installs and activates without a hitch. But the instructions I got from the Cable company to install the cable cards aren't working.

Several calls to Comcast later and no joy. The CSR from Comcast asks me if I am sure that the cable is connected. I told him I didn't do the install personally, but the tech tested the line from point to point. I trace back the cable and sure enough, the tech must have disconnected this branch of cable. I connected it and started getting the lower channels. But no digital channels.

A few more hours with no joy, I schedule a tech to come Sunday morning to help. I'm frustrated, so I go over everything on my own that we have done so far. I even got the instructions from the S3 out. ;-)

We had been trying everything including one card at a time, but I slide one card in and leave it and go to bed. Another midnite bedtime. I get up to get a glass of water at about 2 AM and out of curiosty, check to see what the cable card is doing. Still no download, BUT I am getting the digital channels. So, I slide in the second card and go to bed.

In the morning, still no indication of cable card download, but I am getting digital signals on both cards.

So, the install only took 45 hours.........

I am sure that it really didn't need to be so hard. A tech that had all the equipment and could understand and speak English would have helped. I'm sure the whole process could have been completed in say......4 hours???

BTW, Comcast DID waive my installation charge.

BoyScout


So I finally gave in on Wednesday and ordered an S3 from digitalhotbuy. Got it on Thursday afternoon, no problems (we won't discuss the serial cable that I ordered that came the next day and damaged).

Hooked up the cable and OTA to test out. Taped Grey's Anatomy on Thursday night and whole time kept saying, why did we wait so long?

Friday morning I called Cablevision for the cablecard install. Told them I wanted 2 cards and the guy says "that's for a Tivo, right?". He knew right away. They offered Saturday from 11-2 and I took it. This is a good sign.

Saturday (today), guy shows up at 11.30 (called 5 minutes before). He's done these before. Puts first card in. A few minutes later it's working. He calls to activate. Another 5 minutes and he inserts the second one. Working, but then it downloads a firmware upgade for the card. Have to wait another 30 minutes then it's working and he's gone. I redo setup to get the cable channels and have been enjoying it since!

Now I need to call the VIP line tomorrow and transfer one of the season passes, then put another S2 with lifetime up for sale on ebay and I'll be all set.

With all the bad stories we read on this board I thought you'd like to hear a good one for a change.

[hookbill]

WOW! I wish this would have been my case! My comcast guy didn't even speak English let alone know how to install cable cards. BTW, he didn't even BRING the cable cards.

Installation starts at 3:30 PM last Friday. At 9 PM I told him we were going to bed and he would have to come back manana. He asked what time and I said 9 AM. I futzed around with the internet for a couple hours and got it working at about midnite.

9 AM comes around, no Comcast tech. 10 AM I call Comcast and ask WTF? The tech's supervisor calls at 11 AM and says he'll be right there. 1 PM he shows up. Still no cable cards, but he finishes the install in about a half hour.

We go down to the local Comcast shop to pick up the cable cards and a forgotten receiver. The receiver installs and activates without a hitch. But the instructions I got from the Cable company to install the cable cards aren't working.

Several calls to Comcast later and no joy. The CSR from Comcast asks me if I am sure that the cable is connected. I told him I didn't do the install personally, but the tech tested the line from point to point. I trace back the cable and sure enough, the tech must have disconnected this branch of cable. I connected it and started getting the lower channels. But no digital channels.

A few more hours with no joy, I schedule a tech to come Sunday morning to help. I'm frustrated, so I go over everything on my own that we have done so far. I even got the instructions from the S3 out. ;-)

We had been trying everything including one card at a time, but I slide one card in and leave it and go to bed. Another midnite bedtime. I get up to get a glass of water at about 2 AM and out of curiosty, check to see what the cable card is doing. Still no download, BUT I am getting the digital channels. So, I slide in the second card and go to bed.

In the morning, still no indication of cable card download, but I am getting digital signals on both cards.

So, the install only took 45 hours.........

I am sure that it really didn't need to be so hard. A tech that had all the equipment and could understand and speak English would have helped. I'm sure the whole process could have been completed in say......4 hours???

BTW, Comcast DID waive my installation charge.

BoyScout

2 questions. First, what the heck are you talking about "forgotten receiver?" Your receiver is your S3.

Second, you smile when you said "read instructions" but as we have same time and time again "follow the instructions EXACTLY."

Maybe your time was increased because you didn't have cable cards but you certainly didn't help matters by not following instructions from the start.

[BoyScout]

2 questions. First, what the heck are you talking about "forgotten receiver?" Your receiver is your S3.

Second, you smile when you said "read instructions" but as we have same time and time again "follow the instructions EXACTLY."

Maybe your time was increased because you didn't have cable cards but you certainly didn't help matters by not following instructions from the start.


I Have one S3 and 3 other cable terminals. Each of the other terminals requires additional receivers. The installer brought one receiver and no cable cards.

Yes, I admit that I should have read and followed the instructions for the cable cards initially. That is the reason for the wink. However, that was already 28 hours into the start of the installation. Not following the instructions probably cost me a couple hours.

I expectations were that Comcast would know what they were doing. I shouldn't have to read instructions at all IMO. The installation should have been transparent and seamless and taken less than 4 hours. That was my expectation. My expectation was not met.

[hookbill]

II expectations were that Comcast would know what they were doing. I shouldn't have to read instructions at all IMO. The installation should have been transparent and seamless and taken less than 4 hours. That was my expectation. My expectation was not met.


:D :D :D

Man, you expect alot. Thanks for the laugh though.

[BoyScout]

:D :D :D

Man, you expect alot. Thanks for the laugh though.

Really? It didn't seem like expecting a lot. However, it seems you know a LOT more about Comcast CS than most.

I suppose I should rephrase the statement by saying my expectations of a reasonable company, even with AVERAGE customer service.

BTW, do I sense a bit of condescension in your posts? I'm not sure, but I wanted to clarify if that is what you intended.

I'm glad it amused you. It amuses me too when I think back on it.

BoyScout

[hookbill]

Really? It didn't seem like expecting a lot. However, it seems you know a LOT more about Comcast CS than most.

I suppose I should rephrase the statement by saying my expectations of a reasonable company, even with AVERAGE customer service.

BTW, do I sense a bit of condescension in your posts? I'm not sure, but I wanted to clarify if that is what you intended.

I'm glad it amused you. It amuses me too when I think back on it.

BoyScout


It's just that so many people have talked about issues with cable companies here in the forum that I expect most people to think the way I did. You see I was totally paranoid when they came out to install the cable cards. I thought it was going to be a nightmare, but it wasn't it worked real easy.

So your reaction of confidence is quite different from what is read in this forum. However truth be known most cable installs do go well. We just don't read about those that much.

[BoyScout]

It's just that so many people have talked about issues with cable companies here in the forum that I expect most people to think the way I did. You see I was totally paranoid when they came out to install the cable cards. I thought it was going to be a nightmare, but it wasn't it worked real easy.

So your reaction of confidence is quite different from what is read in this forum. However truth be known most cable installs do go well. We just don't read about those that much.


Ahhhh! I see. My expectations of Comcast were not all that lofty IMO. I've even had experience with them in the past. I must say that EVERY experience I have had with Comcast has been similar.

Granted, I am one person, but that is still bucking the odds. The 10-15 contacts with the local Comcast personnel have ALL been bad. Sounds like a bit of a trend to me.

The "perfect" installation would have been 30-60 mins. I thought 4 hours was not all that unreasonable.

I must say, the contact I had with 800 COMCAST was fairly pleasant and met my expectations though. They were patient and understanding and willing to work through the issues.

BTW, I apologize for addressing you as Bill rather than Hookbill. I didn't read your signature until a few moments ago.

BoyScout

[entropy]

I've never understood what the need for a free space indicator was. Just what would people do when they saw they were getting low on space? If it were me, I'd go:

3) then delete the oldest shows not marked 'keep forever'.

Hmm. wait.... That's exactly what the Tivo does for me. ;)


How... dogmatic of you. I'd delete the shows I consider the least important, even if they were not the oldest and/or were marked "keep until I delete." That's what distinguishes the TiVo from say me--I have a brain, it just has an algorithm.

If TiVo added an "importance" marker distinct from (recording) "priority" that would suddenly make its algorithm a lot more useful to me, since it would delete shows of the lowest importance before more important ones.

(Why does this need to be distinct from "priority"? Because priority is global, even though the conflicts it's used to resolve occur only on particular days. IOW, show A has to have higher priority than show B, and show C than show D, but show A and show C or D shouldn't be compared at all (!) at least when deciding what to delete.

To use real-world examples: Smallville is higher priority than (whatever) and Lost is of higher priority than Criminal Minds, but Smallville certainly isn't as important as Lost. Resolving recording conflicts requires a different set of criteria than resolving deletion conflicts.)

~ Kiran <entropy@io.com>

[mattack]

I've never understood what the need for a free space indicator was.

Just what would people do when they saw they were getting low on space?
...
Other than that, Why not just let the Tivo do it's job and not worry about it?

Please go search one of the other threads for more info about why those of us who want a FSI want it.. but as a mini-ramble..

Because I want to *watch* the shows that I record. I completely realize that I am out of the "main" target market for Tivos, since I was completely capable of programming multiple VCRs for ~12 years before I got a Tivo.

If I know that there are ~30 minutes of free space, and an hour long show is going to record in a little while, *I* will choose to watch something (and likely watch something "quick" like Jeopardy, which will "free up" 30 minutes of space in about 12 minutes of watching)... or delete something. I'll delete something like a Nova or some other recording that I know will be repeated again over a prime time show, or even a Letterman episode, any day.

As I've said before, if I didn't get nag screens so quickly, I would make ALL of my recordings save until I delete. But then I get nag screens fairly often, since Tivo doesn't know that I will watch some show. Plus, it won't fill up the To Do list at 7:59 if I just watched and deleted a show when it was "full".

Having more info lets me decide if there will be enough space to record the things I want to when I'm out a particular night, for example. Now I have to use suggestions PLUS remember what I recently deleted.

[dswallow]

Please go search one of the other threads for more info about why those of us who want a FSI want it.. but as a mini-ramble..

Because I want to *watch* the shows that I record. I completely realize that I am out of the "main" target market for Tivos, since I was completely capable of programming multiple VCRs for ~12 years before I got a Tivo.

If I know that there are ~30 minutes of free space, and an hour long show is going to record in a little while, *I* will choose to watch something (and likely watch something "quick" like Jeopardy, which will "free up" 30 minutes of space in about 12 minutes of watching)... or delete something. I'll delete something like a Nova or some other recording that I know will be repeated again over a prime time show, or even a Letterman episode, any day.

As I've said before, if I didn't get nag screens so quickly, I would make ALL of my recordings save until I delete. But then I get nag screens fairly often, since Tivo doesn't know that I will watch some show. Plus, it won't fill up the To Do list at 7:59 if I just watched and deleted a show when it was "full".

Having more info lets me decide if there will be enough space to record the things I want to when I'm out a particular night, for example. Now I have to use suggestions PLUS remember what I recently deleted.
Your desire for a free space indicator is really more a symptom of not having a sufficiently sized hard drive for your recording desires.