tivo w/ timewarner

[jasonhoutx]

I have timewarner (about to be comcast) and I was curious do I have to have a cable box from the cable company to to hook up to the tivo to view channels that are not part of the basic cable package (ie all HD stuff and movie channels) ? I don't know how this stuff works as I am new to this.

also, if I don't want to get a series3 for recording HD, will it still allow me to view the HD channel?

one last question, in order to use the dual tuners do I have two run to cables? or can I use the one cable like the cable company does with its dvr?

I can't stand the cable companies dvr and want to use the tivo that I am used to when I had satellite.

thanks in advance

[gastrof]

Traditional TV is called analog.

The new type of broadcasts that make HD possible is called digital.

Cable companies have their own form of digital, and you need one of their boxes to get their digital channels (and thus any High Def channels).

There's another option, namely cable cards, which are inserted into slots certain TV devices have, and allow the device to operate as if it had a cable box.

Your device (TV or whatever) would have to have been made to work with cable cards.

The TiVo Series 1 and Series 2 machines only have analog tuners, and can't get ANY kind of digital TV on their own. You'd have to use an external box to tune the digital channels.

TiVo Series 3 gets OverTheAir analog and digital, analog cable, and with cable cards it can get digital cable.

You say you used a TiVo with satellite.

If it was in the same box as your satellite tuner, it can't work with cable.

If your satellite tuner was one box, and the TiVo was a separate box connected to the sat. tuner, then it will probably be able to work with your cable company's digital cable box.

Be advised, tho' that the Series 1 and 2 are NOT High Def devices, and will only deal with a downconverted version of the digital cable picture from the box. That's all you'll get out of that type of TiVo....a Standard Def picture.

[gastrof]

As for the Dual Tuner TiVo, that is still a Series 2 and is only an analog and Standard Def device.

Its built in tuner can only tune analog cable channels, and it would need a cable box for one of its tuners to work with. The other tuner will be stuck with analog cable, since the DT TiVos can only work with one cable box, not two.

You'd have to split the cable, feed one directly into the TiVo, and feed the other thru the cable box.

Feeding one cable into the DT TiVo will only give you two tuners getting analog cable. Nothing from the cable box, since you're not using one with that setup.

[classicsat]

It depends on your provider if you need a cable box. Rule of thumb: if you can get it with your analog TV tuner, TiVo's analog tuner can get it (to Ch 99).

Series 2 TiVos won't pass HD at all. It depends on your setup, hardare, and provider if you can watch HD outside of the TiVo system.

The Series 2 DT needs only one coax, the signal is internally split.
Also note, if you do need a box, then the DT TiVo in effect becomes a Single Tuner for those channels that need the box.

[gastrof]

It depends on your provider if you need a cable box. Rule of thumb: if you can get it with your analog TV tuner, TiVo's analog tuner can get it (to Ch 99).

Series 2 TiVos won't pass HD at all. It depends on your setup, hardare, and provider if you can watch HD outside of the TiVo system.

The Series 2 DT needs only one coax, the signal is internally split.
Also note, if you do need a box, then the DT TiVo in effect becomes a Single Tuner for those channels that need the box.


The OP has asked about getting HD channels, so apparently he has an interest in digital cable, available only thru a cable box with a non-Series 3 TiVo.