What will the TiVo HD do without Cablecard?

[jcla]

Rogers Cable (in Canada) doesn't support CableCard.

If I was to purchase the TiVo HD, Series3, or Series2 DT, what capabilities would it have without any CableCards?

Has anyone heard anything about Rogers supporting CableCard? I've sent in an email to their technical support and they said "we don't have any info on that".

John

[GoHokies!]

S2DT doesn't do cable card, so you should have full functionality there.

S3/THD can do OTA and analog cable and "clear QAM" without cablecards in the states, I'm not sure about north of the border.

This may help:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=369201&highlight=S3+canada

As should this:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=359328&highlight=S3+canada

Dajad is kind of the local expert in all things Tivo/Canada. :)

[jcla]

Thanks for the info.

As far as the S2DT goes, is the digital tuner internal, or does it use a set top box from the cable company to handle that (similar to the normal S2)?

John

[ADent]

One tuner/input can be used for the STB and one internal (or two internal). Internal tuners are NTSC only.

[defond]

You also do not need cableCARDs for the TiVo HD either. It will be able to function just like the Series 2 DT. This is how mine is set up. I am planning to upgrade to digital cable with HD programming in the future so i am set.

I would get the HD Unit because then if your cable company desides to upgrade to cableCard you could then take advantage of this feature. But keep in mind the TiVo HD is not compatable with a seperate digital cable box. So if you want digital cable go with the Series 2 DT

[classicsat]

The Series 2 DT is the one to get in Canada. There is no sign of Cablecards being supported by Rogers or any major provider. You won't get digital OTA data either.

[robm15]

One thing to keep in mind, if you have any digital or premimum programming you want to record, then the S2DT is the one to get. It can tune your cable box to record off the channels that are beyond the analog channels. The TivoHD can not tune a cable box. But I'm not in Canada, so you might want to besure that the S2DT can indeed tune a cable box there, but if it can, you'll have more flexibility than a TivoHD can give you since cable cards are not a option for you.

[gastrof]

You also do not need cableCARDs for the TiVo HD either. It will be able to function just like the Series 2 DT. This is how mine is set up. I am planning to upgrade to digital cable with HD programming in the future so i am set.

I would get the HD Unit because then if your cable company desides to upgrade to cableCard you could then take advantage of this feature. But keep in mind the TiVo HD is not compatable with a seperate digital cable box. So if you want digital cable go with the Series 2 DT


The TiVo HD does NOT work just like the Series 2DT.

As you said in your second paragraph, there's no way for the TiVo HD to control the channel changes on a STB.

The S2 DT is able to control a cable or satellite box.

Getting a Series 3 or HD to use for scrambled digital (or even analog) channels is NOT the way to go if cable cards are not available from the cable company.