Only way Comcast Tivo will be successful...

[juhealy]

...is to keep the 3 main Tivo features.

I currently have two Tivo's, a Tivo HD in the bedroom (love it!) and a basic single tuner in the office (no HD there:(). I also have the Comcast Dual tuner HD DVR in the Family Room and hate it.

I was very happy to hear that Comcast will be bring Tivo to their HD DVRs and was going to wait before I replace the family room DVR because I would rather pay the low monthly rate rather then pay another $299 plus $12 a month.

...BUT if the Comcast Tivo doesn't have Multi Room Viewing, Tivo 2 Go, and the ability to have the 30 second skip. I will be buying another Tivo HD.

Comcast Marketing Department, are you listening? Those three items are the are the only thing I personally need to use your box. If all three are not there, it is a deal breaker. I can live with a dummied down interface, I can even put up (barely) the slow menus but no MRV, TTG, or 30SS and I will stick with Tivo Proper.

Does anyone know if the Comcast Tivo will have any or all of these features?

[TiVo Troll]

What "low monthly rate"?

You're probably going to be disappointed with Comcast's version of TiVo. Why not p/u another HDTiVo for only $250 now and pay TiVo's MSD "low monthly rate" of $9.95?

[HiDefGator]

I don't think they are targeting existing Tivo customers. The target customer will be an existing Comcast DVR customer willing to fork over another $3 a month to try the Tivo interface. As such they won't be comparing the SofTivo service to a real Tivo. The comparison will be to the Comcast box as it is today. You should probably go buy a real Tivo today instead of waiting.

[zand94]

I would say MRV & TTG would most definately *not* be available on the Comcast TiVo boxes from everything i've seen about specifications on the boxes Comcast doesnt have the ethernet ports active if available to begin with on the Motorola DVR hardware they'll be using. This allows for the "Tivo Upsell" to allow TiVo to gain fully owned customers with the TiVoHD & S3

[bicker]

Comcast is working on their on MRV approach, which will almost surely be made available to the TiVo software running on their boxes when they finally roll it out. It will likely have nothing to do with premium TiVo service they offer.

These things aren't necessary, however, for the Comcast TiVo to be successful. The Comcast TiVo needs only be $2.99 per month better than their standard offering in order for the Comcast TiVo to be successful.

[wmhjr]

What "low monthly rate"?

You're probably going to be disappointed with Comcast's version of TiVo. Why not p/u another HDTiVo for only $250 now and pay TiVo's MSD "low monthly rate" of $9.95?


Actually remember that it's $9.95 plus the Tivo purchase price plus the cablecard rental fees.....

No matter how you do the math, unless you already had lifetime to transfer to a box, Tivo is always more expensive. However, it does give you features that the Cableco boxes will likely never give you.

Now, if only mine actually worked :(

[andydumi]

These things aren't necessary, however, for the Comcast TiVo to be successful. The Comcast TiVo needs only be $2.99 per month better than their standard offering in order for the Comcast TiVo to be successful.

He's right. They are not aiming to outdo a standalone Tivo, just to make it better than Motorola is right now.

To us a 2.99 difference would be justified by better season pass management, easier searches, no longer having the repeating recordings, easier ff and rwd and customization of the guide (remove unwanted channels). Those are really the only features that we miss on our DVR that we are used to on the Tivo. Esata and MRV would be a bonus, but not required to a core Tivo experience.

[TiVo Troll]

No matter how you do the math, unless you already had lifetime to transfer to a box, Tivo is always more expensive. However, it does give you features that the Cableco boxes will likely never give you.


Not exactly.

TiVo's most expensive monthly Service Plan costs $12.95, but Prepaid or Lifetime Service can cost significantly less. Comcast's DVR service in my area is $13.95 monthly.

Comcast provides 1 CableCARD absolutely free, and, in my area provides 'M' cards. HDTiVo uses 1 'M' card.

Is HDTiVo worth owning for $250+ as against renting Comcast's DVR? That's for a prospective user to decide.

[TiVo Troll]

The Comcast TiVo needs only be $2.99 per month better than their standard offering in order for the Comcast TiVo to be successful.

Different sure but 'better' is a highly subjective term!

TiVo is designed specifically for the niche viewer who buys into Total Timeshifting, but IMHO Total Timeshifting is just one way of using a DVR.

'Trick play' on Comcast's DVR probably can't be worse, but iGuide's menu displays and management are different rather than worse than TiVo's, IMHO. I look forward to seeing how Comcast's TiVo with PIP compares with iGuide (and standard TiVo) in actual usage.

$2.99 monthly on top of $13.99 is getting up there. Viewers who want TiVo may do better by just buying TiVo.

I doubt we'll ever see the numbers but it'd be interesting to see the percentage of Comcast DVR users who opt for Comcast's MotoTiVo.

[bicker]

I'm still personally not sure which way I'll go. I've got both TiVos and the Comcast Motorola DVR, so ostensibly I know what I'd be getting as well as anyone other than those who have actually seen the Comcast TiVo... and $2.99 per month is worth it to me ONLY if it doesn't make anything worse. So I might wait a few weeks to hear from initial adopters....

[kmill14]

The only way Comcast Tivo will be successful is if it actually launches.

[JohnnyO]

The only way Comcast Tivo will be successful is if it actually launches.

Heh -- +1

The recent announcement about an answer to SDV helps put the standalone TiVo boxes "back on the table" for me, but that is still six months away, at best. Of course, it might be six months before the Comcast TiVo boxes are available in my area too.

[tem]

30 second skip is one of the 'main' features ? I used to use it a lot but have found that simply doing 3x fast forward is much easier. I highly doubt that it's the sort of thing that will determine whether it sinks or swims.

For me, I'll probably switch once it comes to my area as I'd like to keep TiVO and I'm getting sick of D*.

[bicker]

I spent over five years as a TiVo owner without using 30 second skip. I use it now, and while it is better it is only mildly so, as compared to regular FF.

[Amat]

The current Comcast DVR has a very effective 30 second skip. Here are the instructions how to program it on your remote. I have used it for several years.

1. Press "CABLE" button
2. Press and hold "SETUP" button til you see 2 blinks on the "CABLE" button
3. Enter 994
4. Press and release the "SETUP" button again
5. Enter 00173
6. Press the button you want to use for the 30-second skip

Regards,

Amat

[bicker]

Just a note about the Motorola DVRs' 30 second skip: I think this is specific to certain low-end Samsung audio systems.... usage of the 30 second skip tends to screw up the TOSLINK handshake, thereby losing sound. This happens about 10%-15% of the time. Cycling the audio system typically (but not always) resolves the issue. The TiVo S3 doesn't exhibit the same problem. (I suspect that the Motorola box actually terminates the audio connection during the skip, while the TiVo just simply switches to its own control audio track ... the blurp.)

[Eitel]

[QUOTE=juhealy;5753592
...BUT if the Comcast Tivo doesn't have Multi Room Viewing, Tivo 2 Go, and the ability to have the 30 second skip. I will be buying another Tivo HD.

Does anyone know if the Comcast Tivo will have any or all of these features?[/QUOTE]

You're out of luck. The Comcast Tivo doesn't have any of these 3 things.