10 Things I Hate about my Series 3 HD

[jjusticeIV]

I've had my Series 3 HD for about two weeks now, here are 10 things that I hate about my tivo.

1. I like how when fast forwarding through commercials, the playback will jump back 30 seconds when I press play, but when I’m rewinding it does the same thing, which is just annoying. If I overshoot with the fast forward, I rewind, press play, and it jumps back into my show again.
2. The color of the program in the ‘guide’ should change color if it is scheduled to be recorded, or is recording.
3. The Menus look terrible in HD. They are fuzzy, the text is fuzzy– they don’t even look HD at all. If you want to see a sharp, well done user interface – plug in an xbox 360. The difference is night and day.
4. When your show is over, and you fast forward to the end of the recording, it doesn’t automatically ask you to delete the program, instead it ‘stops’ about 1 min from the end of the recording. You can then continue to slowly fast forward the additional 1 min and delete the program. Why doesn’t it just fast forward all the way to the end and ask you if you want to delete it?
5. All of my shows have a giant yellow dot with an exclamation point next to them, it gets me anxious just looking down a list of exclamation points. I feel like I’m checking my email at work.
6. There is no indicator bar to monitor how much space I am using…?
7. Give me an option to NOT have a recently deleted folder. If I delete something I want it gone.
8. Strangely, my audio will blank out for about 4 seconds at a time. This will happen about 5 times an hour and is super annoying – I have to rewind to repeat what I missed.
9. There is no “.” Button on the remote? I thought this thing was meant to be used with HD TV’s?
10. When I’m watching a show that I’ve recorded, and want to check the guide to see what else is playing right now, it completely kicks me out of my program and switches to live TV. Why can’t I check the guide while watching a recorded show??

PS. In what sort of parallel universe does it take 10-12 weeks to process a rebate?

[Mars Rocket]

4. You can press the left arrow or TiVo button anywhere within 5 minutes of the end of a show and it will ask if you want to delete it. You don't need to be at the very end.

7. If you turn on Suggestions you'll have a Suggestions folder, but your Recently Deleted folder wil soon contain almost nothing. Not a real solution, of course.

9.You use the jump-to-end button I think - it has a - next to it. The - is more standard for representing digital subchannels than a period.

[jjusticeIV]

9.You use the jump-to-end button I think - it has a - next to it. The - is more standard for representing digital subchannels than a period.


Ahh, yes I see now. Thank you! New Title: "9 things I hate about my tivo Series 3" (:

[pl1]

1. I like how when fast forwarding through commercials, the playback will jump back 30 seconds when I press play, but when I’m rewinding it does the same thing, which is just annoying. If I overshoot with the fast forward, I rewind, press play, and it jumps back into my show again.?Used to be (if I remember correctly) that when you hit either FF 3X or RW 3X and hit the button for the fourth time, it would catch up. If you hit play, it would not do that, it would start playing without the catch up feature. But I may be wrong about that.

The only way to acheive this now is to hit PAUSE then PLAY during your FF or RW.

EDIT: And of course, there is the digital 30 sec skip, which I prefer to use.

[TexasAg]

(1) Some of the OP's "problems" are not problems at all, which he/she would have known by simply reading the user's guide (like finding that the dash above the three on the remote is the period for digital channels).

(2) Others of the OP's "problems" could have been identified beforehand by simple research.

(3) I hate lists about things people hate.:)

[Deanq4]

1. I like how when fast forwarding through commercials, the playback will jump back 30 seconds when I press play, but when I’m rewinding it does the same thing, which is just annoying. If I overshoot with the fast forward, I rewind, press play, and it jumps back into my show again.

Use 30 second skip and the instant replay button. Works great, if you overshoot you can back up using instant replay. You do have to set it up (once) press Select-play-select-3-0-select while watching a pre-recorded show. then you are done.

2. The color of the program in the ‘guide’ should change color if it is scheduled to be recorded, or is recording.

I agree, or at least a red dot!

3. The Menus look terrible in HD. They are fuzzy, the text is fuzzy– they don’t even look HD at all. If you want to see a sharp, well done user interface – plug in an xbox 360. The difference is night and day.

Have heard this a lot. I guess they just changed the background to HD not the text itself. Anyways.... who cares, the show is what is important.

4. When your show is over, and you fast forward to the end of the recording, it doesn’t automatically ask you to delete the program, instead it ‘stops’ about 1 min from the end of the recording. You can then continue to slowly fast forward the additional 1 min and delete the program. Why doesn’t it just fast forward all the way to the end and ask you if you want to delete it?

use the 30 sec skip (again) and get with in 5 minutes of the end, then press the left direction (see other poster)

5. All of my shows have a giant yellow dot with an exclamation point next to them, it gets me anxious just looking down a list of exclamation points. I feel like I’m checking my email at work.

Change your season pass settings to "keep until I delete" if that really bugs you, but be ready to miss some shows when they won't fit. The dot is a warning that it may be deleted if you need more space.

6. There is no indicator bar to monitor how much space I am using…?

Watch you recently deleted folder, it will give you an idea (meaning if it is down to one or two shows, then you are out of space)

7. Give me an option to NOT have a recently deleted folder. If I delete something I want it gone.

See previous note. It is nice to have though when your wife thinks you saw the episode of your favorite TV show and deletes it.

8. Strangely, my audio will blank out for about 4 seconds at a time. This will happen about 5 times an hour and is super annoying – I have to rewind to repeat what I missed.

weird, new one on that. Try changing out the cable you have it hooked to your audio system with.

9. There is no “.” Button on the remote? I thought this thing was meant to be used with HD TV’s?

there is, it is just the -> button. Has a (-) under it.

10. When I’m watching a show that I’ve recorded, and want to check the guide to see what else is playing right now, it completely kicks me out of my program and switches to live TV. Why can’t I check the guide while watching a recorded show??

um.... ok. Guess I don't care what is on. You do know that you can hit the left direction and it will take you back to the menu and you can start the show right where you left off.


PS. In what sort of parallel universe does it take 10-12 weeks to process a rebate?

Welcome to the world of rebates. I can give you 5 reasons why it could take that long. 1) Tivo does process them by hand and it takes a while to sort though all of the rebates they get. 2) Isn't one of the requirements that you use the service for 30 days? that would take up a lot of the time (4 weeks or so). Otherwise you could send it in and then return it making $200 off tivo. 3) Time value of money, the longer they can stall you, the longer they can have that money invested into something that makes them money. 4) Give them more time for you to forget that you sent it in and it didn't come. Though not a likely practice for a $200 rebate, does happen a lot in normal rebates. and finally 5) They are just slow people and don't like you because you complain too much (Just Kidding)

I thought that I would throw out there how much you "lose" waiting the 10-12 weeks. In this example you would have used your Credit card with a in interest rate of 15% and not paid off the $200 until you got your check.

$200(1+.15)^(3/12) = $207.11.

So it will cost you (at 15% interest) $7.11 dollars. Or 60 cents a week.
Not a ton of money, but I guess you could call tivo and complain and see if they will give you a month free :D

oh, outside of the complaints..... do you like your tivo?

[jjusticeIV]

oh, outside of the complaints..... do you like your tivo?

Thanks for your great reply, I didn't know about the 30 second skip thing - but now it's programmed in and works great!

I DO like a lot of things about the tivo - I like the fact that you can rate things and it will auto-record things that you might like. I like when you are watching a promo for a show and it gives you the "thumbs up to record" option - among other things. Probably most of all I am glad it will auto-update its software via the internet. I bet a lot of my complaints will be addressed via automatic updates.

[pl1]

Thanks for your great reply, I didn't know about the 30 second skip thing - but now it's programmed in and works great!

I DO like a lot of things about the tivo - I like the fact that you can rate things and it will auto-record things that you might like. I like when you are watching a promo for a show and it gives you the "thumbs up to record" option - among other things. Probably most of all I am glad it will auto-update its software via the internet. I bet a lot of my complaints will be addressed via automatic updates.Wow. Just goes to show. The things you mention you "LIKE" are some of the most complained about issues. :D

For example, many complain about "suggestions" and want to know how to turn them off. Also, many feel that promos are a form of advertising which should not be on their box since they are paying a subscription. As far as auto-updating software upgrades, there are DVR's that don't do this? I never knew that. I thought they would all update on their own. Do you have to initiate a download?

What about Season Passes and Wishlists? That's the biggest reason for a TiVo.

[greg_burns]

7. Give me an option to NOT have a recently deleted folder. If I delete something I want it gone.

You should be complaining about the "logic" used to empty it like everybody else does and not that you have a recently deleted folder. Maybe you can add that to your list. ;)

Having the folder is a good thing!

[bizzy]

You should be complaining about the "logic" used to empty it like everybody else does and not that you have a recently deleted folder. Maybe you can add that to your list. ;)

Having the folder is a good thing!


The dumb thing about the "recently deleted" folder is its sort order. There is no way to have the list sorted in the order that the programs were deleted. That's just plain stupid.

[greg_burns]

The dumb thing about the "recently deleted" folder is its sort order. There is no way to have the list sorted in the order that the programs were deleted. That's just plain stupid.

We'll that makes at least two dumbs things about it then. :)

Edit: The other being... ;)
It should purge based on the oldest delete date, not on whatever method it uses now.

[TexasGrillChef]

I've had my Series 3 HD for about two weeks now, here are 10 things that I hate about my tivo.

1. I like how when fast forwarding through commercials, the playback will jump back 30 seconds when I press play, but when I’m rewinding it does the same thing, which is just annoying. If I overshoot with the fast forward, I rewind, press play, and it jumps back into my show again.


I haven't experinaced this... so no comment.


2. The color of the program in the ‘guide’ should change color if it is scheduled to be recorded, or is recording.


Notice the "RED DOT" next to it? Are ya blind?




3. The Menus look terrible in HD. They are fuzzy, the text is fuzzy– they don’t even look HD at all. If you want to see a sharp, well done user interface – plug in an xbox 360. The difference is night and day.


I agree that the TiVo Menus should be in true HD format. Although it looks pretty good on my HDTV. Then again, I do have a Video Processor built into my receiver that does a great job of upconverting video to 1080i & cleaning up any 1080i/1080p video that passes through it.



4. When your show is over, and you fast forward to the end of the recording, it doesn’t automatically ask you to delete the program, instead it ‘stops’ about 1 min from the end of the recording. You can then continue to slowly fast forward the additional 1 min and delete the program. Why doesn’t it just fast forward all the way to the end and ask you if you want to delete it?


This is actually a safety feature. Keeps idiots from accidently deleting shows.



5. All of my shows have a giant yellow dot with an exclamation point next to them, it gets me anxious just looking down a list of exclamation points. I feel like I’m checking my email at work.


Ummmm, You can change that by changing your options how it records & how long it will keep the show after it records.



6. There is no indicator bar to monitor how much space I am using…?


Everyone has been asking for this for ages.... Since the S1. No idea why they haven't added this feature yet.



7. Give me an option to NOT have a recently deleted folder. If I delete something I want it gone.


I would like this too... or so I thought... until once I accidently deleted a couple of shows. And another time my wife deleted on she thought I had watched when I didn't and I needed to rescue it from the folder.



8. Strangely, my audio will blank out for about 4 seconds at a time. This will happen about 5 times an hour and is super annoying – I have to rewind to repeat what I missed.


Doesn't do this on my TV/Receiver. Sure it isn't your cable/TV/Receiver?



9. There is no “.” Button on the remote? I thought this thing was meant to be used with HD TV’s?


No "." button... but the "-" button does the SAME thing.



10. When I’m watching a show that I’ve recorded, and want to check the guide to see what else is playing right now, it completely kicks me out of my program and switches to live TV. Why can’t I check the guide while watching a recorded show??


I agree this would be nice.



PS. In what sort of parallel universe does it take 10-12 weeks to process a rebate?

They use a 3rd Party Company to process rebates. Just like EVERY OTHER COMPANY does.... the average rebate turn around time for any company that I have ever seen is anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks.

TGC

[bizzy]

It should purge based on the oldest delete date, not on whatever method it uses now.

It doesn't? Good grief.

I wonder how hard it would be to get a job at Tivo as Director of Development. I know for a fact that I'd do a better job than whatever schmoe is cashing his checks there now.

My only question is how much of a chance change has. Ive been at plenty of shops where entrenched process and lack of enthusiasm for the product crush any positive change before it even has a chance.

From the limited view I have of how Tivo works, it seems to me that software development has been driven by short-sighted marketing goals for a long time. It would take a strong leader to get the process straightened out.

[greg_burns]

Notice the "RED DOT" next to it? Are ya blind?

He is talking about the Guide, not the Now Playlist List. Another, oft requested feature that is apparently way too complicated to get done.

[rlawson4]

I think the most important missing feature is the ability of one Tivo to control/network with other Tivos. When I had Replaytv, you could schedule and delete recordings on other units. It would also look to other units for schedule conflict resolution.

[TriBruin]

I've had my Series 3 HD for about two weeks now, here are 10 things that I hate about my tivo.

1. I like how when fast forwarding through commercials, the playback will jump back 30 seconds when I press play, but when I’m rewinding it does the same thing, which is just annoying. If I overshoot with the fast forward, I rewind, press play, and it jumps back into my show again.
2. The color of the program in the ‘guide’ should change color if it is scheduled to be recorded, or is recording.
3. The Menus look terrible in HD. They are fuzzy, the text is fuzzy– they don’t even look HD at all. If you want to see a sharp, well done user interface – plug in an xbox 360. The difference is night and day.
4. When your show is over, and you fast forward to the end of the recording, it doesn’t automatically ask you to delete the program, instead it ‘stops’ about 1 min from the end of the recording. You can then continue to slowly fast forward the additional 1 min and delete the program. Why doesn’t it just fast forward all the way to the end and ask you if you want to delete it?
5. All of my shows have a giant yellow dot with an exclamation point next to them, it gets me anxious just looking down a list of exclamation points. I feel like I’m checking my email at work.
6. There is no indicator bar to monitor how much space I am using…?
7. Give me an option to NOT have a recently deleted folder. If I delete something I want it gone.
8. Strangely, my audio will blank out for about 4 seconds at a time. This will happen about 5 times an hour and is super annoying – I have to rewind to repeat what I missed.
9. There is no “.” Button on the remote? I thought this thing was meant to be used with HD TV’s?
10. When I’m watching a show that I’ve recorded, and want to check the guide to see what else is playing right now, it completely kicks me out of my program and switches to live TV. Why can’t I check the guide while watching a recorded show??

PS. In what sort of parallel universe does it take 10-12 weeks to process a rebate?


I won't try and pick apart your list as other have done that. However, I will comment on #1. I actually find this one of the MOST important feature in Tivo and one of the reason I bought a TivoHD after using a Comcast DVR for 12 months. It seems that Tivo has timed the "snap-back" to match normal (at least my normal) reaction time. If I am FFing, I wait until I see the show start and then immediately hit play. If I don't hit the start of the show exactly, I am alway within 1 sec. (I have never like 30Sec Skip, just could not get the hang of it.)

[RonDawg]

The dumb thing about the "recently deleted" folder is its sort order. There is no way to have the list sorted in the order that the programs were deleted. That's just plain stupid.

If you deleted the program, in essence told the TiVo you have no interest in ever watching it again, why does it matter which order the TiVo deletes it?

[lrhorer]

If I overshoot with the fast forward, I rewind, press play, and it jumps back into my show again.
Complain over on TiVo Suggestion Avenue (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=6)

3. The Menus look terrible in HD. They are fuzzy, the text is fuzzy– they don’t even look HD at all. If you want to see a sharp, well done user interface – plug in an xbox 360. The difference is night and day.
I may be mistaken, but I believe the menu images are all created in 480 pixel vertical resolution so that they allow for a minimum of storage space while maximizing speed and compatibility. As with any engineering decision, it's a compromise. I don't recall who it was at the moment, but one notable individual defined a compromise as a solution which makes everyone unhappy.

4. When your show is over, and you fast forward to the end of the recording, it doesn’t automatically ask you to delete the program, instead it ‘stops’ about 1 min from the end of the recording. You can then continue to slowly fast forward the additional 1 min and delete the program. Why doesn’t it just fast forward all the way to the end and ask you if you want to delete it?
First of all, I think you mean jump, not FF. Why would you jump to the end if you are done watching? You have a TiVo now, not a VCR. If you're done watching just quit the show and delete it when the TiVo asks. The answer to, "Why...", is that the if the jump takes the user to the very end, then they are very likely to have hit the end of the recording when they aren't quite done. In fact, this happens to me fairly often. With the way the TiVo is engineered, if there were not this small buffer in place, the user would have to restart the recording. More importantly, the jump key allows the user to jump back and forth between the start and end of the program. If it were not programmed to work this way, then either the user would be unable to jump to the beginning of the propgram or else TiVo would have to dedicate an additional key or a menu item to provide the user the ability to jump to the beginning of the program. All in all, it's a good decision on their part.

5. All of my shows have a giant yellow dot with an exclamation point next to them, it gets me anxious just looking down a list of exclamation points. I feel like I’m checking my email at work.
This is only true of scheduled recordings which are in jeopardy of being deleted, so unless it's been several days since you have recorded anything and you have suggestions turned off, it's not true that every recording is so marked. Recordings set never to expire have a green spot. New scheduled recordings have nothing. Programs about to reach expiry have a plain yellow dot. Suggestions have a little TiVo Icon. Only scheduled programs which have exceeded their expiry date have the warning icon, alerting you to the fact they may be automatically deleted.

6. There is no indicator bar to monitor how much space I am using…?
This has been debated ad-nauseum. How do you define "using"? With or without suggestions? With or without deleted items? Taking into account the approximate space which is going to be used by items in the schedule? Including or excluding suggestions which are to be recorded?

7. Give me an option to NOT have a recently deleted folder. If I delete something I want it gone.
Oh, good heavens. It's one little folder at the very end of the recording list. How does that give you a big heartache? The ability to undelete accidentally deleted recordings was probably the most requested feature in the TiVo's history. I'm very happy for you that you never make mistakes, so if you don't need the feature don't use it and just ignore the one little folder.

10. When I’m watching a show that I’ve recorded, and want to check the guide to see what else is playing right now, it completely kicks me out of my program and switches to live TV. Why can’t I check the guide while watching a recorded show??
You have a TiVo, now, not a VCR. My recommendation is not to use the guide at all. It's inefficient and ineffective. The guide was created some 54 years ago, and it was a questionable compromise even at that time. It has been badly in need of replacement for over 20 years, and with the advent of the TiVo it has been obsolete now for nearly 9 years. Using the tools provided by the Tivo, it can keep track of what's on right now that you like and record it for you. With the exception of a very rare look at the 10 o'clock news live, I haven't watched a live program in over 8 years.

[lrhorer]

It seems that Tivo has timed the "snap-back" to match normal (at least my normal) reaction time. If I am FFing, I wait until I see the show start and then immediately hit play. If I don't hit the start of the show exactly, I am alway within 1 sec. (I have never like 30Sec Skip, just could not get the hang of it.)
Re-reead his post, please. He did not say he didn't like the overrun protection. In fact, he says he likes it. He just points out it's also there when using rewind, and it's annoying when using RR. IMO, he's right.

[lrhorer]

It should purge based on the oldest delete date, not on whatever method it uses now.
'Someone else who isn't reading what others post, it seems. He did not say it doesn't purge in the order deleted, he said it doesn't sort in the order deleted. The two are very different. Now in fact I don't know in what order the programs are purged, but I do suspect it's probably in the order recorded, and I don't particularly see any great advantage to purging in the order deleted as opposed to the order recorded. Indeed, in my case the Recently Deleted folder rarely has anything in it for more than a few hours, so the point is in practice moot.

[lrhorer]

If you deleted the program, in essence told the TiVo you have no interest in ever watching it again, why does it matter which order the TiVo deletes it?

PEOPLE!!!! Please read what others write. To answer the question which might actually have been spawned by what was originally written, the most likely program a viewer is going to want to delete is one he just accidentally deleted. Hours or days later it probably doesn't make much of a difference, but within 10 seconds after one deletes a program is the most likely time to realize it wasn't what one wished to do. Sorting the list by delete time makes sense. Sorting the purge doesn't particularly, and arguments either way are pretty weak. Nonethless, one can argue either way.

[lrhorer]

For example, many complain about "suggestions" and want to know how to turn them off.
I know, and it's just stupid. There is no down side to having suggestions turned on. If the person doesn't wish to take the minimal effort to use thumbs up and thumbs down, then suggestions don't do much for them, but they also don't intrude on their experience.

What about Season Passes and Wishlists? That's the biggest reason for a TiVo.
Amen, brother.

[lrhorer]

It doesn't? Good grief.
'More like, "Ho hum." 'Talk about a tempest in a teakettle.

I wonder how hard it would be to get a job at Tivo as Director of Development. I know for a fact that I'd do a better job than whatever schmoe is cashing his checks there now.
That you might do a better job of having implemented what you think is better is something nearly like a tautology. Of course you can recommend what you think is good better than anyone else. Whether you would do a better job of pleasing more people is another matter. That you would do a better job in the opinion of every TiVo user is an impossibility.

My only question is how much of a chance change has.
That's pretty much a crystal ball question.

From the limited view I have of how Tivo works
Since you admit it's limited, how much stock do you think we should place in your opinion?

it seems to me that software development has been driven by short-sighted marketing goals for a long time.
Frankly, I'm having trouble putting together any cogent framework which might relate to TiVo development, but a large part of the blame for that is the rather ridiculous state of the broadcast technology at this time. It's hard to get anything accomplished in the middle of a tornado.

It would take a strong leader to get the process straightened out.
I've heard that sort of statement often. In my estimation it's not true all that often. Poor leadership has been known to ruin a company, and great leadership has upon occasion helped to lift a company from imminent dissolution, but the fact is a company's success has much more to do with the whims of the bulk of consumers and the actions of the company's rank and file than with management.

[lrhorer]

Notice the "RED DOT" next to it? Are ya blind?
Now THERE'S a true TiVo user. You you (and me) the only real "guide" is the NPL.:)

The NPL is a vastly better place to browse than the guide, but the OP was talking about the live guide.

I agree that the TiVo Menus should be in true HD format. Although it looks pretty good on my HDTV.
There's the rub, if you ask me. The menus look good enough, and enhancing them would come at the cost of some performance and drive space, so I'm unconvinced a better looking menu is a good idea. It would however be nice to have a variable, user selectable font size / number of fields on the screen, though. That way those of us with large HD televisions could get a greater number of items on-screen, while those of us with small SD sets would still be able to read the results.

This is actually a safety feature. Keeps idiots from accidently deleting shows.
No, actually, it's more because they allocated a single button to the jump function. If the jump function worked that way, then it couldn't easily be used to jump to the beginning of the program. Overall, I would say it's a very good compromise.

Everyone has been asking for this for ages.... Since the S1. No idea why they haven't added this feature yet.
In large measure because it isn't a single feature. Which version of the idea should they implement? In order to please anything more than a minority of users, they would have to set up a table of selectable options, or else create multiple meters. It's a bit of a can of worms.

[ah30k]

I know, and it's just stupid. There is no down side to having suggestions turned on. If the person doesn't wish to take the minimal effort to use thumbs up and thumbs down, then suggestions don't do much for them, but they also don't intrude on their experience.For me, there is a down side that intrudes on my experience. Clutter on my NPL with crap I rarely would ever watch. I barely have time to watch the things I am interested in let alone suggestions. I am all for seeing both sides of an argument but don't make it seem like I am the crazy one for turning them off.

[greg_burns]

'Someone else who isn't reading what others post, it seems. He did not say it doesn't purge in the order deleted, he said it doesn't sort in the order deleted. The two are very different.

I know what he said. I was adding to the conversation. Something you are not.

[greg_burns]

Now in fact I don't know in what order the programs are purged, but I do suspect it's probably in the order recorded, and I don't particularly see any great advantage to purging in the order deleted as opposed to the order recorded.

It at least is an expected behavior perhaps. The current way (which I believe is as you state), is not obvious nor expected.

[greg_burns]

I know, and it's just stupid. There is no down side to having suggestions turned on.

With current behavior of switching tuners for each recording there is a big downside for having them on if you are a live TV watcher. Not that I would admit to being one on this forum. ;)

[greg_burns]

For me, there is a down side that intrudes on my experience. Clutter on my NPL with crap I rarely would ever watch.

Surely you have folders turned on, no?

[ah30k]

Surely you have folders turned on, no?Yes, but to be honest I think I turned off suggestions before folders existed. Back then the suggestions showed up as line items in NPL.

I infer from your comment that all suggestions go in a single folder?

[greg_burns]

I infer from your comment that all suggestions go in a single folder?

Yep

[RonDawg]

PEOPLE!!!! Please read what others write.

No need to be rude. I HAVE read what the others wrote, and it still doesn't answer the question: Why does it matter which order the "deleted" programs are really deleted off the hard drive?

While it's not part of the OP's original post, my reply was to greg burns, not to the OP.

[hddude55]

If you took the time to think of ten minor things wrong with the series3, I can only imagine what you'll post here when the tiling starts.

[TexasGrillChef]

Well except for a few minor issues. I love my TiVo.

The one thing I DO WISH that TiVo would put more time & effort into developing is "TiVo Desktop".

That is one peice of software that has ALOT of room for improvement.

I would LOVE to see a Windows Vista TiVo Desktop Gadget. Folder capability & the capability to EDIT the META data of a TiVo file.

They are making some improvements in 2.6. Just wish they would come out with a 3.0 lol

TGC

[greg_burns]

Why does it matter which order the "deleted" programs are really deleted off the hard drive?

When this has been discussed in the past, most people preferred it delete by oldest delete date. The reason it matters, is because if the recently deleted is meant to recover a "recently" deleted program it is flawed. People have reported accidentally deleting something and going to the folder (relatively promptly I might add) and it not being there, yet other programs deleted prior are. Not to belabor the point, but it just seems like a simple problem that could be fixed relatively easily.

[RonDawg]

When this has been discussed in the past, most people preferred it delete by oldest delete date. The reason it matters, is because if the recently deleted is meant to recover a "recently" deleted program it is flawed. People have reported accidentally deleting something and going to the folder (relatively promptly I might add) and it not being there, yet other programs deleted prior are. Not to belabor the point, but it just seems like a simple problem that could be fixed relatively easily.

I've only had to undelete a few programs in the many years I've had a TiVo, but in each case the program in question was right at the very top of the list.

I'm not saying it's never happened to other people, it's just never happened to me with 4 TiVo's spread over 3 different series.

I'm wondering if it's a software bug that is causing the program to be permanently deleted under certain circumstances, rather than just transferred to the Deleted Programs folder.

[RonDawg]

I would LOVE to see a Windows Vista TiVo Desktop Gadget. Folder capability & the capability to EDIT the META data of a TiVo file.

I'd rather wait for Microsoft to fix the bugs in Windows Vista first before we start adding resource-hogging programs like Desktop Gadgets.

[greg_burns]

I'm wondering if it's a software bug that is causing the program to be permanently deleted under certain circumstances, rather than just transferred to the Deleted Programs folder.

Nah, just depends how full your drive is.

Here is just one thread (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=368895)on the subject.

[bizzy]

No need to be rude. I HAVE read what the others wrote, and it still doesn't answer the question: Why does it matter which order the "deleted" programs are really deleted off the hard drive?


Say I have a program that was recorded a long time ago. Since I haven't gotten around to watching it for ages, I delete it.

The next day my wife starts screaming at me, asking why I deleted the show she really wanted to watch. Good grief. Women, etc.

No problem, I say! Look, the Recently Deleted folder has 50 things in it! Surely I will find your program at the top of the list!

Oh Darn! Nope! Not only is the list not sorted in the order I deleted things in, but since it was "old", it has now vanished from my DVR!

Now I am in trouble with the wife again, but at least I have solace in knowing that RonDawg and lhorer are right, and I am wrong.

[pl1]

For me, there is a down side that intrudes on my experience. Clutter on my NPL with crap I rarely would ever watch. I barely have time to watch the things I am interested in let alone suggestions. I am all for seeing both sides of an argument but don't make it seem like I am the crazy one for turning them off.Personally, I've never liked suggestions. For that matter, any TiVo I've set up, the person has asked me how to turn them off. Just a preference.

If you will recall "back in the day", it was suggestions that started the "TiVo is watching you" conspiracy. Big Brother was sending suggestions to your tiVo.

But it reminds me of an old episode of "The Mind Of A Married Man" on HBO http://www.hbo.com/marriedman/the_show/episodes/season1/sea1_ep1.shtml where Mike was watching some show and TiVo decided he was gay. So, he kept watching porn with women to convince TiVo he was straight. His wife saw all of these porn shows on the NPL and he was busted. She wouldn't believe his cockamamie (had to look THAT one up!) story. Sure, she said.

[George Cifranci]

I've had my Series 3 HD for about two weeks now, here are 10 things that I hate about my tivo.

3. The Menus look terrible in HD. They are fuzzy, the text is fuzzy– they don’t even look HD at all. If you want to see a sharp, well done user interface – plug in an xbox 360. The difference is night and day.



I agree (I also have a 360 and a PS3 and the PS3's interface is even better especially in 1080) but it doesn't bother me too much after using the Series 3 for a year. I believe TivoPony said that it would require a complete rewrite of the interface which sounds as though isn't going to happen any time soon. But I agree especially since the Tivo Series 3 was so expensive, THX certified tauted as being top of the line etc... and yet it has a upscaled last generation standard def interface which makes it feel cheap.

However, there are far more important things Tivo needs to do before hand including a solution to make my Tivo stop rebooting random times after turning on my HDTV/Receiver.

[jhimmel]

This has been debated ad-nauseum. How do you define "using"? With or without suggestions? With or without deleted items? Taking into account the approximate space which is going to be used by items in the schedule? Including or excluding suggestions which are to be recorded?

It's not complicated at all. Simple pie chart, three colors -
- User recordings
- Suggestions
- Free
With Suggestions on, there will soon be no "free" - but it doesn't matter.
It would be dumb to include future recordings in a current disk usage indicator.

It's that simple.

[greg_burns]

TivoPlayList does it right :up:

http://i28.tinypic.com/35n21wm.jpg

[morac]

When this has been discussed in the past, most people preferred it delete by oldest delete date.
From my limited testing it deletes based on the order it was recorded. For example I downloaded an Unbox rental and then a week later I downloaded a bunch of free Unbox purchases. I watched and deleted the purchases first, followed by a few recorded TV programs from yesterday and finally I watched and deleted the rental. The rental was the first thing deleted from the recently deleted list since it was the "first" thing recorded even though it was the last thing deleted. I agree that this is not the best system.

[morac]

He is talking about the Guide, not the Now Playlist List. Another, oft requested feature that is apparently way too complicated to get done.
I just checked on my S3 and there is a red dot for currently recording programs in the grid Guide (even for suggestions that are recording).
There is no indicator for scheduled upcoming recording though.

[Playloud]

You have a TiVo, now, not a VCR. My recommendation is not to use the guide at all. It's inefficient and ineffective. The guide was created some 54 years ago, and it was a questionable compromise even at that time. It has been badly in need of replacement for over 20 years, and with the advent of the TiVo it has been obsolete now for nearly 9 years. Using the tools provided by the Tivo, it can keep track of what's on right now that you like and record it for you. With the exception of a very rare look at the 10 o'clock news live, I haven't watched a live program in over 8 years.
Sometimes you just want to see what is on (and what is coming on soon). Having a grid guide is a fine way to do that. . My current DVR box allows me to watch a recorded program, and look at the guide at the same time. It even gives me a little picture box so I can see the show I am watching while I am browsing the guide. Now, if only my DVR box had an actual grid guide, it would be better (biggest design problem in Moxi IMHO). Not being able to see what is on while I am watching a recorded show will be annoying when I buy a Tivo HD next week. Fortunately, the Tivo extras (TivoToGo, Online Scheduling, 2x the HD space of my current DVR box, etc) will make up for it. However, that doesn't mean I don't think the feature the OP wants isn't a good idea. I think it is a great idea.

[greg_burns]

I just checked on my S3 and there is a red dot for currently recording programs in the grid Guide (even for suggestions that are recording).
There is no indicator for scheduled upcoming recording though.

Never noticed that before! :o The red dot isn't there if the little HD icon is in its place though.

Actually, it seems to depend how much screen space there is to show the title, the HD icon and/or the red dot. If there is only a 1/2 hour left of the show it doesn't show either when recording just ellipses.

[morac]

I infer from your comment that all suggestions go in a single folder?

Yep
I want to add a correction to this. Suggestions go in both the suggestion folder and they also go into the folder for the recorded show. For example, if you record one episode of Friends and then another episode of Friends is recorded as a suggestion, a Friends group will be created containing both your specified recording and the suggestion.

This is a pet peave of mine since I order my groups by last recorded and a suggestion bumps up the group to the top of the list when a suggestion is recorded that ends up in that group.

[TexasGrillChef]

I'd rather wait for Microsoft to fix the bugs in Windows Vista first before we start adding resource-hogging programs like Desktop Gadgets.

LOL... waiting for Microsoft to do that would be like waiting for Usama Bin Laden to turn himself in..... Not gonna happen... ever....

TGC

[TexasGrillChef]

TivoPlayList does it right :up:

http://i28.tinypic.com/35n21wm.jpg

Looks like a pacman eating away at my free space.

TGC :D

[Mars Rocket]

There is no down side to having suggestions turned on.

Yes there is - if you have Suggestions turned on then the Recently Deleted folder quickly empties out and becomes almost useless. Items in it are deleted very quickly as new suggestions are recorded.

Also: people who think a used space indicator is too difficult to figure out or too hard to quantify have never used one. If you have TiVoPlayList or TiVoWeb you get a very straightforward, easy to understand, and useful indicator of how much space you have available. It's not hard.

[wedenton]

I've had my Series 3 HD for about two weeks now, here are 10 things that I hate about my tivo.

1. I like how when fast forwarding through commercials, the playback will jump back 30 seconds when I press play, but when I’m rewinding it does the same thing, which is just annoying. If I overshoot with the fast forward, I rewind, press play, and it jumps back into my show again.


Too eliminate the jump back, press the "Pause" button twice instead of pressing play. This works either going forward or going backward.

[sender_name]

TivoPlayList does it right :up:

http://i28.tinypic.com/35n21wm.jpg

yeah, but my issue w/ that app is how do you know what your 'real' HD size is...Like my series 2 has an 80gig and my series 3 has a 1tb, but there is not that amount avail for recording




Too eliminate the jump back, press the "Pause" button twice instead of pressing play. This works either going forward or going backward.

actually i noticed my series 3 hd does still do a jump back w/ the pause method. I used to have the snap perfectly timed in football games...play ends, 2x ff....1...2...3...pause, pause and then i would be at the next snap. Now it jumps back at the first pause, and skips back over 1/2 of the 2x ff i did...

[greg_burns]

yeah, but my issue w/ that app is how do you know what your 'real' HD size is...Like my series 2 has an 80gig and my series 3 has a 1tb, but there is not that amount avail for recording

Doesn't matter really.

My FSI app (http://greg_burns.home.comcast.net/~greg_burns/tdl/), like TivoPlayList, will grow the pie chart as it sees how much space it is using. Eventually, overtime, by it remembering* the largest size it had ever seen, you can get a pretty accurate feel for the size of the disk used for recordings.

*My app actually doesn't remember between runs (yet) :o.

[pmrowley]

Say I have a program that was recorded a long time ago. Since I haven't gotten around to watching it for ages, I delete it.

The next day my wife starts screaming at me, asking why I deleted the show she really wanted to watch. Good grief. Women, etc.

No problem, I say! Look, the Recently Deleted folder has 50 things in it! Surely I will find your program at the top of the list!

Oh Darn! Nope! Not only is the list not sorted in the order I deleted things in, but since it was "old", it has now vanished from my DVR!

Now I am in trouble with the wife again, but at least I have solace in knowing that RonDawg and lhorer are right, and I am wrong.

QFT. Never understood the logic in sorting the Recently Deleted by the AGE of the show; the most recently deleted show should be on the top, and the last to be purged. Period. Sorting it by show age is dumb, dumb, dumb, and something that has annoyed me from day 1. I have experienced exactly the same scenario as above, as well as accidentally deleting a show because I was moving ahead of the remote delay, then having to spend 5 minutes scrolling down a hundred deleted items to find the item that I need to recover.

-P

[wkearney]

[QUOTE=pmrowley;5930156]QFT. Never understood the logic in sorting the Recently Deleted by the AGE of the show; the most recently deleted show should be on the top, and the last to be purged. /QUOTE]

So have you filed a request with Tivo asking for this? You're basically asking for an option to sort the trashcan, much like being able to sort the NPL. It wouldn't seem like much of a UI issue. It would, however, require adding a timestamp to the item, that might be more complicated.

Frankly I've found it's better to just add a bigger drive and set the 'keep until I delete' option on season passes. Of course the downside to this is you're then faced with a lot of manual housekeeping to purge them all. But since you're not shy on disk space you're in no rush. Just watch out for recording all showings and marathon re-runs. A weekend marathon in HD would really chew through disk space.

That and get to know the Clear button on the remote. Pressing it when in the NPL will allow you to delete the program in one step.

[morac]

That and get to know the Clear button on the remote. Pressing it when in the NPL will allow you to delete the program in one step.

The S3 remote is kind of picky and sometimes registers a double press when you hit clear. The whole reason for the recently deleted folder is to recover stuff you accidentally deleted. Making the user search for what he/she deleted is just a bad design.

[pmrowley]

So have you filed a request with Tivo asking for this? You're basically asking for an option to sort the trashcan, much like being able to sort the NPL. It wouldn't seem like much of a UI issue. It would, however, require adding a timestamp to the item, that might be more complicated.

Frankly I've found it's better to just add a bigger drive and set the 'keep until I delete' option on season passes. Of course the downside to this is you're then faced with a lot of manual housekeeping to purge them all. But since you're not shy on disk space you're in no rush. Just watch out for recording all showings and marathon re-runs. A weekend marathon in HD would really chew through disk space.

That and get to know the Clear button on the remote. Pressing it when in the NPL will allow you to delete the program in one step.

Yes, I've submitted feature requests. I'm not the first to complain about this thing, and I've yet to see a response since it was implemented originally.

I realize that you're trying to be helpful, but you're assuming I don't know how to use my system and making a bunch of suggestions on how to work around a problem that really shouldn't exist, and describing solutions that don't apply to what I referred to. My S3 has 2 TB of storage. My Recently Deleted folder has over 150 entries at any one time, so it takes several minutes to scroll through it when my 'clear' button registers a double-press and accidentally deletes something I didn't want to delete. If the Recently Deleted actually sorted by when something was deleted, my accidental deletes would be at the top of the list, and would be the last to be purged when space runs out, instead of first to be purged just because it was the oldest item on my system.

[Moebius]

I found my first "gotcha" in switching from STS2 models to TiVoHD. In this case, not a problem, or a bad thing, just me having to learn a new twist, specifically dealing with dual tuners and suggestions.

I was watching FoodNetwork yesterday (not something I wanted to record, but just keeping an eye on for recipes), and noticed that TiVo was recording a suggestion on the other tuner. So, I switched over, noticed it was something I didn't care about, pulled up the guide and found a channel to set it on. I then switched tuners to go back to FoodNetwork, only to find out that TiVo had switched that tuner to the new channel and kept recording the suggestion. In the past in single tuner land, I was used to just changing channels to kill a suggestion. Now I have to teach myself to actually cancel the recording if I care about what's on the other tuner. :D

Now, before the never watch live tv activists start in, despite being a TiVo user for many years, I still watch live on occasion. Mostly news, sports, and things I don't care about watching later.

[astrohip]

There is no down side to having suggestions turned on.
Yes there is. I don't watch them and don't want them. They empty my RD folder, which is a kludge for an FSI. And they use a tuner, and I like to keep my tuners free for me, not for suggestions. I sometimes watch live TV (heretic!) and have no desire to let a suggestion steal a tuner away from me.

QFT. Never understood the logic in sorting the Recently Deleted by the AGE of the show; the most recently deleted show should be on the top, and the last to be purged. Period.
Unless I'm stoned, the RD *is* sorted by most recently deleted, and not by age. I think what you are running into is the RD folder purges itself by age of show. This creates the problem of an old, old recording being deleted, and instantly being wiped out if would be the oldest show in the RD folder.

It's a simple fix for TiVo; purge in the same order it's listed--by date of deletion.