Series 2 question

[jimintn]

I am thinking of buying a Series 2 TiVo with the dual tuners. I understand the digital cable box connects to the unit and uses an attachment from the TiVo unit to change the channels. I also understand that it can only record from one digital station and one analog at the same time. My question is this:

Next February when all channels are supposed to go digital, will I only be able to record one program at a time? I don't want to buy something now that will be obsolete in a few months.

Thanks!

[SpiritualPoet]

Your cable company will continue to send the feeds via analog for the forseeable future so there is no immediate loss of ability to record onto your TiVo. Keep in mind that your series 2 model is not capable of receiving HD signals at all.

[jimintn]

Thanks!

Right now nothing I have is HD, and even when we upgrade, the room I need this for won't be upgraded any time soon.

[ZeoTiVo]

Next February when all channels are supposed to go digital
that is only for Over The Air (OTA) broadcast it has no relation to cable AT ALL.

Cable Companies on their own will decide for business reasons when to go all digital, the FCC has no interest in recaliming bandwidth within their cable since the FCC can not auction it off again ;)

so call your cable company or look for communication from them. Chances are they have no forseeable plan to go all digital though some areas in Chicago and DFW area, TX have gone all digital

[classicsat]

In the event your cable provider does turn off the analog channels, the Series 2 DT will become single tuner.

If you are worried about that, get a TiVo HD. It will record two digital channels.

If you do choose the Series 2 DT, it will not be "obsolete", just reduced function.

[lew]

FiOS is going all digital. Sometime in April it will be all digital in the New York area.
FiOS will be all digital, systemwide, by next February. They are using the same deadline as being used for OTA. Word is we're getting more HD channels with the bandwidth being freed up.

Do you really want to go back to have to use an IR emitter? Some of the newer cable boxes don't always work with serial.

ZeoTivo--unless a cable system is 100% digital they have to carry analag versions of all OTA channels,gives some cable systems a reason to go 100% digital. Plus next February people with old sets will need a box to receive OTA channels, those same people will need a box to receive digital cable.

[ZeoTiVo]

ZeoTivo--unless a cable system is 100% digital they have to carry analag versions of all OTA channels,gives some cable systems a reason to go 100% digital. Plus next February people with old sets will need a box to receive OTA channels, those same people will need a box to receive digital cable.
the OP was speaking of cable and my reply was to help him understand HIS situation - not debate the nuances of the rules.

PS -FIOS is newer stuff without much legacy analog customers. They have a very compelling business case to go all digital now.

[lew]

The fact is some systems are going 100% digital and the fact is the rules that apply to OTA are related to the reasons FiOS is going 100% digital.

We don't have debate the nuances of the rules to warn posters that some systems will either be going 100% digital, or at least 100% digital for all non-broadcast stations.

People purchasing tivo have to understand series 2 units won't work that well with digital cable. They should also understand series 3 units won't well with the increasing number of SDV systems, until the "dongle" is released and works.




the OP was speaking of cable and my reply was to help him understand HIS situation - not debate the nuances of the rules.

PS -FIOS is newer stuff without much legacy analog customers. They have a very compelling business case to go all digital now.

[ZeoTiVo]

We don't have debate the nuances of the rules to warn posters
the fact is I told the OP that and the fact is I told the OP to contact his cable company or look for communications on going digital.
but if you want to threadcrap and muck up the OPs thread, then the fact is.........

[scandia101]

People purchasing tivo have to understand series 2 units won't work that well with digital cable.

Series 2 TiVos work just fine with digital cable boxes as do the S1 TiVos.

[lew]

Series 2 TiVos work just fine with digital cable boxes as do the S1 TiVos.

Having to use a cable box defeats the purpose of a dual tuner box.

There have been multiple posters who found the serial port was "turned off" after a cable box upgrade. Some cable boxes never have a working serial port. Likewise there are threads describing problems using an IR emitter. I remember posters setting up "tents".

Customers with digital cable are better served with a S3 unit. I'll agree customers that own a S1 or S2 can continue to use it, with some difficulty, but I wouldn't suggest purchasing a S2 if you know, or think, or system will be going digital.

[jimintn]

I didn't mean to start a bunch of arguments. I think I'll be fine for the foreseeable future. I don't think they are going totally digital for a while.

Thanks for all the responses. It is appreciated.

[ZeoTiVo]

I didn't mean to start a bunch of arguments. I think I'll be fine for the foreseeable future. I don't think they are going totally digital for a while.

Thanks for all the responses. It is appreciated.

Welcome to the forum,
and please, no worries - you did not start anything and asked a couple of good questions. Please feel free to reply and ask anything else you may want to know, or just give us an update if you do hear anything more about digital from your cable company. :)


PS - I have TWC cable box hooked up via IR to a cable box. I mostly record from SCI-FI and showtime with it so I kept all my channels listed on the TiVo at analog save for SCi_Fi which I switched to say Ithe TiVo only had the digital multi-cast of 64. Now it does dual tuner for things like ABC, FOX etc.. but i get digital goodnes on my SCi_fi recordings and of course the stuff over 100.

someday i will switch it out for a TiVo HD but no hurry for me on that either as HD is not a driving force for me either. The DT works great with the cable box setup.

[lew]

I didn't mean to start a bunch of arguments. I think I'll be fine for the foreseeable future. I don't think they are going totally digital for a while.

Thanks for all the responses. It is appreciated.


No reason to apologize, you asked a valid question. I'd think carefully before paying for lifetime service for a S2. I think a lot of cable systems will be 100% digital before you'd break even. Otherwise a S2 may work for you. Excluding FiOS most systems won't be 100% digital in the next year or so. My guess is the price/features of a S3 (or replacement unit) will drop by more then the current low price of a S2.

[scandia101]

People purchasing tivo have to understand series 2 units won't work that well with digital cable.
Series 2 TiVos work just fine with digital cable boxes as do the S1 TiVos.

Having to use a cable box defeats the purpose of a dual tuner box.

Yes, but that has nothing to do with your previous statement.

[jimintn]

I have ordered a series two with the dual tuners. I can live with the cable box and IR tuner. I can live with most of it's limitations....I can't live without the tv I miss while working two jobs during the week. We have a Moxi box through the cable company, but we can only have one, and my wife uses it so that when her mother (who lives with us) needs something, she can pause it and go back to it later.

The networking capabilities is especially intriguing to me. I need to look at it, but i am guessing that if you have all series 2 boxes, they can be networked together even if one is a dual tuner and the other are single tuners.

I am really looking forward to getting it set up and starting to play with it.

[lew]

Yes, but that has nothing to do with your previous statement.

Why do you only quote part of my post? Skipping the part the answers your question? Did you not read the rest of my post?

There have been multiple posters who found the serial port was "turned off" after a cable box upgrade. Some cable boxes never have a working serial port. Likewise there are threads describing problems using an IR emitter. I remember posters setting up "tents".

[classicsat]

The networking capabilities is especially intriguing to me. I need to look at it, but i am guessing that if you have all series 2 boxes, they can be networked together even if one is a dual tuner and the other are single tuners.

You can network all Series 2 and Series 3 TiVos and transfer recordings amongst them, with a couple caveats;


They all must be subbed on the same account and same network subnet.
HD programs from a Series 3/TiVo HD cannot be transferred to a Series 2.
Copy protected recordings cannot be transferred.
DVD recorder units cannot burn transferred content, only content which was "locally" recorded.