Initial impressions and problems

[dgk]

Just got my HD version activated. It's a refurb, the first refurb from WOOT was DOA and TiVo was nice enough to replace it. I did not read most of the manual yet (RTFM) but had a few first impressions I wanted to ask about.

There is no way to turn TiVo off? Nothing on the remote seems appropriate, nor on the box itself.

TiVo doesn't show me the current station? My Time Warner DVR does show me what station I'm on. Not a biggie but sort of annoying. Setup lets me turn on a few leds, but somewhere on the front panel it could show me the current station.

I think the remote can turn on the TV and Receiver? I read that somewhere but don't see any buttons on the remote for ALL ON/ ALL OFF. There is a TV power button.

Picking letters (for the wishlist) isn't very well handled. My only real complaint is that you can't wrap around the ends. When I'm at the end of a row and try to hit Right to wrap back to the first letter in that row, it just beeps at me. That should be handled better.

The wishlist search doesn't seem to find HD versions of the shows, only the ones on the SD channels. Maybe I need to do something else to tell it to search HD? Maybe it hasn't been long enough to get all the programming for the HD channels? Why does it take so long to get the programming anyway?

Other things are really good. It integrates the OTA stations with the Cable ones, and the OTA often is better.

It messed up a Tennis broadcast but that wasn't its fault. Near the end of the broadcast there is a banner saying to change to ESPN (from ESPN2) for the conclusion of the match. I would have been VERY impressed if TiVo had done that.

All in all, so far, so good.

[ZeoTiVo]

since you setup scheduled recordings in a TiVo DVR - you really want to keep it on so it will record them.

The TiVo has been measured as consuming power like a 30W light bulb.

there sia higher priced sries 3 that has display on front that shows channel and show for both tuners. That was taken off the TiVo HD as TiVo wnated to bring its cost down as much as possible.

You may want to check out some threads on harmony all in one remotes for more remote functionality.

[ewilts]

There is no way to turn TiVo off? Nothing on the remote seems appropriate, nor on the box itself.
You can go to standby, but if the TiVo is off, how do you expect it to record? It's meant to be an always-on appliance.

TiVo doesn't show me the current station? My Time Warner DVR does show me what station I'm on. Not a biggie but sort of annoying. Setup lets me turn on a few leds, but somewhere on the front panel it could show me the current station.
If your TV is on, just press the right arrow or Info button on your remote and you'll get it all.

I think the remote can turn on the TV and Receiver? I read that somewhere but don't see any buttons on the remote for ALL ON/ ALL OFF. There is a TV power button.
Once you have it programmed, the TV power button actually does both. Search for the instructions on the TiVo web site in their tech support section.
It doesn't seem to work for all TVs and receivers, but it does for most.

The wishlist search doesn't seem to find HD versions of the shows, only the ones on the SD channels. Maybe I need to do something else to tell it to search HD?

It shows you the lowest channel number that matches first. Press the option to show all times for the show and you'll see the other channels pop up. You can also search for HD only if that's what you want.

It messed up a Tennis broadcast but that wasn't its fault. Near the end of the broadcast there is a banner saying to change to ESPN (from ESPN2) for the conclusion of the match. I would have been VERY impressed if TiVo had done that.
It didn't mess it up - it did exactly what it was told to do.

The TiVo is not real time and there is no way for it to know that a live program runs late or changes to another channel. It polls on a regular basis but if you're connected via a phone line, that's only once per day - broadband is more frequent but still, it's a pull from the TiVo, not a push from the other end. Just imagine if it had to push out a channel change or a time extension to 1 million TiVos at the last minute! Until the cable companies embed that sort of intelligence into the data stream, there's nothing TiVo can do. You need to learn to pad your live programming and beat up on ESPN when they change channels in the middle of a broadcast (although ESPN also has a hard problem since they can't start the new program on the other channel either or you'd miss recording that one). Dealing with live events will always be problematic.

[dgk]

Thanks.

My Time Warner DVR turns off but still records. It's semantics I guess, I feel more green pushing a button to turn it off. As long as it consumes less power when I'm not watching, I feel better. I once got a tester that checks that stuff (I was curious about how much power a computer PSU uses) and I'll hook it up to the TWDVR and the TiVo. By the way, buy an expensive (I recommend Seasonic but there are other good ones) computer PSU. You WILL save money, surprisingly quickly. I have one computer I leave on all the time so it's important.

How do I get it to go into standby?

I know about pressing Info, but it's annoying. Instead of glancing at the unit and knowing where I am, I need to get the remote and press a button. Oh, the inhumanity. That's a funny place to save a few cents.

I'll try searching for all times for a show and see if that gets the HD versions.

[stevel]

Your Time Warner DVR does not turn off. Like a TiVo in standby, it turns off front panel displays and audio/video outputs, but otherwise it keeps on chugging. On the TiVo remotes, there is not a standby button - you can get to it from the menus. But it does not save you any power either, so I wouldn't bother.

[Tom White]

You can go to standby, but if the TiVo is off, how do you expect it to record?

My series 2 DT will turn on and record as scheduled if I put it in standby mode. Does the HD version NOT do this?

[stevel]

Your Series 2 DT won't record if it is powered off (the only way to do that is to unplug it.) The HD TiVos work the same way - "Standby" leaves everything running inside, but it shuts off the lights.

[ZeoTiVo]

My series 2 DT will turn on and record as scheduled if I put it in standby mode. Does the HD version NOT do this?

as Steve is implying - standby is nothing like powered off.

in standby for the TWC and TiVo DVR the hard drive is still spinning and that is the biggest consumer of power.

DVRs are just meant to be ready to go and any kind of power saving mode is more likely to upset customers due to muissed recordings or no live TV buffer than the small amount of energy.

Unplug all your wall warts whne not in use -that will ave a lot more power anyway. Or get a front loading washer and dryer - that brought both my energy and water bill down considerably

[dgk]

Talk about off topic. A front loading washer and dryer will save money and water? I have a front loading dryer, but it's gas. I think there is little difference there. But a washer? A front loader saves money? I can't see why. Well, the top loader uses an agitator to stir things up, that probably takes a lot of power. A top loader uses, hmm, just a spinner, right? It just spins. Must be easier on clothes then all that up and down and back and forth activity.

When the washer dies, I'll consider it.

[greg_burns]

A front loading washer uses a lot less water for sure. If you run hot water to wash clothes, that could save some I bet. Also, since it uses less water it takes less energy to spin the water out of the clothes. Bought a front loading washer last year and love it. :)

/off topic

[ZeoTiVo]

When the washer dies, I'll consider it.most front loading washers take a lot less water which translates to savings through the whole wash and dry cycle - I most likely save the energy in one wash load that a TiVo uses in a week.


Plus I got a free samsung 19nch LCD when I bought the Samsung washer and dryer :D

[dgk]

I would have thought that a front loader would do an inferior job of cleaning compared to an agitator but web reports say otherwise. They're more expensive but use less water and do a better job cleaning. I'm not about to rush and and buy one though, but I'll keep my eye open for specials.