Taking my Tivo with on a trip

[Shanezam203]

For the last few trips I tried using Slingbox and I just wasn't crazy about the perfomance even when on broadband.

I am taking my single tuner Tivo with me to the hotel room, would you assume I can plug the cable IN and access the hotel wifi for updates...

Any issues you can think of?

Thanks,
Shane

[RonDawg]

Some issues I can think of:

1. Many hotels have security systems that activate when you disconnect the coax from the TV, as it thinks you're about to steal the TV.

2. Most hotels have specialized TV lineups that don't match up to the local cable provider, or with satellite feeds meant for residential accounts.

3. If the hotel has one of those internet connections that work through the TV, I suspect these TV's use some sort of two-way communication which is currently not compatible with any TiVo. Without this ability, you may not be able to get out of the hotel's "home page" which shows up every time the TV is powered on.

[richsadams]

Agree w/RonDawg...you probably won't be able to get any guide data. However you may get away with using a composite (RCA r/w/y) cable connection to the hotel's TV for playback. Some even have inputs on the front or the side. You'd need to use the hotel TV's remote (or possibly the TV's control panel) to switch the input from TV to line-in, AV or something of that nature.

A lot of the hotels I've been staying at recently have upgraded to flat panels. They usually have a number of input options.

[classicsat]

Some issues I can think of:

1. Many hotels have security systems that activate when you disconnect the coax from the TV, as it thinks you're about to steal the TV.

Or steal their PPV service.

2. Most hotels have specialized TV lineups that don't match up to the local cable provider, or with satellite feeds meant for residential accounts.

Last hotel I stayed at (a Holidy Inn Express in London Ontario, Canada) had the local analog cable lineup, plus the hotel PPV. The normal rooms had normal CRT TVs, the suites had LCD sets, both with the box for PPV on the back. I don't know if any had A/V inputs.

For internet, they had the sort of Wifi you had to log on to in a web browser. If you took your TiVo, you could use that through your computer.

[SeattleBrad]

You could search for an internet provider with higher upload speed, and keep using slingbox.

[SeattleBrad]

I assume you've already seen this:
http://support.slingmedia.com/get/KB-005346.html

[SeattleBrad]

You can also find many of your favorite shows here:
http://www.hulu.com/

[Shanezam203]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I stay at this hotel once a month for a week so I will ask them today when I get in for details...

Thanks for the suggestions,
Shane

[ZeoTiVo]

what about a laptop or other portable player instead of lugging your TiVo around. That way the TiVo can keep doing its job at home and stay safe.

Just find out what inputs on the TV are possible and find a portable player that has the right outputs

[dshinnick]

I'm going on a trip and taking my Tivo as well, but I'm loading it up beforehand with stuff I want to watch; I'm not going to bother trying to get connected to the hotel's wifi and redo the channel lineup, etc. Too much trouble. The only glitch I've had in the past is that the hotel sometimes locks the coax cable onto the tv with a proprietary connector so you can't get it loose to hook up the Tivo. I would take a pair of pliers, but if you can't get it loose, then you're going to need a good book....

[alyssa]

Any one brought a S2 on a cruse?

[bicker]

I just use TTG. :confused:

[alyssa]

I'd be loading the tivo with lots of kid & science shows/movies. The kids are young so I'd rather they not be messing with my laptop. Plus some of channels don't allow transfers. Plus I'd like to pause live tv, an valuable feature with kiddos!

[ZeoTiVo]

Now here is the thing - for me - I do take some shows on my laptop on vacation but they are my catch up shows that I have not had a chance to watch in a while.

Still I may not even watch many of them - it is vacation and the beauty of a TiVo at home recording stuff is I can take a vacation from TV as well. it will all pile up, just like the work on my desk ;). Bring a portable DVD player if you need to entertain the kids in the evening.

now for a regular business trip that is different but there are plenty of portable devices that could be used instead of lugging the TiVo - some will even record off analog cable by time and date and no need for guide data that week. If you miss something the TiVo will catch it back home.

[wblynch]

Any one brought a S2 on a cruse?

Some friends took their tivo on our 2 week Hawaii cruise last year. They put it in checked luggage, wrapped in towels.

After all the hassle of getting it to the ship, the hard drive got damaged and they weren't able to watch it on the cruise. (But they still had enough fun, even without the tivo)

When they got home, my friend wasn't able to recover the hard drive. He ended up replacing the drive with a larger one and had to buy a disk image from a vendor at extra cost to get his tivo going again. He was disappointed and sorry he went to the trouble.

[Shanezam203]

You could search for an internet provider with higher upload speed, and keep using slingbox.

Hope that will do the trick, I just upgraded from 6 meg to 16.

Next I just need to buy an S-Video to RCA cable at Radio Shack and I will try that next.

Thanks for all the suggestions,
Shane

[TiVoEvan74]

They've recently invented a small portable device that fits in your pocket or briefcase. It has a nice cover, sometimes hard and sometimes soft, usually with a picture and a title of the contents inside. Inside there are pages of printed text. It's very easy to hold and read. You can even mark your place with a bookmark or piece of paper or kleenex.

It needs no batteries, no cables, and no internet connection. You don't have to schedule recordings, figure out channel listing, or worry about the latest software update. Every hotel in the country lets you bring into their rooms. It can provide you with hours of entertainment. You can even take a couple of them along on a trip.

It'll be a great alternative to TiVo--and your TiVo will still be there waiting for you at home.

Highly recommended!

[nmiller855]

I take one of my TiVos with me when I travel. I store up movies on the extra ones to watch during my business trips. I watch the local news for a few minutes then switch to a movie. I always let them know when I check in that I have it with me & will be hooking it up so there won't be a problem. I used to use the combination boxes & none of the places had compatible satellite systems. I am now back to using a standalone & have only used it to record once while I was away. There was a movie that I really wanted to see that was being shown while I was working so I set it up for a manual recording. I always took 2 combination units when I traveled in my motorhome because I had wired it for both units & got pretty good at finding a good signal once we got settled.

[mr.unnatural]

I took a ReplayTV with me when I was travelling on business over a 2-year period about 7 years ago. I generally stayed at ExtendedStays but always some sort of efficiency where I could do my own cooking. I usually stayed at each location for about four weeks.

Each one I stayed at had their own proprietary channel lineup, with maybe one or two exceptions. They didn't have any PPV channels so I never ran into the security issue unless I couldn't find an effeciency-type motel to stay in. Getting any sort of PPV movies was always hit or miss anyway since most of them werre on demand and you had to be tuned to the exact channel at the right time in order to receive anything. If the place you stay in has a PPV setup then I recommend that you check with the front desk and let them know what you're doing so that hotel security doesn't come knocking at your door when they detect the line has been disconnected.

One thing you should check is whether or not the TV has line inputs. If it does then get a coax splitter and run one line to the TV and the other to the Tivo. Use the line outputs to watch the Tivo and the front desk will always see that the coax is connected to the TV. If you're unable to select the line inputs then check with the front desk and have them reprogram the TV to enable them. They usually have a master remote that allows you to access maintenance menus to set up the TV. Just tell them you want to hook up a video camera to the TV and you don't have an RF modulator. If you can use the line inputs then you don't need to tell them about the Tivo at all.

Getting back on topic, one of the first things I did was map all of the channels the motel offered and then looked for a cable lineup in the area that matched the channels as closely as possible. It was almost always impossible to get an exact match so I at least made sure the lineup I used contained the same channels as the motel lineup. I then created a cross-reference list to map the guide data to the motel's channel lineup. This allowed me to use the guide data to see what was on so I could schedule programs for recording.

If there was a show being aired I wanted to record I looked at the guide data for the channel that matched the motel channels to see if there was a show in the same time slot of the same duration. If there was I simply selected that show for recording. If there was one or more shows that overlapped the time slot I would usually set up a manual recording. For instance, if I wanted to watch Law and Order on Wednesday at 10PM the guide data showed it was on channel 14 whereas the motel had NBC on channel 8. I'd check to see if there was a one-hour program in the 10-11PM time slot on channel 8 and select it for recording. The Now Playing list, or whatever Replay called it, was always out of whack so I had to try and remember which shows I had recorded since I never bothered to jot them down.

The process was a pain but at least I was able to record shows while I was out since I routinely worked the late shift at many locations. You should be able to do the exact same thing with your Tivo. The one caveat is that you need to make sure the motel isn't using some sort of VOIP setup. I ran into this on occasion and had to take the Replay to work with me about once a week to use a phone line there and let the guide data update.

[richsadams]

They've recently invented a small portable device that fits in your pocket or briefcase. <Snip>Ha! :D ROFLMAO!! :up:

[catcard]

I have been checking out the Archos Wi-Fi Portable Media Player on Amazon. Sounds like something you could use and would be much more portable than a TIVO.

[catcard]

They've recently invented a small portable device that fits in your pocket or briefcase.

:) Funny!

I am such a electronics geek - I just ordered a Sony ebook reader so even my books will be electronic ;)

[TiVoEvan74]

Thanks Rich, thanks catcard. I'm into ebooks in a big way (the free ones that is). I actually read ebooks in the middle of the night on my Sony Clie SJ33 so as to not disturb my partner. What's great about the SJ33 is that it is backlit and can be turned way down, unlike the OS 5 Palm/Sony devices. It's the device I take when traveling. Just can't imagine lugging a TiVo along! :-) But at the same time I can appreciate entertainment addictions!