New to Tivo - rec'd a free Sony SAT-T60 yesterday

[NBAHoopsFan]

DirecTV said I could turn it on no problem, but I need to buy a new access card for $20. Is this really the case? I swear that the last few times I swapped a DTV unit to another used one, I just called them up and plugged in my card from the old unit.

[T1V0]

that's always been the policy though not always enforced. luck-of-the-draw pretty much.

[NBAHoopsFan]

is it possible to skip over commercials?

[Trent Bates]

Yes.
To be more specific, you can FF through them.

With a particular sequence of buttons on the remote (Select-Play-Select-30-Select), you can also configure the unit to skip ahead 30 seconds each time you press the "->|" button. This sequence would need to be entered again after the unit loses power.

(If you see the correlation between the button sequence an the time of the skip and get the idea that you could enter S-P-S-90-S to get a 90 second skip as an example, you'd be disappointed because it only works with S-P-S-30-S and it only skips 30 seconds with each button push. :) )

Also, eventually, someone might ask you what unit you have. The SAT-T60 is a "Series 1 DirecTiVo".

[NBAHoopsFan]

Thanks.

When you said that part about 30 second skipping I was thinking about that pattern and I am glad you told me it only works with 30 seconds, I would have kept trying and thinking it was me doing something wrong :eek:

If I like this unit would it be worth upgading the Hard Dive for more capacity or is it already so outdated that in 6 months DTV might try to make me switch to a new unit?

[stevel]

The SAT-T60 should be fine for standard-definition DirecTV for the forseeable future. Upgrading the hard drive is easy if you're comfortable replacing a PC's hard drive. You do need to use a PC to "prepare" the hard disk using free software that is available - see the Upgrades section for details.

[NBAHoopsFan]

OK thats good cause I have no need for High Def TV. I still sometimes watch my old VHS movies :D

I'm going to check out the Upgrades section for this unit.


Just one more question. On a season pass what happens when the capacity is full? does it stop recording or does it just delete the oldest ones on its own without prompting or what?

[stevel]

It depends on how you set up the season pass. If you told it to "Keep until I delete" and to keep "all episodes", and nothing else is eligible for deletion, then it will stop recording new episodes. Otherwise it will delete (usually) the oldest eligible show to make room.

[snickerrrrs]

If after a short time, you decide you like your DirecTivo (most of us here can't watch tv without a Tivo) you might want to consider the following:

1. Your dvr is several years old you might consider ordering a new hard drive (hard drives have a life expectancy of about 3+ years). weaknees.com or dvrupgrade.com sell drives formatted for your model.

2. If you're a big tv watcher invest in a larger hard (250GB minimum, I just bought a 500GB).

3.If you aren't that into tv and don't mind missing or losing your recordings just wait til the hard drive dies.

PS: welcome to Tivo! :)

[NBAHoopsFan]

If after a short time, you decide you like your DirecTivo (most of us here can't watch tv without a Tivo) you might want to consider the following:

1. Your dvr is several years old you might consider ordering a new hard drive (hard drives have a life expectancy of about 3+ years). weaknees.com or dvrupgrade.com sell drives formatted for your model.

2. If you're a big tv watcher invest in a larger hard (250GB minimum, I just bought a 500GB).

3.If you aren't that into tv and don't mind missing or losing your recordings just wait til the hard drive dies.

PS: welcome to Tivo! :)

I just ordered my new card from DTV they wont process my order till tomorrow and i wont get it for 3-5 days. I am ordering a replacement remote tonight from an ebay seller. Should I upgrade the drive before they activate my unit or does it not matter?

[Trent Bates]

I say that you should try it out as is. Upgrading the drive is easy, but it's probably a good idea to get familiar with the unit first.

Upgrading the drive AND learning the behavior of a new piece of technology at the same time could get confusing.

FWIW, I only have an 80GB drive in my (personal) Philips DSR-6000. I've had 160GB drives in it before, but really, I can live comfortably on the 67 hours that the 80GB drive gives me.

[NBAHoopsFan]

Thanks! Thats sounds like a good idea. I will wait and see before I upgrade the drive. It is hard to be patient as I am very excited as I have heard many many great things about Tivo!

[NBAHoopsFan]

What are the real world benefits of the TurboNet card or a CacheCard?

[Trent Bates]

Also: Check out this thread. :)

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=71440

I never got around to trying a TurboNet or CacheCard. I look forward to seeing someone else's response to that question!

[stevel]

I have used both. I found the CacheCard to have no discernible effect on the unit's performance. TurboNet would be my recommendation for network access, especially as it does not require custom drivers.

[rminsk]

I found the CacheCard to have no discernible effect on the unit's performance. It used too before TiVo change the database format. With the old database format a Series 1 DirecTiVo with a CacheCard was just as fast as a machine running the new database format. I agree that with the current software the CacheCard is not that much of a performance boost.

[NBAHoopsFan]

How do I enable the use of the 2 tuners?

[stevel]

Connect a second feed to the dish and then rerun the satellite dish setup.

[NBAHoopsFan]

Connect a second feed to the dish and then rerun the satellite dish setup.

THANKS!!! That worked! I already had both lines hooked up but when i went into system info it said not enabled, but now it says enabled...

[NBAHoopsFan]

My T60 has been hooked up and running since May and it has updated from software 3.0 to 3.5 is this as far as it will update or will it eventually update to current software? If it doesnt update any further does this mean I would get better performance from using the cache card? So far my T60 has never been opened and still has it original parts.

[stevel]

3.5 is the end of the road for the T60. My experience with the CacheCard was that there was no noticeable performance improvement with the 3.x software.

[NBAHoopsFan]

3.5 is the end of the road for the T60. My experience with the CacheCard was that there was no noticeable performance improvement with the 3.x software.


THANKS! You are the master of all things Tivo, huh?!?! You always have the answers! :up::up:

[jstutman]

THANKS! You are the master of all things Tivo, huh?!?! You always have the answers! :up::up:

Just look at his signature :)

"Steve, you are awesome." - Dawny

It should say

"Steve, you are awesome." - Every tivo community member

:D

[ADent]

CacheCard makes a noticeable difference on my unit, but with 200GB my Now Showing list is pretty long.


Under earlier versions it made a huge difference.

[NBAHoopsFan]

I want to upgrade my Tivos capacity. I want to know if there really is an issue with it only "seeing" drives up to 137GB? I see they offer a 750GB upgrade for the T60 here:

750GB upgrade for the T60 (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/networking_learnmore_selected.cfm)

[ADent]

Those work and someday I plan on going to large hard drives (currently 80 & 120GB).

But everytime there is a software update (about once a year lately) you would need to reimage the drive with large drive support in order to use the machine (or disable the software 'upgrades').