Replacing Comcast HD w/ Tivo HD..few questions

[AquarianDreamer]

I want to get rid of one of my horribly dumb Comcast HD DVRs and replace with Tivo HD (not the XL - too pricey :o). I have a few questions before I take the final leap.


Is the Tivo Wireless Adapter required, or can I use one I already own?
I have a 500 GB external drive, can I use that to extend the Tivo HDD?


Thanks in Advance!

[richsadams]

Welcome to the forum!

1) Yes you will need to buy the TiVo wireless adapter for a network connection (other models won't work)...unless you go with Ethernet cable of course. The TiVo wireless adapter offloads some of the work to TiVo and works quite well.

2) Unless it's a WD My DVR Expander (http://www.tivo.com/expand) you will not be able to connect your current external drive to your new TiVo HD via "plug and play". You will either need to buy the Expander or use winMFS (http://www.mfslive.org)to marry your current drive to the internal drive (providing what you have is a suitable eSATA drive). More here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=370784). If you're planning on opening the box a better bet is to simply replace TiVo's original hard drive (again using winMFS). Keep in mind that you will void the warranty by opening the box. That said, if you keep the original hard drive on the shelf and something goes wrong with your new TiVo, you can simply put it back in and as long as you don't leave any evidence TiVo should honor the warranty.

We had one of the POS Comcast DVR's once...in fact we had four of them in three months! All went south at some point. :mad: We've had TiVo for years and years. What were we thinking? Since we added our Series3 and TiVo HD's we've never looked back.

Enjoy!

[bicker]

My TiVo S3 didn't require the TiVo wireless adapter; I originally used a wireless adapter that I already owned. However, the TiVo wireless adapter is substantially better in most every way. As I understand it, there is TiVo-specific functionality in the TiVo wireless adapter, allowing some of the wireless-related processing to be off-loaded from the box.

Only one specific eSATA drive will work with the TiVo HD, the Western Digital My DVR Expander.

[ZeoTiVo]

However, the TiVo wireless adapter is substantially better in most every way. As I understand it, there is TiVo-specific functionality in the TiVo wireless adapter, allowing some of the wireless-related processing to be off-loaded from the box.

Only one specific eSATA drive will work with the TiVo HD, the Western Digital My DVR Expander.

correct - most wireless adapters count on the PC with its powerful CPU to do most of the work (especially around WEP or WPS security). The TiVo does not have as powerful a CPU so TiVo made a wireless adapter with some extra chips that can do what other adapters have the CPU do. This lightens the load on the TiVo unit and makes wireless networking much faster on a TiVo DVR. The other issue was manufacturers tweaking things in wireless adpater hardware and putting it out with just Window or Mac OS drivers but no linux drivers. TiVo simply could not keep up and now only officially supports the TiVo adapter. So use others at your own risk, but if it works and has satisfactory performance then no need to change.


as for the drive - yep on TiVo HD only external you can use plug and play is the TiVo WD Expander one. Now you can upgrade the internal drive pretty easily and there is also a 1 TB TiVo HDXL out on the market now for 599$ retail.

[classicsat]

S3 support for wireless and HDDs was left open for some reason, but locked down on the THD.

[AquarianDreamer]

Extremely helpful. I'll put my order in to Amazon next week. I think that they have a Tivo HD & Wireless Adapter bundle.

I'll also look into the MyDVR external HDD. My luck is such that I usually need the warranty, so I won't push my luck with an internal drive. :p

Thanks again!

[richsadams]

TiVo will seem like moving from a Model T to a Vette (or pick your own comparison high-performance vehicle ;) ) compared to the Comcast "DVR".

Oh, and I'm surprised no one jumped in to tell you that you will no longer be able to get VOD. IMHO the VOD programming was marginal and with Amazon movies and other entertainment options, we never missed it. You can also still get pay-per-view events and movies by simply calling Comcast and making a purchase.

Enjoy your new TiVo!

[bicker]

I wouldn't say VOD is "marginal". We watched the entire first season of Mad Men in HD via VOD, before AMC HD even existed as a linear channel on our system. Beyond that, the Amazon Unbox has expressed no intention to us of providing Closed Captioning for the hearing impaired (of which my wife is one). So there are differences.

At this late date, I personally wouldn't buy a TiVo that didn't support SDV natively (in the box).

[richsadams]

I wouldn't say VOD is "marginal". We watched the entire first season of Mad Men in HD via VOD, before AMC HD even existed as a linear channel on our system. Beyond that, the Amazon Unbox has expressed no intention to us of providing Closed Captioning for the hearing impaired (of which my wife is one). So there are differences.

At this late date, I personally wouldn't buy a TiVo that didn't support SDV natively (in the box).Good points. Amazon will either have to step up to the plate with CC, HD, etc. or something else will have to happen (Netflix?).

We get Comcast's VOD schedule by e-mail every so often and I scan it to see what we're missing. For us, not much but of course YMMV.

[bicker]

To be fair, Netflix (Watch Instantly) doesn't care any more about the hearing impaired than Amazon Unbox does. The only download service that even remotely supports Closed Captioning is Apple TV.

[richsadams]

To be fair, Netflix (Watch Instantly) doesn't care any more about the hearing impaired than Amazon Unbox does. The only download service that even remotely supports Closed Captioning is Apple TV.Pretty sad in this day and technological age. How much more time and effort could it be to ensure that CC is included in everything? Sheesh! :mad:

[AquarianDreamer]

I'm glad you mentioned that. I was wondering about OnDemand. I don't really use it except for Exercise on Demand; but Netflix does the trick too.