Tivo or DVR HDTV with Antenna

[outback_2009]

I have a friend that has used an antenna all their life, and VCRs.
They have had nothing but trouble recoding shows, and tryed many diffrant DVD/ and VCRS combos ect.

They have a RCA 32" HDTV now, with HDMI and all that.

And the Tivo, or DVR they was looking at only had a 3 day programming option. They need something that they can set to record for 5 days or a whole week.

My friends mom needs to record days of our lives,sopopras. And watch them in the evening.

They don't have cable in their area yet.

So can some one tell me what kind of box will work best. I'm sure it will need either a digital tuner, or analog, or both. Being they have antenna, and a HDTV.

Thanks for any help, its much apreciated.

[fred2]

I have the original S3 HD Tivo and have ONLY used it with an ANTENNA. I do NOT have cable service.

You can set up season passes for shows or record specific channels at specific times without finding a show.

Obviously, they need to receive an OTA signal that is reasonable to feed to the Tivo/tv.

[JWThiers]

On the Tivo side of things, if you are wanting to record in HD via OTA (Over The Air Antenna) with a Tivo (or actually anything that needs a digital tuner) they will need any of the Series 3 models (Series 3, Tivo HD or Tivo HD XL).

You could use some of the non tivo models that are around. I don't use them so I really don't keep an eye on the and can't make a fair recommendation of any of them or a Home Theater PC with ATSC Tunner Cards.

If you don't want to spend $ for the THD models I imagine you can kludge together some of the series 2 tivos and a ATSC converter box but I don't think that would be very useful in the long run because of controlling the converter box. It would be a pain.

I would recommend the THD or the XL model.

[bkdtv]

Link: Everything you ever wanted to know about TiVo (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=419994)

[SMWinnie]

And the Tivo, or DVR they was looking at only had a 3 day programming option.
A TiVo DVR should have almost two weeks of guide data. A TiVo "Season Pass" is ideal for recording soaps, since the user just selects "Days of Our Lives" and the TiVo figures out when it's on.

There were some TiVos manufactured by Toshiba (and Pioneer?), now discontinued, that came with TiVo Basic. TiVo Basic has three days of guide data and no Season Passes, so they may have been looking at a second-hand Toshiba TiVo. Those older TiVos either need or will need a converter box to tune over-the-air digital TV signals, since none of the TiVo Basic boxes have an ATSC tuner.

OP, your username suggests that you might be from Australia. Seven Media is rolling out TiVos in Australia and the whole country is slowly converting from PAL to DVB-T. I don't know much more than that, and the TiVo service will be different down under. Regardless, we might be of more help if you can tell us where the prospective user lives.

[JWThiers]

I think there was a model that can out with a free BASIC service option that only had a few days of info for free. I don't know the models but I assume the OP has one of them.

[ShoutingMan]

I have a friend that has used an antenna all their life, and VCRs.
They have had nothing but trouble recoding shows, and tryed many diffrant DVD/ and VCRS combos ect.

They have a RCA 32" HDTV now, with HDMI and all that.

And the Tivo, or DVR they was looking at only had a 3 day programming option. They need something that they can set to record for 5 days or a whole week.

My friends mom needs to record days of our lives,sopopras. And watch them in the evening.

They don't have cable in their area yet.

So can some one tell me what kind of box will work best. I'm sure it will need either a digital tuner, or analog, or both. Being they have antenna, and a HDTV.

Thanks for any help, its much apreciated.
A Tivo HD does all that (http://www.tivo.com/whatistivo/tivois/index.html). I use mine with both an antenna for HD broadcasts and "lifeline" cable for standard-definition cable channels. The Tivo has two inputs to support both simultaneously.

[JoeTaxpayer]

And the Tivo, or DVR they was looking at only had a 3 day programming option. They need something that they can set to record for 5 days or a whole week.

My friends mom needs to record days of our lives,sopopras. And watch them in the evening.


First - what model is the TiVo?
It sounds like a basic DVD model that had 3 day look ahead, but you can manually program daily or weekly recordings. If she only records the one show, no big deal. When analog goes away, you'd need to help set up the digital adapter.

[outback_2009]

I'm from USA, North Carolina, outback is just a handle I have used for years, because I love the woods, outback behind the house. :D

Say the Tivo 3 series does it all. Did I understand this right. and wit the season pass, it can record upto two weeks at a time.

Not just program and recode 1 channel two weeks latter.
It needs to record every day monday thru friday. And do it every week with out have to reprogram.

And He want need a convert box right?

Thanks for the help guys

[sieglinde]

I think you can do that with a manual recording if what you are doing is not related to a show. If is is, then even if the show changes time (baseball game etc.) as long as it is in the guide data the Tivo will find it. I record the nightly half-hour ABC news that way (like a Soap but not as romantic) and it finds the news when it is on weird times such as last night (Tuesday) for the non-State of the Union speech.

[outback_2009]

If it will record day after day, without any input, that is what I need, set and forget.

[bkdtv]

If it will record day after day, without any input, that is what I need, set and forget.TiVo is set it and forget it.

The TivoHD is $199 at Sears, but it does require one of the following subscriptions: $12.99/mo, $129/yr, $299/3yrs, or a one-time fee of $399.

The link I gave you before (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=419994) has screenshots showing most TiVo features.

[outback_2009]

Thats no good if he has to pay. He want go for that.
Does no one make anything that can be set to record 5 days a week. Besides a VCR.
The box it self it hight enough, so Tivo is a Joke huh, no good unless you pay to use it. If thats the case, he be just as good off to get satellite.

[nipster00]

he be just as good off to get satellite.

not true

[outback_2009]

Why would they charge you to record FTA TV that is wrong. And they don't want to manual record, have to press the button every time, it needs to do it every day automatic.

[Scyber]

They are charging for the guide data and for the TiVo software/service. If you don't want to pay a monthly fee then you should consider the $399 lifetime option and just think of the cost of TiVo as $598. If it is worth $598 to your friend, then have them purchase it. If not, then don't. $598 is still cheaper than satellite over 2 years.

[outback_2009]

Ok Thanks.

[johnny99]

DTVpal supposedly makes a HD OTA DVR for $250 with subscription fee. The web site says it is not currently available, though: http://www.dtvpal.com/

If you can live with the subscription fee, TivoHD works great for OTA recording.

[mattack]

A TivoHD with lifetime is in the same ballpark as 'mid range' VCRs were not toooooooo long ago.

[ShoutingMan]

It's been about 20 years since VCRs were $600 :)

[kb7oeb]

A big difference between the two products is the DTV Pal DVR is not named based but timer based. It is easier to program than a VCR because you can select a program in the guide and set it to repeated recordings but all you are doing is creating a timer for that time and channel. The DTV Pal DVR can't follow a show that moves time slots nor can it tell between new and repeats. I think its a decent product for the price but it is more limited than a Tivo.