TiVo Premiere FAQ: Overview, What's New?

[Baracuda2]

Just got the new Premiere hooked up. It's doing an OS update, from the look of things. LA LA LA LA LA ho hum.

In the meantime, can you see anything more than Now Playing via the web browser? In the old Hack it in TiVoWeb/TiVoWebPlus days you could do tons of stuff. I'd be happy to just be able to see the ToDo list, as well as Now Playing.

Thanks

[innocentfreak]

You will be able to view your to do list and your now playing list. It shows up in the options on the left hand side under Find TV Home I believe.

[Baracuda2]

Originally Posted by innocentfreak

You will be able to view your to do list and your now playing list. It shows up in the options on the left hand side under Find TV Home I believe.

Thank you for replying, but I'm sorry...where is this Find TV Home stuff you speak of? I am just going the tivo's ip address via my computer web browser using the media access key as password.

But another question....seriously, the hdui isn't used for the Guide....with the Video Window showing so you can see the show while browsing the guide? How half-a**ed is this? :-) Motorola's crappy DVRs have had that forever and TiVo can't figure this out? I hope I missed something in settings.

I will say two things, first of which is why I will most likely keep it and tell off the TiVO HD it is replacing.... This unit resolves an issue I had. Since I am connected via my Yamaha RX-V3900 receiver, everytime I would turn the tv and receiver on, the TiVo HD would switch back to 480i or 480p mode. Didn't matter what aspect settings I used on either devices. At least on this one I can force 1080i all the time.
Second, after reading the thread on people not even bothering with the HDUI due to it's speed, I was surprised that I find them to be fine...granted, nothing yet in Now Playing to see what that is like with a lot of shows

[innocentfreak]

Sorry you can get them on tivo.com not via IP. I misread your question.

As far as the rest those are parts of the UI which havent been upgraded yet so we may see it once they upgrade those sections.

As far as the speed complaints many of those have been addressed in later patches.

[Baracuda2]

Originally Posted by innocentfreak

Sorry you can get them on tivo.com not via IP. I misread your question.

As far as the rest those are parts of the UI which havent been upgraded yet so we may see it once they upgrade those sections.

Oh, I forgot about that part online. Thanks. And yep, I hope so too.

--------------------------
OK, I have to admit I am laughing at myself about the ToDo question. :-D

[cupton50]

I will be getting a new (refurb) premiere Wednesday. 2 questions. What are the usb ports for and I have a 1tb external usb drive. Will the usb external drive work with the premiere?

[gespears]

Originally Posted by cupton50

I will be getting a new (refurb) premiere Wednesday. 2 questions. What are the usb ports for and I have a 1tb external usb drive. Will the usb external drive work with the premiere?

1. External keyboard, Wireless G adapter, Slide remote dongle, That's all I can recall at this time.

2. You can use a WD DVR Expander drive externally, but only that one.

You can get more info about those in this thread. All the info you could ever want and then some!

[MichaelK]

.... tuning adapter also plugs in to USB

[audio_inside]

The most recent posts I could find in this FAQ referring to the "current 14.1c version" are several months old now.

What's the current version at the moment (ie as of 11/6/10)? Have any of the rumored/promised performance improvements appeared?

[tattube]

current version is 14.6........as of 3-4 weeks ago

[flashesbuck]

mine is working fine, some menu's are slightly laggy, but for the most part im happy with speed of everything, trying to get all the right equipment for HD cable from time warner

[Eamus Catuli]

Is there a compilation somewhere of the known issues for this box?

[Joe Siegler]

The first post could use an update with the recent pricing changes now in play, the ones at the top of the first post are no longer valid. Also, some verbiage about software updates in the first few posts could stand a refresh, too.

[orangeboy]

Originally Posted by Joe Siegler

The first post could use an update with the recent pricing changes now in play, the ones at the top of the first post are no longer valid. Also, some verbiage about software updates in the first few posts could stand a refresh, too.

BKDTV has been absent (or silent) for quite some time. The last post was on 08-22-2010. I hope everything is ok!

[innocentfreak]

Yeah he seems to have gone MIA. I don't think he posts on AVS forums either. Hopefully he is ok and it is just a work thing.

[dwit]

No disrepect, and I'm certainly not up to it, but maybe it's almost time to "unstick" the outdated stickies, and make new ones.

Maybe even just doing some copy/pasting and updating the info as required and giving aproper credit to the original poster of most of the original material.

You would think that with all the important info in a sticky that the info should be accurate and up to date, mostly.

[papa]

I want to know what brand/model of harddrive I should use in my TiVo Premiere (TCD746320). My brother upgraded and sent me his old one. The HD is blown up so I need to get a new drive and start from scratch.

This information is probably somewhere in this thread, but I didn't find it so I figured I'd ask...

Thanks in advance for any help.

[sbiller]

Originally Posted by papa

I want to know what brand/model of harddrive I should use in my TiVo Premiere (TCD746320). My brother upgraded and sent me his old one. The HD is blown up so I need to get a new drive and start from scratch.

This information is probably somewhere in this thread, but I didn't find it so I figured I'd ask...

Thanks in advance for any help.

TiVo uses the Western Digital EURS drives in their new Elite. Here is an example of a 1TB version --> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136782

[unitron]

Originally Posted by papa

I want to know what brand/model of harddrive I should use in my TiVo Premiere (TCD746320). My brother upgraded and sent me his old one. The HD is blown up so I need to get a new drive and start from scratch.

This information is probably somewhere in this thread, but I didn't find it so I figured I'd ask...

Thanks in advance for any help.

When you say 'sent you his old one', you mean his old Premiere, right? With a failed hard drive?

Your problem isn't going to be getting a drive for it, it's going to be getting an image for the drive.

Apparently, unlike all the previous TiVos, you can't make, and therefore can't get, a truncated backup image.

You have to do a byte for byte copy from a good working Premiere drive.

And don't forget you'll possibly need to disable Intellipark on a Western Digital Caviar Green.

[freerule]

Originally Posted by bkdtv

There's nothing wrong with the Microtune MT2131. It is a popular tuner found in many boxes.

Fault for the analog channel problem lies elsewhere. That part did change in the Premiere.

Originally Posted by atmuscarella

I would like to know if OTA reception has been improved. If anyone sees anyone posting info on this please let me know.

Thanks

Quoted from page 8 of the TiVo Premiere Review

Two Microtune MT2131 silicon tuners—a popular 1GHz tuning solution—are the only holdovers from the TiVo HD design. TiVo dropped the ATI Theater 314 QAM/VSB demodulators found in the TiVo Series3 in favor of the newer Micronas DRX 3946A and DRX 3944J. These demodulators recover and separate the A/V transport stream from the cable or broadcast RF signal for the Broadcom chip.

TiVo Premiere and TiVo HD:

Tuner IC: 2x Microtune MT2131

TiVo Series3:

Tuner IC: 2x Philips TDA6651

TiVo Premiere Demodulators:

Micronas DRX 3946J
Micronas DRX3944J

TiVo Series 3 and TiVo HD Demodulators:

2x ATI Theater 314

The Micronas DRX demodulator is the same solution used by SiliconDust in the latest version of its popular HDHomerun tuner. TiVo uses a different part in the DRX line with support for CableCards and encrypted cable. In theory, it should provide a modest improvement over past TiVos in over-the-air reception with an antenna, although we saw little difference at our particular location.

IMHO, for whatever reason TiVo Premiere's OTA tuner performance is its Achilles heel. I've seen posts from apparently technically savvy Forum members attributing the shortcoming to inferior multipath rejection. For whatever reason, after comparing an S3 to a Premiere (and also to Sony's DHG), I found a significant difference (YMMV!) between the Premiere's performance and that of the the two older DVRs. Using identical antennas at the same location the Premiere pulled in fewer stations and indicated lower signal strength on all OTA stations received.

If, as some posters believe, TiVo brings out a new TiVo Premiere with digital OTA capability and it doesn't at least match or exceed what has already been achieved by TiVo's S3's digital OTA reception it will be an unfortunate product.

[Drewster]

Huh. I use a Premier XL with OTA only, and ice been very pleased. It was sketchy at first, because I was using an entirely inappropriate antenna. After getting a proper HD antenna and pointing it correctly, everything's been grand.

[atmuscarella]

Originally Posted by Drewster

Huh. I use a Premier XL with OTA only, and ice been very pleased. It was sketchy at first, because I was using an entirely inappropriate antenna. After getting a proper HD antenna and pointing it correctly, everything's been grand.

The issues with the Premiere and OTA are with how the unit deals with multi-path issues, which are not the same as low signal strength reception issues. Most people will not have excessive multi-path issues and if their signal strength is at an acceptable level not see any issues with the Premiere and OTA. Those with multi-path issues will find that the Series 3 units can deal with them slightly better than the Premiere units. I recently added a Variable Attenuator to my Premiere and my issues were significantly improved.

[freerule]

I'm using two Terk HDTVA UHF-VHF Amplified Indoor Antennas placed side-by-side pointed toward a mountain approximately 60 miles away. Their VHF rabbit ears are retracted because all transmitters in the region utilize UHF frequencies. Both antennas receive signals through single wood and plaster wall beyond which the mountain is visible through a few tree branches.

All three DVRs receive 7 watchable signals from transmitters at an elevation of approximately 1900 ft on the mountain. But while the S3 and Sony DVR's achieve signal strengths as high as 90% the Premiere percentages are generally 10 to 15% lower. Passing aircraft often cause noticeable swings in signal strength and multipath dropouts from aircraft occur routinely.

Two other signals are watchable on the S3 and Sony DVRs from other lower but closer mountains in the region without having to fiddle with the Terks. However the Premiere can only receive one of these signals, consisting of two subchannels of the same station. While the Premiere can produce a generally decent image (with dropouts) they're at marginal signal strength (under 50%). The S3 and Sony receive both signals at or above 50%.

To perform these tests I disconnected one HDTVa from the Sony and attached it to the Premiere. I have not yet reversed the connections between the two TiVo DVRs for absolute confirmation of the results. I am surprised at the results.

TiVo is a premium product and is priced accordingly. I'd not consider buying a new OTA capable TiVo DVR unless it achieves equal or better performance than anything that TiVo has already accomplished.

[L David Matheny]

Originally Posted by freerule

I'm using two Terk HDTVA UHF-VHF Amplified Indoor Antennas placed side-by-side pointed toward a mountain approximately 60 miles away. Their VHF rabbit ears are retracted because all transmitters in the region utilize UHF frequencies. Both antennas receive signals through single wood and plaster wall beyond which the mountain is visible through a few tree branches.

All three DVRs receive 7 watchable signals from transmitters at an elevation of approximately 1900 ft on the mountain. But while the S3 and Sony DVR's achieve signal strengths as high as 90% the Premiere percentages are generally 10 to 15% lower. Passing aircraft often cause noticeable swings in signal strength and multipath dropouts from aircraft occur routinely.

Two other signals are watchable on the S3 and Sony DVRs from other lower but closer mountains in the region without having to fiddle with the Terks. However the Premiere can only receive one of these signals, consisting of two subchannels of the same station. While the Premiere can produce a generally decent image (with dropouts) they're at marginal signal strength (under 50%). The S3 and Sony receive both signals at or above 50%.

To perform these tests I disconnected one HDTVa from the Sony and attached it to the Premiere. I have not yet reversed the connections between the two TiVo DVRs for absolute confirmation of the results. I am surprised at the results.

TiVo is a premium product and is priced accordingly. I'd not consider buying a new OTA capable TiVo DVR unless it achieves equal or better performance than anything that TiVo has already accomplished.

According to this very FAQ, the Premiere uses the same tuner ICs as the TiVo HD, and any differences should be due to the different demodulator ICs. And IME the Premiere actually does a better job on my local OTA stations with severe static multipath (or possibly overload) problems. I believe that the Premiere does better than the TiVo HD on static multipath (due to hills, buildings, etc) but worse on dynamic multipath (planes, trucks, etc). Other reports that the Premiere's reception can sometimes be helped by using an attenuator would seem to imply that some front-end circuitry (ahead of the tuner?) is subject to overloading by strong signals.

[atmuscarella]

Originally Posted by L David Matheny

Other reports that the Premiere's reception can sometimes be helped by using an attenuator would seem to imply that some front-end circuitry (ahead of the tuner?) is subject to overloading by strong signals.

That is my situation I have a tower about 9 miles away (NW) but all my other towers are 35 miles away (NE). Sometimes I will have no problems at all other times I can completely lose one or more channels. The day I put a Variable Attenuator on my Premiere it had lost one channel completely and another was breaking up allot (both channels were still working on my Series 3 units). After the install I turned the variable attenuator up and the missing channel came back completely and the channel that was breaking up was clear again. I have ordered some in line fixed attenuators to play with as the Series 3 units do have issues at certain times also.

[steve614]

I have a Tivo HD and a Premiere. They share an antenna I made that is similar to this:



The only difference I have noticed is the Premiere reports a lower signal than the Tivo HD, but I do not notice any difference in channel reception.
I guess I don't suffer from multipath issues (it probably helps that I live in a 3rd floor apartment. ). Transmitters are ~26 miles from my location.

[SeaFractor]

Does anyone know if the second core of the dual core process has been enabled yet? I've been doing a search and cannot seem to find that answer.

As it's not been stated as enabled, should I assume it's still disabled as the original 14.1c code release in 2010?

[Jeff_DML]

Originally Posted by SeaFractor

Does anyone know if the second core of the dual core process has been enabled yet? I've been doing a search and cannot seem to find that answer.

As it's not been stated as enabled, should I assume it's still disabled as the original 14.1c code release in 2010?

It has been enabled.

[jrtroo]

For well over a year.