Looking for HD Tuner Capability via TIVO...

[Cavemanhead]

Our current HT system has a Toshiba A2-HD player that we use for movies...

We watch TV on a Marantz 4001 PJ which has no tuner...

Right now we have Comcast, But I can't keep spending $70/month to watch a few shows... We're so busy right now, about the only thing we watch TV-wise is LOST each week, so we're thinking of axing the COMCAST cable service and just doing local OTA for LOST, etc...

I've got a great antenna for OTA, but once we get rid of the HD DVR from Comcast, I'll need a tuner.

I'd thought of a tuner-only solution, but if an HD TIVO has a tuner, I'd probably just go for that so I can have the "future capability".

2 questions if I go the HD TIVO route to fulfill my primary need for a tuner:

1) Can I run the unit as a "stand-alone" tuner without having to pay for the service?

2) Can the unit be fed OTA and act as a TIVO or does it need a cable or Dish feed to make it work?

[old elmo]

An over the air antenna works well with the HD TIVO. Thats all I use. You will have to activate the TIVO (pay for a subscription) for it to do its thing. If you have a internet connection at home hook up the TIVO!!, then the TIVO is "fully alive". $12 a month to TIVO beats $50+ to Comcast or Directv any time, if you only watch some network TV, provided the OTA antenna gets an adequate signal.

[hmm52]

Another option is the OTA only Echostar TR-50 Sling DVR. Outputs HD; dual tuners; Ethernet connectivity; 250GB hard drive; free guide. Said to be available in September; not yet priced as far as I know.

[Cavemanhead]

Hmmm... So I pay $12/month for an HD signal interpreter. Will it do "TIVO functions" on the Network TV shows, or is it just a "dumb tuner" at that point?

What does the Internet connection have to do with anything? Is this were the TIVO synchs up to knowing what shows are on Network TV and when, etc???

[hmm52]

With whatever subscription you choose, the TiVo will be fully functional with complete guide listings for all OTA channels received, not just network broadcasters; same for all cable channels if 1 or 2 cablecards are used. It's too late EST to list everything else a TiVo HD or Series3 can do. Check their website. Internet connection is for guide data , software updates, remote scheduling, among other things.

[gastrof]

I'm not so sure you'd have to pay for the TiVo subscription to use the tuner in the HD TiVo.

I've been told that previous models would still be able to tune television even if the machine wasn't subscribed.

It's the recording part that you'd have trouble with (as in it wouldn't work at all).

Kind of a high price to pay just for a tuner, tho'. If that's all you want, forget even the Echostar/Sling TR-50. Try the TR-40, supposedly available in May or June. It'll tune HD channels, but not record them. Of course, it'll only output in Standard Def.

Not sure what the picture resolution is on the TR-50's output, tho'.

[mr.unnatural]

Get yourself an ATSC tuner card for your PC and connect the output of the PC to your HDTV. There are lots of freeware PVR programs that will turn your PC into a super Tivo with absolutely no monthly fees. Why pay Tivo for the privilege of recording free TV when you can do it for nothing?

I have two S3 Tivos that I use for recording encrypted programs on my FIOS network but I use my HTPC with six ATSC tuners for recording all of my local OTA HD channels. I use BeyondTV as my PVR software and there is no charge for the guide data. I've got something like 40 or 50 season passes set up on the HTPC and it works great. Depending on what kind of PC you have, you'll need a dual core processor as a minimum and an HD capable graphics card. The latest crop of inexpensive graphics cards from both nVIDIA and ATi work great for HD playback.

Here's a great source of info on HDTV tuner cards:

http://www.hdtvtunerinfo.com/index.html