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channel surfing with Tivo HD?

Discussion in 'TiVo Series3 HDTV DVRs' started by R. Kalia, Oct 7, 2007.

  1. Oct 7, 2007 #1 of 7
    R. Kalia

    R. Kalia New Member

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    Apr 16, 2002

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    My apologies if this has been discussed before...

    I haven't been here for a while. I bought a TiVo early on, with lifetime, and it's still going strong. I have my cable box going straight to the TV and also to my Series I (connected to another input of the TV). This is because I do like to channel-surf, but the TiVo introduces a delay when changing channels.

    Now that there is a reasonably priced HD option, and the hard drive can be upgraded, I am considering moving up to HD. But replicating my current setup is a problem. Unlike the Series I, a Tivo HD needs its own rental hardware (two cablecards). That plus a standalone cable box...I'd be paying a lot in rental fees for one TV.

    So my question is, is the channel-changing (buffering) delay the same with the TiVo HD as with analog TiVos, or is it longer or shorter? Did they add an option to watch live TV through the TiVo's tuners in real time, giving up the rewind/FF capabilities but also eliminating the delay?

    I do realize that digital cable boxes have slightly longer delays than analog boxes, but they're still quick compared to my Series I.

    Many thanks for listening.

    (PS I know that some years ago when I was here more often, some people told me that the solution was for me to stop channel-surfing since the TiVo made it unnecessary as well as unpleasant. Thanks, but I prefer to have hardware help me do what I want to do, rather than the other way around!)
     
  2. Oct 7, 2007 #2 of 7
    bkdtv

    bkdtv New Member

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    Jan 9, 2003
    DC Metro Area
    Remember, the TivoHD replaces the cable box. The TivoHD does not work with a cable box. Of course, you can use a separate cable box for another TV if you want.

    The TivoHD buffers all content just like your Series2. However, digital channels on the TivoHD do change faster than they do with a box connected externally to your Series2. It takes about two seconds for a TivoHD to change digital channels, or about one second to change channels when swapping tuners.

    The Tivos are best used to record everything you want for delayed viewing, be it episodic series, movies, news, or sports.

    On my TivoHD, I have wishlists set to automatically record all Redskins, Capitals, and Wizards games. I have wishlists set to automatically record all presidential news / debates. I have a wishlist set to automatically record all 2007 HD movies. I have a daily timer set to record 'Closing Bell' on CNBC and the 6pm news. And I have season passes for all my favorite series and shows.

    Watching even a fraction of that leaves no time for me to watch live TV.
     
  3. Oct 7, 2007 #3 of 7
    spiraleyes

    spiraleyes Tivo noob

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    Sep 17, 2007
    Salt Lake City
    I think the delay in my Tivo HD is better than my Comcast Digital cable box was.

    Like mentioned above, the Tivo HD won't work with a cable box, so it won't matter anyway.
     
  4. Oct 7, 2007 #4 of 7
    R. Kalia

    R. Kalia New Member

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    Apr 16, 2002
    Yes, that's why I said more hardware must be rented.

    Imitating my current setup requires connecting a cable box to another input of the SAME TV. Of course that is only useful if the cable box is faster than the TiVo at changing channels. If the TiVo HD is faster, that's great!
     
  5. Oct 7, 2007 #5 of 7
    R. Kalia

    R. Kalia New Member

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    Apr 16, 2002

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    I realize now that I phrased my question poorly. Of course the TiVo is slow when it has to change channels on a cable box. But I find the Series I too slow even when using its own tuner (analog channels of course).
     
  6. Oct 8, 2007 #6 of 7
    bkdtv

    bkdtv New Member

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    Jan 9, 2003
    DC Metro Area
    Changing digital channels tends to be faster than analog channels on the Tivos. That's because there's no analog->digital conversion required.

    As a result, changing digital channels on the TivoHD and Series3 is significantly faster than changing analog channels. I don't believe the TivoHD is any faster at changing analog channels than your Series2.
     
  7. Oct 8, 2007 #7 of 7
    cramer

    cramer Member

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    Aug 14, 2000
    Raleigh,...
    Not more... different. The cablecard becomes your cable box. CC rental is usually much cheaper than a box/dvr. Most places rent them for $1.75 ('tho some charge insane rates.) If your cable provider can supply an M-Card(tm) [multi-stream], then you'll only need one -- and it will eliminate a number of problems (most notable... the cableco not setting up both cards exactly the same.)

    I left a Tivo HD with my sister (TW/Carolinas.) Let's see how badly they screw that up... I don't expect them to have run into many Tivo's in rural NC. They only recently got their *own* receiver setup correctly. (It saw 396 digital channels, btw. All of them (sans locals) were encrypted.)

    [BTW, without a cablecard, channel surfing can be "interesting"... it can take an alarming amount of time to figure out how to tune a channel. It has several modulations to try. I only noticed it a few times when surfing from an antenna channel to cable. That should go away once there's a map from the CC. Of course, it could also be a 9.1 bug :)]
     

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