Directv HD Subscriber - Orphaned by TIVO?

I chose to give up DTV and go to HD cable with 3 series 3 units. I'm extremely happy with my decision.

 

The choice to not use TiVo for the new receivers was made by DirecTV, not by TiVo. It's not the end of the world.

 

Same here - switched to cable HD with a S3.

When DTV ALLOWS Tivo to make a TivoHD that can use their satellite signal, I will be interested in returning to the fold. I like DirecTV, and will want it more when all those HD channels go live, but Tivo is King in this house. Current Management of DTV can .........


Bonanza

 

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I chose to give up TiVo and stay with HD DirecTV with 3 HR20 units. I'm extremely happy with my decision.

KD

 

You have to chose which two out of three you want. There is no all three.

Your choices are DirecTV, HD, and/or Tivo.

* You can chose DirecTV, TiVo, and HD with the HR10-250, but will get limited HD.
* For Cable, some providers are beginning to employ SDV for some, digital and HD channels, which isn't compatible with the current one-way Cablecard system TiVo uses. A solution is in the works though.

 

I've been with D* since '97. Been with Tivo since the beginning. I'm waiting to see what the new D* HD lineup will look like, quality-wise, before deciding to stay or go with Verizon Fios and a Series 3. (Comcast took themselves out of the running years ago.)

I've already decided this much: If the new D* lineup does not come with significantly better picture quality, then I'm done with them. Judging from the cryptic/evasive/non-responsive comments from D* officials about this issue, I'm not optimistic.

So it comes down to this: D* + better PQ + D* DVR (ugh!) or Fios + reported already better PQ + Series 3.

BTW, as a previous poster mentioned, the D*/Tivo divorce was D*'s decision, not Tivo's. The thread title is inaccurate.

 

At the risk of being redundant, this bears repeating:

 

rumors of TiVo and DirectTV getting together more actively are swirling strong right now

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5537750&&#post5537750

 

I did the move from DirectTV/Tivo to Fios/Tivo and I am VERY happy with the results.

Al

 

Seeing as everyone is making a big deal about it, how do you know it wasn't TiVo's choice?

How do you know it wasn't an either Comcast or DirecTv decision? How do you know TiVo didn't want to increase their fees etc.

I'm being serious too. If this is really known, point me to the information. If we're still assuming it because it seems the most likely, say that too. For the record, it's what I assume, but I don't know.

 

I seriously considered this - I was a DTV customer for 10 years - and I thought that I would eventually adjust to the HR20. The deal breaker for me was the lack of dual live buffers. I use it extensively, and setting up recordings to simulate it just isn't a workable solution.

I still have DTV envy from time to time, especially when I see their adds about expanded HD coverage. I worry also that SDV might come along and ruin what I have now.

I have one other potential solution. Verizon has been busy in this area stringing up what I assume to be fiber. If they offer FIOS I'd have to seriously consider going in that direction.

 

Mostly by just keeping up with the news, reading reports, staying up to date on the trade shows, catching conference calls from directv and tivo on the 'net.....

How about the quote from directv at the ces show in '05 saying, "We'll support our existing TiVo customers, But our core initiatives and new customer acquisition will focus on our new DVR."
Does that sound like a tivo decision?

Try googling :
directv tivo stop marketing
directv dumps tivo
directv kicks tivo

You really need to get out a little more. It makes keeping up with these things a little eaisier.


I'm just picking on you, Billy.
But the real tale came out in some of the conference calls around the time that directv made their announcment of the directv branded nds dvr. ... at about the same time tivo started to use the term "hope" in their cc's when talking about their future with directv.

 

Gotcha jmoak, it's the same "common sense" conjecture we've been kicking around for a while. Nothing definitive.

I'm not in disagreement that it was probably DirecTv's decision, it's just being portrayed with more certainty here than the reality of what is known.


I won't pick your post apart point by point because I think we're in basic agreement.

 

TiVo's staff has stated clearly in the past; this was not their idea.

 

Listen to the quarterly conference calls from directv and tivo through the end of '05 and into '06.

It get's quite certian.

It all became very clear who's decision it was at the Reuters Telecommunications, Cable and Satellite Summit in New York back in august '05 when asked about the future of dvr's at directv, DirecTV Chief Executive Chase Carey said, "The product we will market is our product".

...the "product" being nds' r15, of course.

 

I accept what stevel said jmoak, but what you're writing has me interpreting their forward path to determine the past actions.

I might say things like "I'm devoted to moving forward with Woman "A" as my wife and being the dominant family in all the land" while what I'm not saying is that I only picked Woman "A" because Woman "B" told me to jump in the lake.

Again, I think you and I agree, but you don't really believe that Carey saying that they are going forward with their own products MUST NECESSARILY mean that it was their decision to not go forward with TiVo do you?

I don't plan on relistening to all of the calls, but if there's something solid there, I'd check it out. I'm comfortable with what stevel wrote and if the TiVo staff said it here, that's much more real.

 

I was with DTV for 12+ years using DTV/TiVo's for many of those years, and I switched to cable with the new S3 and TiVo HD. TiVo means more in our household than the pipe that carries the content. I never had HiDef with DTV, so I can't compare, but Comcast has been reliable and the PQ is very good. I am very happy with my decision, plus the S3 and TiVo HD are basically standalone units. All the features that were not available on the DTV/TiVo's, we now have. We were missing a lot.

 

This is my feeling as well. The HR10-250 was a great unit as far as it went, but by comparison to the S3, it was a crippled TiVo. I was amazed at the features that TiVo had put into their software while the Directv units stagnated.

 

IIRC, Tivo built a new cheaper R10 DTivo model and released in Dec 04, they also released a new software version 6.3e in July 05. Then D* and Tivo broke up in Aug 05, and D* came out with the NDS R15 in Nov 05. These are the facts.

If Tivo were to have walked away from DTV so suddenly, why did they give DTV a software version in July? They already gave DTV one in March (6.3b). So somehow between March and July/Aug, Tivo decided to change their business relation with DTV. And DTV, surprisingly was able to react fast enough to roll out their own DVR in Nov, just 3-4 months later after the breakup. This seems really incredible.

Many have guessed, and I agree that Tivo was given a false chance to compete at DTV, they delivered the R10, and still lost out, DTV had been working on the R15 for a while, long before the summer of 05, as soon as R15 was looking close to be ready, DTV dumped Tivo.