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Help me decide.... Tivo HD or S3 HD

Discussion in 'TiVo Coffee House - TiVo Discussion' started by TideJoe, Oct 14, 2007.

  1. Oct 14, 2007 #1 of 10
    TideJoe

    TideJoe New Member

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    Oct 14, 2007
    I currently have a S2 that I love and have decided to make the jump to HD. I've been holding off for a while because of the problems people had in the past with Comcast and the CableCARDs. My TV supports 720p and 1080i resolutions but I plan to get a 1080p TV soon. My biggest concern with the HD boxes is they don't hold many shows in HD quality. With my S2, we just transfer to the PC when we get full but it's my understanding that TivoDesktop doesn't work with the HD boxes. So I'm leaning toward the S3 because it hold more video but it costs a good bit more. Can you easily expand the capacity of the HD boxes with the eSATA port yet? Thanks for your help.
     
  2. Oct 14, 2007 #2 of 10
    dianebrat

    dianebrat wait.. I did what? TCF Club

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  3. Oct 14, 2007 #3 of 10
    JYoung

    JYoung Series 3

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    TiVo To Go will be enabled on the Series 3 and HD TiVos in November.

    However, I'm not sure if HD transfers will be allowed or not.
     
  4. Oct 14, 2007 #4 of 10
    TideJoe

    TideJoe New Member

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    Oct 14, 2007
    Thanks. I think I'm leaning toward the S3 right now. I can get another 500GB of space for less than $200. Are you guys using the HDMI or component/optical connections on your HD boxes? I assume you're running it through some type of receiver. I've got a Harmon Kardon AVR 630 receiver that I've been pretty pleased with to this point.
     
  5. Oct 14, 2007 #5 of 10
    robm15

    robm15 New Member

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    I use HDMI to the TV, but run optical directly to the stereo receiver. If my TV had a digital out for the stereo reciever, I'd use it, but it doesn't.
     
  6. Oct 14, 2007 #6 of 10
    brothers

    brothers New Member

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    Looking at the hardware specs of the S3 and the THD, it appears that the THD has more "legs" for future capabilities. The S3 is a classic "Release 1.0"; the THD incorporates both what was learned from the S3 and roughly two years newer technology.

    I'm so confident of this that, when I realized that Best Buy had given me two S3s (at the THD price) instead of the THDs I had ordered, I went back and swapped for the cheaper units (and got some pretty strange looks from the BB clerks).

    - Dennis
     
  7. Oct 14, 2007 #7 of 10
    wolflord11

    wolflord11 Lord of Darkness

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    The TivoHD is more like a Second Generation Series 3, so I would go with the HD.
     
  8. Oct 15, 2007 #8 of 10
    demon

    demon BURNINATOR

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    According to TiVoPony's post about it, you *will* be able to MRV/TTG transfer HD material, as long as the CCI (copy control) code is for "copy freely". If you receive HD programming via OTA, that will be freely transferrable. If you receive digital/HD programming via cable, that will depend on your cable provider. Some cable providers will use the CCI information from the programming providers; some set their own values. Some are very strict - they'll set "copy once" or "copy never" on everything, or almost everything. Others only set it on (mostly) relevant programming. A few don't really know about CCI - mine sets *all* shows on every network (even HBOHD) as "copy freely". So it's going to vary pretty widely.
     
  9. Oct 15, 2007 #9 of 10
    TideJoe

    TideJoe New Member

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    Oct 14, 2007
    Have you successfully added any additional storage capacity to the THD? That's my biggest concern at this point because my wife likes to keep lots of programs and we handle that with TivoDesktop at this time. It looks like adding additional hard drives via eSATA is simple with the S3, but haven't seen much with the THD.
     
  10. Oct 15, 2007 #10 of 10
    dianebrat

    dianebrat wait.. I did what? TCF Club

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    http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=360676 will answer that quite well.

    Diane
     

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