OTA only Tivo on the way

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Really? Then why does the Roamio Basic have a brick and the Plus and Pro do not?

 

Cause the Plus and the Pro also have an internal power converter.

 

Perhaps I am missing something here, but my read is the power brick was supplying 2 Amps at 12 Volts directly to the Tivo Basic logic board. While I can see individual chips on the board might need voltage regulators between them and the power source, why would anything else need anything else done to the power? The HDD is going to want 12V for sure.

 

A computer power supply has two basic functions. Converting the AC to DC and producing and distributing the various voltages. The Roamio Basic has separated these two functions. It also appears that the second function has been moved to the MB and is not a separate module.

BTW, calling the Roamio Basic power supply a "brick" is a misnomer. It is a wall-wart.

 

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That still makes no sense.

 

You are correct it is a wall wart that supplies the circuits in the Roamio with "main power'. Many digital second boards have voltage regulators and distribution networks that supply different voltages to different parts of the circuitry. Those distribution circuits are not generally referred to as "power supplies".

 

Neither is a wall wart. Even TiVo refers to it as a power adapter. Yes, I know I "misspoke" in my previous post.

In any case, the main point is, and I am sure you agree, it is silly to buy an OTA Roamio for spare parts.

 

I wouldn't bother either. If I need a part for something I just get it. If I stock piled repair parts for everything I owned, through the years, I would need a railroad car to store them, and 99% of them would never be used.

 

I purchased a Roamio OTA at Best Buy in Colorado Springs last Sunday. They had 2 on the shelf.

What I have: rabbit ears, a tv and an iPhone hotspot. What I wanted: a good DVR that works with rabbit ears and let's me (somehow) access my hotspot at a low cost of entry. I purchased the OTA without having to sign up for service at Best Buy. I got home and hooked up the Roamio and set about trying to get it to log in to my hotspot. It did see my phone in addition to the plethora of other wi-fi networks in my area. It would not directly access the hotspot though. A good friend/IT pro was available and helped me figure out how to "bridge" the connection through my MacBook and voila... I was online and downloading software and guide info. Once that finished, the OTA asked for my TiVo credentials. At this point I got online and signed up for the TiVo service and in relatively short time was watching tv after a quick channel scan.

A week in and I couldn't be more pleased with my decision. I have multiple season passes and am helping the unit to make better recommendations (just because the Spanish stations outweigh the English does not mean they appeal to me). I just re-connected the bridge last night and successfully updated the guide and logged in to my Hulu and Netflix accounts just to make sure they work. I am thankful that a constant connection is not required. I can attest to the fact that the tuner in the OTA is better than the one in my tv as my CBS feed already looks immensely better.

Yes, I get the math on lifetime vs. monthly but this is the option that works for me for now. I am not exactly poor but I know what I can afford. I am not stupid, uneducated, idiotic, moronic or part of the huddled/unwashed masses (or any of the other names that have been lobbed on this forum). I am grateful that TiVo offered a great product that I have been looking for and it meets all my needs.

 

LOL.... That's funny... and true.......

 

Where do you live that has no DSL, no cable, no fiber, and yet has a lot of wifi networks available?

 

I thought it was called a power supply?

 

Good question... I rent a finished basement in a house where wi-if and Internet are not provided nor is the option to run a separate line. The option I use is the hotspot on my phone. Not ideal but it works well.

 

You have a right to access whatever physical plants pass by the house, VDSL, cable, etc and have your own account, even if the owners of the house won't share their Wifi with you. What do they expect people to do? Not have TV and internet?

 

I received my Roamio OTA last week. It is working great. However, it does not have the green Tivo Roamio OTA silk-screened branding on the front of the device that the ones on the Engadget and CNet article had. It came in the OTA-specific box, but it just says Tivo Roamio in silver letters on the front.

The cable card connection on the motherboard is there, but the slot and L connector are missing (I am assuming those would be present on a full Roamio). It looks like they took a regular Roamio Basic and removed the cable card assembly rather than actually creating a case specifically for the OTA-only model.

 

I was curious if there is a set limit of individual recording events for any of the Tivos ? I read that the Channel Master DVR+ has a 999 recording event limit no matter the size of the hard drive and will not record any scheduled program if you reach 999 unless you delete some programs. Channel Master claims it would slow the machine down drastically if the firmware let you record more than 999.

 

I've never heard of an issue with that either. My S3's with 2TB drives have 621 and 673 shows respectively including suggestions. I'm sure with a 3TB and certainly a 4TB drive that you would be over the number they gave.

Scott