[EdGillett]

Well, we finally bit the bullet and installed Sky. Managed to pick up a SkyHD box off eBay which was faulty (stuck in stand by). Replaced the hard disk with a 500GB, and now all is well again, and was installed by a remarkably helpful Sky sub contractor yesterday (he even managed to install the dish so we could hardly see it, but still had excellent signal strength - perhaps 4 inches peek over the top of a wall above over our entry porch).

When I finally managed to convice Sky to activate the Sky+ functionality without needing to buy a £10 Sky HD sub (it can be done ...), I started to realise how truly amazing Tivo continues to be in terms of usability, and just how badly Sky+ users have it.

Damn you Murdoch for killing Tivo in it's prime! I swear he was building his evil PVR in the shadows whilst he was failing to adequately market Tivo. Damn him, damn him again.

My Series 1 Tivo has never missed a beat in 6 years. And oh how I wish I'd bought a Lifetime Sub. I still pay my £10 a month, but now that Sky+ is likely doing the majority of the recording in the house, I can see Tivo's role diminishing, and that £10 a month looking like an increasingly unnecessary expense

We love our Tivo to bits, and my lovely wife couldn't understand why Sky+ didn't have all the Tivo functions, even though it was brand new, and Tivo came out 6 years ago (or more). It would feel like pulling the life support from a close family member if I cancelled my Tivo sub!

Tivo's still hooked up to Freeview, and is faithfully recording away.

Theoretically, given the fact that the SkyHD box is twin tuner, I could get Tivo to control the box and record some stuff, whilst it's also recording something else, but that limits our sky watching to what Tivo needs to record, and somewhat misses the point.

I dread the first time Sky+ messes up a Series Link. Something my Tivo has never done ...

Not interested in paying for HD just yet (and I don't have an HDTV yet anyway).

Even the Sky HD remote seems hard and unfriendly ... I miss my Peanut (another beautiful example of ergonomics and usability) ...

 

[TCM2007]

Sadly, you get used to it...

 

[EdGillett]

And that, right there, is a tragedy ...

I guess the people right here on this board are probably the few remaining in the UK that remember how a decent PVR is supposed to work.

Tivo - Come back to the UK. Never has the UK market been more ready to accept you back again. Please! Come in with a shiny new Dual Tuner, HD toting box and more and call it "Series 4" just to irritate the US a bit that for once we have something they don't first ...

 

[cwaring]

I swear he was building his evil PVR in the shadows whilst he was failing to adequately market Tivo. Damn him, damn him again.

Nah! He wouldn't do that because that would be anti-competetive and, as we all know, Sky aren't anti-competetive are they?

 

[6022tivo]

I dread the first time Sky+ messes up a Series Link. Something my Tivo has never done ...

It is a horrible feeling.. You get that sinking feeling...

Don't know if the software, or reliability has inproved. But the frustration of seeing.. RECORDING FAILED, and the REASON CODE 9 (Or other crap information)

Then the series links stopping and having to add them again. And for every new series you have to add another series link... Frustrating.. and sad.. It annoys me when you hear people who have never had a pvr, big up Sky+...

You know the types you overhear in the pub, going on about Sky+ recording at home and they love it, and can not imagine life without Sky+.. Annoying.... lol

 

[Pete77]

You know the types you overhear in the pub, going on about Sky+ recording at home and they love it, and can not imagine life without Sky+.. Annoying.... lol

Hopefully once Freeview Playback with Series Link and no subscription gets going it will shut up these "great bores of today".

 

[TCM2007]

I dread the first time Sky+ messes up a Series Link. Something my Tivo has never done ...

While I'd certainly say TiVo is more reliable than Sky+, if you've never had a Season Pass fail in six years you've either been exceptionally lucky or don't record much outside of the most popular shows on the most popular channels. See the errors thread for examples.

 

[Automan]

One soon gets used to the + points of Sky given a week or so.

Series links are not perfect and as my uncle said who just got Sky+ installed

How on earth can it miss the end of a recording in this day and age

Once I explained the primitive epg and that one has to set 5 mins on the end he seemed happy again.

Automan.

 

[Pete77]

One soon gets used to the + points of Sky given a week or so.

And these are??????

Dual tuner and ummm dual tuner and ummm dual tuner?

 

[TCM2007]

And these are??????

Dual tuner and ummm dual tuner and ummm dual tuner?

Picture quality, no MPEG re-encode/decode.

When they use the EPG right then late starts/overruns are compensated for.

The press green during a trailer to set a recording.

Set recordings by SMS etc.

Umm.

Struggling now...

 

[OzSat]

Picture quality, no MPEG re-encode/decode.

Yes

When they use the EPG right then late starts/overruns are compensated for.

on some channels.

The press green during a trailer to set a recording.

On a very few programmes

Set recordings by SMS etc.

This is good - I get the Sky planner on my telephone and can set recordings.

But you missed out the number of times programmes just vanish from the planner - especially on HD recordings in bad weather.

The Sky+ system is very good - but is missing:

a useful search - recording a series without having to know which channel it is on / or search by actor etc.
season passes beyond a week or two (TiVo will remember these forever - Sky can only remember a series where the next episode is already scheduled within the next week or two - the link is lost beyond that).

 

[EdGillett]

- no visible indication as to how long a recording has left when you're playing back

- no jump points on playback

- no "View Upcoming Episodes"

- no intelligent scheduling of viewings across multiple channels (such as the +1 channel repeats, odd 3am repeats etc.)

- no audible feedback on actions (it's the friendly Tivo usability elements like this which you only really miss when they're not there. I miss my Tivo sounds!)

- filtering programme lists beyond first letter of alphabet (surely a SkyHD/Sky+ box could cache some of this data and allow you to do this??)

I currently like ..

... dual tuners.

and that's about it.

I presume all the EPG data comes directly off the sat signal (hence delays showing data when you +24hrs etc.), and the reason why you can't via prog info (i) when you have both tuners in use recording different channels and want to do program info on a third.

I am so tempted to go back to single tuner and re-encode again on Tivo, but will persevere a little longer.

I studied Economics for a while. The fact that Tivo exists and people praise Sky+ is a prime example of Imperfect Knowledge in the Marketplace.

Maybe I should go to the States. Or if Australia actually gets a new Tivo ...

 

[katman]

The press green during a trailer to set a recording.

....but surely you can only do that if you are watching LIVE TV.

 

[Pete77]

I currently like ..

... dual tuners.

and that's about it.

I thought I had that right. The other quoted advantages seem trivial in relation to all the things one loses.

I am so tempted to go back to single tuner and re-encode again on Tivo, but will persevere a little longer.

I'm curious as to how you came to switch to Sky+ in the first place. I only had to be shown its interface at a Currys to know that it was not for me. Its program control that is my priority rather than worrying about how many pixels the damn thing is shown at. An SD and an HD picture once stored in your brain both seem the same whereas a black and white program does not.

I studied Economics for a while. The fact that Tivo exists and people praise Sky+ is a prime example of Imperfect Knowledge in the Marketplace...

The fact that TalkTalk broadband has any customers at all seems to be yet another example of imperfect Knowledge In The Marketplace.

 

[Raisltin Majere]

One soon gets used to the + points of Sky given a week or so.

Not me, gave it a try for a while and *hated* it. It's now relegated to recording the wife's programs and LazyTown for the little un.

Tivo is dedicated to me

 

[Automan]

- no visible indication as to how long a recording has left when you're playing back

Press select during playback

- no jump points on playback

press backup, select and enter time also of course bookmark function and jump to bookmarks is available.

- no "View Upcoming Episodes"

True, primitive epg which predates UK Tivo.

- no intelligent scheduling of viewings across multiple channels (such as the +1 channel repeats, odd 3am repeats etc.)

True but series links can link a series of movies and other special events.

- no audible feedback on actions (it's the friendly Tivo usability elements like this which you only really miss when they're not there. I miss my Tivo sounds!)

Some folks turn off the Tivo sounds - Sky+ can beep when you get your pin wrong

- filtering programme lists beyond first letter of alphabet (surely a SkyHD/Sky+ box could cache some of this data and allow you to do this??)

Yes I always thought with a hard drive they could enchance the epg but Sky seem not to care with their virtual monopoly.

I currently like ..

... dual tuners.

and that's about it.

I presume all the EPG data comes directly off the sat signal (hence delays showing data when you +24hrs etc.), and the reason why you can't via prog info (i) when you have both tuners in use recording different channels and want to do program info on a third.

I am so tempted to go back to single tuner and re-encode again on Tivo, but will persevere a little longer.

I studied Economics for a while. The fact that Tivo exists and people praise Sky+ is a prime example of Imperfect Knowledge in the Marketplace.

Maybe I should go to the States. Or if Australia actually gets a new Tivo ...

 

[TCM2007]

....but surely you can only do that if you are watching LIVE TV.

I think it works from a recording.

 

[TCM2007]

I thought I had that right. The other quoted advantages seem trivial in relation to all the things one loses.

Indeed, with the exception of improved pricture quality - I know some say that they can't tell the difference between Mode 0 and the original, but that's a function of their TV equipment, there most certainly is a difference.

 

[katman]

I think it works from a recording.

but surely if you are watching a recording you will be wizzing through the trailer and adverts LOL

 

[Automan]

Alas the green button to book a program to view/record only works when watching live tv so it is inert & useless IMHO

Automan.

I think it works from a recording.