[aepcopat]

I purchased a Tivo Roamio and Tivo mini yesterday, and I am wondering if it is possible to access my iTunes library of movies. I am currently using apple tv 3rd generation in several rooms to access my movies.

Thanks,
Patrick

 

[b-ball-fanatic]

I purchased a Tivo Roamio and Tivo mini yesterday, and I am wondering if it is possible to access my iTunes library of movies. I am currently using apple tv 3rd generation in several rooms to access my movies.

Thanks,
Patrick

In a word, no. TiVos are very limited in what media servers they'll recognize and use. And for all their online streaming options, their local streaming options are abysmal. You could set up a pyTiVo server and point it to your movie library, but you'd need to transfer any movie you want to watch to the Roamio....you can't stream it like you can with the Apple TV.

 

[aepcopat]

In a word, no. TiVos are very limited in what media servers they'll recognize and use. And for all their online streaming options, their local streaming options are abysmal. You could set up a pyTiVo server and point it to your movie library, but you'd need to transfer any movie you want to watch to the Roamio....you can't stream it like you can with the Apple TV.

Thanks for solid, quick response. So, in theory I could transfer my purchase iTunes movies to the TiVo? If yes, I am assuming that I could by a large external drive for the TiVo to store the movies?

 

[b-ball-fanatic]

Thanks for solid, quick response. So, in theory I could transfer my purchase iTunes movies to the TiVo? If yes, I am assuming that I could by a large external drive for the TiVo to store the movies?

I don't know much about copy-protection issues with iTunes DRM, but it seems reasonable to assume that Apple won't allow you to freely use those movies wherever/however you want. I think you may be limited to watching them on your "authorized" computers and Apple devices. So that well be a non-starter...

But, jumping ahead with the BIG assumptions that you've set up, say, a PyTiVo server and you can successfully transcode those files, I want to clarify an important point regarding your external drive comment. TiVos can use an eSATA expander drive, but they treat it as part of a single larger storage space. You can't use it just for your movies, or use it selectively in any way...recordings are spread over both drives (internally by the TiVo) such that you can lose everything if it fails or is removed. And only the TiVo can record content to it, so you can't pre-load stuff on it or anything like that.

Honestly, you've already got the easiest way to watch your iTunes movies on your TVs, so I'd recommend you just stick with that. Apple TV is designed to do this, and there's no option for watching them from your Roamio (streamed or downloaded) that will be nearly as simple and troublefree as what you're doing now. (And again, DRM may not allow it anyway....)

 

[jcthorne]

If apple will let you....

I would suggest you stop buying media in formats you cannot watch in the way you desire.

 

[wmcbrine]

Yeah, iTunes video (unlike iTunes music nowadays) is still DRM-encumbered.

 

[aepcopat]

I half suspected that DRM would be an issue, but I was hoping maybe there was a work around. Not a big deal, just thought it would be convenient to access all content in one place.