[dfwkootz2020]

I recently cut the cord and pulled out a bolt I bought back in 2016 but reactivating it was going to cost over 500 for lifetime service. I ended up buying a new bolt OTA for $150 + $99 for lifetime service direct from their website. I thought this was a steal and couldn’t pass it up. Amazed that they offer lifetime service for the device at $99. Not sure if TiVo offers this type of sale often. I’ve never seen it so cheap so if you considering now is the time to pull the trigger.

I got the bolt mainly for OTA DVR since my Samsung tv has great selection of apps and works with no issues. I like the idea of having all my streaming services via the bolt but seems like the quality isn’t great based on reviews here, will have to play with the bolt to see if I see much difference.

I was paying over $240 for AT&T fiber and tv. Moved to spectrum locked at $45 internet only for 2 years since I rarely watched any cable channels. Now got plenty of cash to add more of the increasing number of streaming services since TiVo is basically free and Internet is so cheap. I love competition I’ll just continue to jump between att and spectrum to push for best internet prices. For years I only had one option and they priced it that way.

 

[dianebrat]

The current sale already has a thread over in the coffee house..
Bolt Sale - Memorial Weekend 2020

 

[Mikeguy]

The TiVo OTA box offers, and especially when combined with special sales, always have been great deals. Congrats!

 

[dfwkootz2020]

I got my bolt OTA installed today and happy to report all the channels I’m interested in come in perfect. I was a bit worried about the bolt tuners based on issues reported by others in this forum but so far for me no worries. Streaming Netflix and amazon work fine but as reported in this forum the picture is a bit softer than running the apps directly on my Samsung tv. It’s not a huge difference but definitely can see a difference probably will just use the tv apps. When I cut the cord the one thing I thought I was going to have to live with is no dvr since I was too cheap to subscribe to one of the alternative dvr services. Love having TiVo with no monthly bills. This sale they are having right now can’t be beat.

 

[dfwkootz2020]

Well crap I installed my TiVo yesterday and setup a bunch of season passes to test it out. Late last night I decided to watch one of the recorded shows from my old TiVo mini 2014 synced with the new bolt OTA. When I tried to watch a show I would get an error saying it couldn’t play the recording. I was doing this while the bolt was recording 3 shows. I checked the bolt and there was no picture on my tv. I could hear the live tv but no picture. Rebooted bolt and no change. An hour later after all the recordings finished and now my TiVo mini could play the recorded shows but the bolt still had no picture. It was responding to my remote because I could hear the TiVo sound effects but no video. after rebooting all my devices tv, receiver, and bolt. I was able to use the bolt again.

seems like the bolt was having issues when it was recording 3 simultaneous shows. I hope this was just a fluke. Anyone else have any issues like this?

 

[tommage1]

Well crap I installed my TiVo yesterday and setup a bunch of season passes to test it out. Late last night I decided to watch one of the recorded shows from my old TiVo mini 2014 synced with the new bolt OTA. When I tried to watch a show I would get an error saying it couldn't play the recording. I was doing this while the bolt was recording 3 shows. I checked the bolt and there was no picture on my tv. I could hear the live tv but no picture. Rebooted bolt and no change. An hour later after all the recordings finished and now my TiVo mini could play the recorded shows the bolt still had no picture. after rebooting all my devices tv, receiver, and bolt. I was able to use the bolt again.

seems like the bolt was having issues when it was recording 3 simultaneous shows. I hope this was just a fluke. Anyone else have any issues like this?

Bolt OTA is TE4 only. Any chance your Mini is still on TE3? If so you probably have to change it to TE4 to match your Bolt. Just guessing.

 

[dfwkootz2020]

Bolt OTA is TE4 only. Any chance your Mini is still on TE3? If so you probably have to change it to TE4 to match your Bolt. Just guessing.

good idea. I'll check that and make sure it's on TE4

 

[tommage1]

Also the Mini "borrows/ties up" one tuner on the Bolt. If your Bolt was recording 3 shows it was probably using all 4 tuners, three for the recordings, one for live TV. Leaving none available for the Mini. However that would not explain the blank picture once the recordings finished.

 

[dfwkootz2020]

Bolt OTA is TE4 only. Any chance your Mini is still on TE3? If so you probably have to change it to TE4 to match your Bolt. Just guessing.

Thanks for the help, both the bolt and mini are running 21.9.7.v7. Probably won't ever know the cause, just hope this is a one time thing. I'll have to watch for the all tuners in use situation if this occurs again.

I turned off the power savings mode just in case this had something to do with it sleeping since it had gone into sleep mode before recording the shows when it stopped working.

 

[tommage1]

One other thing, when I switch around inputs on TV or receiver sometimes there is an HDMI handshake problem, ie no picture. In my case I just turn off the TV then turn it back on and all is well.

Sleep mode IMO is kind of a waste. I used to use it. But did tests with a kill-a-watt and the difference was minimal. Plus there were some issues with devices coming out of sleep mode (connecting to other devices), figure why deal with it, just leave 'em on if little to no power savings. I will say not sure what happens with sleep mode on a Mini if it has one, it does not have a drive. It might free up the tuner it is borrowing from the main Tivo.