[DouglasPHill]

Hi everyone,
Been a DirecTivo user for some time, really enjoy being able to record
one channel while watching another, and being able to record two
channels at the same time.

So SWB/AT&T is getting close to having fiber to my house. I understand
they have a non TIVO DVR. (this info has not been verified so I could
be mistaken.)

In that case, I will need to purchase my own TIVO. I've never had a
standalone TIVO but I'm guessing I will NOT be able to do two things
at once, like the DirecTivo does? What differences are there between
a standalone TIVO and a DirecTivo?

Thanks for your info.
Doug

 

[classicsat]

A DirecTV TiVo records two DirecT streams form satellite directly.

A Standalone Series 2 DT will record one A/V signal from a set top box, and one from analog cable, or two from analog cable.

A Single tuner Series 2 will record one channel from analog cable, analog antenna, or an STB.

A TiVoHD or Series 3 can record one or two of analog OTA, digital OTA, analog cable, or digital cable.

 

[tmesser]

So SWB/AT&T is getting close to having fiber to my house. I understand
they have a non TIVO DVR. (this info has not been verified so I could
be mistaken.)

AT&T's U-Verse DVR is not a TiVo. However, U-Verse is IPTV. Because there are no "tuners" in the sense that TiVo uses, and U-Verse does not use CableCARD (and probably never will, unlike Verizon's FIOS which does work with CableCARD), you're not going to be able to use any of the Series3 models with U-Verse. There are some reports in this forum of Series2 boxes working with an IR blaster. http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=366398

 

[BBURNES]

Doug,

I'm also a St. Louisan. Here are a few additional insights:

In general, Series 2 and 3 Stand Alone TiVos have way more functionality than the DirecTiVos. They can be broadband connected. Most all of the "cool" new things TiVo has been launching are ONLY available on the stand alones...(unless you hack your DirecTiVo.)

However, as I understand it, AT&T's new Uverse product is NOT compatible with either of the Series 3 HD products.

Perhaps other more technical experts can tell us if/how Series 3 can work with Uverse.

 

[20TIL6]

A good technical discussion.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=366398

I wish U-Verse could play nicely. AT&T's got my area blanketed, so no Verizon FiOS for me.

 

[DouglasPHill]

Wow, thanks for the info. How disappointing.

 

[20TIL6]

I know. Only one HD stream at a time? Completely inadequate.

I was with DTV and had a pair of DTV/TiVo's for many years. Since I wanted to go HD, and keep TiVo, I cancelled DTV and got a pair of S3's and recently an HD. I am now with Comcast.

Overall, I am quite happy. Comcast HD PQ is good, and the stuff you get on the standalones as opposed to the DTV/TiVo's is considerable. But I would like to have options beyond Comcast, keeping TiVo of course. FiOS sounds great, but like I said, AT&T owns my area. And U-Verse sounds like a non-starter to me.