Front panel of STB

Why did you buy an S3?

opus472 said:

Wonder why Tivo wastes this valuable space - could at least show elapsed time or remaining time when playing back recordings, as VCRs managed to do 25 years ago. And the clock is almost impossible to read from across the room...

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Those recording times would be just as difficult to read. A simple push of the Play button gives you all that info in an easy to read format.

jrm01 said:

Those recording times would be just as difficult to read. A simple push of the Play button gives you all that info in an easy to read format.

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Never had a problem reading the front panel of VCRs, and didn't have to block the TV picture to see the info. The Tivo clock is difficult to read because the numbers are simply too small. What's the purpose of the clock if you can't read it?

Come on Opus, RTFM. We all realize you are a n00b, and that is all well and fine because we are all n00b's at one point. But does every question that pops into your head have to be a new thread? What will your next post be, how to turn the Tivo off? What does standby mode do? Why is there no PiP? Why are there shows in the recently deleted folder? Please, experiment on your own, read the manual, then search the forum, read the FAQ's.

[/rant]

BC

Kablemodem said:

Why did you buy an S3?

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Good question!

Haven't decided yet whether or not to keep it. As I mentioned, the big advantage so far is the hard drive capacity...

legendarybc said:

Come on Opus, RTFM. We all realize you are a n00b, and that is all well and fine because we are all n00b's at one point. But does every question that pops into your head have to be a new thread?

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No problem, but I'm not sure it applies to this particular thread.

Decided to separate the questions to make the threads easier to follow, in case others have the same question. When searching the forum, a bunch of questions combined in one post makes the stuff difficult to find...

I've read about half the manual, I'll go finish it now, I promise.

opus472 said:

Good question!

Haven't decided yet whether or not to keep it. As I mentioned, the big advantage so far is the hard drive capacity...

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Sounds like someone who works for SA or Moto or Dish, convincing themselves that's the only reason people buy a S3.

Go back under your bridge.

Most TiVos don't even have a front panel display. There's really very little information you need that isn't better displayed on the TV itself. The front panel information is for when you're not watching the TV. In the past it was just and indicator light as verification that it was recording. With the S3 you get a bit more information. There's no sense in cluttering it up with information better found elsewhere.

Plus, the display is dim enough that you can sleep with it in your bedroom. The display on my TWC DVR lights up my bedroom.

My TWC DVR either shows the time or something completely worthless like "rEC" all the time, in big amber nasty 80's goodness.

I put black electrical tape over it.

nrc said:

Most TiVos don't even have a front panel display. There's really very little information you need that isn't better displayed on the TV itself. The front panel information is for when you're not watching the TV.

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To each his own, I guess. I'd much rather be able to simply glance at the front panel to check the elapsed time than have to pop up a banner that blocks part of the TV picture.

Why does it matter if the thing blocks the TV display if you ARE NOT LOOKING AT THE TV?

Arcady said:

Why does it matter if the thing blocks the TV display if you ARE NOT LOOKING AT THE TV?

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Huh? Why wouldn't I be looking at the TV?

Because you are looking at the display on the box.

Arcady said:

Because you are looking at the display on the box.

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Oh. I'd be glancing at the display, as many of us did with VCRs for 20+ years...

You either have better eyes than me, or your VCR had a bigger display, but back in the "old VCR days" when I wanted to know the time remaining I pressed the info button on my TV.

Not looking at the TV? That's just crazy-talk!

I understand Arcady's point.

If you're looking AWAY from the TV to see the time remaining anyway, what does it matter if you display a banner that blocks part of the screen. 6 of one half a dozen of the other.

jbernardis said:

If you're looking AWAY from the TV to see the time remaining anyway, what does it matter if you display a banner that blocks part of the screen. 6 of one half a dozen of the other.

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I suspect you could glance at the front panel in less time than it would take for the banner to appear onscreen, let alone toggle it on and off. And depending on the location of the box, you could see both the front panel and the screen at the same time.