How do you cope without your TiVo

1565 Views 19 Replies 15 Participants Last post by AENG, Oct 17, 2007

alextegg

Discussion Starter · Oct 14, 2007

I am shortly starting a new job where I will be away from home in the week a lot. This means no access to TiVo and having to go back 5 years to live TV !!

I will be stuck in a hotel most nights, so will need something to amuse me !

I will have a broadband connection, though probably not that quick, perhaps 1Mb down / 256k up

How do others cope? Do you:

1. Just cope, and watch live TV
2. Batch stuff up, and watch it on a PC or other device so you can skip commercials
3. Not watch TV! I'd come close to this as I hate having to watch adverts having got used to not using them
4. Use ORB or Slingbox or equivalent technologies - if so which, and why
5. Use the new iPlayer & 4OD (Not much use for ITV or programmes which are not listed!)
6. Watch rental DVDs or bittorrents
7. Combination of the above

Cheers for any suggestions, there must be other people out there who work away from home...

Alex

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Richard Loxley

· #2 · Oct 14, 2007

What about getting a second Tivo, and have one Tivo recording stuff at home whilst you watch the other Tivo in your hotel room? Then the following week swap them over and take the Tivo with the new programs to the hotel whilst leaving the other one at home recording.

Although what I have personally done on these occasions was to watch previously downloaded bittorrents on a laptop, combined with the occasional live TV program. But I watch quite a lot of bittorrents these days, which I output to a TV using Xbox Media Center (XBMC). Now if I had to stay in a hotel I'd probably just take the Xbox.

cyril

· #3 · Oct 14, 2007

alextegg said:
I am shortly starting a new job where I will be away from home in the week a lot. This means no access to TiVo and having to go back 5 years to live TV !! I will be stuck in a hotel most nights, so will need something to amuse me !

I will have a broadband connection, though probably not that quick, perhaps 1Mb down / 256k up

How do others cope? Do you:

1. Just cope, and watch live TV
2. Batch stuff up, and watch it on a PC or other device so you can skip commercials
3. Not watch TV! I'd come close to this as I hate having to watch adverts having got used to not using them
4. Use ORB or Slingbox or equivalent technologies - if so which, and why
5. Use the new iPlayer & 4OD (Not much use for ITV or programmes which are not listed!)
6. Watch rental DVDs or bittorrents
7. Combination of the above

Cheers for any suggestions, there must be other people out there who work away from home...

Alex

I either go out or catch up on lost sleep

.
If you don't fancy that or have seen/done everything of interest, read a good book,listen to your ipod,or bring along a games console (and don't forget to upgrade the storage on your TiVo, possibly reducing the default recording quality to save disk space, before you leave home). A laptop usually keeps me amused as I have various programmes stored on disk and can do some programming, sort out some photos,do the accounts, design my new kitchen etc.. In future I will upgrade my laptop to vista media centre, so will have a portable 'TiVo' so to speak.

I am always tempted by the ORB/Slingbox option as carrying a TiVo with me is not an option for SWMBO if she's also around.

If SWMBO's not around, I would have 2 TiVos with me in the hotel

.

Pugwash

· #4 · Oct 14, 2007

I'd take a laptop and all those x-files dvd boxsets I haven't watched in a while.

PaulWilkinsUK

· #5 · Oct 14, 2007

Or... buy a Slingbox !
Watch your TiVo from anywhere in the world. You can control it from your hotel room too!

alextegg

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 14, 2007

I've seriously considered a slingbox before, but how good are they really on connections that are not guaranteed to be quick. I have 1/2 Mb upload at home, but who knows what the hotel WLAN will be. Might try some of the other suggestions, but taking an XBOX, TiVo or anything else into the hotel is a bit too extreme for me, I struggle carrying a week's shirts/suit etc plus laptop bag and overnight bag, never mind my TiVo!

iankb

· #7 · Oct 14, 2007

One advantage of MCE, is that you can stream your program content, including music, video, etc, via the web with WebGuide4. No need for hardware such as the Slingbox.

Fred Smith

· #8 · Oct 14, 2007

A lot of hotels still only supply the four main terrestrial channels i.e. no Five or anything else for that matter. They may offer more but not always the channels I want to see, or the program I want to see is being broadcast while I out getting dinner etc.

So I take an analogue DVD recorder using DVD RAM disks so that I can watch the start of a program while it's recording the end when applicable. The DVD recorder is analogue deliberately as digital signals are not always as available. I also take a Freeview box, which gives me access to most of the channels I get at home depending on the hotels RF distribution system.

All fits in one small holdall and as I am usually away for most of the week carrying an extra bag up to the room on a Monday evening and down again on a Friday morning is not a great chore, the main chore is dismantling it all every morning putting it away as you don't know how some hotel proprietors would react particularly those supply movies etc on demand at extra cost.

I also take a my own laptop with 3G mobile BB (where available) and have a Slingbox so I can access my TiVo and again most of what I receive at home and an analogue TV card in my server PC at home (running amongst others programs) Unreal media server so I can view Eurosport International (available in very few hotels) from my analogue satellite receiver.

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speedyrite

· #9 · Oct 14, 2007

TivoTool > iTunes > iPod video

PaulWilkinsUK

· #10 · Oct 14, 2007

alextegg said:
I've seriously considered a slingbox before, but how good are they really on connections that are not guaranteed to be quick. I have 1/2 Mb upload at home, but who knows what the hotel WLAN will be. Might try some of the other suggestions, but taking an XBOX, TiVo or anything else into the hotel is a bit too extreme for me, I struggle carrying a week's shirts/suit etc plus laptop bag and overnight bag, never mind my TiVo!

Well in my experience with Slingbox, their stream optimization method is superb. I could quite happily sit in my hotel room and watch Sky via the TiVo/Slingbox.. Incidentally, I downloaded the Slingbox player for my Nokia N73 today and was able to watch the BTCC this afternoon on my mobile phone... How ****ing cool is that !!!

alextegg

Discussion Starter · #11 · Oct 14, 2007

Would have been cooler if Plato had won, but that's impressive

Might have to look into the slingbox, then...

What speed of uplink do you have on the connection the slingbox is hooked onto?

PaulWilkinsUK

· #12 · Oct 15, 2007

alextegg said:
Would have been cooler if Plato had won, but that's impressive

Might have to look into the slingbox, then...

What speed of uplink do you have on the connection the slingbox is hooked onto?

Mine is currently 448MBps, but 256 or 384 should do...

kitschcamp

· #13 · Oct 15, 2007

alextegg said:
I am shortly starting a new job where I will be away from home in the week a lot. This means no access to TiVo and having to go back 5 years to live TV !! I will be stuck in a hotel most nights, so will need something to amuse me !

I will have a broadband connection, though probably not that quick, perhaps 1Mb down / 256k up

I work away from home about half of every month, and spent it in foreign climbs where often access to English language broadcasting can be hit and miss. We have a fantastic internet connection at home (24Mbps) and in theory a solution like slingbox would work great. In practice... Internet connections at hotels are very fickle. Some places work great, others are lousy, and different days of the week and times of day are better than others.

To be honest, what I usually do is a) take a few DVDs to play on the laptop if things are really bad b) watch a little live TV if there is anything that takes my fancy and c) explore the area and read lots of books.

AMc

· #14 · Oct 15, 2007

AMc's Hotel Survival Kit
DVDs (on laptop or 7" portable with video out leads)
PSP (with any Grand Theft Auto game)
iPod (music)
Good book(s)

alextegg

Discussion Starter · #15 · Oct 16, 2007

So, the slingbox, tell me more...

I see Dixons are now selling them for £89, presumably due to the HD model coming out.

I have a couple of questions:

How is it wired into an existing TiVo setup, and,

What will it control via IR? If it controls the TiVo, how do you cope with interfering with SWMBO when you are remote and she's in front of the TV?

If it assumes there is no one at home when you are remote for it to work, then it's not going to work for me

Ta

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mikerr

· #16 · Oct 16, 2007

The slingbox has a built in DVB-T freeview tuner, so you can use that remotely without affecting tivo, but to if you view anything on tivo it takes control of the tivo remote - annoying anyone at home.

cwaring

· #17 · Oct 16, 2007

There was a time, before they got one, that when I went to my parents home I had to sit through the ads when they were watching a commercial channel. What a PITA!!

I couldn't now cope without a DVR of some type.

ericd121

· #18 · Oct 16, 2007

cwaring said:
There was a time, before they got one, that when I went to my parents home I had to sit through the ads when they were watching a commercial channel. What a PITA!!

I couldn't now cope without a DVR of some type.

Due to the vagaries of FreeView reception, I can no longer record radio shows onto my Tivos.
You wouldn't think that would be a major problem what with podcasts and Listen Again, but it is.

I often listen to radio shows in ten minute chunks;
try doing that with Listen Again.

The control that Tivo gives over radio, which I don't even think it was designed for,
shows how the little things, like bookmarking, 8 second stepback etc.,
make for a much missed interface when it's absent.

RichardJH

· #19 · Oct 16, 2007

I often listen to radio shows in ten minute chunks;
try doing that with Listen Again.

I use listen again but use Roxio sound editor to turn it into an MP3

AENG

· #20 · Oct 17, 2007

ericd121 said:
I often listen to radio shows in ten minute chunks;
try doing that with Listen Again.

My AE WiFi radio (recommended elsewhere on the forum) copes well with this but eric is obviously right about loss of the other advantages of TiVo.

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