Jumping Ship

2210 Views 19 Replies 13 Participants Last post by Charles R, Oct 7, 2011

severe

Discussion Starter · Oct 6, 2011

Hello.

I was recently emailed a short survey from TiVo. On a scale from 1-10, the majority of my answers were a 5, some less. At the end of the survey I asked myself why I was still using this service, as I'm on a month-to-month.

I'm currently using a cable card on a Series3 and lack the VOD services my cable company provides, not to mention a more current, equally featured, interface. I've researched the Premiere off-and-on since its release, but can't bring myself to upgrade to a new box and contract that so many seem unhappy with.

Well, I've just placed an order for one of my cable company's DVRs that will arrive on Saturday. I plan on testing it out a week or two. Unfortunately they couldn't provide me a demo at their offices. The monthly fee is $15 which includes updates and replacement should something fail.

This post isn't an attempt at bashing TiVo, a service I was happy with for several years, but more of a sudden realization that I think its time is up for me.

Thoughts? Advice?

1 - 20 of 20 Posts

sbiller

· #2 · Oct 6, 2011

severe said:
Hello.

I was recently emailed a short survey from TiVo. On a scale from 1-10, the majority of my answers were a 5, some less. At the end of the survey I asked myself why I was still using this service, as I'm on a month-to-month.

I'm currently using a cable card on a Series3 and lack the VOD services my cable company provides, not to mention a more current, equally featured, interface. I've researched the Premiere off-and-on since its release, but can't bring myself to upgrade to a new box and contact that so many seem unhappy with.

Well, I've just placed an order for one of my cable company's DVRs that will arrive on Saturday. I plan on testing it out a week or two. Unfortunately they couldn't provide me a demo at their offices. The monthly fee is $15 which includes updates and replacement should something fail.

This post isn't an attempt at bashing TiVo, a service I was happy with for several years, but more of a sudden realization that I think its time is up for me.

Thoughts? Advice?

What Cable Company and what DVR are they providing you? The experience varies tremendously dependent on the provider of the STB. Verizon's FiOS DVR running 1.9 software is very good and in many ways superior to the Series 3 platform you are currently running. In my area, the Scientific Atlanta / Cisco Bright House Networks DVR offers a sub-standard experience to my TiVo.

I think you may want to wait and/or consider upgrading to the TiVo Premiere when the fall software upgrade is released which by all speculation appears to be a significant upgrade.

~Sam

severe

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 6, 2011

Thanks Sam.

Charter, who I loathe. FiOS isn't offered in my area (block) at the moment. I was told that the box will either be a Motorola or Scientific Atlanta and that they've recently updated the interface.

I wasn't aware of the fall upgrade to the Premiere. Is there a place or thread I can find more info on what's expected?

Resist

· #4 · Oct 6, 2011

severe said:
This post isn't an attempt at bashing TiVo, a service I was happy with for several years, but more of a sudden realization that I think its time is up for me.

You never stated why you feel your time is up with Tivo. Guess I'm trying to understand the point of your post, if you're not bashing Tivo.

To me, going back to a cable company DVR is a huge step backwards. At least until they get the Tivo Elite. But if it were me, I'd sell your Tivo HD and buy the Premiere with a lifetime.

jfalkingham

· #5 · Oct 6, 2011

We were long time DIRECTV customers with the Directivo units from the Philips DSR6000 and Sony SAT-60 onward. When DIRECTV forced you to mpeg4, we used the DIRECTV HR series dvr. We never had a complaint about them, however we did miss TiVo interface and search.

We moved to Comcast based on price and the fact we could use a cable card and go back to TiVo. I bought a HDXL, and we used that for a while. After a year, we decided to just see if the Comcast DVR would work (since it was included in the package price).

We went back to Comcast's AnyRoom DVR setup for a month. 3 missed recordings or recordings that you could watch half way through and then have them instant delete was more than enough to justify the TiVo fee. We have since bought a Premiere in addition to the HD XL.

The DVR menu systems were horrible, but not being to reliably record content or play it back was more than enough for us to stay put.

We will happily go back to DIRECTV when they finally release the TiVo unit, but at this pace, we are not counting on it.

Good luck on any decision, personally I think you'll be back after a bit.

See less See more

severe

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 6, 2011

Resist said:
You never stated why you feel your time is up with Tivo. Guess I'm trying to understand the point of your post, if you're not bashing Tivo.

To me, going back to a cable company DVR is a huge step backwards. At least until they get the Tivo Elite. But if it were me, I'd sell your Tivo HD and buy the Premiere with a lifetime.

I think the first two paragraphs cover my issues with the service without getting detailed; a more current interface with better features. The last two words clearly state that I was looking for thoughts or advice regarding the jump to another DVR.

Why do I suddenly feel defensive?

To be a little more specific, I also run XBMC (a media center), alongside of my TiVo. Its video features include and rival those of the TiVo. I'm using the TiVo for its channel guide and DVR functionality only.

The point of my post is that the survey I'd taken all but convinced me that TiVo may not be for me anymore.

Now could you provide me with your opinion on why going back to a cable company DVR is a huge step backwards? Or why you'd sell your Tivo HD and buy the Premiere with a lifetime.

dlfl

· #7 · Oct 6, 2011

I can think of two advantages (maybe, not sure) of the OP keeping his TiVo service until he's sure:

1. One year commitment upon restarting service.
2. May be at higher monthly rate if he had a legacy rate.

There's also the slight factor of the hassle of starting up a new account.

My son has never had TiVo's but he recently dropped DirecTV and got Time Warner Cable with the 8300 DVR. I'll be keeping track of his experience with it. The install went smoothly he said.

sbiller

· #8 · Oct 6, 2011

severe said:
Thanks Sam.

Charter, who I loathe. FiOS isn't offered in my area (block) at the moment. I was told that the box will either be a Motorola or Scientific Atlanta and that they've recently updated the interface.

I wasn't aware of the fall upgrade to the Premiere. Is there a place or thread I can find more info on what's expected?

Charter has reconfirmed that they will be rolling out the TiVo Premiere platform as their advanced TV solution. I believe they begin roll-out later this year and with a significant roll-out in 2012. Since you'll be leasing the STB from Charter you will probably be able to swap to the new TiVo next year when the roll-out happens.

As far as details on the next software release there isn't a single thread discussing but the speculation is that TiVo is working on:

1) HDUI speed improvements
2) New Netflix experience
3) Amazon Prime Instant Support
4) New HD Guide

There may be a thread started on this that someone can point us too.

~Sam

tsrich

· #9 · Oct 6, 2011

I'm in much the same boat. I've looked at the Premiere, but TWC now has whole house DVRs for the same 15-19/month I'd be looking at with the Premiere. I've heard pretty good things about the whole house DVR from people here at work.

I've been a Tivo user since almost the beginning, but I don't feel like they're keeping up anymore, at least with the features I'd care about.

I never thought the day would come when TWC was more advanced than Tivo....

I'd be interested in an update from you sometime down the road as to whether you end up happy after your transition.

severe

Discussion Starter · #10 · Oct 6, 2011

jfalkingham said:
We were long time DIRECTV...

Thanks, jfalkingham. It's easy to forget the horrors of other boxes when it's been a few years.

I'm going to look into what the Premiere has instore.

jrtroo

· #11 · Oct 6, 2011

Been there, done that.

Hopefully you won't have any fees on the install. I got mine at no cost, and hated every minute of the comcast motorola box. Now i have a premiere, and am pretty happy with it. I rarely have issues with the HD display, as most do not have issues. Some do, granted, but the ones like me don't speak up too often.

So, in short, for me it was interesting to use what else is out there. But, I ran from it after a few months- a terrible experience for a sh!!!y box.

Note: it was not just features that drove me nuts (no offline storage, MRV, or pytivo), it was the interface that was completely inconsistent in how it treated you depending if you were using the dvr or the on demand stuff (which should be available from Comcast at some point for tivo users).

Resist

· #12 · Oct 6, 2011

severe said:
Now could you provide me with your opinion on why going back to a cable company DVR is a huge step backwards? Or why you'd sell your Tivo HD and buy the Premiere with a lifetime.

Gladly. I've had numerous Scientific Atlanta DVR's from Charter Cable in the past. The menu was difficult to navigate and their drive space was very limited. Many of them stopped working and I had to get replacements. Then my local Charter started carrying the Moxi. I actually liked Moxi, it's interface was much easier to navigate, (not as easy as Tivo though). Then they started having an over heating issue and I again experienced failures.

I have four Tivo's, a Series 2 single tuner, Series 3 (OLED), Tivo HD and now also a Premiere. I only had an issue with the Tivo HD early on and it was replaced by Tivo. I upgraded the Series 3 internal storage to a 1TB drive. All boxes currently have lifetimes. Shortly I will be upgrading the Tivo HD and Premiere with 2TB drives. I personally think the Series 3 is the better looking box, I like the clock and the ability to see what the box is recording without turning the TV on. But, I'm starting to really like the Premiere styling, it's smaller, simple and sleek.

Oh, and I also have two Tivo Slide Remotes.

See less See more

mattack

· #13 · Oct 7, 2011

severe said:
I think the first two paragraphs cover my issues with the service without getting detailed; a more current interface with better features.

Why do you need a new interface if it does what you need?

You also mention media center.. If you use that, why not just get one of the Ceton cablecard tuners and use that? (I haven't SEEN media center nor one of these Ceton cablecard tuners... though the idea of easily and possibly cheaply having a 4 tuner DVR almost vaguely makes me willing to use Windows!)

severe

Discussion Starter · #14 · Oct 7, 2011

jrtroo said:
Been there, done that...

Resist said:
Gladly...

Thanks for the insight. If Charter plans on charging me a fee for installation, I'm gonna pass on it for now.

mattack said:
You also mention media center.. If you use that, why not just get one of the Ceton cablecard tuners and use that?...

The thought has crossed my mind. Haven't done the research.

javabird

· #15 · Oct 7, 2011

tsrich said:
I'm in much the same boat. I've looked at the Premiere, but TWC now has whole house DVRs for the same 15-19/month I'd be looking at with the Premiere. I've heard pretty good things about the whole house DVR from people here at work.

What is a whole-house DVR?

KungFuCow

· #16 · Oct 7, 2011

dlfl said:
My son has never had TiVo's but he recently dropped DirecTV and got Time Warner Cable with the 8300 DVR. I'll be keeping track of his experience with it. The install went smoothly he said.

I just switched to Dish myself and while their DVR is not a Tivo, its okay. Its better than TWC's offering by a mile and has some neat features. You can log in to your DVR through Dish's website, watch live TV, watch shows you have recorded at home, etc. You can also plug a hard drive into the dish DVR and watch videos off of the drive but I dont know what formats are supported.

Id like to have stayed with Tivo. I love the unit and interface but like you, I feel like they are on the way out. I woulda stuck it out.. TWC is more who made me leave than Tivo but yea, my Tivo and Moxi will be hitting Craigslist this afternoon.

MichaelK

· #17 · Oct 7, 2011

if you want to test drive the cable box but not get stuck with the year commitment if you go back to tivo, i think I've read here at times that some have called tivo and ask for a hold for vacation? Worth calling to ask at least if they will put your tivo on hold for a month or 2 in order to give the cable box a try.

jfalkingham

· #18 · Oct 7, 2011

javabird said:
What is a whole-house DVR?

Comcast has the "AnyRoom" dvr, which is the same idea. You have a master head unit DVR and then regular receivers in the other rooms that can stream content from the master DVR.

http://www.comcast.com/anyroomdvr/

All I can say, its a great idea (Moxi has been doing it for a while, DIRECTV & DISH as well) however was not very useful for us since the head unit DVR was horrible at maintaining recordings, etc.

TiVo will bring streaming into the Premiere, when they finally turn it on for good, then it will be the same idea.

mr.unnatural

· #19 · Oct 7, 2011

severe said:
To be a little more specific, I also run XBMC (a media center), alongside of my TiVo. Its video features include and rival those of the TiVo. I'm using the TiVo for its channel guide and DVR functionality only.

Someone else mentioned Windows Media Center and the Ceton InfiniTV4 cablecard tuner. Since you're already running a media center PC, I think you'll find Windows 7 Media Center to be a welcome change from your Tivo. It's the reason I stopped using Tivos altogether. I use my HTPC for recording OTA HD channels via several ATSC tuners as well as digital cable channels on FIOS using the Ceton tuners. I can play any other type of media I choose as well as stream Blu-Ray discs ripped to a server. I have eliminated all other components from my Home Theater setup with the exception of a preamp/processor and amplifiers for the speakers.

Charles R

· #20 · Oct 7, 2011

I have used TiVo off and on since 2000. Over those years I have also used Dish's DVR and Comcast's DVR. I found all three had virtually the same reliability (for recordings) and in most cases TiVo had the slowest interface. As a DVR they were more similar than different and in almost every case the deciding factor would be cost of usage... over my expected time frame.

I currently use TiVo for OTA only and have always had a soft spot for TiVo and hope they succeed. However their frozen in time interface and lack of support for online streaming (a good chance for them to separate themselves) has left me pretty indifferent. So much so I tried the WMC route and I might again. Last attempt the ease of using TiVo trumped it and for me I think TV viewing should be effortless.

1 - 20 of 20 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.