Pictures of TiVo Series 3 from Booth (courtesy Megazone)

More photos were just added by Megazone (and I also added them)

d00d (had to geek out). This rocks. I will most definitely be ditching DirecTV for this product if it's available at a reasonable price. I'd much rather have a box that has full Tivo functionality than a hobbled one from DirecTV or Comcast (I have the HR10-250 now).

I mostly like that it's CableCard 2 ready, even though the cable co's aren't shipping those yet. I'd love to reduce the number of cables going into the back of my DVR.

Does anyone know what channels require a cable card on Comcast these days? I'm presuming HBO, Showtime, etc. IIRC, 2-way features (PPV? Interactive channels) require the CC 2 cards (which don't exist yet).

Need price. Need price. ...oh, and free transfer of lifetime sub from older unit.

Pardon my ignorance, but what's the "SATA"? The black box with the blue circle on it?

gastrof said:

Pardon my ignorance, but what's the "SATA"? The black box with the blue circle on it?

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It's a proprietary method of external hard drive connection. Stands for Serial ATA.

From Wikpedia --
..."an evolution of the Parallel ATA physical storage interface. Serial ATA is a serial link -- a single cable with a minimum of four wires creates a point-to-point connection between devices. Transfer rates for Serial ATA begin at 150MBps. One of the main design advantages of Serial ATA is that the thinner serial cables facilitate more efficient airflow inside a form factor and also allow for smaller chassis designs."

Megazone told me there is no price info yet.

As far as the channels, CableCARD allows you to get your companies digital lineup. In my area, channels like IFC and HBO are digital only... and ofcourse your HD cable channels are probably also encrypted and require the CableCARD.

PPV/VOD requires bidirectional CC support... not expected to arrive until 2007 at the earliest. The 2.0 that this TiVo will support is multistream meaning you'd only need one CC for simultanious access to two channels. Until those are released you can use two CC 1.0 cards. Personally, I'm going to use one antenna and get my HD over-the-air... two streams are supported this way.

The black box is a SATA hard drive, for external storage. SATA is the protocol, and from what little I know, it's very fast.

How long have they been talking about Cable Card Tivos? What the guess that this unit will actually be available to the public THIS year.

Dont get me wrong, I am rooting for them but this unit should have been released first half this year with definitive time lines and prices.

As far as the channels, CableCARD allows you to get your companies digital lineup. In my area, channels like IFC and HBO are digital only... and ofcourse your HD cable channels are probably also encrypted and require the CableCARD.

Click to expand...

No biggie. Turns out in my area Comcast doesn't charge for cablecards (any more than they already extract from you for the digital cable service). It does seem that some of the CC 2.0 features would be unnecessary with this cable-card Tivo. Tivo's got its own program guide, and on-demand is less necessary since the Tivo is a DVR (I know On-Demand isn't the same as time-shifting). Others, like PPV, seem slightly annoying to live without. Hopefully the second generation of cable cards will come out soon, though. I can't wait to see what Tivo does with that...

And pardon my ignorance, but do you still plug the RG-59 or RG-6 cable into the "cable in" input in addition to sliding the CC into the slot? That's what it appears like.

Bierboy said:

It's a proprietary method of external hard drive connection. Stands for Serial ATA.

Click to expand...

It isn't proprietary. SATA is an open standard. PCWorld reviews some new eSATA (external SATA) drives this month. Roughly $1 per gig.

So I sure hope/expect that we'll just be able to plug in random external SATA drive and the Tivo will automagically format it.

Like everyone else, I want pricing! Even though I just have regular analog cable (for now), this is something that would get me to upgrade from my S1s at the right price, since obviously it has great future prospects.

davezatz said:

As far as the channels, CableCARD allows you to get your companies digital lineup. In my area, channels like IFC and HBO are digital only... and ofcourse your HD cable channels are probably also encrypted and require the CableCARD.

Click to expand...

I don't know whether this falls into the 'must carry' regulation at all, but others have said that many cable companies DO send the regular network channels in the clear (and megazone said on http://www.tivolovers.com/252572.html that this new tivo will tune/record those). I don't know if that includes ALL sub-channels, but at least it includes some.

Not meaning to whine, but I see that the remote doesn't have the 1/2 switch. Yes, I want two of these! (I said long ago that though I'm a cable user, 2 DirecTivos would satisfy the vast majority of show conflicts I ever have -- and of course this means I want two of these new ones!!)

It's a proprietary method of external hard drive connection. Stands for Serial ATA.

Absolutely. This is very sweet. They're totally considering future, easy, non-hack, non-warranty killing, disk/recording expansion.

mattack said:

I don't know whether this falls into the 'must carry' regulation at all, but others have said that many cable companies DO send the regular network channels in the clear (and megazone said on http://www.tivolovers.com/252572.html that this new tivo will tune/record those). I don't know if that includes ALL sub-channels, but at least it includes some.

Click to expand...

I tried, but failed, to distinguish network channels versus cable channels in that post. For example, Comcast sends NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, PBS, and the WB in the clear via QAM. I actually use this signal to feed my HDTV most of the time and I just have a regular analog cable package. I don't know if it falls under 'must carry' either and I sort of assume it will vanish at any time as I have no faith in Comcast.

From the CES Rumor thread... by ack_thbbft

ack_thbbft said:

All specs are subject to change, of course, as it still under development, and has a "few glitches to work out" (a slip said by one of the reps). Cost was also "slipped" as between $500-$800, and most likely out last half of '06.

Click to expand...

lachacg said:

It isn't proprietary. SATA is an open standard....

Click to expand...

Wrong choice of words...sorry.

Where do I sign up for the first one?

jcricket said:

I mostly like that it's CableCard 2 ready, even though the cable co's aren't shipping those yet.

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My cable company (Cox Southern CA) has been shipping them for at least six months or so. (that's when I noticed they had them on their site).

The monthly fee was $2 per card (vs $4 per cable box). I don't know if they were duals or not though. Either way, if I have to get 2 of them, it's still just the same as my current box rental.

In other news, when can I buy one? I've had to make due with cable and a standalone tivo, due to the giant mountain that's in my southern sky.

Man, these new boxes look sweet! I love the lcd on the front panel, and don't get me started on the external sata port.