That's not a buffer length issue, it is a software design issue. Once a program has ended, and a new program has begun, when you press the record button, the DVR doesn't know you want to record the previous program, it only allows you the options for the current program. Some brands of DVR will record a program in the buffer after it ends IF you scroll back into the program to be recorded and then press record. I seem to remember TiVos worked that way back in the Series 2 days, but I may be confusing it with DirecTV DVRs. In any event, it is a bit of an edge use case, and one I, personally, have not had reason to exercise in years.
I agree with you 100%, my Moxi DVR had a 90 minute buffer. If you search here you'll see dozens of posts about it and most of the TiVo loyalists will tell you not to watch live TV and to record everything, which I think is ridiculous.
I doubt any of us wouldn't want a more flexible buffer. But telling people not to watch live TV out of the buffer because it will make them unhappy sooner or latter doesn't have anything to do with being a "TiVo loyalist" it has to do with reality. It is like someone complaining that there head hurts because they are banging it against the wall, the solution is simple stop banging your head against the wall. Same here.
Actually I think you could have done that with a manual recording. The manual recording would have been set to start before beginning of your buffer and ended at some point in the near future (past the current end of the buffer). At least I believe it used to work that way - maybe I will test it tonight to see.
You can not use the record button you have to go into the menus and do a manual recording. I just tested it and it works fine. Went to a channel that had a 30 min show that started at 5:00 pm and a different 30 min show that started at 5:30pm. At 5:45 pm I went into the menus (Manage recordings and one pass) and selected Setup a Manual Recording. It was already on the station I had just checked live, I told it to start recording at 5:00 pm and stop at 6:00 pm. It then gave me a warning that the 5:00pm show was already in progress and ask if I want to continue - told it I did. It then started recording at the beginning of the buffer. What you will find if you do this is that many times the buffer is actually longer than 30 minutes my buffer was actually 43+/- minutes long and started about 2 minutes into the 5:00 pm show (note one of the tuners in my TiVo had been tuned to this channel all afternoon).
I've used the same Manual Recording trick and you are 100% correct. And the first time I did it, I was surprised that the recording went back a little further than I could go back with the live TV buffer.
