Questions re: having 2 tivo's

1560 Views 18 Replies 10 Participants Last post by HomeUser, Oct 21, 2007

binky11

Discussion Starter · Oct 19, 2007

I'm considering buying a second tivo for my bedroom.

When I record movies/shows onto my living room tivo, am I able to watch them on my bedroom tv (hooked to my second tivo unit?) And visa versa? If so, how is that done? (laymans terms please)

Is there anything I need to know or should know before I buy a second tivo? Special requirements? Don't have to be on broadband or anything?

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

richsadams

· #2 · Oct 19, 2007

binky11 said:
I'm considering buying a second tivo for my bedroom.

When I record movies/shows onto my living room tivo, am I able to watch them on my bedroom tv (hooked to my second tivo unit?) And visa versa? If so, how is that done? (laymans terms please)

Is there anything I need to know or should know before I buy a second tivo? Special requirements? Don't have to be on broadband or anything?

You can take advantage of MRV (multi-room viewing) with a TiVo Series 2 at this time, the TiVo Series 3 and TiVo HD sometime in November PROVIDING you connect both to a home network by hard wire (CAT5/6 cable) or wirelessly.

When both TiVo's are connected to your home network they will appear in the Now Playing menu. That will allow you access to the other's recordings.

For more about MRV and other TiVo networking features click here. (Center of the web page.)

pdhenry

· #3 · Oct 19, 2007

binky11 said:
When I record movies/shows onto my living room tivo, am I able to watch them on my bedroom tv (hooked to my second tivo unit?) And visa versa? If so, how is that done? (laymans terms please)

Recorded shows, yes. Downloaded (e.g. Unbox) shows, no.

At the bottom of the Now Playing List you see an icon for the other TiVo(s). You click on that and you see the other TiVo's NPL. Select a show and you can choose to transfer that show between TiVos.

You don't need to be on broadband (per se) but the two TiVos need to be connected via an ethernet hub or peer-to-peer setup.

ivyvine420

· #4 · Oct 19, 2007

While you can't *transfer* Amazon Unbox downloads from one Tivo to another, you *can* still get that program onto a second Tivo unit by going back to your Amazon account (to your media items and where it lists your purchased Unbox Items) - which are usually available to be re-downloaded again.

When you choose which Media Device to send it to, just choose your 2nd Tivo instead of the first. You are allowed to have the Amazon Unbox Downloads that you have purchased, downloaded up to 2 PCs (desktop/laptop) OR 2 Tivos PLUS 2 portable media players (iPod/Toshiba Gigabeat S/Creative Zen W/or Zen M etc) at any one time. Your items (for the most part) are stored on Amazon's servers and you should be able to download the item as many times as you want to, provided that you follow the above rule for the # of devices it is currently on.

Some downloads might not be able to be re-downloaded again. I haven't seen this yet, but just always pay attention to what you buy, it should state it's terms at time of purchase (just like the Amazon Unbox Movie Rentals do).

These Amazon Unbox items can be delete from your Tivo to create more space when needed, and then you can download whatever specific items you want to a specific PC/Tivo unit at any time. The download might take real time to finish the download, but you do have the convenience of having it stored in your Amazon Account and not on your Tivo or PC's Hard Drive (where you want more space for recordings of course), and you can easily send it to a PC or Tivo unit, and even a Portable Media Device without all of the hassles of manually transferring things (like when dealing with External HDD or NAS units), and then possibly converting the formats and syncing to a portable device.

You can easily record whatever TV shows you want (as long as you actually get the station in your area etc) and do the same, but if you are looking for better quality pictures (if you don't have an HD Tivo for example) or just want to collect things like season box sets etc after they have already played and do not wish to purchase the actual DVD box sets, then this service can be great for that. Unbox does have its faults, it is not totally perfect of course, but can be great if it matches up to your specific needs.

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richsadams

· #5 · Oct 19, 2007

Wowee Poison Girl...you get the weekly prize for the most in-depth and well thought out post about Amazon Unbox and Other Misc. Items!! :up: :up:

berfy

· #6 · Oct 19, 2007

richsadams said:
You can take advantage of MRV (multi-room viewing) with a TiVo Series 2 at this time, the TiVo Series 3 and TiVo HD sometime in November PROVIDING you connect both to a home network by hard wire (CAT5/6 cable) or wirelessly.

When both TiVo's are connected to your home network they will appear in the Now Playing menu. That will allow you access to the other's recordings.

For more about MRV and other TiVo networking features click here. (Center of the web page.)

Actually it's not necessary to have a Home network. If you connect a wireless adapter to each Tivo you can use the MRV feature without having to have a router of any kind.

pdhenry

· #7 · Oct 19, 2007

ivyvine420 said:
While you can't *transfer* Amazon Unbox downloads from one Tivo to another, you *can* still get that program onto a second Tivo unit by going back to your Amazon account (to your media items and where it lists your purchased Unbox Items) - which are usually available to be re-downloaded again.

True for purchases. Not true for rentals.

richsadams

· #8 · Oct 19, 2007

berfy said:
Actually it's not necessary to have a Home network. If you connect a wireless adapter to each Tivo you can use the MRV feature without having to have a router of any kind.

Really? If you simply connect a TiVo wireless adapter to each TiVo and do nothing else, they'll talk to each other?

DrewTivo

· #9 · Oct 19, 2007

richsadams said:
Really? If you simply connect a TiVo wireless adapter to each TiVo and do nothing else, they'll talk to each other?

Yes, so long as you exclude from the phrase "do nothing else" the setup process on each tivo.

WhiskeyTango

· #10 · Oct 19, 2007

I just got a 2nd Tivo a couple of days ago and had a question about MRV that I didn't see answered on the link above. Once I transfer a show to the other tivo, will it remain on the original tivo as well?

brnscofrnld

· #11 · Oct 19, 2007

WhiskeyTango said:
I just got a 2nd Tivo a couple of days ago and had a question about MRV that I didn't see answered on the link above. Once I transfer a show to the other tivo, will it remain on the original tivo as well?

Yes.

Right now, you can only "pull" shows to your tivo from the Tivo Desktop or another Tivo on the home network. When you do this, they remain on the original tivo and a copy is made to the other.

richsadams

· #12 · Oct 19, 2007

DrewTivo said:
Yes, so long as you exclude from the phrase "do nothing else" the setup process on each tivo.

Thanks, that's good to know...no occassion to try it, only have one wireless and others hard-wired w/our network, but good info non-the-less. :up:

berfy

· #13 · Oct 19, 2007

richsadams said:
Really? If you simply connect a TiVo wireless adapter to each TiVo and do nothing else, they'll talk to each other?

Yup. Thats how I had my Tivo's set up for over two years before I went ahead and set up a home network.

Tivo has a tutorial for this on their support website.

I reccomend using two Tivo branded Wireless network adapters.

richsadams

· #14 · Oct 19, 2007

berfy said:
I reccomend using two Tivo branded Wireless network adapters.

The ooooonly way to fly. Oh, guess I'm showing my age.

ivyvine420

· #15 · Oct 20, 2007

pdhenry said:
True for purchases. Not true for rentals.

Yes, that's what I had been saying, though I *should* have specified or at least made it a bit more clear about the "Rentals" being different than the "Purchased Items" I was actually speaking about.

richsadams, thanks for saying my post was well thought out and written (not quoting you exactly though). Usually my posts ramble on way too long with run-on sentences, and go Off Topic a few or several times before getting back to what I was actually talking about.

Also, my posts are rarely "thought out" in advance, so any time that they actually read like they were and are fairly coherent, I give myself a slap on the back...

nanapat

· #16 · Oct 21, 2007

Can you have one Tivo connected to wired network and connect the 2nd TiVo wireless?

HomeUser

· #17 · Oct 21, 2007

nanapat said:
Can you have one Tivo connected to wired network and connect the 2nd TiVo wireless?

Yes, connected to your home network.

nanapat

· #18 · Oct 21, 2007

How does that work?

HomeUser

· #19 · Oct 21, 2007

You need a wired and wireless router in your home network. If you are using DSL or Cable for your network something like Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband Router gives both TiVos internet access along with your PC's.

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