SD Tivo for kids room and cable card?

The cablecard Tivo boxes like the S3 and Tivo HD can decode digital channels and output them to a non-HD TV.

On the other hand you can buy an S2 box pretty cheap right now, and then you don't have to pay your cable company an extra fee for the cable card or outlet (assuming they charge you those).

Well - I'd be really wanting to do a S2 I think. So am I correct in assuming CATV Video out to TiVo video in?

How are the channel changes handled?

TXTivoUser said:

Is there a Series 2 TiVo that will work with a cable card?

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No.

If not - how does one hook a S2 TiVo to a regular cable box? Do I just take the video out of the cable box and stick it to the input of the TiVo box?

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Yes. Also, with a 2DT, you should use a splitter, and hook up the RF input directly, as well as the output from the STB. That gets you just the analog channels for dual tuning -- not as useful with Fios as it is with most cable systems, but better than nothing.

But personally, if I didn't want to get a TivoHD, I'd just take the Fios DVR. With Fios being mostly digital, a digital box (either Tivo's or Verizon's) just works a lot better, even for SD.

How does TiVo control the channel changing?

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Either infrared or serial. Some people say the serial port on the Fios boxes quit working with certain software versions... some say it's been fixed. I haven't tried it.

The S3 cannot tune or decode the FioS digital channels. On FiOS, all the channels except the locals are digital. The locals are the only thing you can directly access with a Tivo Series2 or older TV.

If your kids want access to record more than locals, you need 1) a TivoHD or Series3 with CableCard, or 2) Series2 connected to the standard Verizon STB. The first option works much, much better. Another option is the Verizon DVR.

You don't need a HDTV to use a TivoHD or Verizon DVR. Both have a SD output for older TVs.

Pg. 2 of the attached should help:
http://customersupport.tivo.com/Con... Series2 Dual Tuner DVR Start Here poster.pdf

Thanks bkdtv - the only problem is that I don't really want to spend 300 bucks on a THD, plus the 6.95 a month to record Sesame Street and the like.

Maybe it is just better for me to go ahead and get the SD DVR from FIOS and pay the charge and set it up. He's 5 and she's 3. It'll be me whos doing all the programming.

I was just hoping to get a TiVo to use on the cheap. I see one on Weaknees for 99 but I really don't need a dual tuner but for 2.99 I'd pay for the extra if it were cable card accessable.

Can the TivoHD view shows from another TivoHD?

Well, if price is a bigger consideration than PQ or dual-tuner functionality... then just get a single-tuner Tivo S2, and no STB, since it will only cost you $6.95 monthly. You can probably get most of what you'd want off of PBS on analog. Otherwise, you're looking at more -- either $6.95 (for the Tivo) + $4.99 (for the SD STB) = $12, or $13+ for the Verizon HD DVR -- because they're not offering an SD DVR. ($13 is the price they're showing for the DVR on their web site now, but they sent out a notice a while back that the price was going up to $16, IIRC, for new customers, and that change should already have gone into effect.)

Edit: No, MRV is not yet enabled for the TivoHD.

My solution for the kids is Apple TV. It's been pretty rock solid. I hooked it up to a cheap LCD. I've got all my ripped movies, iTunes store content, etc on my Mac Mini in another room. Works great.

My kids are under 5 so I don't need brand new content for them. They are content to cycle through the same 20 shows over and over.

TXTivoUser said:

Thanks bkdtv - the only problem is that I don't really want to spend 300 bucks on a THD, plus the 6.95 a month to record Sesame Street and the like.

Maybe it is just better for me to go ahead and get the SD DVR from FIOS and pay the charge and set it up. He's 5 and she's 3. It'll be me whos doing all the programming.

I was just hoping to get a TiVo to use on the cheap. I see one on Weaknees for 99 but I really don't need a dual tuner but for 2.99 I'd pay for the extra if it were cable card accessable.

Can the TivoHD view shows from another TivoHD?

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With the Verizon DVR, you obviously lose Kids Zone if that is important to you.

The TivoHD doesn't support Tivo-to-Tivo transfers yet, but that functionality is supposed to be in the works for later this year.

As noted above, the price on the FiOS HDTV DVR just went up from $12.99 to $15.99/mo for new customers about a month ago. They don't currently have a SD DVR, although the HD DVR works with older SD TVs. There are rumors that FiOS will have cheaper SD DVR this fall.