drmurdoc wrote:can you use it with out paying for service

I don't know about the new box - but our old Tivo had the option to get 3 days of data without using their service. When we paid, we ended up getting the full 2 weeks of data for programming.

joehrule wrote:Can I use this to record the "free" HD channels I get over cable (ClearQAM)?

We have 2 Tivo's connected to cable and can record any channels that come in on the TV

SuperTully wrote:All right, let's get serious. You can get a DVR from your Cable provider for $5 per month, so what does Tivo offer that a cable provider doesn't?

Well they both record TV shows, you are right, BUT tivo has an extremely elegant and powerful menu that is so easy to use. When my son moved in with his gf, she set up the cable, etc and included the DVR box. I asked him how the difference was (since he'd been living with tivo for several years) and he replied: Can't hold a candle to tivo but she's paying for it..."

Plus on my cable, you are expected to pay extra for hi-def channels AND rent their hi-def box too - tivo gets all the hi-def channels for free.

AND if you have an old TV, like me, tivo does a really nice up conversion.

Don't know if you can stream from netflix on their box but you can on tivo's new box.

SuperTully wrote:All right, let's get serious. You can get a DVR from your Cable provider for $5 per month, so what does Tivo offer that a cable provider doesn't?

I went from a TiVO box to a Comcast box a few years ago to save money. BAD move! Comcast's setup was so counter-intuitive as to be useless. Functions that took five button-clicks on TiVo took as many as 15 on the Comcast box. The Comcast data compression resulted in at least 5% of my recorded programs be totally unwatchable. I lasted six months with the Comcast box before deciding to consider the cost of the TiVo setup as a mental health expense. (Yes, I watch a lot of television and love the ability to time-shift.)

[quote postid="4020269" user="IcedCorn"]Quick answers:

what does the service cost per month?
If you don't already have a tivo, it's $12.95 per month, OR $129 per year OR $399 lifetime.

Unless they've changed their policy in the last few months, "lifetime" means "lifetime of the box you're currently using." BIG difference.

Jeus wrote:what does the service cost per month?

I think it is 10 to 12 dollars/month or a lifetime subscription of 300 dollars.

paxt0n wrote:Can you put stuff from here onto the new iPhone #4?

Yes, via the free software from tivo which downloads the show to your computer. Then you must buy a software to read the tivo file and converted it to mp4. Roxio 2010 does a fine job of this, I am sure there are others.

imtigger2 wrote:THIS Tivo is MUCH better than the newer box. Better menu, faster, easier, hackable, bionic... LOVE IT...

Please tell me what you don't like about the new one. I envy the new user interface on the new tivo, but just don't want to shell out the $$$, to upgrade.

cosmictrucker wrote:One more point and I'm done.
A little secret about these units is they have what's called a Clear QAM tuner. This basically means you can subscribe to basic cable as I do, and this will pickup hundreds of unscrambled channels such as many of the HD channels for free. The only down side to this is the TiVo service will not be able to automatically find the programming on a Clear QAM channel, but you can easily go into the settings and set your favorite "free" programs to record. A little extra work, but the savings from not subscribing to an expensive Cable package is worth the tweaking.

i'll pick up where you left off... i have comcast basic service.. basic basic... and i use the clear QAM to get free network HD... just call comcast and have them come over and install their multistream cable card. now you have the program guide! done.

brucedoesbms wrote:A terabyte is ample room to store a whole bunch of "stuff"... like a slew of films, or "home videos", or stuff... but, will it stream netflix, you tube, etc?...

Yes, Netflix, you tube, amazon video. It has a podcaster, a pay rhapsody channel, a free internet radio channel, home networking for streaming photos, videos, audio from your computer to tivo.... No pandora.

clbj30 wrote:To be exact, the FCC requires that cable companies supply the cable card option, as they ruled that some cable companies had been engaging in anti-competitive practices by locking tivo out a number years ago.

The cable companies were very slow to roll them out, but at this point the major cable companies have the cable card rental option available. However, depending on the company and your location, you may have to jump through a lot of hoops and make a lot of phone calls to get everything all set up. Additionally, for some companies and locations, you will also need an SDV decoder device (which plugs into one of the Tivo's usb ports) in order to get all digital channels. The decoder device is almost always offered free of charge.

With Cox cable, I had to keep calling customer service until I got someone that was knowledgable about the process. It was a drag, but worth it IMO. I much prefer the Tivo DVR experience to the options that the cable companies provide.

If I remember correctly, Tivo has a customer care group dedicated solely to helping customers work with (fight with) their Cable Co to get the Cable Card installed.

Pedro105Woot wrote:There is no comparison. Tivo is hands down THE BEST dvr ever made. I have had Tivo for about 10 years.

1. Series 1: I have had this one for 10 years (with lifetime subs) running with first over the air and then Directv.

2. Had a Directv/Tivo more 4 years but it died a couple of months ago.

3. Bought a Series 3 Tivo from Woot a few months back. Currently only use it for over the air stuff. Works great (paid same price for 250gb model)

4. Directv replace broken Tivo with one of there own. It sucks. So much worse than Tivo. Bad bad bad.

I'm going to pick up one of these and drop Directv for cable. So sick and tired of waiting for Directv version that never came.

Tivo rules. Get the life time from day one.

I'm still annoyed about the lies from DirecTV claiming a TiVo for their service is on the way; every time I ask about it, it's been pushed back another year.

I hate cable monopolies; I hated Comcast when I lived in CA and MA, and I hated Time Warner in NY and here in NC where I currently reside. I pay so much to TW and am constantly having problems - same deal when I was in NY - to the point that they are on SPEED DIAL on my phone! So I put up with weekly crises from Time Warner spoons bc I will not give up my TiVo, even though I badly want to switch to satellite.

I can't live without Wishlist, and I just adore the user interface; no other DVRs software compares in terms of being user friendly and intuitively designed. TiVo totally changed the way I watched TV, even though I had a regular DVR first; it's even more convenient for me to watch the shows I want, when I want, and not miss a show (unless Time Warner messes up).

My only peeve is when I leave my TV and receiver on and set to the TiVo page or the Now Playing list, after a few minutes it will suddenly switch to the last channel watched. SO annoying and LOUD. It needs to have autosleep.

Okay, I rent an HD DVR from Comcast cable in the Bay Area. Frustrated with how little it stores in HD and don't know and don't think there is an expander drive I can buy for it (is there?)

Questions:
Does this replace the Comcast DVR or connect to it? How does this actually work?

Do I pay both the Comcast HD fee and Tivo subscription?

For another location where I just have basic cable, can I use this alone or do I need anything more equipment or service upgrade from the cable company?

Sorry, I am not a techie.

Thanks.

I've had a 40 hr. series two for 4 years now. time to upgrade! We are now officially a two TiVo box family.

DeaconSlim wrote:OK, So...

I have TWC and we only pay for Basic Cable...

I bought an HDTV on sale earlier this year and when I connected it right up to the coax, my bedroom can somehow get all of the channels, including OTA HD Channels, without paying for digital cable.

If I get the TiVo Box/service plan, should it work the same with the HD Channels/etc without having to subscribe to digital cable?

Or would that be a "trial and error" thing...and maybe I could do the 30-day MBG with TiVo to try it out?

Thoughts?

With TiVo and cable, you need a cable card to get service (sometimes two cards, depending on the cable provider). You can't just plug the coax in the way you did directly to your TV and have the channels be recordable. In order for TiVo to record and be able to play it back later, it needs encoding and decoding information which is what's on the cable card.

So you'd still be able to see those channels but you wouldn't be able to RECORD THEM without coughing up the dough for a cable card and digital service - although depending on your provider, and what channels you want, you may be able to get away with just renting a cable card, which is usually about $10/mo.

The Feds don't allow cable companies to offer cable cards, they require cable companies to offer cable cards. Most cable providers would be happy to shackle you to their hardware, but the Feds prevent that.

The cable companies don't promote the use of cable cards, but if you call and ask them, they will provide you with one. If they don't, call the FCC and report them.

mvsopen wrote:Someone mentioned installing a cable card if you want to use this as a stand-alone tuner (Without a cable box). While the feds are allowing cable companies to sell/rent cable cards, I have yet to see any of them reach the market. Anyone know if Time/Warner will ever allow this? Their set-top tuners are junk, yet they charge $9 a month for them. Even if I buy the same make/model tuner box as theirs, they refuse to activate them.

Sardinicus wrote:1. So, explain to me why, if this has a program guide and tuner (enabled by my cable company's cable card), it can't be used in place of a cable box? That's pretty much how I use the ReplayTV now.

It *is* used in place of the cable company's cable box. You get this, you don't need to rent a cable box or the cable company's DVR for anything. You *do* need to rent the cable cards supplied by your cable company to decode all their channels. So the answer to your question is "yes, it CAN be used in place of..."

Sardinicus wrote:1a. Assuming the answer to the above is a definitive NO, how does the hookup work? A splitter from the cable jack feeding both the cable box and the Tivo, then two independent HDMI outputs (one from cable, one from Tivo) to the TV? In other words, must this eat up another HDMI input on my TV?

The answer wasn't no, it was yes. Moving on.

Sardinicus wrote:1b. So then why is it I'm thinking the Premier unit may be a better deal than this in the long run? Doesn't the cable company usually charge $5 to $10/month for their non-DVR boxes? So you'd recover the extra $150 or so for premier in short order and save yourself a remote control and an HDMI input.

The biggeest difference between the Premiere and the HD is that the user interface. It supports 1080p, but so what? No cable provider (or broadcaster) sends 1080p.

Sardinicus wrote:2. Has Woot ever offered one of these with a lifetime sub included? I always struggle with this; the monthly fee is a sucker's game but the lifetime is a big chunk of change to cough up at once.

No, they haven't.

Sardinicus wrote:3. Does it have a dedicated 30-second skip button? (This is a huge advantage of my old ReplayTV vs. any cable DVR I've seen).

Not dedicated, but you can program it in if you want it. During playback of any recording, press the following sequence: Select - Play - Select - 3 - 0 - Select

Sardinicus wrote:4. Seems like TWC is significantly increasing their on-demand content lately; does this with a TWC cable card enable that? What about the premier?

No. No On Demand content can be accessed from the TiVo.

Sardinicus wrote:5. Somebody talk more about how Boxee is going to make this obsolete, or at least offer up some price competition. An alternative for me would be to negotiate a good first-year upgrade package with TWC and then look into a 3rd-party option next year.

Boxee doesn't have the "Live TV" option. Not really. Some sports are "streamed" live (like MLB) but most aren't (yet). Boxee is a more connected interface - it's social, and, if you're really just wanting to watch TV and are willing to watch shows AFTER they happen (like on Hulu, or whatever), then Boxee is a great thing. You can even download it and run it on a PC right now. No need to wait for the Boxee Box.

Sardinicus wrote:6. This requires a phone or internet connection, right? So if I have no handy phone or ethernet ports, can I do it wirelessly>

Yes, you can use a USB wireless network adapter, and as much as it pains me to say it, it's just easier to get it from TiVo. Far easier than trying to find one on the market that works, and it's really not going to cost you that much more.

tborr123 wrote:Okay, I rent an HD DVR from Comcast cable in the Bay Area. Frustrated with how little it stores in HD and don't know and don't think there is an expander drive I can buy for it (is there?)

Questions:
Does this replace the Comcast DVR or connect to it? How does this actually work?

Do I pay both the Comcast HD fee and Tivo subscription?

For another location where I just have basic cable, can I use this alone or do I need anything more equipment or service upgrade from the cable company?

Sorry, I am not a techie.

Thanks.

A TiVo *is* a specialized DVR so if you got one, it would REPLACE your Comcast DVR, and you'd need to get a cable card (or two) from Comcast.

You would no longer be charged the DVR rental fee, but you'd be charged a cable card rental fee, and that's usually about the same price (sometimes it is a bit cheaper - I think it might be $5 with Comcast). And you'd still have to pay your normal 'service' to Comcast to get channels of ANY type - how much would depend on what channels you want and yes, HD is more (whether you have their DVR or a TiVo, you'll have to pay for HD).

And then you will have to pay a $15 monthly fee on top of that TiVo for your subscription. So it is more expensive, but it's so worth it. For a bit over $100 you can buy a terabyte drive that you can hook up to the TiVo and that will give you way more space, which is seriously necessary if you record a lot of HD programs. (Some DVRs provided by cable companies can be compatible with external hard drives that expand your recording capacity, but if you're not technically adept, it's going to be a hassle, if it's even possible for your particular DVR. Whereas the terabyte external hard drive for TiVo is MADE FOR TIVO and works seamlessly with it, virtually no set up required - basically plug and play!)

*anywhere* you use a TiVo, you will need a cable card if you have cable. So using a TiVo at a location where you currently have no type of DVR, would indeed increase your monthly costs, but again, it's so worth it to be able to record.

Just a heads up, I recently purchased one of these and it did not work with analog cable, despite tivo's claims that it will. I realize that most people have digital cable now, but if you still have analog go with the series 2 tivo instead. Also, the blockbuster by my house had these on clearance for $100.

SuperTully wrote:All right, let's get serious. You can get a DVR from your Cable provider for $5 per month, so what does Tivo offer that a cable provider doesn't?

IMO, TiVo's software is MUCH better than either DirecTV's or Comcast's. I have used both of those other DVRs and found the menus are laggier, the pause/rewind/ff functions in live TV are clumsier and slower, and the software is not as intuitive as TiVo's. I even tried the Comcast TiVo software but it's just the Comcast stuff with a TiVo GUI pasted on top of it, and it was the slowest out of all the ones I tried. Although TiVo does have the additional cost of buying a box instead of renting it through your cable provider, if your box lasts longer than 3ish years (I just gave away a series 2 after 6 years of valiant service and it still works fine) then you're better off buying the TiVo instead of renting the DVR from Comcast/DirecTV. Finally, the new features of Netflix/Blockbuster and other streaming video are a huge bonus that I don't think you get with anything else.

fairnymph wrote:With TiVo and cable, you need a cable card to get service (sometimes two cards, depending on the cable provider). You can't just plug the coax in the way you did directly to your TV and have the channels be recordable. In order for TiVo to record and be able to play it back later, it needs encoding and decoding information which is what's on the cable card.

So you'd still be able to see those channels but you wouldn't be able to RECORD THEM without coughing up the dough for a cable card and digital service - although depending on your provider, and what channels you want, you may be able to get away with just renting a cable card, which is usually about $10/mo.

That's absolutely untrue. If your cable provider charges for HD channels (they pretty much all do) and provide them over a digital channel, you will need the cable cards to record them. However, if you have basic cable, and are not concerned with recording HD, you do NOT need to get anything else from your provider.

jd042686 wrote:Just a heads up, I recently purchased one of these and it did not work with analog cable, despite tivo's claims that it will. I realize that most people have digital cable now, but if you still have analog go with the series 2 tivo instead. Also, the blockbuster by my house had these on clearance for $100.

Ummm... works just fine over here... I can record plenty of stuff off the analog channels - I refuse to record my wife's Okrah and Judge Newdy in HD.

fairnymph wrote:A TiVo *is* a specialized DVR so if you got one, it would REPLACE your Comcast DVR, and you'd need to get a cable card (or two) from Comcast.

You would no longer be charged the DVR rental fee, but you'd be charged a cable card rental fee, and that's usually about the same price (sometimes it is a bit cheaper - I think it might be $5 with Comcast). And you'd still have to pay your normal 'service' to Comcast to get channels of ANY type - how much would depend on what channels you want and yes, HD is more (whether you have their DVR or a TiVo, you'll have to pay for HD).

And then you will have to pay a $15 monthly fee on top of that TiVo for your subscription. So it is more expensive, but it's so worth it. For a bit over $100 you can buy a terabyte drive that you can hook up to the TiVo and that will give you way more space, which is seriously necessary if you record a lot of HD programs. (Some DVRs provided by cable companies can be compatible with external hard drives that expand your recording capacity, but if you're not technically adept, it's going to be a hassle, if it's even possible for your particular DVR. Whereas the terabyte external hard drive for TiVo is MADE FOR TIVO and works seamlessly with it, virtually no set up required - basically plug and play!)

*anywhere* you use a TiVo, you will need a cable card if you have cable. So using a TiVo at a location where you currently have no type of DVR, would indeed increase your monthly costs, but again, it's so worth it to be able to record.

Again, you don't have to have the cable card, if you're not recording (or watching) the HD.

Can you use this TiVo to get on demand movies and pay per view programs through your cable provider? I still want my UFC pay per views. I have TimeWarner.

tborr123 wrote:Questions:
Does this replace the Comcast DVR or connect to it? How does this actually work?

Replaces it. If you had the Comcast HD DVR, you will need a cable card or two to replace your service exactly (i.e., watch/buffer, record, replay HD).

tborr123 wrote:Do I pay both the Comcast HD fee and Tivo subscription?

Generally, with Comcast, you pay a HD Tier fee getting you access to their channels, and a fee for your HD DVR or box. You will need the TiVo sub, and the HD Tier, but will be able to get rid of any fee they are charging you for their DVR or cable box.

tborr123 wrote:For another location where I just have basic cable, can I use this alone or do I need anything more equipment or service upgrade from the cable company?

Well, odds are (unless they've done something weird inside your house), that location has access to all the same programming, you just don't have a decoder. So, you could probably just plug the TiVo in there, with the cable cards, and get your HD there. Or, don't have the cable cards, and get just the basic stations.

Sardinicus wrote:
1. So, explain to me why, if this has a program guide and tuner (enabled by my cable company's cable card), it can't be used in place of a cable box? That's pretty much how I use the ReplayTV now.

It can - it just can't access OnDemand programming or anything else that's interactive.

Sardinicus wrote:
1a. Assuming the answer to the above is a definitive NO, how does the hookup work? A splitter from the cable jack feeding both the cable box and the Tivo, then two independent HDMI outputs (one from cable, one from Tivo) to the TV? In other words, must this eat up another HDMI input on my TV?

You can use either the HDMI or component output. If you're running out of inputs, check out Monoprice or Meritline for cheap HDMI switches.

Sardinicus wrote:1b. So then why is it I'm thinking the Premier unit may be a better deal than this in the long run? Doesn't the cable company usually charge $5 to $10/month for their non-DVR boxes? So you'd recover the extra $150 or so for premier in short order and save yourself a remote control and an HDMI input.

The Premiere is just the newer version of this box. They both do pretty much the same thing.

Sardinicus wrote:2. Has Woot ever offered one of these with a lifetime sub included? I always struggle with this; the monthly fee is a sucker's game but the lifetime is a big chunk of change to cough up at once.

The only place I've seen TiVos sold with lifetime included is on ebay.

Sardinicus wrote:3. Does it have a dedicated 30-second skip button? (This is a huge advantage of my old ReplayTV vs. any cable DVR I've seen).

Not officially, but there is an easy-to-program (through the remote) hack that allows it - someone else already posted it.

Sardinicus wrote:4. Seems like TWC is significantly increasing their on-demand content lately; does this with a TWC cable card enable that? What about the premier?

No, the premiere doesn't do much more than the HD XL. Here's a page comparing the feature.

(skipping #5 as I have no idea)

Sardinicus wrote:6. This requires a phone or internet connection, right? So if I have no handy phone or ethernet ports, can I do it wirelessly

Yes, but you'll have to get either a TiVo approved adapter or set up a wireless repeater with ethernet connector (hint: use an old wireless router with DD-WRT).

TiVO is orders of magnitude more usable and better in each and every way than either the cable or the sat DVR systems that they have rolled themselves. DirectTV used to have a DVR that was also a tivo but I dont know if they still do that or not. I think the companies had a falling out.

Yes, you can use it with your computer, software exists for both Mac and PC that will let you download any non-protected content and do anything with it you like, burn to disk, load onto movie player or apple tv or ipod. I do this with the kids shows to watch in the car.

HBO marks everything they broadcast in HD as "do not transfer" so if you want to transfer HBO content between one room and another send them a nastygram and cancel their lousy paranoid service anyway. I hear that other channels may mark "premium" content the same way, but I've only ever seen it on HBO HD.

2 TiVO's on a local network just find each other, you can watch anything not listed as "do not transfer" on any of them.

I bought one the last time WOOT had it, the disk drive failed a few months later, but a 5 minute upgrade to a larger disk from www.weaknees.com got me going again. I was going to upgrade it anyway.

Warning though, once you use a TiVO it will make your blood pressure rise to try to play or record something on any of the cable/sat dvrs. You dont actually realize how badly they suck.

You will need a "dual stream cable card" to get encrypted digital cable streams. THe cable company will give you one if you ask though you may have to drive to their office or schedule a service call. You just slide it into the slot and call them back with the ID number of the thing. They will claim that they dont know what it is, never heard of it, dont support it. You keep asking to talk to someone different till you get someone who knows how to do it. Or just tell them to provision it as if it were a regular DVR and enter this number instead of the one from their own box as they all work the same way under the hood.

The only downside is that they dont do "on demand" from comcast or other similar services. I dont personally miss this at all, but who knows what the future will bring.

Can anyone confirm Comcast's cable card fee? Comcast currently charges me 15.95 a month for their HD DVR I believe, so even if I payed TIVO monthly and added 3 bucks for the cable card it's pretty much a wash.

I called to setup an appointment for the card to be installed in 2 weeks. Hopefully it's delivered before then. I also picked up a wireless N adapter off of ebay for $60. I should be set up in 2 weeks. Now we have to clear out the old dvr. Justified and the wife's Dr Who need to be watched.

DezertRat wrote:That's absolutely untrue. If your cable provider charges for HD channels (they pretty much all do) and provide them over a digital channel, you will need the cable cards to record them. However, if you have basic cable, and are not concerned with recording HD, you do NOT need to get anything else from your provider.

The OP was asking about HD, so I didn't consider non-HD or discuss that, but I also don't know because I will ONLY watch HD. :P And I do know you can't watch HD with Comcast via TiVo without a cable card.

deathopie wrote:As a Tivo investor (I don't want to talk about it) I guess I should get on the bandwagon. It seems like the new Premiere is only a slight upgrade from this and this is the one with the mega hard drive.

Don't forget the wireless adapter unless you can do it wired. It looks like you have to buy theirs on this model. They have an N adapter for about $90, or a G for 60.

So, you need to buy an adapter to use the TiVo? I've never had one before, besides what you get in the box, what do you need to get up and running?

We have TWC, so I know I need a cable card. And we have wireless internet (Netgear, if it matters).

Also, do you, or any other wooters know anything about running two TiVos? It looks like on the TiVo site, you can pick up a small HD series 2 (refurb) for $29 or something crazy stupid like that. (lol)

Would I have to have TWO TiVo subscriptions? Or could I have one subscription on this woot deal, and just run the other one as a dvr w/ no sub? If you could have just one sub, could you watch on the smaller unit what you already recorded on the TiVo subscribed unit?

ty to all for your helpful questions and answers already in the blog!

secretservice wrote:Can you use this TiVo to get on demand movies and pay per view programs through your cable provider? I still want my UFC pay per views. I have TimeWarner.

No. This is the only area where TiVo falls short. Hey, the cable companies have to have SOMETHING to entice you to use them. Actually, in some areas you can pay to have the TiVo interface (like Comcast in Memphis).

If you do not need the XL capacity, tivo.com is having a clearance sale. i got my series 3 for $99.

So far it rocks my world in the upgrade from series 2. The Netflix, amazon, etc on demand are awesome.

deathopie wrote:Can anyone confirm Comcast's cable card fee? Comcast currently charges me 15.95 a month for their HD DVR I believe, so even if I payed TIVO monthly and added 3 bucks for the cable card it's pretty much a wash.

I called to setup an appointment for the card to be installed in 2 weeks. Hopefully it's delivered before then. I also picked up a wireless N adapter off of ebay for $60. I should be set up in 2 weeks. Now we have to clear out the old dvr. Justified and the wife's Dr Who need to be watched.

I think it's like $5; under $10, or at least it was as of 2008.

kigersthree wrote:Also, do you, or any other wooters know anything about running two TiVos? It looks like on the TiVo site, you can pick up a small HD series 2 (refurb) for $29 or something crazy stupid like that. (lol)

Would I have to have TWO TiVo subscriptions? Or could I have one subscription on this woot deal, and just run the other one as a dvr w/ no sub? If you could have just one sub, could you watch on the smaller unit what you already recorded on the TiVo subscribed unit?

No, you need to have a subscription for each box, otherwise you've just got yourself a boat anchor. And the S2 can only play non-HD programming from the S3, so it would be of limited usefulness at any rate.

Comcast is charging me $1.50 for the card.

kigersthree wrote:So, you need to buy an adapter to use the TiVo? I've never had one before, besides what you get in the box, what do you need to get up and running?

We have TWC, so I know I need a cable card. And we have wireless internet (Netgear, if it matters).

If your router is next to the TV (or you've wired your house with ethernet), you can just use a network cable. If not, you'll need a USB wireless adapter.

kigersthree wrote:Also, do you, or any other wooters know anything about running two TiVos? It looks like on the TiVo site, you can pick up a small HD series 2 (refurb) for $29 or something crazy stupid like that. (lol)

Would I have to have TWO TiVo subscriptions? Or could I have one subscription on this woot deal, and just run the other one as a dvr w/ no sub? If you could have just one sub, could you watch on the smaller unit what you already recorded on the TiVo subscribed unit?

You'll need subs on both. And there is no such thing as a Series 2 HD. There is a Series 2 DT (for dual tuner). HD didn't come along until the Series 3/HD sets.

You can use Tivo with U-Verse Its a PIA to set it up and get the codes for the remote, but it can be done. AT&T has it set so the U-Verse box turns off after a few hours of not being used, so whatever you want Tivo to record may not if it is in that time frame. Tivo is far superior than U-Verse's dvr. Much easier to use. The lifetime service on the unit is well worth it. I have a Tivo series 1 that is still going strong.

DezertRat wrote:No. This is the only area where TiVo falls short. Hey, the cable companies have to have SOMETHING to entice you to use them. Actually, in some areas you can pay to have the TiVo interface (like Comcast in Memphis).

You can't use your cable company for on-demand movies but you can use Blockbuster or Amazon on-demand through this Tivo. We do it all the time and movies range from 1.99 to 3.99.

Will not work with Charter On Demand, but I don't have to keep rebooting Charters dumb Motorola boxes

SuperTully wrote:All right, let's get serious. You can get a DVR from your Cable provider for $5 per month, so what does Tivo offer that a cable provider doesn't?

My experience with all cable provider's DVRs has been that their interface is like using a TiVo designed in East Germany ca. 1988. And your customer service is....the cable company. Since $5 a month from those slime also inevitably means $8.50 after fees, etc., it's not really any cheaper...