buggsy2 wrote:...The TiVo remote is really easy to use...

Couldn't agree more. I think the Tivo Slide remote is the best remote ever made (even though it isn't a universal). But any of the Tivo remotes are fantastic.

bschusterbauer wrote:As a Verizon Fios customer, I'm sick of paying to rent there box. Can anyone share any experiences they've had (good/bad) with Verizon Fios and TiVo?

Many thanks in advance.

I've been using TiVos on FiOS for five years with excellnet results. I currently have two Elites on FiOS and they have been working great. I have a launch Elite from last October and one from early Spring, right before they annouced the name change to XL4. If I had known woot would be offering the Elites for $300 a couple of months later. I would have waited to get my second Elite.

lojac963 wrote:I only see one cable card slot. My TivoHD now has 2 single stream cards (2 card slots) because the multi cards the tech brought out were defective. I have only heard of the multi stream cards doing 2 tuners and even at that when I called Cox Communications they acted like I was speaking alien when I told them I needed a cable card for my Tivo.

Where would one even get a single card that can tune 4 separate signals??

the same way every other cable card tuner can get more than 1 chan off 1 card. they are called multi-stream cable cards for a reason. A "Multi-Stream" CableCARD (M-Card) can decode up to six channels simultaneously.

I have had the older TIVO HD for over 4 years, and after about 6 months I "cut the cord" for the cable box and only do OTA. I have loved every minute. But the internet (Netfix, youtube, amazon) interface is slower than snail mail.
I know a number of people with Tivos, all have the HD so they could get rid of cable and satellite. If they lose the OTA option, they lose all of us.

On the other hand, you could not find a bigger fan of the TIVO interface than me. Smooth, ease of use, and the most convenient remote in existence.

TarHeelz wrote:No OTA? Deal killer. Heck, Tivo's fastest growing market segment may be the "cut the cable" crowd.

(Has Woot! always posted MSRP jive next to a "deal"? Weird.)

sasiegel wrote:Has anyone with Cablevision service successfully connected one of these and managed to receive their premium channels (HBO, SHO etc.)? We installed one oast night and are waiting for a service call from Cablevision this weekend. After many hours and phone calls we were able to get it to at least receive some channels but not the premium channels (note I am not talking about the special ones that require an SDV tuner box). They think our Cablecard M may be faulty but I am worried that it may be something Cablevision does to block Tivo (they have a bad gistory of that),

i have cablevision. did you buy your m-card or did you go down to a Walk-in-Center and get one from them? i use cable cards in my PC and in several tivo boxes, all are able to pick up 700(hd) channels and all the premium channels i pay for, i however can not get on demand. but id rather not give them anymore of my money so i dont need on demand

Keep in mind that in addition to the Tivo monthly service fee, if you plan on using it to replace your current cable box tuner (like Comcast) the cable company may charge you a setup fee and ongoing monthly registration fee. Comcast / Time Warner does

Sheena3745 wrote:I've noticed that TiVo does this extra recording when episodes don't have a name. It seems to ignore the (R) for repeats. Every couple of weeks I used to clean my To Do list & delete all the extras for Mythbusters, MAD, Daily Show, etc.

These days though, if you wait a while, the menu *will* update & TiVo will clear the extra episodes on its own.

I don't bother with the clean up any more & only rarely get an extra episode recorded. In the wish list suggestions at TiVo I've requested they look at the (R) tag when the episode title is missing, so hopefully there will be a useful software update in our future.

Alas, this hasn't been my experience. Just last night I pruned more than a dozen Mythbusters episodes for the upcoming weekend out of To Do... Tivo usually does 12 days of guide data, so if they were listed for this weekend, they'd already been there a week or so.

(I know... First World Problem.)

Necromancyr wrote:I would love to get one of these, but realistically I can't see the costs working out unless I'm missing something.

$300 (box) + $500 (lifetime service) = $800

Without the price of the 1-2 CableCards you'll need, that's works out to be, depending on how long you use it, $66/mo (1yr), 33/mo (2yr), $22/mo (3yr), or $16/mo (4yr). Add in the $2-4/mo for a cable card (or more for a switching adapter for certain providers), and the monthly cost of this exceeds most DVR boxes (even multi-room capable DVRs) from cable providers. Tack on that you don't need to worry about equipment breakage, you have access to VOD/PPV, etc., and the only benefit you're getting is the interface and recommendation recording.

While I'd love to get one, the initial money sink and costs associated with it just don't make sense, unfortunately.

You have to take into account the resale value. TiVos with lifetime service have an excellent resale value. All my TiVos have lifetime except for one box which is still on the old $6.95 a month plan.
When you factor the resale price, it is much much cheaper than the Cable company DVR. If I had been renting FiOS DVRs the last five years instead of using TiVos, I would have paid out, much much more money.

I used the Series 3 and TiVo HD boxes with FiOS originally. Then sold those lifetime boxes when the Premieres came out in 2010. That covered around 80% of the cost of my new lifetime Premieres. Then when the Elites came out, I sold four of the Lifetime Premiere boxes and those covered 100% of the cost of my two Elites with lifetime service. I still have eight tuners but I use less cable cards so I pay FiOS $8 less per month. The two Elite boxes also use 44 watts between them instead of the 96 watts the four, two tuner boxes used. Saving me another $4 a month. And then when a new TiVo is released next year, I will sell one or both of my lifetime Elites to cover most of the cost of the newer Tivo boxes with Lifetime.

Overall owning lifetime TiVos costs much, much less than continuously renting the cable company DVRs.

dignan17 wrote:but the card is only something like $3-4/month, as opposed to whatever they charge for their top-end DVR which is something like $20-25/month, isn't it?

Here with Comcast, the first cable card is free the next is $2.50 a month (M cards). The Comcast DVR is 250gb (small!) and does have dual tuners and on-demand, but rents for $17 a month plus tax. If you can get the newer DVR they have a 500gb drive in them for the same price.

Compared to $13-15 a month (or $400 lifetime) you are looking a long ROI depending your local cost and if you have other Tivos. Of course, the UI is better and you get all the online on-demand (but miss Comcast's until available) and 4 tuners...

editorkid wrote:Tivo's software (after all this time) is still a little buggy. I have all of my subscriptions and season passes set to First Run Only, but Tivo regularly ignores this and records every episode of a Mythbusters marathon, for instance. They claimed they fixed the bug that would record every single showing of The Daily Show even when set to First Run Only, but no, I still have to have a manual recording for Comedy Central from 10 to 10:30 p.m. Deleting the tons of extras you don't want because it thinks they're new episodes is a time-consuming pain.

I tried using Tivo Suggestions when I got my first unit but it's pretty useless. If you thumbs-down each of your subscriptions and passes, your Tivo won't make or record suggestions. Again, this is a time-consuming pain (you used to have to thumbs-down something only once; now you have to do that for every episode of every show).

Even with those bugs, I've had Tivo for 12 years now and can't live life without it. But I also can't imagine ever wanting to record four shows at the same time. Even the Octomom doesn't need that.

For The Daily Show and Colbert Report I've followed this setup in a wishlist. http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=373836

speedoo wrote:OK so if it's lifetime of the unit, I would go for that even though I am too old to count on a lot of years. I'll just will it to one of my kids and that will make it a good "investment".

Do I have that right?

I have owned 6 TiVos with lifetime service on every one over the last 10 years. Five still work great...I had 1 that was not TiVo branded (Humex)that died on me and I was able to get them to transfer my lifetime from that box to another.

I upgraded to Premiere XLs last year when I got HD TVs in the house. I might get this one more because of the 4 tuners.

We watch a lot of TV, so we love our TiVos..

For those who want to record from over-the-air stations, I'll suggest the Magnavox MDR515H/F7 DVR / DVD recorder. It has a 500 GB disk and requires no subscriptions. I really like mine. Sure, it's not so slick as the TIVO but it also requires nothing from the internet or its manufacturer to keep working!

kfurrow wrote:For those who want to record from over-the-air stations, I'll suggest the Magnavox MDR515H/F7 DVR / DVD recorder. It has a 500 GB disk and requires no subscriptions. I really like mine. Sure, it's not so slick as the TIVO but it also requires nothing from the internet or its manufacturer to keep working!

It appears to record in SD only.

Will the Aspect button on the remote let it properly letterbox the video when connected via component cables to a 4:3 1080i CRT that lacks an anamorphic mode (RCA!!!)? I expect there will be some loss of resolution due to resampling, but hopefully not as far as only outputting at 480p.

Yep, the non-Tivo standalone ATSC DVRs are usually SD only, one tuner only, and get the guide info over the air (only a few days worth, often not very accurate)

gantt wrote:It appears to record in SD only.

TiVo is the best. TiVo changes lives. You won't truly understand until you get one and ditch the crappy DVR.

And this model with 4 tuners? It's hard to fathom how super that would be.

Buy this now. Trust me!

keithredding2 wrote:But why?
Just hope over to WWW.CableCutterGuys.com and it can show you how to set up a FREE DVR with WMC. With NO lingering costs!

I used a digital VCR(HiPix cards) for my HD recordings back in 2001. I've even tested out the current WMC features using some of my old USB HD tuners. Using TiVos is much more convenient. But to each their own. People should use what works best in their situation.

sasiegel wrote:Has anyone with Cablevision service successfully connected one of these and managed to receive their premium channels (HBO, SHO etc.)? We installed one oast night and are waiting for a service call from Cablevision this weekend. After many hours and phone calls we were able to get it to at least receive some channels but not the premium channels (note I am not talking about the special ones that require an SDV tuner box). They think our Cablecard M may be faulty but I am worried that it may be something Cablevision does to block Tivo (they have a bad gistory of that),

Yes, but they had to send out a technician to remove the blocks for my premium channels on the line that was going to my TiVo. I was lucky that he knew how to do it, because i was at a loss. The problem wasn't with the TiVo in the end, though, it was with the signals back at Comcast HQ that had inadvertently put a block on premium channels to that line.

There have been little to no problems since then, and it's been nearly 9 months. I have a TiVo Premiere XL dual-tuner box, and I love it. I honestly give thanks for the thing on a daily basis.

I love my TiVo.

artwire wrote:As a happy owner of more than a few (nearly obsolete) HDD recorders, I might be in for one of these, IF I can (a) get comcast to provide a working M card and ( b) could offload some of the content I recorded to DVD ? Is that even possible with the Tivo? My magnavox recorders have a built in DVD player/burner which makes it really easy to high speed dub content from the hard drive if you want to save it to disc. What kind of output options are available on the Tivo? With hard drives that large, I probably wouldnt need to export much, but it's nice to be able to export the content to save or watch on a different device.

With TiVo to go software, you can export to a PC or Mac and do what you want with it from there.

nageltr wrote:You guys are still confused. There are 3 Tivos in the current lineup: Premiere, Premiere Elite, and Premiere XL4. I just got an email from them today offering the Elite (this one) for $249. The XL4 is the one with 4 tuners and a TB drive in it.

Edit: I am confused too. Just read the write up (which I should have done before posting, shame on me) and these specs do match the one that is called XL4 now. And it was $100 more from Tivo.

There are three Premiere Tivos; the Premiere, the Premiere XL (which has a 1TB HDD and THX certification) and the Premiere XL4 (formerly the Premiere Elite which has a 2TB HDD, 4 tuners, and THX certification).

It sound like you got an offer for the Premiere XL.

johnjay829 wrote:you could look into streambaby

Yes. I already use streambaby to stream to my tivos from my home server. But it's a rather inconvenient way to stream between tivos because (as you note) you first have to transfer programs from the tivo to the server. Only then can you stream it to the tivo.

drizzo4shizzo wrote:WOW. Just WOW. How the hell can this unit be so awesome and have every possible feature I want, except NOT support free OTA digital TV!?!?!

If you want a tivo that works w/OTA, then you need a Premeire or Premiere XL.

Worked with SA/Cisco DVRs. I bought a Series 3 Tivo then another and now the XL4/Elite.

Tivo boxes make the rest look like VHS machines.

sanfordturbo wrote:Tivo Rep indicated that lifetime can be transferred to new unit. Deactivate old, activate on new.

Don't think he or she was telling the whole truth about Product Lifetime Service. The only way you can transfer is below:

Because a Product Lifetime Subscription is linked to a particular TiVo DVR, you may not transfer it to any other TiVo DVR unless all the following conditions apply: (a) the TiVo DVR is being replaced pursuant to the manufacturer's or retailer's warranty; and (b) the TiVo DVR being replaced is of the same make and model as the replacement TiVo DVR; and (c) you provide us with a proof of replacement by the manufacturer or retailer. TiVo reserves the right to charge you a fee to transfer Product Lifetime Service from a TiVo DVR being replaced to a replacement TiVo DVR.
From: http://www3.tivo.com/abouttivo/policies/tivoservice_tcs_windowpopup_ajax.html

lwang wrote:If that is the case, I can get one of those remote controls that turn the tivo on at a certain time, change it to a certain channel and press record.

But how can I change the channels on the other tuners? Switch to tuner #2 and change channels, then press record? Or are those multi-tuner gizmos only available via timer recordings?

I have a Tivo HD that I have used for years without subscription. All you need to do is set it up for your area, then use it like a VCR. Just go into manually set up recordings. You can have the Tivo record a certain channel at a certain time on a recurring basis. You won't get the show title or information, but it is better than paying $15 a month for a stupid guide.

editorkid wrote:Alas, this hasn't been my experience. Just last night I pruned more than a dozen Mythbusters episodes for the upcoming weekend out of To Do... Tivo usually does 12 days of guide data, so if they were listed for this weekend, they'd already been there a week or so.

Rats! Sorry to hear that. I used to clean up the list every week religiously until I got busy & forgot, then found little or no repeats recorded. Maybe they fixed it or it was like that all along, no clue.

Just in case you misunderstood me: The repeats *do* show on my list every day if they don't show the episode title, for the entire 2-week schedule. But, if I leave them there they don't record because by then there is indeed a title. A few that don't get updated end up recorded, but it's no problem deleting 1 or 2 unwanted recordings rather than 3 dozen schedules. Sometimes the update is last-minute, like the day before, so don't give up hope. Good luck!

Necromancyr wrote:I would love to get one of these, but realistically I can't see the costs working out unless I'm missing something.

$300 (box) + $500 (lifetime service) = $800

Without the price of the 1-2 CableCards you'll need, that's works out to be, depending on how long you use it, $66/mo (1yr), 33/mo (2yr), $22/mo (3yr), or $16/mo (4yr). Add in the $2-4/mo for a cable card (or more for a switching adapter for certain providers), and the monthly cost of this exceeds most DVR boxes (even multi-room capable DVRs) from cable providers. Tack on that you don't need to worry about equipment breakage, you have access to VOD/PPV, etc., and the only benefit you're getting is the interface and recommendation recording.

While I'd love to get one, the initial money sink and costs associated with it just don't make sense, unfortunately.

There is no question that TiVos are more expensive than the DVRs provided by the cable companies. They are also better. A BMW costs more than a Ford, but some people buy them anyway.

Nell4620 wrote:Can someone please take pity on me and tell me in simple words if/how I can use TiVo - I've always wanted one. I have digital cable box/DVR I rent monthly from cable company. If I get this do I return the cable box and get a non-DVR box from them? TiVo works through that? I have two TVs on digital cable boxes - only one with the DVR. Pretend I'm your favorite Granny and help me out here.

Don't even need the cable box, if you use cable cards from the cable company. You might lose your ability to see "cable on demand", however.

sigmajove wrote:There is no question that TiVos are more expensive than the DVRs provided by the cable companies. They are also better. A BMW costs more than a Ford, but some people buy them anyway.

That's just it. they aren't more expensive in the long run. They are actually much cheaper to own when you factor in the resale value and they are much better.

In the long run they end up being much, much cheaper than the cable company DVRs.

clintiv wrote:Don't think he or she was telling the whole truth about Product Lifetime Service. The only way you can transfer is below:

Because a Product Lifetime Subscription is linked to a particular TiVo DVR, you may not transfer it to any other TiVo DVR unless all the following conditions apply: (a) the TiVo DVR is being replaced pursuant to the manufacturer's or retailer's warranty; and (b) the TiVo DVR being replaced is of the same make and model as the replacement TiVo DVR; and (c) you provide us with a proof of replacement by the manufacturer or retailer. TiVo reserves the right to charge you a fee to transfer Product Lifetime Service from a TiVo DVR being replaced to a replacement TiVo DVR.

Or its one of a few Series1 units (before the first DirecTV w/TiVo Service units) which were advertised as allowing a transfer of service (only one transfer allowed), or when TiVo specifically offers an upgrade path porting Lifetime Service to a new box.

The latter is how I have $199 Lifetime Service on two Series2 units that used to reside on two Series1 units. Though I don't use any of them for much of anything anymore as I'm all about HD recording now. The Series2 units are only good for getting discounts on monthly service on other units and holding copies of stuff no longer available anywhere. (The Series1 units are still subscribed at $6.95/mo. b/c TiVo doesn't allow unsubscriptions over the web, only by phone.)

mschulte59 wrote:This unit will NOT work with OTA antenna - "(does not support satellite, AT&T U-verse, antenna or analog cable)".

I was almost in for one...

Well that's pretty shocking, unbelivable... different even. Why would they take away OTA?

lojac963 wrote:
Where would one even get a single card that can tune 4 separate signals??

A single multi-stream cable card will work just fine. I have one in a 4tuner card on my media pc. As long as it is a multi-stream card, it will work just fine. Hope that helps.

Keith

For those of you on Comcast, check into whether you can get the monthly Customer-Owned Equipment Credit - which is PER OUTLET you pay for, assuming you don't also have the Comcast-supplied cable box.
http://www.comcast.com/equipmentpolicy

ALSO make sure you aren't being overcharged for your CableCARDs - I was for a LONG time.

The FIRST CableCARD PER OUTLET you pay for is included in the Primary or Additional Outlet fee.
See
http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/cable-tv/set-up-tivo-series-3hd/
and
http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/cable-tv/about-cablecards/

The billing and support reps will likely NOT tell you this. I went through 5 calls and couldn't get it fixed, though the agent did give me a credit for my time.

I had to email the Comcast support team - we_can_help@comcast.com
(Be sure to include your account number and details)

They were quick to fix my bill when the support and billing agents couldn't.

OnABudget wrote:Keep in mind that in addition to the Tivo monthly service fee, if you plan on using it to replace your current cable box tuner (like Comcast) the cable company may charge you a setup fee and ongoing monthly registration fee. Comcast / Time Warner does

timdthomas wrote:Well that's pretty shocking, unbelivable... different even. Why would they take away OTA?

Here's some speculation as to why TiVo is focusing more on QAM tuners over ATSC (OTA) tuners:

"TiVo can’t say, probably because at this point they honestly don’t know, what form an ATSC-supporting product might take, but they know there is a solid niche of ATSC users. Clearly the majority of their business comes from cable subscribers, but they do not plan to abandon ATSC users. There are issues with supporting ATSC however. ATSC tuners are more expensive than QAM tuners, and aren’t available in the same densities. We’re seeing single QAM tuner chips with six QAM tuners, even fully integrated SoCs with six, or more, integrated QAM tuners – but not ATSC."
http://www.gizmolovers.com/2012/05/23/more-tivo-tidbits-from-the-cable-show/

bhiga wrote:For those of you on Comcast, check into whether you can get the monthly Customer-Owned Equipment Credit - which is PER OUTLET you pay for,

The credit is for those that own the cable card and don't rent one from Comcast - not for owning a Tivo and not renting a cable box.

The credit here is $2.50 a month, wonder what a valild Moto M card costs? Wonder how much of a hassle it would be to bring your own make it work?

jc61990 wrote:i have cablevision. did you buy your m-card or did you go down to a Walk-in-Center and get one from them? i use cable cards in my PC and in several tivo boxes, all are able to pick up 700(hd) channels and all the premium channels i pay for, i however can not get on demand. but id rather not give them anymore of my money so i dont need on demand

I have Cablevision and it sux that On-Demand does not work on their system with Tivo. Maybe soon. In the mean time, I use one of their cable boxes as a separate input into my TV, just for On-Demand. Gotta have my Howard TV!

Nell4620 wrote:Can someone please take pity on me and tell me in simple words if/how I can use TiVo - I've always wanted one. I have digital cable box/DVR I rent monthly from cable company. If I get this do I return the cable box and get a non-DVR box from them? TiVo works through that? I have two TVs on digital cable boxes - only one with the DVR. Pretend I'm your favorite Granny and help me out here.

OK, TiVo 101
* You need:
TiVo > The DVR itself.
TiVo Service > The ~$14/month you pay TiVo in order to get the menus, updates, online searches, etc. You can also pay once for lifetime service (life of the machine, not yours). Price is discounted if you have more than 1 TiVo.
Cable Card > Rented from your cable company. It's what gives your TiVo cable access to whatever you subscribe to. Price varies from about $3 to as much as $8/month, depending on location & cable company.
Tuner > Probably won't need it, but budget for one just in case. Also rented from the cable company, prices in the same range as the cable card.
Internet > Perhaps not 100% required, but your TV lineup may need different settings if you don't have it. Of course you'll need it to stream services like Pandora and Amazon, & to do searches that include online hits. I've never used TiVo without it, so I can't give you the full details.

* What you get:
Access to whatever channels you subscribe through your cable company.
Access to online services (you have to sign up or pay for) like Pandora, Netflix, Amazon videos/music, YouTube, Hulu + (newer models & + only) etc.
The best DVR & remote features in the market today. Cable company provided DVRs are improving, but still far behind.
2 weeks of menus (program lineup) to play with. Filter out channels you get &/or favorites.
Ability to set up shows to record always (either all or new episodes only). You can organize them by priority.
Ability to save searches like favorite actors, show types, special filters, etc.
Even the older models can record 2 shows at the same time & still let you watch anything already recorded. Newer models can record 4.
Recordings in HD as long as you receive channels on HD & the TiVo is not too old.
Ability to export some programs to a computer or burner (depends on the show's copyright).
Recommendations based on what you tag as favorite or record & lists like editors' picks.
If you have more than one TiVo & connect them through wi-fi (you need to buy the right adapters), you can share their contents with one another (ie: watch in the living room what was recorded in the bedroom).
Most TiVos allow you to plug in an external hard drive for extra space. Check out the specs for HDD type.
There's extra services in the latest models (like the one on sale here), so read up on the specs.

* What you don't get:
On Demand channels. Not the free ones, not the Pay-per-View ones, that's where Amazon comes in. Although I hear some of the newer models allow you access if you pay extra for a special cable card.

* Drawbacks:
You need to buy the machine AND pay for the service. Although cable company DVR's are the same or similar expense, you never own them & can get them replaced anytime if they break. The TiVo is your responsibility, but you can also hack it to your heart's content (replacing the hard drive is pretty easy).
Booting time is ridiculously long. It may not worry most people, but in FL we get little blackouts when there's a big storm (from 2-5 seconds) & you have to wait about 10-15 minutes until a recording continues. My old Time-Warner DVR only took about 4-5 minutes to restart. I solved it with a small battery backup, because in the spring/summer it would happen several times a week.

dwynne wrote:The credit is for those that own the cable card and don't rent one from Comcast - not for owning a Tivo and not renting a cable box.

The credit here is $2.50 a month, wonder what a valild Moto M card costs? Wonder how much of a hassle it would be to bring your own make it work?

The monthly cable card credit is for obtaining a cable card from your cable provider IN LIEU OF a cable box on packages that include a cable box in the monthly price. It is not possible to purchase your own cable card for "bring your own" access.

I have a TiVo HD with (1) multistream card from Comcast - I receive a $2.50/month credit on my monthly bill.

clintiv wrote:I have a TiVo Premiere XL dual-tuner box, and I love it. I honestly give thanks for the thing on a daily basis.

I love my TiVo.

I'm on my 3rd Tivo w/lifetime sub now, a Premier XL and still use a Series 2. Added it when we finally went HD in February. Tried to use the Cablevision DVR but it was an epic fail.

Once you go Tivo, you can never go back. Other than sports, we have not watched TV in "real-time" in over 10 years.

investr wrote:and...we're still waiting for the DirecTivo...

It's available!

http://www3.tivo.com/products/source/satellite/tivo-directv/index.html