I am thinking about getting Tivo

[memo90061]

I had Turbo HD Bronze on Dish Network and decided to just have local channels so I could continue using the Dish DVR. Dish has too many fees and the total would be over 13 dollars. I started to think about Tivo. Does anyone recommend it? I noticed I only used the DVR to record OTA programming. The only HD programming I recorded on Dish was HD videos from Palladia and non HD stuff on Telehit. I recorded Telehit for their music videos but I saw that I can download music videos on Tivo. Do they have HD music videos? What do you love about Tivo? What don't you like about it? How do you pay the 13 dollars monthly? Can you use a debit card?

 

[cebbigh]

I converted first from E to D and now have Fios with a Tivo series 3 that I got used on Ebay for $290. For my use I would rate Tivo ahead of D (HR2x) and slightly behind E (622/722). Yes you can use a debit card, that's how my billing is set up. The listings info is great, on a par with E and better than D. I hooked a 1TB hard drive (Calvary $104 including shipping from Newegg) and now have 179 hrs HD capacity.

As far as music videos I don't know offhand. They do have a lot of nice add-ons though. If you have a Netflix subscription you can get a lot of HD online programing at no additional cost.

 

[memo90061]

Hmmm thank you very much for your reply. I am leaning towards the Tivo now. Is it true you can download recorded programs on Tivo to your computer by going to your Tivo's IP address? I have a question. I have another provider called Sky. Can I connect it to Tivo and change Sky's receiver output to channel 3? Will I see channel 3 on Tivo? I know I won't get information for it on Tivo. I would want to create manual timers for channel 3. Is that possible? Can I rename my manual timers? Thank you!

 

[slater]

Tivo

I left Dish as well cause of the rising cost and mostly recorded local channels. I got a Tivo HD and so far I like it. Tivo has come a long way since I had in in 2001. I like how you can go to Netflix and pick out movies and there're instantly sent to your Tivo and ready to watch.

 

[memo90061]

I really like Dish but I can't believe all their fees. I just wanted the locals for the DVR.

This is what they were charging me
6 for locals
6 for dvr
6 for the home protection plan
5 for not having HD programming
5 for tv 2 on the vip 722

 

[riffjim4069]

I converted first from E to D and now have Fios with a Tivo series 3 that I got used on Ebay for $290. For my use I would rate Tivo ahead of D (HR2x) and slightly behind E (622/722). Yes you can use a debit card, that's how my billing is set up. The listings info is great, on a par with E and better than D. I hooked a 1TB hard drive (Calvary $104 including shipping from Newegg) and now have 179 hrs HD capacity.

As far as music videos I don't know offhand. They do have a lot of nice add-ons though. If you have a Netflix subscription you can get a lot of HD online programing at no additional cost.

Ditto...although I would have probably stayed with Dish Network if it weren't for FiOS. The Tivo HD is a close 2nd when compared to the 622/722.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Im enjoying my TivoHD. Bought the wirelewss dongle and 500gb dvr expander too. My only complaint is that it does not show how much space is left, which is very weird.

The netflix watch now and amazon vod are cool.

 

[memo90061]

Thanks for the replies guys. I am really leaning towards the Tivo now. I always wanted a DVR where I could record stuff from the TV and send it to my computer.

 

[mike123abc]

Last year I bought 2 TiVos, upped them to 1 GB disks and moved most my Local timers to TiVo. I have them in 2 different residences. One I use OTA and have an outside antenna. The other I use 2 cable cards. The cable cards work well.

Quite frankly they are very nice. I went with the lifetime subscription because I hate monthly billing.

You can control your DVR over the internet at tivo.com if they are hooked up to the internet in case you are away and want to set a timer. You can watch it on your computer, you can also send programs back and forth between the TiVos (I did this before moved one). You can of course do the netflix and amazon.com videos. They do a ton of stuff very well. It has me rethinking what I am going to do with my Dish subcription.

TiVo has a factory referbished special https://www3.tivo.com/store/boxdetails.do?boxName=renewed-tivohdxl&type=renewed with the 1 GB already in it.

 

[riffjim4069]

Im enjoying my TivoHD. Bought the wirelewss dongle and 500gb dvr expander too. My only complaint is that it does not show how much space is left, which is very weird.

The netflix watch now and amazon vod are cool.

Yep, the Tivo has a lot of neat features (some we don't use), but I was surprised to see it lacked a few basic like checking free space (I think all 12 of the other HD DVRs I've use does this and free space can be checked online with the FiOS DVR), it didn't have a widescreen guide, no TV picture inside the guide, no PIP, and it doesn't buffer/save your previous title searches. I wish I could merge the 622 and Tivo HD, plus add the FiOS widgets and toss in the free TV Guide On Screen with my Sony HD DVR = Perfect HD DVR!!!

 

[Zookster]

Yep, the Tivo has a lot of neat features (some we don't use), but I was surprised to see it lacked a few basic like checking free space (I think all 12 of the other HD DVRs I've use does this and free space can be checked online with the FiOS DVR), it didn't have a widescreen guide, no TV picture inside the guide, no PIP, and it doesn't buffer/save your previous title searches. I wish I could merge the 622 and Tivo HD, plus add the FiOS widgets and toss in the free TV Guide On Screen with my Sony HD DVR = Perfect HD DVR!!!

Wow, no PiP. That might be a deal breaker for me since neither of my two new flat panels have it. With my current cable box, which I'd really like to replace, I often check in on "the game" while watching another show using the box's PiP function.

 

[SatinKzo]

I might be the only one in the world that hates PIP, POP, etc. I see the usefulness of it, but I just use the "last channel" feature.

For me, since I am OTA only, the tivo HD's (w/ Lifetime subs) was one of the few options out there for me to have a HD DVR. I like it cause I can modify it and upgrade/repair it myself without much worry. Family loves the netflix now, but even before that, we liked all the features.

The ATSC tuner is good quality, the QAM tuner is funky (when we had lifeline cable we used it, never used cable cards), but it works.

The tivo does have a round about way of checking free space (at least it used to by telling you have many hours you had left for SD/HD). I've never used that feature in any dvr I've had, so I never missed it. The closest DVR I've had that we've liked as much as Tivo was a dish 622. Uverse DVR was functional and that is about the best way to describe it. Cable dvr sucked.

Just like riffjim said though, each dvr out there has it's strong points and weaknesses, I doubt we'll ever get what many consider a perfect DVR.

I got our tivo's from the refurb link on tivo.com, haven't had any issues. I did immediately upgrade the harddrives using the free utilities out there to make tivo HD's from pretty much any HD out there. I love that I can do that.

My wife loves how easy it is to take tivo recording to her ipod too. Plus we can easily burn tv episodes off PBS for the kids.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I don't really like pip on the 622/722.

 

[memo90061]

I am waiting for tivo.com to have the refurbished Tivo HD (I heard it's 200?) I can't afford the 450 right now. I really want to get one soon though. I am thinking of cancelling Dish Network within the next 2 weeks. I really want a tivo so bad now! I can't wait to use all the features it has. I think I might take advantage of most of them. I don't have netflix though.

So does tivo hd have a widescreen guide? :O

 

[SatinKzo]

yes, tivo has a setup for display type and ratio. the guide does fill the whole screen (that's not tivo's style), but it is widescreen. Even if your show you are watching is 4:3, the guide will still be widescreen.

one of the biggest things I toy with on my tivo is the picture format options. There are quite a few output options and I can only say that it is a very personal taste thing based on equipment. Options like all output at 720p or 1080i, what to do with 480 contenet. Make it fixed output, native output, hybrid... the combinations are nice. But for ease, I just put it all out at 1080i due to how my equipment switches when tivo changes what it is sending. I don't like the delay. Also, tivo can output PCM or just pass the dolby signals.

I would wait until you can get a plain old tivo HD for $200 and just upgrade the drives like I did, best bang for the buck IMO.

 

[mjrusso45]

I just got the Tivo HD for $200 (new) at Sears. Canceled Dish, signed up for Netflix 3 at a time (plus Blu-ray). I didn't really do this to save money, i just felt like I was paying a lot for channel on the Dish that i never watched (I watched FoodTV, SciFi and Planet Green on Dish, that's it). Everything else I got OTA in HD. I liked the Dish 622 DVR, and the biggest thing I will miss is being able to access the same recordings from two TV's without a second box.

This is basically a test to see how or if I can survive without Cable/Satellite channels.

So far the Netflix streaming is very cool, i just want them to expand the Watch Now library and make more stuff in HD.

 

[SatinKzo]

I wish you luck mjrusso. I cut all pay services except netflix. I don't miss anything one bit. netflix definately satifies my entertainment needs through discs or instantly.

I'll admit I cut pay tv to save money, but not because I needed to, I just got sick of paying (like you) for stuff that I didn't want just to get a few channels I did want.

 

[harshness]

Be aware that downloading things via TiVo will cost you various and sundry fees.

If you look at the TiVo Movies and Video page, you're largely renting movies from Amazon, Netflix and CinemaNow. The "videos" that they refer to are YouTube content and the like.

Make sure you check that angle before you commit.

 

[SatinKzo]

I think most people realize that the amazon unbox are rentals (although you can buy them). Netflix watch instantly does not cost any additional fee. I have never used cinemanow. Although there is a ton of free content from niche tivo-casts. I used to watch quite a bit of them, you sub to them (free) and they download weekly episodes to your tivo. Funny stuff, tech stuff, car stuff, just little podcast style tv episodes.

I've never even looked at the tivo website where they list those features. I will say that Youtube is implemented fairly well, but I've only done it once.

 

[memo90061]

How often does tivo.com have refurbished Tivo HD? I want to get one soon but they only have the Tivo HD XL. I am just going to use my Tivo for OTA and music. I don't really watch movies.

I am getting rid of Dish because it's a little too high for what I actually watched. I just recorded stuff from OTA and occasionally watched the other HD channels.