Tivo vs Comcast DVR??

[UWSurfer]

Went to my local Best Buy and the guy manning the department Tivo's sit in didn't know anything about this drive. He asked the computer guys, who told him they are kept in lockup with the Geek Squad counter.

I got the distinct impression I was giving him an education. The drive ran about $100 more than the My Book drives, but it mated up with the Tivo nicely. The sys info says I have up to 80 hours of HD recording space and up to 860 hours of SD digital space.

Not bad at all!!!

Thanks again David!

 

[Icarus]

You're most welcome!

Yes, the dedicated DVR expansion drives are more expensive than desktop or computer external expansion drives. Hope you didn't pay much more than $200 for it.

I'm also not surprised that you knew more about the drive than the BB salesperson.

Have fun with your new tivo!

-David

 

[winger]

I have both the TIVO boxes and the Comcast DVR. No comparison - TIVO is far superior in every way. Better user interface, easier programming - and online scheduling.

Plus, by using the TIVO desktop, I download the recorded TIVO shows and movies directly to my PC and then easily transfer them onto my video iPod!

I agree, Tivo is very easy to use versus other DVR's I have tried using. Also the Tivo Desktop is another plus - I use it to backup shows to my server and/or download to my Treo to watch during my commute (that is, if I do not Sling it!).

 

[winger]

I have a standard Series 3 Tivo standalone DVR. Is there a way I can easily utilize the USB port to expand my unit's recording capacity in the same way the eSATA port method for HD Tivo units?

 

[Icarus]

I have a standard Series 3 Tivo standalone DVR. Is there a way I can easily utilize the USB port to expand my unit's recording capacity in the same way the eSATA port method for HD Tivo units?

What is a standard series 3? There's the S3, and the Tivo HD. Both are Hi Def, cable card DVRs.

Anyway, if you really have an S3, it has an esata port. No tivo supports disk expansion via the usb ports.

-David

 

[winger]

Nope. esata only, but the S3 will recognize and use any external drive.

-David

so, what is the use of hooking up an external HDD to my S3 if it does not expand my recording capacity?

 

[Icarus]

so, what is the use of hooking up an external HDD to my S3 if it does not expand my recording capacity?

I revised my answer. I don't think you have an S3. The S3 is also a hi-def cablecard unit and has an esata port, and it wil recognize and use any esata external drive. The Tivo HD, which also has an esata port will only work with Tivo Certified esata drives, and there's only one of them right now.

No tivo supports external disk expansion via the USB port.

Am I right about you not really having an S3? I think you probably have an S2.

-David

 

[UWSurfer]

Went to my local Best Buy and the guy manning the department Tivo's sit in didn't know anything about this drive. He asked the computer guys, who told him they are kept in lockup with the Geek Squad counter.

I got the distinct impression I was giving him an education. The drive ran about $100 more than the My Book drives, but it mated up with the Tivo nicely. The sys info says I have up to 80 hours of HD recording space and up to 860 hours of SD digital space.

Not bad at all!!!

Thanks again David!

UPDATE: After several weeks of happy usage, (including pausing the last five minutes of the super bowl to pickup a pizza and see the ending), our Tivo's on-board tuner stopped working. After rebooting/restarting the system it couldn't locate channels and then several attempts later at restarting the system (a 10-15 minute long event) and downloading the channel guide, the unit began power cycling continously. Less than a handful of times it would come alive alowing us to playback what had been recorded...but the tuner wouldn't receive anything.

I spent hours working through this until I concluded the unit is bad and called tech support who after 20 minutes working with me on the phone concluded the same. A replacement unit is supposedly enroute.

One thing I'm surprised about is Tivo only covers parts and labor for a warranty period of 90 days, and then charges for parts and labor for up to a year after that. Makes you wonder why they don't have better faith in their product.

I must admit though, it IS a neat box!!!

 

[Icarus]

One thing I'm surprised about is Tivo only covers parts and labor for a warranty period of 90 days, and then charges for parts and labor for up to a year after that.

Parts coverage is extended to the term of your tivo service plan, but I agree with you about the warranty. They should really just make it 1 year P+L. For most electronic equipment, if it fails, it will usually fail within the first 30 days.

Sorry to hear you had problems with your unit.

-David

 

[UWSurfer]

The replacement arrived today. Wouldn't recognize the expansion drive...only to find out the replacement did not come with the current version of software (9.2).

Ended up spending a couple hours forcing it to go out and download the current version. Only other issue is I now have to program back in the shows we want to record and let Tivo do it's thing.

We appear to be back to normal.

 

[hvsteve1]

I read through the posts and did not see the answers to some questions I had.

I'm currently on Cablevision in New York and have their HD DVD which is from Scientific Atlanta. As we are thinking of moving to another part of the country, I will have a decision to make as to service provider for HD programming and a DVR box.

My questions on TIVO have to do with-

1. Does the TIVO require me to hook it up to a phone line to get the program guides? Does this mean that my being on the phone would interfere with the TIVO functionality?

2. With TIVO don't I lose the interactivity I have with digital cable, i.e. on demand and interactive prgramming?

 

[UWSurfer]

My questions on TIVO have to do with-

1. Does the TIVO require me to hook it up to a phone line to get the program guides? Does this mean that my being on the phone would interfere with the TIVO functionality?

2. With TIVO don't I lose the interactivity I have with digital cable, i.e. on demand and interactive prgramming?

TIVO can access the guides via broadband. In addition to the phone line there is an ethernet connector and an input for a wifi adapter. The adapter runs about $40 and comes recommended by me. With it, the TIVO connects to our WIFI router and not only get's it updates and guides via our DSL connection, but also is capable of receiving podcasts and streams of various content providers. You can also rent movies from Amazon and have them download to the TIVO drive in this manner.

I receive TV via an over the air antenna so I'm not sure about the interactive question, but there are cable card slots on the front of the HD unit and my understanding is it's fairly common to get the card from which ever cable company you use and have the TIVO be completely compatible with their system...and as such I would think interactive.

 

[Icarus]

To add to what UWSurfer said,

1. Does the TIVO require me to hook it up to a phone line to get the program guides? Does this mean that my being on the phone would interfere with the TIVO functionality?

Phone line, ethernet wired connections (RJ45), or via the Tivo 802.11g wireless usb adapter. Tivo knows if the phone line is in use or if you pick up the phone when its call is in progress and will delay or interrupt its call when necessary. My old S1 uses the phone line. All my newer Tivos connect via the network. (One wired and using the Tivo wireless USB adapter.)

2. With TIVO don't I lose the interactivity I have with digital cable, i.e. on demand and interactive prgramming?

Yes. But for most people that's not an issue, since we set up low priority season passes/wishlists to do things like record HD movies, and keep up to some number of different movies. So there's always a library of things to watch on your tivo. Instead of PPV, you can use amazon unbox to download purchased or rented movies to your tivo, but amazon unbox downloads are not yet in HD.

Tivo doesn't do any sort of two-way programming so there's no interactive stuff available with a Tivo HD or Tivo S3.

-David

 

[JudyS]

...You have lots of options. Slingbox might also work for you.

-David

David, thanks for the advice! (I mean to say thanks earlier, sorry.)

Slingbox sounds very interesting. I told my husband that I wanted to buy one, and he went out and bought a video capture board (for under $50) for our system instead. Problem solved! I'm not sure he would have bothered to go buy and install the capture board if I hadn't said I was about to spend the money on a Slingbox, so finding out about Slingbox worked out very well for me. (And who knows, I may actually buy a Slingbox at some point. But for now, the capture board is fine.)