DVR advice

[fuzzygruf]

We had another power outage yesterday, but it was only for 13 minutes.

Anyhow, the power outage a week ago left Steve's old VCR inoperable. Maybe a blown fuse? I dunno.

Steve is looking to get Tivo or Comcast DVR. What do you think is better?

Comments

[ozdachs.livejournal.com]

We have had the same DirectTV TiVo box for 5 years and love it. The newer TiVo boxes and software do more, but the basic user interface and approach is similar. The current models have some nice features we don't (like recovering accidentally deleted programs), but even so we remained sold on the brand-name TiVo.

There are TiVo forums and user groups which share information which is not official but is helpful. Things like how to hack your remote control to let it skip 30-seconds forward at a time (just in case you wanted to miss a commercial).

We also like the idea of rewarding TiVo for creating the DVR industry and so if we have to spend money we'll spend it on them.

I don't know the current market. I heard that the FCC is making cable systems interface with a magic card in third-party DVRs. Is there a TiVo box with a Comcast card?

Comcast DVR

[cruisebear.livejournal.com]

I love the picture quality and you can pause live tv and rewind live tv too.

[ricksf.livejournal.com]

I've had a TivoDVR (provided by DirecTV) for a couple of years now. Extremely user friendly in operation, has never had a hiccup, it's frankly the best techno-toy I've ever owned.

[squalidbear.livejournal.com]

TiVo. We had a TiVo and replaced it with a Comcast DVR because (1) it could record two shows at once, and (2) it could record in HD.

However, the menu structure of the Comcast DVR is infuriatingly non-intuitive (like the Last button means Back???), and sometimes it decides it is 'doing something' and ignores all remote control button presses for about 10-20 seconds. Then it does ALL of the buttons that you've pressed during those 10-20 seconds. At that point you want to throw the fucking thing out of the window.

It is one less box... but I miss my TiVo...

[cowfusior.livejournal.com]

Having used both (when housesitting) I prefer TiVo. Of course, you have to pay for the service. If you have HD you'll want the series 3, but if not, many places are offering a $170 rebate when buying a series 2. For instance:

http://www.buy.com/prod/tivo-series2-bundle-includes-r54080-dvr-and-ag0100-wireless-g-usb/q/loc/111/205541068.html

One thing I have taken to doing with my more expensive electronics is putting them on a UPS with AVR (automatic voltage regulation). AVR prevents damages from surges and sags, as opposed to surge protectors that simply protect from surges.

[urbear]

I have both... a Tivo Series 2 and a Comcast DVR. I got the Comcast boxe because I wanted HD and two tuners, and at the time the only HD product from Tivo was the $800 Series 3. Now Tivo has a much cheaper "Tivo HD"; I'm considering switching (but see below).

On paper, the Comcast box looks good... two tuners, HD, the usual DVR bells and whistles. However, the user interface sucks hugely; it's difficult to use, non-intuitive, limited, and worst of all, very sluggish to respond to commands, and has no feedback to confirm you've pushed a button. The result is that you find yourself constantly cursing, mashing buttons again and again, and then cursing and trying to get back to where you were trying to go after overshooting.

In contrast, the Tivo user interface is clean, intuitive, responsive, and provides audible and visible feedback. They've even got a subtle little gimmick that backs up just a little bit when you drop out of fast-forward or reverse; the result is that when you see something flash by in fast-forward and you hit play to see it in normal speed, it automatically backs up just far enough to account for your reaction delay.

Tivo also has some useful features you won't see on cable company DVRs. It learns what you like by watching your recording patterns, and during idle time it goes out and automatically records shows in the same categories (at low priority). I've stumbled across all sorts of interesting stuff this way. there's a truly amazing search feature ("swivel search") that lets you find something, then pick a keyword from the result, and find other stuff with the same keyword. There are all sorts of web links. For standard-definition shows you can upload recorded material to a PC and (with a little add-on software) burn it to a CD or copy it to your iPod. You can also view music, still photos, and many types of video from your PC on your Tivo. Downloaded porn looks *so* much better on a big screen!

From a hardware standpoint, the Tivo remote control is a marvel of ergonomic design. There are several choices of disk size, and on the HD version there's an external SATA port that will allow you to expand storage further by plugging in an external drive (today it must be enabled using a hack, but it should be officially enableable in a month or two). The HD version also accepts up to two "cablecards", which Comcast supplies, to allow viewing of pay channels. To use both HD tuners you'll need either two single-stream cablecards or one multistream card... it's up to Comcast to supply one type or the other.

Limitations: you won't be able to easily use two-way cable features like Comcast pay-per-view, because current cablecards are one-way devices. Currently HD programming can't be moved to your PC due to cable company rules (but there's a standard emerging that will eventually allow that, and Tivo is very good about software upgrades). You'll need a home network and either a wired Ethernet connection or a specific USB wireless network adapter (about $65 and slower than wired connections) to use the transfer features; if you don't have a boradband network connection you'll need to hook the Tivo to a phone line so that it can download schedule data and software updates. You must pay Comcast a monthly fee for any cablecards you rent from them, and pay Tivo a monthly fee for their service.

One more curve: Comcast is about to release an option for some of their DVRs that will put a Tivo interface on them for a few extra $$ per month. This will include a Tivo remote control as well. This will cure some of the problems with the Comcast box, but it's not clear whether it'll fix the responsiveness issue, and you still won't get most of the fancier features (external hard disks, network transfers, etc.). And the Tivo option is about 18 months behind schedule. They claim it will ship in September (in Boston first, conveniently for me), but who knows when you'll see it?

I'm going to wait until the Tivo option is available and see if that makes my Comcast DVR usable. If not, I'll buy a Tivo HD. Since you don't need a contract for the Comcast box, so that you can dump it any time, and since it's cheap (something like $12 per month) you might want to get a Comcast box for now and take the same wait-and-see approach.

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all the info. Much appreciated!

[apparentparadox]

The Tivo HD has two tuners. We just got one.

[squalidbear.livejournal.com]

Then there is absolutely no reason to get a Comcast DVR unless you really can't deal with having two boxes... (there must be a double-entendre for Gary in there somewhere)

[apparentparadox]

I think that there's a double-entendre for Gary everywhere.

[squalidbear.livejournal.com]

And that's one of the reasons we love him... long time.

Ignoring commands

[cruisebear.livejournal.com]

Mine was doing the same thing. You need a newer (or another box). Mine new one just flies and nor more of those anoying "10-20 seconds of I'm confused". Get a new box! Call them first. The newer boxes have more memory too.

PS
Does yours sometimes say that recording is full and it is not so it failed to record your program?

[apparentparadox]

and far away?

[danlmarmot.livejournal.com]

Get the Tivo HD. It's around $270 (look for coupons on DealNews, search for Tivo), and comes with two CableCard slots that Comcast will grudgingly fill. Gets you a fair bit of HD recording, and lots of regular recording space. The Series 3, btw, is nice, but far too pricey for what you get--you get about 80% of the features for a third the price with the Tivo HD.

Tivo software is nice, and a lot less frustrating than Comcast's.

I had a DirecTivo box for ten years (yep, the same box) and it was fantastic. But I'm not getting a newer DirecTV box, as they don't have Tivo and they're in the middle of switching their broadcasting technology and it's all kind of a mess right now.

[zonereyrie.livejournal.com]

And I run some of those forums. ;-) tivolovers and TiVoLovers.com, and the TiVoCentral Yahoo! Group. ;-)

The cards you speak of are CableCARD, which provides 3rd party devices, like TiVo, direct access to digital cable - so no cable box and you can record HD. TiVo has two CableCARD models - the TiVo Series3, which is the fancy, high-end box - and expensive. And the recently launched TiVo HD, which doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but is much more affordable. And, frankly, you can do without the fancy stuff and just get the HD - the features are the same. The S3 has a 250GB drive, the HD has 160GB. The S3 comes with a fancy backlit remote - which you can buy separately (it is nice, and I would buy it), and the S3 has a shiny OLED front panel with controls on the box and a shiny piano-black finish, while the HD has a more plain front with basic LEDs and no on-box controls. The S3's MSRP is $800, the HD's is $300. Even at only prices (with the S3 ~$600 and the HD $250-300), the S3 really isn't worth the extra cash - get an HD and the 'Glo' remote (which is around $50). (You don't need the remote, but it is pretty nice.)

There are a number of features coming to the high-def TiVos later this year too, including the ability to connect an external eSATA drive to expand the storage easily.

TIVO TIVO TIVO!!!

[gordreece.livejournal.com]

I love my TiVo. I have 3. One is the original Tivo and I have put it in a box. I love it so much I can't get rid of it. Tivo is heroin in electronic form. My other two talk to each other and have internet games, get movies from Amazon, and a bunch of other shit I've never used.

I am trying to restraint myself from buying the new TivoHD. Just yet. 'cause I shouldn't be spending the money at the moment. But, I think I would consider hooking for my Tivo.

(I might be just a tiny bit over zealous here)