Tivo VS. DVR

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I'm now considering a DVR but don't know what one to get. I hear a lot about Tivo but for 12 buck a month and to pay for the service I think is stupid for a VCR with a HDD in it. I know they have other services and it doesnt just record but all I need is to tell it what to record and when to do it. So what really makes Tivo worth it and other DVRs over looked and other then Tivo what DVR would be good to get that I do not have to pay for more then once.
 
Look into the price of whatever your cable provider offers. I get my DVR from Verizon (Fios TV) and it's not as nice as a Tivo, but it's not bad at all. (They made an update to the software a few months ago that made things much better.)

If you currently tape stuff on a VCR, trust me a DVR/Tivo is way better.
 
Tivo is definitely top dog in the DVR business but outside them and getting it from your cable/satellite provder your options are few and far between. Both ways you pay monthly for the service ~$12 / month for Tivo and ~$6/ month for provider based.
If you can find a series 1 Tivo I think you can still record programs without a service fee but that is about it for stand alone boxes.
I am looking into putting a capture card into an old PC and running something like mythTV or gbpvr because I don't want to spend the money on DVR each month. But I don't know if I want a loud ass old PC on all the time either.
 
I had a cable line going to my computer into the capture card that came with it. The card is an Ati but the video didn't look all that good. Also I had to run the cable line to the PC at one end of the room and to change channles I had to run a wire from a box that was connected by USB to my cable box. So I had two wires running from one end of the room to the other. It worked great but the video looked like crap. I forgot about my cable company having one. I will check into them. It is I think 10 bucks extra a month.
 
I've got Comcast cable and DVR, its pretty decent, plus some offices only have the DVR feature on their HD boxes, so by getting DVR you get an without the upcharge for the DVR
 
Tivo is not the top dog anymore...maybe about 5 years ago, but they have dropped off considerably. So much so that they are licensing out there softwared to cable providers. Some point in the near future comcast dvr will have a tivo setup on there dvr boxes.

As for the choice to me it is simple. Yes tivo is better, but the 2 problems I have with it are. The upfront purchase of the tivo box rather then renting it from month to month. The other thing is do you have an HD tv, and do you subscribe to HD digital package currently then go with an HD DVR from your local provider. Tivo HD boxes are very expensive.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']comcast dvr is terrible. very limited options. but its better than nothing.[/quote]

What advantages does Tivo have?
I'm interested to see if it's enough to justify me paying a monthly fee.
 
"So much so that they are licensing out there softwared to cable providers."

How does them licensing their software to others show they aren't the best? :whistle2:/
 
I got my Tivo (Series 2 80-hour) at RadioShack for $50 bucks, then bought a year of service for $130. I also bought a network adapter (the Tivo one) for about $35. But, I got a $170 rebate back and I got a $50 prepaid Mastercard in the mail from RadioShack.

If you can find a deal like that, then Tivo's definitely worth it. Keep in mind, it's the non-HD Tivo, but it was essentially free. And I love it.
 
[quote name='benjamouth']What advantages does Tivo have?
I'm interested to see if it's enough to justify me paying a monthly fee.[/quote]
Mostly it's in the hands-off approach you take to it. You tell it what show you want to record, and whether you want every showing, every unique showing, or only new episodes, and that's it. Special 90 minute episode? No problem. Starts 3 minutes early? Got it. Changes nights? handles that too. But what if one of those changes overlaps with two other scheduled recording? It records the two shows you like best. If the third is shown at a different time (HBO or FX shows, for example), it records the later showing instead.

it gets more advanced than that, of course. You can tell it to record every western directed by Sam Peckinpah, for example. Or any science fiction show with William Fitchner. Or every Series Premiere in HD. Or any show that has anything to do with paintball.

Then once you've got a show, you can transfer it from one DVR to another, or to your computer/iPod/PSP, etc. Or move videos from your PC back to the tivo.
 
Hmmm, reasons why a Tivo is better than a cable-company DVR:

1) I can pull shows from my Tivo and watch them on my PC. Same thing for shuttling shows between two or more Tivos.
2) I can pull shows from my Tivo and encode them for use on a PSP, iPod, etc.
3) I can rent movies from Amazon.com and download them for use on the Tivo, or the PC, for the same money.
4) I can pull up MP3's and photos from my PC and display them on my TV. Also viewing of photos from Picasa and Photobucket.
5) I'm not putting my DVR in the hands of the same company that offers me my service, so I'm not up to any shenanigans with content lifespan.
6) You can add additional internal storage to a Tivo to increase recording capability. External storage can be added via eSATA on the Series 3 and Tivo HD units.
7) Series 3 and Tivo HD units can record dual HD streams, just like the cable company DVR.
8) Program guide information for 12 days in advance.
9) Remote programming of any Tivo over the Internet, also via a Verizon cellphone (for a monthly fee on the cellphone).
10) Weather + movie time information without turning on the PC.
11) Viewing home movies uploaded to the Internet.
12) Access to Rhapsody's music selection, if you have a Rhapsody account.
13) A UI that is easy to use and not some crap that the cable company whipped up.

Try here for more info:
http://www.tivo.com/mytivo/domore/index.html

I have 6 Tivo's at home, one for each TV in my house. I've been using the service since 2001, and it's still much better, more versatile and more intelligent than anything the cable company can whip up. If Comcast was so good at it, why would they be licensing the Tivo software for their own DVR's?

Yes, there is an upfront cost to the box, though there's many many things that people have done to hack the Tivo and make it do much more. Check out www.tivocommunity.com for some ideas.
 
When it comes to ease of use I have found that Tivo is much better and more user friendly, however being a CAG has required that I go with the cheaper option for my DVR experience and go through my cable company Insight/Comcast, wherein I was able to broker a deal for 2 DVR dual streaming boxes for $10 by threatening to go to Satellite. If I could afford Tivo I would go with it.
 
I will be switching service to DishTV when fios is installed in the area.. Comcast is currently the only broadband service in my area at the moment..
 
Back home, I have a Dish Network ViP622 which I love. When I moved here, I bought a TiVo HD, which took a while to get adjusted to, but it's since grown on me, and I think I might like it better than Dish Network's. Of course, I don't pay my satellite bill back home, nor do I pay for my TiVo service, so the monthly/yearly/lifetime fees have never been an issue.

You can record 3 channels at once (two satellite and one antenna) with the 622, but only two with the TiVo.
 
Ok, I am not knowledgable on the topic, but can you use TiVo with any cable provider? When initially speaking with my cable provider (Mediacom) about DVR, I was told that TiVo machines would not work - only the Motorola box with HDTV and DVR capabilities rented through Mediacom would be fully functional with their service. Is this true, or just marketing to make me pay them more money per month?
 
Does the TiVo Series 2 also act as a receiver for Dish Network HD? I'd like to get a second HD reciever and DVR combo but Dish is telling us that they are $400-500. I checked for some online and they were $270ish for a receiver with out a DVR.
 
Nope, you'd still need the receiver in addition to the TiVo. Even if it did, it wouldn't be in HD, which defeats the purpose.
 
[quote name='daphatty']Build your own! It's like having an old sports car that can outrun the newer ones. Lots of work but very rewarding.[/QUOTE]
I have to agree. I have two TV cards Hauppauge in my computer running gbpvr. It's rather nice not having to pay comcast for this service. The card I use, the PVR150, is pretty cheap. I think I've seen them at around $50 on newegg.
 
[quote name='wubb']"So much so that they are licensing out there softwared to cable providers."

How does them licensing their software to others show they aren't the best? :whistle2:/[/quote]


I never said that there software wasn't the best...I said that they weren't the top dog in recording hardware...the amount of users for a dvr/tivo service is minimal across the country...its kinda like blu ray winning the hd format war right now...the overwhelming majority of americains don't care for it....the same is with dvr.

Toss in the fact that most if not all cable providers are offering a dvr service where you don't have to pay a large upfront sum. The cable companies are offering HD recording and the fee to have the box and use the service is in the same ballpark if not cheaper then tivo is causing tivo problems getting into homes. This is why they are licensing there software. Clearly it is the best, but if a customer decides to go with an ad in there comcast bill to get a dvr, they will never ever know how much the comcast service lacks compared to tivo. The cable providers have the client lists and can advertise it to hell with them.

IMO, the comcast service isn't that bad. It does what I want, it records the shows that I want to record in HD. They don't fill my hard drive up with shows that I might like. As for the cooler features that a tech person would like that tivo offers, such as watching it on the pc, chosing shows to record from a pc etc...the avg americain doesn't care about that either.
 
I have the direct tv plus hd dvr. Its pretty nice. 200 hr sd or 50 hr hd capacity. It gets my pick.... I wish i could change my name....
 
[quote name='SuperFox']Ok, I am not knowledgable on the topic, but can you use TiVo with any cable provider? When initially speaking with my cable provider (Mediacom) about DVR, I was told that TiVo machines would not work - only the Motorola box with HDTV and DVR capabilities rented through Mediacom would be fully functional with their service. Is this true, or just marketing to make me pay them more money per month?[/quote]

Outright lie. Both the Series 3 and TivoHD support CableCARDs, which are like a converter box in a PC-Card size device. Plug it into the Tivo (actually them, you'll need two for dual-tuner support) and you're golden. If they refuse to give them to you, file a complaint with the FCC. They are required by law to provide CableCARDs to any customer that requests them. Comcast in my area charges $1.75/per, so $3.50 for one dual-tuner tivo. Quite a bit less than even a non-dvr cable box.
 
[quote name='geko29']Outright lie. Both the Series 3 and TivoHD support CableCARDs, which are like a converter box in a PC-Card size device. Plug it into the Tivo (actually them, you'll need two for dual-tuner support) and you're golden. If they refuse to give them to you, file a complaint with the FCC. They are required by law to provide CableCARDs to any customer that requests them. Comcast in my area charges $1.75/per, so $3.50 for one dual-tuner tivo. Quite a bit less than even a non-dvr cable box.[/quote]

Thanks for the info - I will call Mediacom and see if they even know what CableCARDs are, and if they have any.
 
My roommate has TiVo on the living room TV, and I'm not a fan.

It could be his settings, but the damn menu that comes up after changing the channel is annoying (takes up the whole screen), and the channel guide is extremely slow in bringing up channels. It literally almost crawls as it puts up one channel at a time onto the guide.

I like MythTV, but that's also because I like tinkering and building that kind of stuff.
 
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