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[Team Rancid]

So I'm thinking of getting a TIVO after hearing how great they are. I've been looking on ebay for a unsed unit with a lifetime subscription.

Some questions:

What is the difference between the 1st and 2nd series?
Any suggestions on a particular brand or are they all the same? Sony, Phillips, Toshiba, Tivo itself?
What is the season pass?
I watch a decent amt of TV (4+ hrs week days, 6-8+ weekends). I was thinking around 60hrs size. Is that too small.

Any tips for you Tivo lovers is appreciated.

 

[mrklaw]

don't know about 1st vs 2nd Series. Maybe 1st is more hackable.

They are all Tivo reference designs with some changes here and there. They are just a linux box with HDDs inside, so shouldn't matter much which you go for.

Season passes rock. You basically set it up to record 'The West Wing'. Then it'll record it whenever that program is on on a particular channel. So if its not on one week, it doesn't record its replacement. If its a long episode (like SG-1 last week in the UK), it records it properly. It also sits there waiting, so when next season comes around its ready. Thats saved me several times when you aren't in touch with whats on, and the new season pops up unexpectedly.

You can also set options, like 'only record premiere episodes', and how many to record. A good example is kids TV for my little'un. I set up a number of season passes with 'keep only 1 episode'. So every day it records, and deletes the previous one. So there is a nice short list with only the most up-to-date episodes on. I have 'keep all' for important stuff.

As to hours, you can never have enough. 60 hours will be based on basic quality, which will be about 25 on 'high'. Enough for normal use for a while, but not if you have a whole season of 'the west wing' on there in Best quality, plus some movies.

If you aren't planning on upgrading, get the largest one you can. If you plan to upgrade soonish (read up on www.dealdatabase.com message boards), then get a small one and you can pop in a couple 120GBs later. I have 240 hours basic, 90 hours best now

 

[Team Rancid]

Thanks. For the different manufacturers, are there any features some have over others? I read a review that one Sony model will not let you take one show while watching another. Who has what here for brands?

So the season pass is an extra subscription fee on top of the regular service rate?

 

[Jotaro]

Have you tought up about the possibility of a DVD-Recorder?

It might well not fit your bill. Some have HDDs. Some others are much more economic but they support DVD-RW, DVD+RW or DVD-RAM. You can then copy the files to your computer and archive them onto unexpensive DVD-Rs.

If that is an option for you, that is.

 

[superegular]

the service is 12.95 a month, there are no extra charges for the season passes or anything. a 'season pass' just means that all instances of that program will be recorded. it's not really anything that special, just you telling your tivo box to record the show every time it's on.

the series 2 is great if you have a home network, you can stream mp3's and photos to your tv set with the home media option. this is all included in your 12.95 monthly fee. they also just released tivo to go, which will allow you to transfer programs from your tivo box to your computer. of course, all this requires that you have a network in your house, with a router and all that.

the sony might be nice, but i dont know where you would find one of them nowadays. just get one of the regular phones that are made by tivo. the features are all the same on all the brands, except for the boxes that have built-in dvd recorders. they are insanely expensive though.

 

[AirBrian]

Thanks. For the different manufacturers, are there any features some have over others? I read a review that one Sony model will not let you take one show while watching another. Who has what here for brands?

So the season pass is an extra subscription fee on top of the regular service rate?

What recording options you have is dependant on the number of tuners the TiVo has. Typically, standalone Series 2 have one tuner, which means you can...

1) Watch Live TV
2) Watch a prerecorded show while recording something else
3) Watch what is being recorded

Two-tuner TiVo’s (usually with satellite service) allows you to...

1) Watch Live TV while recording something else
2) Watch a prerecorded show while recording two other programs
3) Watch what is being recorded while recording something else.

Season passes are just options that are included with a subscription. I've got a Series 2 through Comcast, and it only has one tuner.

Since I'm running cable, I also have an A/B switch that splits the cable before it goes to the TiVo. This allows me to watching something live (though without TiVo functionality) while recording something else.

 

[jedimike]

So I'm thinking of getting a TIVO after hearing how great they are. I've been looking on ebay for a unsed unit with a lifetime subscription.

Some questions:

What is the difference between the 1st and 2nd series?

Series 2 has a USB port which allows for home networking. If you have 2 series 2's, you can transfer shows back and forth or watch shows from either unit.

Any suggestions on a particular brand or are they all the same? Sony, Phillips, Toshiba, Tivo itself?

Other units usually have other features like DVD-r's. The TiVo unit is quality stuff.

What is the season pass?

Already covered above

I watch a decent amt of TV (4+ hrs week days, 6-8+ weekends). I was thinking around 60hrs size. Is that too small.

Buy the 40 hour unit and then upgrade it yourself and save lots of $$$. If you are not computer savy, you can order a self-install kit.

http://www.newreleasesvideo.com/hinsdale-how-to/

Any tips for you Tivo lovers is appreciated.

When you get it, the first thing you should do is program in the 30 second commercial skip. It was removed with the series 2's, but is very easy to reprogram back in (via your remote).