PVR Wire

1. Though I already own an old Replay, I've considered switching to TiVo to gain access to certain features. But I don't care if the box is free; I'm not ponying up $299 for the service! The company just doesn't have a clue about perceived value. If they sold the box for $299 and told me the service was free, I'd probably jump. As it stands, it seems like one big gotcha.

Posted at 9:19AM on Sep 5th 2005 by R-Bro

2. What's up with Tivo? My cable company, Brighthouse, charges $6/month (that's six -- not sixty) for the use of "their" DVR. Might be missing a "Tivo" feature or two, but it does what they all do -- record stuff, multiple channels, no telephone hookup, and when the "new ones" come out next year, I'll just get it automatically - no extra expense. Why do folks pay for Tivo? They were first on the market, but didn't patent correctly or something. Save the money and just rent one from your cable company.

Posted at 10:51AM on Sep 6th 2005 by Melbourne Lawrence

3. I think it depends on what you are looking for. I have a TiVo because I like a lot of the advanced features that TiVo has to offer. For example, one of the best features is the ability to view your images and play your mp3s using your TV or stereo. Correct me if I am wrong but most cable company DVRs don't provide this capability. Also, don't forget the fact that TiVo now has TiVoToGo. Can you do that with your DVR? I guess it just comes down to what you want to do with your DVR. If you simply want to be able to record a show for viewing later then TiVo's additional features may not be for you.

Just my $.02...

Posted at 12:06PM on Sep 8th 2005 by Alex

4. I'm totally with Alex (comment #3) on this one. I had a cable company box for a year or so and paid $10 a month but got the box for free. Figured what could TiVo possibly do better. Well, to save some money on our cable bill, I dropped digital cable (and thus had to drop the DVR). I bought a TiVo and am THRILLED with the increased functionality. What it does that my Comcast box did not (partial list):
1. Allow me to prioritize conflicting recordings
2. Allow me to cancel individual episodes to record without canceling a whole season pass
3. Allow me to record different programs at different quality
4. Allow me to transfer programs to my laptop or desktop and watch them ont he computer, any place, any time (I take them to the gym now!)
5. As mentioned, allows me to play MP3s and watch photos
6. Never runs out of space because certain programs are always available to delete if space is needed.

. . . and on and on.

I am surprised to be saying it, as I always figured a DVR is a DVR, but TiVo is far more than a DVR for us.

--Jason

Posted at 10:50PM on Sep 8th 2005 by Jason

5. Well said. I totally agree with you. The point you are making here does make sense. And all those who oppose your views actually lack the basic essence of the subject. You must keep doing the good work.

Posted at 6:57AM on Sep 7th 2005 by John

6. Well said Jason, don't forget TiVo's new feature which allows you to transfer shows to your computer and then stream them back to your TiVo. This feature pretty much allows you to save as many shows as you want without having to worry about running out of space on your DVR.

Posted at 12:06PM on Sep 8th 2005 by Alex

7. TiVo has many features that cable DVRs lack. The scheduling system with Season Passes and Wishlists is far better than anything you'll find on most DVRs. That alone is worth the cost to me. Add to that multi-room viewing, music and photo support, online scheduling, TiVoToGo (including the new ability to transfer MPEG2 to the unit from a PC), Home Media Engine, and the coming broadband content delivery we've seen in test already.

Also, there hasn't been a need for a phone line with TiVo in a long time. While officially you needed one for the initial setup before 7.2 (7.2 supports broadband guided setup) there was the ,#401 backdoor for broadband setup. And once setup the first time you could redo it with broadband if needed.

The reason the cable company can swing it for $6/month is that many of the fees included in the TiVo fee are already on your cable bill, so the $6 is extra just for the DVR features. The guide data, basic HW cost, etc, is already covered in the fees you pay for a non-DVR box.

Personally I go lifetime, then I don't have to pay anything month to month. I get equity in my units, and I pay less in the long haul. (I have two S2 TiVos I'm planning to sell soon - I have 4 total now, only need 2.)

I've used cable DVRs and I've used TiVo - the only two features the cable DVRs had on TiVo were dual tuners and HD recording. Both of which I can happily live without for now. Dual tuners I could probably live without forever, HD might be an issue next year - right now not enough of what I watch is in HD to bother.

Posted at 5:35PM on Sep 8th 2005 by MegaZone

8. With regards to Alex and John's comments above, I was not aware that I could stream content back from a PC onto the TiVo. Can either of you point me to some additional info on that on the TiVo website or TiVo Community? Thanks!!

--Jason

Posted at 11:25PM on Sep 8th 2005 by Jason

9. Jason,
Here's an article on my site:
http://www.tivoblog.com/index.php/archives/2005/08/23/tivo-desktop-22-tivo-72-released/

and an article from this site:
http://www.pvrwire.com/2005/08/24/tivos-newest-software-supports-uploads/

good luck,
Alex

Posted at 4:59PM on Sep 9th 2005 by Alex