PVR Wire

1. I answered maybe

I don't have a need for another TiVo right now, I just bought my second unit in March to get in on the last of the Product Lifetime deal.

Were I to buy a TiVo now I would definitely buy one of the new DT units, even though I could only use one of the tuners (I'm a satellite customer) the built in Ethernet is reason enough for me.

Posted at 12:47PM on May 1st 2006 by Robert Aitchison

2. I want one of these, but will wait for the series3 which should have dual tuners AND support HD.

Posted at 1:04PM on May 1st 2006 by Len

3. I think this is pathetic by TiVo. The Series-2 has been out for four+ years. What technology company can get away with using the same (trailing) technology for 4 years straight?

What have been their upgrades? An ability to buy fandango tickets? That's what took 4 years? An Ability to transfer shows at ridiculously slow speeds?

They have just started supporting 802.11g - when 802.11n is just around the corner - when will 802.11n be supported 2042? They have yet to develop an HD box. Or one with CableCard – or with a TRUE dual tuner!! They're biggest supporters are early-adopters. They have alienated people like us. I have had an HDTV for two years. And the worst part about my HDTV is how my TiVo looks on it.

I love TiVo - that's why I haven't bought any other competitor - but I think they're cooked! They are killing themselves! They have given away their market by being such a slow mover.

Instead of having a great product suite to offer customers - they forced customers to choose! Do you go with good software and bad hardware or good hardware with bad software. Well I’m leaning towards the latter.

If TiVo had made great HW coupled with their great SW, they would be the iPod of this market.
Instead, they’re like Apple in the 80s/90s – they invented all the great stuff but let Microsoft have all the success. They don't know what to do to be successful!!

RIP TiVo!!!

Posted at 1:23PM on May 1st 2006 by JHN

4. Ridiculous that multi unit discount on the monthly fee does not apply. Another Full fee, for what?

Posted at 2:58PM on May 1st 2006 by Randy_B

5. I use MythTV so if I want a second tuner I can just add a second tuner.

Posted at 3:47PM on May 1st 2006 by Don Mills

6. As much as I love Tivo, I refuse to buy any of their products until the series 3 comes out. Tivo needs to learn that the delays (two years and counting!) and lack of a firm release date for their HD box has cost them untold amounts of revenue.

Posted at 5:07PM on May 1st 2006 by dpratt

7. I bought one - 250.00 with a year subscription.

It was about time I replaced my 5 year old Philips 12hr (upgraded to 80).

Posted at 8:07PM on May 1st 2006 by chris

8. Well our DirecTV TiVo has a dual tuner and the one I have for personal use is a single tuner. If I were to buy one again, I'd get dual.
With a dual I can record something while watching another channel which is very good.

Posted at 8:59PM on May 1st 2006 by Matt Bradford

9. Too little, too late.

If TiVo had gotten this out two years ago, I would have purchased it in a heartbeat.

Instead, I got a Humax 80 hour with lifetime, and a TiVo branded 40 hour with monthly. Both have been upgraded to 220 hours, and I'm set for at least the next 4 or 5 years when I upgrade everything to HD, including the TVs.

Posted at 9:14PM on May 1st 2006 by Adam

10. amazing how it comes out less then 2 weeks after lifetime subscriptions are removed.

I have no intentions of buying anything other then a Series 3 when they have lifetime subscription on it, if they choose no lifetime on Series 3, then I'll go buy a Sony..so much for Tivo

Posted at 9:27PM on May 1st 2006 by Diane

11. I'm still getting by with my Sony SAT-T60 (dual tuner DirecTV). I'll buy the next TiVo-powered device that gives me dual tunaer HDTV without the need for an off-the-air antenna for locals.

Posted at 9:43PM on May 1st 2006 by Ken

12. why is Tivo given a pass on their slow implimentation of features like multi tuners and HD. I have had both for almost two years from SA

Posted at 9:08AM on May 2nd 2006 by Joel

13. A. Very few people have the equipment and service to take advantage of HD.
B. Lack of a dual tuner doesn't negatively impact very many people.
C. Most people (certianly myself) would rather have a SD TiVo than an HD non-TiVo DVR.

Sure your SA has dual tuners and HD support, but does it support show transfers? How about remote scheduling? Maybe the ability to upgrade?

What features are more useful to more people?

Posted at 12:00PM on May 2nd 2006 by Robert Aitchison

14. I'm not buying a Series3 unless the "lifetime" subscription comes back for it. Plain and simple.

As for these Series2+ models, they should have had CableCard 1.0 slots so it could truly operate as a "dual tuner" box at the very least.

Me thinks plenty of people will simply opt for the Motorola box from Comcast once the TiVo software is ported in Q4 2006. I'm certainly not going to pay TiVo $20 a month on top of my cable bill.

Posted at 2:28PM on May 2nd 2006 by The Jeremy

15. In reality if you're a cable customer it's a real dual tuner anyways as most channels on "Digital Cable" are analog and the digital is used primarily for VOD, PPV nd other features that don't work well with a PVR anyways.

For TiVo to get even CableCARD 1.0 on this device I'm pretty sure that it would need to be CableLabs certified, which the Series3 is (the first PVR to be certified).

In reality this device is perectly sutiable for more than 50% of TiVos costomers, in fact the largest segment of TiVo's customers (cable subscribers without HD).

Posted at 6:09PM on May 2nd 2006 by Robert Aitchison

16. -- "In reality if you're a cable customer it's a real dual tuner anyways as most channels on "Digital Cable" are analog and the digital is used primarily for VOD, PPV and other features that don't work well with a PVR anyways."

Unfortunately, you are very incorrect. I have lived under three different cable providers in the last 3 years - Cox, Time Warner, and Comcast, all of them have very basic analog channels - usually the network channels and 4 or 5 others. Hardly the gamut of my digital channels. Plus, they are moving more and more away from sending analog channels.


I worked for a major Consumer Electronics Firm, and we did market research on DVRs. What TiVo clearly doesnt get is the vast majority of the first TiVO buyers were what we classified as the "Tech Tryers". These are the early adopters - they are the ones most likely to first own HDTVs, advanced theater systems, wireless networks, etc. I was! All my colleagues were! And we all owned TiVOs. But most of them moved on - to MythTV, Media Center, or others.

They alienated that customer base. And they wonder why they are going bankrupt...please!?!?

Posted at 6:31PM on May 2nd 2006 by JHN

17. Going Bankrupt? last time I checked TiVo was in as good a financial position as at any time in their history. In fact their closest competitor (ReplayTV) has gone bankrupt TWICE and TiVo is still there.

My parents are Time Warner digital Cable cusotmers, they one Series2 (Sony SVR-3000) in the living room hooked up to the Digital Cable box and two more (24080 and Humax DVD 40 hour) in the bedroom and den hooked up to the cable feed directly (using only the internal analog tuner).

There are only a couple channels that are not available in the Bedroom or Den, in fact 95% of the shows they watch are available on all three TiVos.

The lack of HD as a critical problem for TiVo is ridiculously overblown considering the HD adoption rates. Granted HD adopting is increasing at a rapid pace but it won't be close to mainstream until the FCC finally pulls the plug on OTA SD (I think around 2010), SD TVs are no longer able to be sold and the price of HD TVs and HD Programming come down (today they are both artificially inflated as HD is regarded as a "premium").

MythTV and MCE are not viable alternatives for TiVo for most people, people don't want a big, ugly & noisy PC in their entertainment centers, there are things like MCE extenders but those cost almost as much as a TiVo.

My boss has a MCE but picked up a TiVo becuase it was a fantastic deal (essentially F.A.R. due to an ad misprint and price matching) now he rarely uses his MCE and his wife, who would NEVER use the MCE uses the TiVo regularly. The MCE just can't compete for ease of use.

Few people have the technical skills to set up a MythTV box, while anyone who can hook up a VCR can hook up a TiVo. Speaking for myself I have the ability to set up a MythTV box, I even have an assortment of older PCs sitting unused that would do the job nicely but I just don't want to screw with it. Instead I have two TiVos that just work and do almost everything I would like them to.

Posted at 12:17PM on May 3rd 2006 by Robert Aitchison

18. You guys are pathetic. You bitch and moan about TiVo (unarguably the best built DVR ever)but I don't understand what you expect them to do.

I read posts about TiVo sitting on their *sses while SA has a great HD dual tuner box already. Yeah! No sh*t! What do you think the problem is!? Cable companies have a stranglehold on all of us. They don't want you to buy a third party box. Sure, we have cable cards now, sort of. But that was after a LONG and drawn process that was intentionally slowed down by the cable giants. Only now (with the S3) is the tech ready (hopefully) for such a device. Making sure it will work perfectly in all markets must be a QA nightmare.

Just remember, if it wasn't for cable companies and their ignored monopolies (thanks to lots of lobby money) we would already have dual tuner, HD TiVos and the 'lifetime' fee would still be available.

To those of you who are happy with their SA's, you don't deserve a TiVo. Just keep enjoying your SA. I especially like watching a show from it's buffer while it is still recording -- you know, when it stop recording and kicks you out of the buffer and you have to start from the begginning again! Sweet!

Posted at 12:20PM on May 3rd 2006 by Trynyty

19. All indications are that the Series3 will be out sometime later this year. Although certainly a great deal of wishful thinking propels that we have been shown pictures of an early unit so presumably it'll be around before too long. Multiple tuners for analog, digital, and HD. Cablecard compatibility. Built-in ethernet. A front panel that actually does something other than just sit there and look clean and pretty all the time.

I don't see any reason why someone would buy this right now. Either you already have a TiVo and can tought it out for a bit longer or you don't yet have one and can probably afford to wait rather than settling for a stop-gap update of their older technology.

That said dual tuners would be pretty sweet since tonight Alias means I won't get to watch the last half of this week's two-part episode of House. Dual tuners would have solved that nicely.

Posted at 5:51PM on May 3rd 2006 by Belgand

20. Unless you have digital cable AND an HDTV AND HD programming the Series3 doesn't buy you anything over the Series2 DT except the function front panel controls.

Posted at 4:48PM on May 4th 2006 by Robert Aitchison