OK, why is this TiVo free and do I want it?

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

Communication Servers/Remote Access Servers - 80-Hour Digital Video Recorder - Series2 (R54080) (Tivo) - eCOST.com - electronics, computers, laptops, mp3 players

Advice, please, from you TiVo junkies - are they giving it away because it's a piece of carp?

[pippadaisy[$]]

This is not a piece of crap. This is a perfectly good Tivo. It's free after rebate (so they make money on the float and gits who don't send the rebate in right/on-time/at all), and the monthly Tivo subscription fees.

I love ours, and I don't regret the monthly fee at all. I can record the kids' favorite shows and play them at a better time. I can skip commercials. I can set it to make sure I never miss my favorite shows, even when I forget when they are on. I can tell it to go out and find any and everything featuring Johnny Depp or a certain topic and wham, there it is. A lot of people say that it increases their TV watching, but it actually decreased mine, because now I only watch what I like. There's no more sitting through 1.5 hours of junkie TV to get to the one sitcom you like... etc. It also lets you access things like Amazon Unbox, tell Tivolicious to record something ou remember while you are at work or out of town, etc.

The newer one is the Series 3, that lets you record more than one thing at a time, etc. but honestly, it doesn't really bother me not having all the "updated" features.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

Yeah, I knew the benefits of TiVo, just couldn't figure out why this one was going so cheap and lingering all day - I thought it was perhaps a crappy model.

Anyone know if it's compatable with IO digital cable? I don't want to get burned the same way I did with my VCR. (Under regular cable, I could have the VCR record directly from cable, tv didn't have to be on; with digital cable, VCR comes after cable box and you can't record without having the cable box and tv turned on.)

[amykhar]

They seem to run this deal every year around Christmas. I almost got one last year for Sarah when she lived with her boyfriend. It will change your life, MJ. You should get it.

With regards to the digital cable, I honestly don't know. My Tivo was built into our Directv box, back when Directv was still using tivo and not its homegrown piece of crap.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

Eh, I can't tell from either TiVo or Cablevision if I'll be able to use TiVo with out fuX0ring up my current service, and the site with the free TiVo doesn't seem to have a really nice return policy (50% restocking fee!), so I'd best not chance it. Phooey.

[pippadaisy[$]]

MJ, we have digital cable. We do not have to have the TV on when we are recording. We do have to have the cable box on; the Tivo will not turn it on.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

I'm trying to get around the whole program-the-recorder-then-program-the-cable-box-timer issue. That's what made us stop using the VCR to tape things - too much of a PITA. It was so easy before when we had analog cable.

[pippadaisy[$]]

I'm confused about what you mean by program the recorder then program the cable box... we leave the cable box on all the time. When Tivo wants to record something, it uses an IR transmitter you place in front of the IR receiver eye on the cable box and changes the channel to the right one.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

We're not going to leave the cable box running all day (even with the TV off)! Which means we'd have to turn it on and leave it on if we planned on taping something, or we'd have to use the cable box' timer program to turn itself on. So that would mean 1) tell TiVo to tape something; 2a) tell cable box to turn itself on OR 2b) leave a sticky note on the door to remember to turn on the cable box before we go out.

And I just realized, if it can't tape one thing while we watch something else, it's useless to us - I would set it to record something, Hubby would come home and turn to whatever he wanted to watch. Double phooey.

[pippadaisy[$]]

Okay, a) Tivo pops up a warning if you are going to change the channel while something is recording. b) if you aren't willing to leave your cable box on, you aren't a candidate for any kind of DVR.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

Now see, that's where I liked my old analog cable/vcr set-up. Cable box didn't have to be on at all - vcr pulled cable signal without needing the box on.

(and Hubby would pretend he didn't see the warning rather than go watch the bedroom tv.)

[pippadaisy[$]]

MJ, he'd actually have to pick up the remote and approve the channel change, acknowledging that he was authorizing Tivo to stop recording.

And both the analog cable and the VCR are going the way of the dinosaur.

[emeleel]

Bite your tongue! You won't drag me into the 21st century, no ma'am.

My kids are lucky they've got a DVD player. That's as techie as I get.

Although I might get techier - know anything about hooking up your computer to the TV?

[pippadaisy[$]]

Yes. Tuner card. And there are actually free programs that will let you program it like a Tivo, if you don't mind them scraping the data for the demons at Nielsen.

[amykhar]

There are even USB tuners that won't force you to crack open the computer. That's what we did for Kareem's computer.

[emeleel]

No, I want to hook the computer to the existing TV, for the bigger screen. (Well, I might want to add a tuner, too. Not sure on that.) It's either that or get a mondo new monitor. After we get the home buying/selling mess straightened out, I'm thinking of just upgrading the DSL to the next level of speed, maybe tweak the computer a bit, and just watch stuff from online, but on the existing TV where everyone can see and enjoy.

[amykhar]

Hooking the computer to the tv can be done. However, when I have tried it, certain portions of the desktop were clipped off by the television. Televisions are designed to concentrate on the center of the image - not necessarily the edges. You might need to do some tinkering to get the entire desktop to display correctly.

As far as what cables you'll need to do it - it depends on your television and your computer. My television has an input that is compatible with my mac.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

pippadaisy said

MJ, he'd actually have to pick up the remote and approve the channel change, acknowledging that he was authorizing Tivo to stop recording.

Which he would do, in a heartbeat. Such is life.

And both the analog cable and the VCR are going the way of the dinosaur.

It's very sad when an antiquated format does things more smoothly and easily, with more functionality, than the "new and improved" format does. I am not being a luddite, I would gladly trade up *if* the digital cable/DVR worked as easily as my old set-up used to, when my cheap little VCR was the only think I had to program and it would record one channel while I watched something else (or nothing at all). For all these "improvements" of digital cable, I lose functionality and ease of recording. Even with the "deee-luxe" version of TiVo my cable company tells me I'll lose some of the digital cable features I have now, and if I use the cable company's crappy DVR, I'll *still* lose some digital cable features. And I'm not even counting HDTV issues in this mix!

Bah. Let me know when Cablevision and TiVo catch up with Panasonic circa 1998.

[amykhar]

Uh, MJ, Tivo is so easy you'd never believe it. You look at the on screen tv guide, and click a single button to record what's on. You can also easily tell it that you really like this program and that it should record it every time the program comes on and isn't showing a repeat. You can tell it that you like Stephen King movies and if it sees any coming on, it should record them for you. You can also tell it to keep an eye on what you watch and figure out what you might like to watch, and record that too.

No more flashing clocks on a VCR. No more setting timers. Just point and click. Even the Directv crappola version beats a VCR.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

Amy, you're missing what I'm saying. I've used my friend's TiVo and see that it's easy to work the TiVo. BUT TiVo in combination with digital cable does not allow me to do the things I want to do, which my VCR and analog cable did easily. (BTW the VCR set its own time so I don't know why you're mentioning blinking lights, and VCR+ took care of most of my programming needs with a four-digit code, doesn't get too much easier than that.) But you're all telling me with this TiVo,I can't watch one show and tape another at the same time on the same tv, like I could easily with analog/VCR combo. I can't use many of the current features of digital cable (that I would still be paying for) if I get Series 3 TiVo. And in any case, use of TiVo requires the cable box be left on, which wasn't the case with analog/VCR. I'm not saying TiVo itself isn't easy to operate as it's designed, I'm saying the digital cable/TiVo combination is a step backwards as far as functionality I want is concerned.

I remember the old days of VCR, where the tv had to be on and set to the channel you were taping. DVR with digital cable (Series 2) works the same way. My VCR and analog cable taped without the cable box being on or any set channel, and in 1998. Series 3 apparently solves the watch-one-channel, tape-another issue, but at the cost of some of the things I actually like about digital cable. The two systems do not work smoothly or easily TOGETHER as well as my old set-up did.

[pippadaisy[$]]

MJ, I'm not understanding what features of digital cable you lose with cable. We don't lose a thing.

I guess I'm not understand what the big deal is with leaving the cable box on if the TV is off.

Also, my mother's cable DVR will let you record one show while watching something else. I don't like it because I can't do all my Tivo things, like remind Tivolicious to record something while I'm at my parents' house.

And while I hear you on recording things the old way, I also couldn't find what I wanted when I wanted, nor tell it to record anything about Cirque du Soleil for Beanie, and she's gotten to see some really cool programs about how they choreograph, etc. that we'd never have known to watch.

All progress takes place in steps, and you have to be willing to trade a few things for something else that works better or nothing ever moves forward. My mother had the same opinion when they forced her from DOS to Windows and she had to learn to use a mouse.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

my lousy cable company's site said

The TiVo Series3 is compatible with your iO Digital Service. Depending on your configuration, you will need one