Help me understand DVR/TiVo please

poseidon · #1 03-05-2007, 07:00 PM

Okay. After having the DirectTV people out here, we've decided that we can't do a dish. We would either have to live with wires criss-crossing hallways and doorways and over tile and wood flooring, or we'd have to cut into the drywall in order to fish lines through to where they're needed. An electrician just quoted us close to $1000 to do the interior wiring and said we'd have drywall damage all over the place. We're unwilling to pay that amount, and we're unwilling to put up an obstacle course around our house. So, a dish is no longer an option.

This whole thing came out of the conversation that Michelle and I had. She wanted to be able to record multiple programs at the same time. I said that we had a VCR, but admitted that we couldn't record more than one show at a time.

So, the options I'm aware of are a DVR or TiVo. Here's my questions:

1. Do I need a subscription to some service?

2. Can ONE coax-cable jack handle DVR/TiVo and my TV (DirectTV required two jacks at the TV source to accomplish the recording features)?

3. I have been on eBay, and I see various generations of TiVo, DVRs, etc. I don't need the latest and greatest, I need something that's functional.

4. Is your experience that some DVR/TiVo systems work with some cable companies and others don't?

5. Do I have to notify my cable company (Comcast) that I'll be using one of these machines?

6. Am I better renting a machine from my cable provider or should I simply purchase one?

Thanks!

**drmomentum**[$] · #2 03-05-2007, 07:09 PM

I get my DVR through Comcast. The DVR is the same unit they use for the digital cable, but I don't subscribe to digital cable.

Yes, it's an extra charge (check with your local company to see how much they charge for just the DVR features) but we used to have no cable boxes. Now we have the one box, and the box itself can record on 2 channels at once (i.e. it has 2 tuners built in).

- You can record one show and watch another show live.
- You can record 2 shows while you don't watch anything.
- You can record 2 shows while you watch one of your saved shows.
- You can record 1 show while you watch an OnDemand show.

OnDemand includes a lot of free content. I don't think the for-pay OnDemand content is worth it, but there are a lot of free movies to watch, and some TV shows.

I hear the TiVo units are better than the DVRs that Comcast uses. However, Comcast has reached some sort of agreement with TiVo and the rumor is that sometime in the next year or so they might roll out TiVo support.

Comcast DVR gets everything it needs through the cable. No additional phone line is needed.

I don't know many details about Tivo, except that the time I have played with it I liked the interface a lot better.

-JP

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #3 03-05-2007, 07:15 PM

A low-tech solution would be to get another TV and VCR (or a little TV with a VCR built in) and use that for recording a second show.

poseidon · #4 03-05-2007, 07:32 PM

Quote:

AuntieEmma said

A low-tech solution would be to get another TV and VCR (or a little TV with a VCR built in) and use that for recording a second show.

One of the things Michelle wants to do is to stop buying VCR tapes. We keep burning through them, they wear out, and they're getting rather pricey nowadays since fewer and fewer people are using them.

cristina1 · #5 03-05-2007, 08:21 PM

I don't know anything about Tivo, but I miss my DVR. Video taping doesn't even come close.

When we moved to PA, our cable company didn't offer DVR service, so we bought a box. I don't like it half as much as the one we got from Time Warner. The service just isn't the same. It was so easy through TW and this way is so confusing and uses at least two different remotes that it isn't worth it to me.

**pippadaisy**[$] · #6 03-05-2007, 09:09 PM

With the older Tivos, you can watch a previously recorded show while you record, or you can watch what the Tivo is recording. The new Series 3 allow you to record two at once or watch one while recording another.

Both services require a monthly fee. Here, Tivo is more expensive per month than the cable DVR (by about $5 a month), but allows us more flexibility. Tivolicious is connected to our home network, and we can dump shows to our hard drives to burn to DVD, put pictures or music on the home entertainment system through Tivolicious, etc.

However, with Tivo you do have to buy your own hardware. The cable company's hardware is rented to you as part of your monthly fee. You can subscribe to "lifetime" Tivo service, but that stays with the Tivo UNIT, so you can't upgrade to a Series 3 on your lifetime, which is why we are still paying monthly.

mtbat · #7 03-05-2007, 09:32 PM

Quote:

cristina1 said

I don't know anything about Tivo, but I miss my DVR. Video taping doesn't even come close.

When we moved to PA, our cable company didn't offer DVR service, so we bought a box. I don't like it half as much as the one we got from Time Warner. The service just isn't the same. It was so easy through TW and this way is so confusing and uses at least two different remotes that it isn't worth it to me.

VCR tapes, keep an eye on walgreens adds-they sell them about every other week for .99 each.

**pippadaisy**[$] · #8 03-05-2007, 09:54 PM

Tina, I missed that until Fridai quoted it... did you get a Tivo? Because our Tivo remote controls everything but the stupid digital receiver G HAD to have.

cristina1 · #9 03-05-2007, 10:03 PM

No, we just bought a surround sound system with DVR attached and it sucks. There is no service fee to use it, but it lacks features so we aren't getting a bargain. It doesn't allow the flexibility we had with TW. I'll have to check into Tivo. I never thought about it when we moved.

Something to point out to Jeff - I was totally against DVR when Jay ordered it. I just did not see where we needed it. I am the one who became addicted to the thing. My parents just ordered it two weeks ago and already they can't figure out how they waited so long. It's definitely worth the money you pay for it.

nc10 · #10 03-05-2007, 10:25 PM

Quote:

poseidon said

1. Do I need a subscription to some service?

A qualified "yes"

You can buy a single tuner DVR (Pioneer DVR-640H-S )
that doesn't need a subcription service, but you won't get many of the TIVO type features.

You can set up a home theater PC with multiple tuners, and get many Tivo like features without paying a monthly fee. (I use snapstream with a dual tuner PC)

Quote:

poseidon said

2. Can ONE coax-cable jack handle DVR/TiVo and my TV (DirectTV required two jacks at the TV source to accomplish the recording features)?

Depends on how strong your signal is. Each time you split your cable in half, it cuts the signal strength half also. Lower strength hurts picture quality at some point. I added an amplifier to my incoming cable since I've split it so many times.

Quote:

poseidon said

3. I have been on eBay, and I see various generations of TiVo, DVRs, etc. I don't need the latest and greatest, I need something that's functional.

Bigger hard drive, dual vs single tuner would be important though.

Quote:

poseidon said

6. Am I better renting a machine from my cable provider or should I simply purchase one?

I'd ask my neighbors what they think about my cable provider's service, but yeah, I'd think that would be a good way to start. You can always drop it later.

poseidon · #11 03-06-2007, 08:25 AM

Quote:

cristina1 said

No, we just bought a surround sound system with DVR attached and it sucks. There is no service fee to use it, but it lacks features so we aren't getting a bargain. It doesn't allow the flexibility we had with TW. I'll have to check into Tivo. I never thought about it when we moved.

Something to point out to Jeff - I was totally against DVR when Jay ordered it. I just did not see where we needed it. I am the one who became addicted to the thing. My parents just ordered it two weeks ago and already they can't figure out how they waited so long. It's definitely worth the money you pay for it.

That assumes you HAVE the money to pay for it.

I just called Comcast. For an additional $24/month, we can get a DVR. Of course, we have to upgrade to a bunch of channels we don't want, but they require digital cable (we have analog) for $12/month more and a DVR for $12/month more.

I know $24 a month doesn't seem like a lot in a monthly budget, but don't forget, I'm not working, and I fully expect our monthly energy costs to jump at least by that amount in the next couple of months.

Michelle and I talked about it, she also said, "Hello no!" when she heard the price to do it through Comcast. She said it isn't THAT important.

The nice thing about going with DirectTV was that our monthly costs would actually DECREASE for a year and we'd get a whole lot more bang for the buck. But, I'm completely unwilling to tear up our house (which we just spent several thousands of dollars putting back together in the exact areas they'd need to tear up) to do that, and I'm definitely not living in an obstacle course trying to dodge exposed wires (and having to look at them to boot).

mtbat · #12 03-06-2007, 11:46 AM

Jeff I'm a bit surprised the dish people couldn't figure out a better way to run the lines. Did they talk at all about wireless modems?

do you by chance remember which contractor/company came out to install?

phoenixx · #13 03-06-2007, 12:05 PM

I use dish network and love it. The installers went out of ther way to run the lines unobtrusively. I have a ton of coupons for free installs and free DVR receivers with install, just PM me if you decide you want to talk to DishNet instead of Direct TV .

poseidon · #14 03-06-2007, 01:47 PM

Quote:

mtbat said

Jeff I'm a bit surprised the dish people couldn't figure out a better way to run the lines. Did they talk at all about wireless modems?

do you by chance remember which contractor/company came out to install?

DirectTV sent out their own person. I went directly with them instead of using a subcontractor.

No, they didn't talk about wireless modems.