A Sea Of Red

In getting ready to move back to the burg in June, we turned off our DirecTV & consequently our Tivo. I have had Tivo for five years now. I think in Tivo. Breaking up is hard to do.

Since DirecTV has stopped partnering with Tivo, I may have seen Tivo for the last time. What is the DVR situation like with the cable companies in Lynchburg? Does anyone have experience with both Tivo and whatever the local offerings are?

I know nothing about commercial DVR's because (and I know I'll be made fun of for this) I built my own custom DVR. I've been using it (with some upgrades and modifications along the way) for a little over two years now.

wow.. i'm lucky when i can figure out how to work one, and your building them custom..

El Scorcho wrote:I know nothing about commercial DVR's because (and I know I'll be made fun of for this) I built my own custom DVR. I've been using it (with some upgrades and modifications along the way) for a little over two years now.

so much for convincing MrsSCAR and my lovely wife that we're NOT a bunch of computer dorks and internet geeks

thanks for that

Hey I never made any claims about not being a computer geek. It's my friggin' job. Geeks don't have to be dorks or nerds anymore, though. I do my best not to let myself slip over to that dark side of things.

elscorcho, do you use beyondtv ?....thats what a guy at work uses and swears by it....he can program it anywhere he is.....so if he's on a trip and isn't going to get back in time, he can set it up from a computer anywhere...

for people curious, its semi simple to do if you have an old computer laying around....software is 75 bucks and after buying a few cards and a huge hd if you don't have one in it....

i think the requirements are

- computer with big hd and at least 512.
- dvr software you can buy
- wintv card some come with a remote

his also has all his roms and mp3's on it....its pretty neat...

Yeah, it's really not that complicated if you've done any kind of a computer project before. I use the Happauge PVR cards because they do hardware encoding, which means you don't need a very powerful CPU in the machine. (This lets you use an older machine.) I use SageTV (www.sage.tv) on top of Windows XP SP2 to run the thing. It's pretty smooth and slick. I do have access to it from anywhere, not just to program shows, but also to watch TV. It compresses the video on the fly so that I can upstream from my cable modem. It works very well.

My machine had been up for 9 months straight without so much as a hiccup until I posted in this thread. Then right before I left for the Spring game, it stopped working. I blame this thread completely. You guys jinxed me by making me talk about it. Guess what I'll be doing tonight? A wife with no DVR is an unhappy wife, indeed.

Sorry!

Alabama...do not part with your Tivo. I have not heard great things about the new Directv DVR...interface is not as easy to use...HD problems...just call DTV before you leave, tell them you are moving, and they will install everything for you when you get here. I think if you already have Tivo, you will be able to continue to use it. Fight them hard if they try to convert you to the DTV DVR.
I will keep my Tivo until it dies!

Power of TiVo:

We're at Scar's tonight watching SNL. They were making fun of Kelly Ripa (sp?), and I asked if she was as bad as they were making it out to be because I never watched that show. I then said, "One Kelly I do like is Kelly Pickler."


Two seconds later, three clicks of a button, Scar has Pickler's performance from American Idol cued up and playing.

her post-implant american idol appearance*

Comcast's DVR service is reasonably priced enough. I think it's around $14 including equipment rental (which is also an HD box). The only thing is their equipment is buggy at times. I have to reset my DVR once every week or two because it will record nothing or give me static for audio if I record more than one thing at a time.

If you want reliability, you may just want to subscribe to TiVo service and use your own machine.

There are also non-proprietary machines that do the same thing with or without a program guide, and they allow you to record manually if you just want to set it for a time and channel. Some even come with a DVD burner built-in. I saw a Philips DVR at Wal-Mart recently with a 100+ GB hard drive and DVD burner for around $300.

JDUB wrote:her post-implant american idol appearance*

She says she bought new shoes with the money from her CD sales

El Scorcho wrote:Yeah, it's really not that complicated if you've done any kind of a computer project before. I use the Happauge PVR cards because they do hardware encoding, which means you don't need a very powerful CPU in the machine. (This lets you use an older machine.) I use SageTV (www.sage.tv) on top of Windows XP SP2 to run the thing. It's pretty smooth and slick. I do have access to it from anywhere, not just to program shows, but also to watch TV. It compresses the video on the fly so that I can upstream from my cable modem. It works very well.

My machine had been up for 9 months straight without so much as a hiccup until I posted in this thread. Then right before I left for the Spring game, it stopped working. I blame this thread completely. You guys jinxed me by making me talk about it. Guess what I'll be doing tonight? A wife with no DVR is an unhappy wife, indeed.

he uses the happauge card too....it also came with a IR remote, his did anyway

OK, so if direct tv and tivo split...what does that mean for those of us already with the box? and what's the future hold for DVR and direct tv.....i hate dvr in the city, hope it's not like that

yeah- like to hear an explanation on that one too. I was trying to tell SCAR about this Friday night but had no idea what the real deal was- SCORCHO you have to explain that to us before the big man jumps off a bridge. He needs his TIVO to catch Talk Soup.

DTV and Tivo actully did not renew their contract a few years ago...DTV says they will continue to provide service for those with TIVO, but you can no longer start a new subscription with DTV and a Tivo box. How long they continue to provide service is still up in the air. I just know that there are a ton of DTV/Tivo users out there, and it would be a lot of people that would be extremely unsatisfied if they cut their ties completely. I for one would switch to something else immediately. LONG LIVE TIVO!

ELLLLLL I have a question....


If I bought the HD Tivo box on Ebay can I start to use that?

Hold My Own wrote:ELLLLLL I have a question....


If I bought the HD Tivo box on Ebay can I start to use that?

HMO...I do not think so. I think all Tivo boxes had to be activated by this past Feb. to be "grandfathered" in. I am not absolutely certain on this, but remember reading something to this effect.

Here is a Tivo forum for any and all info Tivo related. This section is related to just Tivo with DTV. There are other forums as well.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/fo ... ay.php?f=7

PAmedic wrote: He needs his TIVO to catch Talk Soup.

Wait, wait, wait. You guys TIVO Talk Soup? So, let me get this straight. You're taking a device that records TV shows that you didn't watch so that you can play them back later and you're using that device to record a TV show about other TV shows that you didn't watch and which plays them back for you later.

That's either the best or worst of all possible worlds. I'm not sure which.

Either way, Philo T. Farnsworth must be super proud.

HMO...I have read some more, and it appears as if you get the right CSR, as an existing DTV subscriber, you may be able to add the HD Tivo box.

Libertine wrote:

PAmedic wrote: He needs his TIVO to catch Talk Soup.

Wait, wait, wait. You guys TIVO Talk Soup? So, let me get this straight. You're taking a device that records TV shows that you didn't watch so that you can play them back later and you're using that device to record a TV show about other TV shows that you didn't watch and which plays them back for you later.

ummmmmm

Yes

yup, that's pretty much it

HenryGale wrote:HMO...I have read some more, and it appears as if you get the right CSR, as an existing DTV subscriber, you may be able to add the HD Tivo box.

OK....it's worth a shot

Sorry, guys. I can't answer any questions about TiVo or other such silly devices. My only DVR experience is with my custom box. Why would I use that other crap if I don't have to?

El Scorcho wrote:Sorry, guys. I can't answer any questions about TiVo or other such silly devices. My only DVR experience is with my custom box. Why would I use that other crap if I don't have to?

I will wait to see your DVR to comment!