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Tivo will die? (Page 2)
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prutz11
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Jul 15, 2004, 11:56 AM
 
DVRS ARE A THING OF THE PAST

I think the role of a DVR in general is going to be greatly reduced by On-Demand TV. I was crazy about Tivo until I got On-Demand service. It's so much easier, faster and better in general. Once more channels are added to On-Demand there will be a greatly reduced role for DVRs.

The business interest are heavily stacked in the favor of On-Demand. Networks can remove your ability to fast forward through commercials. Cable companies can win subscribers from Satellite (because satellite can't do it yet). And I am sure there are other ones too.

I still love my Tivo, but I find myself using it less and less. Supposedly everything on demand (EOD) is coming soon... I read that they were testing it out in LA.
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starman
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Jul 15, 2004, 12:04 PM
 
On demand?

BULLSH*T.

You can't store your shows as long as you want. Have shows from LAST YEAR on my Tivo.

Mike

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Amorya
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Jul 15, 2004, 12:08 PM
 
Quick question... are TiVO boxes compatible with both PAL and NTSC? In other words, if I bought an American one would it work?

My cheapo VCR is compatible with both, so it doesn't seem a huge technical problem.


I'm noticing on ebay how TiVOs tend to go for about �30 in America, and about �200 in Britain. Even with international shipping that'd be a heck of a lot cheaper... Of course, I do have the exchange rates in my favour, but even so...


Amorya
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bleuvixen
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Jul 15, 2004, 12:10 PM
 
Originally posted by starman:
On demand?

BULLSH*T.

You can't store your shows as long as you want. Have shows from LAST YEAR on my Tivo.

Mike
I guess it all depends how the service works?

I have EVERY episode of "Sopranos" ever on my TiVo, can I pull them up anytime on EOD?
Same thing with the last 4 seasons of "South Park" and the last season of "Carnivale".

I also have the 4 episodes of "Wonderfalls" that aired before it was cancelled, will that be on EOD? I doubt they will be...

I have Janets boob that I can fast forward to on my TiVo, will EOD have that uncensored?

I even have two local news stories that I was on, I doubt even EOD will have my local FOX news casts from 2 years ago...
     
Sherwin
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Jul 15, 2004, 12:11 PM
 
Originally posted by Amorya:
Quick question... are TiVO boxes compatible with both PAL and NTSC? In other words, if I bought an American one would it work?
AFAIK, TiVos also need a phone line with which to download the programme guide... ...so unless it's been programmed to connect through our phone system then you're prolly out of luck (just a guess).
     
bleuvixen
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Jul 15, 2004, 12:15 PM
 
Originally posted by Sherwin:
AFAIK, TiVos also need a phone line with which to download the programme guide... ...so unless it's been programmed to connect through our phone system then you're prolly out of luck (just a guess).
Depends on the service, mine uses the satellite, I haven't plugged the phone in to it in 92+ days, trust me it complains daily about it :-)

I think he is going to use the TiVo without a subscription anyway.
     
velodev
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Jul 15, 2004, 12:17 PM
 
Still won't convince me to get rid of my dish. Even Comcast calls me once or twice a month to offer $400 to take my dish down and take my boxes and convert to cable. I said, quadruple that and I might consider it. Of course they won't... which is about how likely I am going to ditch the dish.

Cable's good for about one thing... high speed internet.


Originally posted by prutz11:
DVRS ARE A THING OF THE PAST

I think the role of a DVR in general is going to be greatly reduced by On-Demand TV. I was crazy about Tivo until I got On-Demand service. It's so much easier, faster and better in general. Once more channels are added to On-Demand there will be a greatly reduced role for DVRs.

The business interest are heavily stacked in the favor of On-Demand. Networks can remove your ability to fast forward through commercials. Cable companies can win subscribers from Satellite (because satellite can't do it yet). And I am sure there are other ones too.

I still love my Tivo, but I find myself using it less and less. Supposedly everything on demand (EOD) is coming soon... I read that they were testing it out in LA.
     
bleuvixen
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Jul 15, 2004, 12:18 PM
 
Here is a good TiVo UK forum:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...php?forumid=14

Might find your answers there?
     
starman
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Jul 15, 2004, 12:19 PM
 
Originally posted by velodev:
Still won't convince me to get rid of my dish. Even Comcast calls me once or twice a month to offer $400 to take my dish down and take my boxes and convert to cable. I said, quadruple that and I might consider it. Of course they won't... which is about how likely I am going to ditch the dish.

Cable's good for about one thing... high speed internet.
...and local HDTV, and the Firewire port on the cable box. Mmmm..recorded HDTV....

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bleuvixen
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Jul 15, 2004, 12:20 PM
 
Originally posted by velodev:
Cable's good for about one thing... high speed internet.
Agreed! 3MB/256K for less than $45/mo is
     
bleuvixen
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Jul 15, 2004, 12:28 PM
 
Seems if you don't want the subscription, a cheap series 1 tivo, upgrade the HD and add the PAL hack should be all you need...

Do you have a PC handy? Most of the hacks require a windows/linux based PC to apply.
     
vmpaul
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Jul 15, 2004, 12:34 PM
 
Originally posted by Amorya:
Why do you guys say a TiVO with no subscription is pointless?
All good points. Replacing my VCR is the main reason I'd like a TiVO. I'd prefer a DVD Recorder but those aren't coming down in price as fast as I thought they would. I'm sick of dealing with those damn tapes.

I'm sure the TiVO service is great and revolutionary and all but here's the thing. It's a personal preference but I don't really want to watch more TV. I have a few things I want to see but I don't really mind if I don't catch every episode and every instance of Seinfeld. I spend way too much time indoors already (damn Internet!).

The other thing is I don't need another recurring monthly bill no matter how small. I think those TV listings are a commodity anyway. At some point in the near future someone will offer them for free and make up the revenue by showing advertising.

The only question I need answered from someone who owns a TiVO unit is can you program it like a VCR? Just set the hour, date and channel similar to a VCR?
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Amorya
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Jul 15, 2004, 12:42 PM
 
Originally posted by Sherwin:
AFAIK, TiVos also need a phone line with which to download the programme guide... ...so unless it's been programmed to connect through our phone system then you're prolly out of luck (just a guess).
Ah, so the phone number's hard coded?

The actual phone hardware is the same in the US and UK... at least, it seems to be... I've used my laptop modem in US before. It just requires a plug adapter.

Even if it can't cope with the subscription stuff, it might be still worth getting one to play around with... at that price at least. Then if I really like it, I could source a UK one and grab the subscription.

What about ethernet? I know people have hacked ethernet ports into their tivo - can't it get the channel stuff off the internet that way?


bleuvixen: thanks for the forum link. I have enough bits around I could probably build a PC to help set it up - if not, I have plenty of friends who'd be happy to help. That's not a problem.

Guess I'm off googling for what hacks I'd need to apply! Thanks for all your help guys!


Amorya
What the nerd community most often fail to realize is that all features aren't equal. A well implemented and well integrated feature in a convenient interface is worth way more than the same feature implemented crappy, or accessed through a annoying interface.
     
OH-N'omac
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Jul 15, 2004, 12:46 PM
 
Originally posted by Amorya:
Quick question... are TiVO boxes compatible with both PAL and NTSC? In other words, if I bought an American one would it work?
I've heard that an American Tivo can be modified to work for PAL, but you'll need to acquire a PAL tuner and break out the soldering iron to remove the NTSC tuner and wire the PAL tuner. So yes, it would work, but not out of the box.

RE: Tivo dying... too soon to say. I think "Media center" type PCs are going to become more common in the coming years. Tivo functionality is already possible, if a little rough around the edges, using Linux or Windows XP Media Center. As these types of environments evolve, Tivo will need to increase their own functionality to survive against machines that can play video games, music, interact more with the network, make backups of recorded shows easier to work with, etc...
     
ort888
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Jul 15, 2004, 01:01 PM
 
Originally posted by Amorya:
Ah, so the phone number's hard coded?

The actual phone hardware is the same in the US and UK... at least, it seems to be... I've used my laptop modem in US before. It just requires a plug adapter.

Even if it can't cope with the subscription stuff, it might be still worth getting one to play around with... at that price at least. Then if I really like it, I could source a UK one and grab the subscription.

What about ethernet? I know people have hacked ethernet ports into their tivo - can't it get the channel stuff off the internet that way?


bleuvixen: thanks for the forum link. I have enough bits around I could probably build a PC to help set it up - if not, I have plenty of friends who'd be happy to help. That's not a problem.

Guess I'm off googling for what hacks I'd need to apply! Thanks for all your help guys!


Amorya

You don't need a phone line. I have no land line and have my TiVo wired into my home network. You just need a $30 dollar USB/Ethernet adaptor.

The only annoying part, and I think this may be fixed by now, is that you did need to hook it up to a phone line to do the initial setup. So I had to set it up at my parents house, leave it overnight, and then take it home the next day. It was because they used to ship with the old TiVo OS installed and it had to upgrade before allowing network support. I think now they ship with TiVo 4.x so it works right out of the box. Do a search online and I'm sure you will find current tutorials.

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vmpaul
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Jul 15, 2004, 01:48 PM
 
try again:

The only question I need answered from someone who owns a TiVO unit is can you program it like a VCR? Just set the hour, date and channel similar to a VCR?
The only thing that I am reasonably sure of is that anybody who's got an ideology has stopped thinking. - Arthur Miller
     
bleuvixen
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Jul 15, 2004, 02:21 PM
 
Originally posted by vmpaul:
try again:

The only question I need answered from someone who owns a TiVO unit is can you program it like a VCR? Just set the hour, date and channel similar to a VCR?
yes, you don't need a subscription to use it, you might need one to set it up i forget, I know a lot of people who use them with no subscription

try http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/ for a good forum
     
vmpaul
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Jul 15, 2004, 02:42 PM
 
Originally posted by bleuvixen:
yes, you don't need a subscription to use it, you might need one to set it up i forget, I know a lot of people who use them with no subscription

try http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/ for a good forum
Thanks
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