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07/14/2004 09:08:34 AM · #1 |
Im thinking of getting the Tivo service, but wanted to see if anyone here has it and has any advice.
Im thinking of getting the 80 hour unit with the DVD player with the lifetime subscription service.
James
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07/14/2004 09:44:47 AM · #2 |
I have three ReplayTV's. Our house has network wiring to each room, and the Replay's can be networked together out-of-the-box by just plugging them in to the net, so they all "work together" seemlessly. You can start watching a recorded show in the family room, and if you get tired, you can go into the bedroom and finish watching it there... it is very cool! You can also browse all the other Replay's on the network to see what is recorded on them. (We have three mostly to deal with recording conflicts.)
A Personal Video Recorder will absolutely change the way you watch TV. It would suck to go back to not being able to pause live TV when the phone rings, or to hit the "Instant Replay" button to back up and repeat a joke you missed because the dogs were barking, or to instantly skip over commercials with the press of a button. We rarely watch anything live any more so that we can skip through commercials -- especially since you can watch something that has already been recorded while something else records -- even if it hasn't finished recording yet. So if "According to Jim" starts at 8:00pm, you can start watching it at 8:10pm and still get done around 8:30pm thanks to being able to skip commercials.
Personally, I think the Replay is a better product than Tivo. I've used a Tivo Series 2, and the Tivo interface -- especially scrolling the program guide -- is slow compared to the Replay. And you use the guide a lot since you can't really channel surf anymore (it takes a few seconds to change channels since the MPEG encoding delays things a second or two). Plus, ReplayTV has a dedicated "QuickSkip" button on the remote control for advancing in 30-second increments right out-of-the-box. To get that functionality on Tivo, you have to do some funky "easter egg" steps with the remote control (and after any power loss).
If I were you, I would check out the ReplayTV Outlet Store. There, you can get factory-refurbished ReplayTV model 5000's that still have the Automatic Commercial Advance system! This was removed because of a lawsuit in the current 5500 series. All 3 of my Replay's are 5040's, and the automated commercial skip works very well on the majority of shows. It isn't perfect, but it works much more often than it doesn't. (Since we have three 40-hour models, we effectively have 120 hours of record time available, and multiple units are much more useful than a single unit with a lot of space because it allows you to automatically schedule recording conflicts on another Replay).
Also, there is a fantastic free program called DVArchive for the ReplayTV that allows you to control your ReplayTV's remotely from your computer. You can view the program guide, search the guide, schedule things to record, etc. And if you have a full-time internet connection, you can even have DVArchive act as a web server and provide you with real-time remote control from anywhere with internet access! You can also watch content that is recorded on any of your Replay's on your computer using Windows Media Player, and you can download the content from the Replay's to your computer for burning to DVD, among a host of other features. A very cool program, especially for free! (There is also the free MyReplayTV service that allows you to access your ReplayTV's remotely, but you have to make schedule changes at least 24 hours in advance since your Replay only "checks in" once a day. But MyReplayTV doesn't require anything special; it's just part of the normal Replay service.)
Tivo and ReplayTV are very comparable these days. I think the Replay has more useful features "out of the box" (no need to buy a "home networking" option, ReplayTV has multiple inputs, Component Video out, etc.) But like I said, the biggest thing I noticed was how slow the guide was. I like to whip through the guide looking to see what's on, and the Tivo guide was so slow that it was annoying. The Replay guide is pretty much instantaneous -- push "Page Down" and just like that, there's the next page -- no delays.
All in all, can't say enough good things about ReplayTV! Buy two or three! =]
P.S. Don't underestimate how useful the Program Guide is. If you've ever seen DirectTV's or Dish Network's satellite-based program guide, that level of information is exactly like what you get with ReplayTV. Full show descriptions (when available) with names of the leading actors, "star" ratings on movies, etc. It is much, much better than the cheesy "Channel Guide" that you get with some of the newer cable boxes, and several orders of magnitude more useful than the channel that scrolls "What's On" with advertising taking up half the screen...
P.P.S. I have no experience with DirecTivo (DirecTV receiver with Tivo built-in). That may be a worthwhile option if you are a DirecTV subscriber. My comments above are based on having cable.
Message edited by author 2004-07-14 10:36:41. |
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07/14/2004 09:52:31 AM · #3 |
Don't have it, don't need it.
Every hour you spend in front of the television is an hour you could spend working on your photography skills, tending to a garden, providing excellent comments to DP Challenge entries, talking with your SO, excersising, painting, reading, making your home a better place to live and so on...
One or two hours of TV a week is almost far more then enough for everyone.
I am not against TV, in fact a few of my favorite shows are TV shows, but if I miss them. I miss them. My world doesn't crash down, my hair doesn't fall out, my week isn't ruined. I just missed a TV show. |
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07/14/2004 10:05:48 AM · #4 |
I have a DirecTV receiver with TiVo built in. I'm tellin you, TiVo will change your life! Even if you don't watch that much TV it's still an amazing device. And having the built in DVD burner would be a very cool option.
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07/14/2004 10:09:51 AM · #5 |
Thanks Eddy, I think I like the ReplayTV better than the Tivo. I will have to look into it some more and swing it by Shannon. Its really for her since there are only 1 or 2 shows I watch on TV ( to me 98% of TV programing is junk). My face is usually burried in the laptop editing photos and junk
James
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07/14/2004 10:10:07 AM · #6 |
I've had ReplayTV and Tivo both. We have a broadband phone connection in our house. When our ReplayTV quit connecting to the information service because it couldn't connect properly through the broadband line we decided to switch to Tivo since we were able to hook it up to our home network and connect instantly without tying up our phone line.
Each company has its advantages and disadvantages, but I definitely prefer Tivo. The online functions of MyReplay were nice, but you couldn't always count on it connecting that night to get any changes you might have made to your lineup online.
Yes, it's true that Tivo doesn't have the 30 second fast forward and it took me awhile to get used to fast forwarding through the commercials, but I then found that it was always just a guaranteed 4 clicks of the fast forward button to get through the commercials and it very rarely overshoots its target because it bounces you back a few seconds so that you don't have to rewind to see the first few seconds after a commercials. On Replay I was forever skipping 30 seconds after 30 seconds after 30 seconds and then having to back up 6 seconds a few times to get back to the beginning of the show that I had overshot.
Anyway, it's definitely your call between the two services. But the bottom line is I will never again own a tv without one of the two! They both essentially do the same thing and that is FOREVER change the way you watch tv. I am absolutely lost watching tv at someone else's house where you can't rewind to catch a punchline you missed, or if the phone rings you can't pause the tv, etc etc. I like that I can watch tv when I want to watch tv. We live on the west coast and have a sattelite dish where we can receive east coast channels. We record almost all of our evening shows on the east coast timeline and by the time we sit down in the evening to watch a show, we are able to watch it at our leisure, commercial free and stop and start it any time we want.
I promise you, you won't regret getting one!
Sonya |
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07/14/2004 10:19:02 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by jab119:
Im thinking of getting the Tivo service, but wanted to see if anyone here has it and has any advice.
Im thinking of getting the 80 hour unit with the DVD player with the lifetime subscription service.
James |
Two guys in my office got a Tivo 4yrs ago, and they told me to go out and buy one immediately.
I did, and I could not imagine Watching TV without a DVR. It is a behaviour changing device, that will have a profound impact on you and your family's freedom.
I am not sure if TIVO is better than Replay, but either is better than sitting through 12 mins of commericials for a 30 min show.
Eddy - You should do a Replay TV commercial. I want to go buy one now.
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07/14/2004 10:41:42 AM · #8 |
Originally posted by DJLuba:
Eddy - You should do a Replay TV commercial. I want to go buy one now. |
LOL. I should have put a disclaimer on my post indicating that I'm probably biased because I was a ReplayTV beta tester before they were released to the public. Back then, I think I could record a whopping 6 hours of stuff! Still, I knew right away there was no way I would ever be going back to a VCR. |
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07/14/2004 10:48:46 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by Nelzie:
I am not against TV, in fact a few of my favorite shows are TV shows ... |
LOL -- some of mine are still radio shows :) |
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07/14/2004 11:08:21 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by GeneralE:
Originally posted by Nelzie:
I am not against TV, in fact a few of my favorite shows are TV shows ... |
LOL -- some of mine are still radio shows :) |
That's what I was referring to...
I love 'Car Talk', 'A Prarie Home Companion', 'Fresh Air' and a number of other excellent shows from NPR. I can listen to those while working away on images or other things...
Honestly, I have two shows that I enjoy watching on Television... |
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07/14/2004 11:16:46 AM · #11 |
| Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me ... |
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07/14/2004 11:22:40 AM · #12 |
If you're a tinkerer, you could consider the alternative of building your own PVR for a flat cost, which avoids the monthly subscription fees that services like TiVo charge(other than your existing cable or satellite bill). See, for instance, //www.snapstream.com/Products/Products_PVS3.asp. I'm going this route, and have it working on my PC, with plans to build a separate, properly configured dedicated PC and make that part of my home theater rack
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07/14/2004 11:28:58 AM · #13 |
Originally posted by Nelzie:
Honestly, I have two shows that I enjoy watching on Television... |
Antiques Roadshow and the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, right? :) |
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07/14/2004 11:51:28 AM · #14 |
There is so little on TV worth the exorbitant cable fees.
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07/14/2004 12:01:08 PM · #15 |
I have a TiVo. I watch a whole lot less TV now, but tend to actually be watching things that I want to see, rather than channel surfing or avoiding commercials.
Canon photo safari is quite good. I'm watching a whole lot of le Tour de France at the moment. Triathlons are always shown at weird hours of the day or night and with the 'wishlist' feature I don't even have to know they are on to get them recorded anyway.
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07/14/2004 12:08:50 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by bledford:
Originally posted by Nelzie:
Honestly, I have two shows that I enjoy watching on Television... |
Antiques Roadshow and the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, right? :) |
Blech... heck no. I watch TV for pure escapism. The Antiques Roadshow is just about the most boring thing ever created. Who is Jim Lehrer?
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07/14/2004 12:09:06 PM · #17 |
What I like about ReplayTV over Tivo:
1. ReplayTV has a built in network port on the back of the unit so you can connect it to your local area network. Not only can you download show information through a broadband Internet connection and connect to other units in the house, you can also download the MPEG files from the Replay TV unit straight to your computer and burn them to DVD. ReplayTV doesn't promote this feature but it can be done with some freeware available on the Internet.
2. You can program your ReplayTV remotely through their web site. So as long as you have Internet access, you can set it to record a show when you're not at home to do it.
What I hate about ReplayTV:
1. The cooling fan is very loud and it runs ALL THE TIME. Even when the unit is off.
2. The internal clock is reset daily when it downloads the show information. Unfortunately, most of the stations I watch seem to be a couple minutes behind the ReplayTV so I often miss the last 30 seconds or so of a show. ReplayTV has the ability to extend the recording time but you have to remember to do it when setting up a show. Some sort of a global time offset feature would have been nice.
3. I wish it had the ability to extend or shorten the recording time in the middle of recording a show. Mainly useful for sporting events that don't end at scheduled times.
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07/14/2004 12:23:19 PM · #18 |
We have 3 Tivos in the house and rarely, if ever watch live TV anymore. Even if we plan on watching today's baseball game, we don't start watching until the game has been on for 30 minutes or so. That way we can just fastforward through the commercials and having it on Tivo means we can do our own slow motion replays when we think the call was wrong.
I don't use the TV guide option that much, but haven't noticed any big time lags. My original Tivo was the 13 hour model, but I bought an upgrade kit (3rd party) and changed it to a 160 hour model. I have noticed that when bringing up the list of recorded programs it takes a long time sometimes because the system is now capable of holding more than 10 times what it was designed for. Our other Tivos (Tivo IIs) are 80 hour units. I haven't noticed any time lags while using them.
I like the longer time because we just set them up for "season passes" to our favorite shows -- first runs only (no repeats). I end up record much more than I have time to watch, but the large 160 hour buffer means I have things recorded that I can watch "new" long after rerun season has begun. I never watch reruns or commercials -- unless one catches my eye as it goes flying by with my finger on the fast-forward button. We still have the Hitler mini-series on the Tivo from over a year ago -- maybe I'll watch it someday -- or maybe I'll just delete it if the Tivo gets too full and I haven't gotten around to watching it yet. Sometimes I watch just part of a program and come back to it days later. The Tivo remembers right where I left off for each program recorded.
When I bought my first Tivo it was just because the local electronics store only carried the Tivo. When we went to buy our second box, I had read about the ReplayTV and was intrigued by its listed features. I did a bit of research and found many users complaining about it crashing and losing programming. My Tivo (running Linux, if you didn't know) has crashed a few times in the 6 or 7 (or more) years I've owned it, but never lost any programming.
The final reason I chose Tivo over RePlayTV is because I learn from my mistakes. I bought Beta because it was superior to VHS, even though VHS was more popular. Where is Beta now? I bought OS/2 because it was far superior to Windows (and before the Mac-fanatics pipe up) AND Macintosh. OS/2 suffered greatly from lack of 3rd party support both in hardware and software, much as the Mac suffers today. Tivo is the bigger market share holder and the one more likely to survive, thus I continue to go with Tivo.
I don't believe either of these units are HDTV capable. We don't have HDTV, so it isn't a concern yet, but maybe someday we will care. If you are just going to buy one now or in the near future, I would consider making sure it will work with whatever viewing equipment you plan on having in the near future.
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07/14/2004 12:26:39 PM · #19 |
Originally posted by thelsel:
1. The cooling fan is very loud and it runs ALL THE TIME. Even when the unit is off. |
Luckily they've addressed this issue and the fans in the latest products are much quieter. (It probably wouldn't be hard to find a replacement fan that is quieter; somebody on one of the PVR forums has probably already done the research.) =]
Originally posted by thelsel:
2. The internal clock is reset daily when it downloads the show information. Unfortunately, most of the stations I watch seem to be a couple minutes behind the ReplayTV so I often miss the last 30 seconds or so of a show. |
I don't think Tivo would behave any differently in this regard. You should write a letter to the local station manager and let them know that they really should maintain more accurate time. After all, if all my ReplayTV's and computers can be set within a few hundred milliseconds of a reference atomic clock, don't you think a TV station should be able to do that too? =] |
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07/14/2004 12:40:32 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by hgpayne:
I don't use the TV guide option that much, but haven't noticed any big time lags. |
Unless you've used ReplayTV, it isn't something you'd probably notice. But once you've seen how responsive ReplayTV's guide is, the way Tivo "paints" the guide onto the screen one line at a time when you page up/down is noticeably annoying, at least to me.
Originally posted by hgpayne:
Sometimes I watch just part of a program and come back to it days later. The Tivo remembers right where I left off for each program recorded. |
ReplayTV does this too -- even if you finish watching it on a totally different ReplayTV in the house.
Originally posted by hgpayne:
I did a bit of research and found many users complaining about it crashing and losing programming. My Tivo (running Linux, if you didn't know) has crashed a few times in the 6 or 7 (or more) years I've owned it, but never lost any programming. |
As I mentioned before, I've been using ReplayTV since before they were publicly available, and I've never lost any programming, even during the beta testing. And since the code base has stabilized, I've never had any of my Replay's even "crash".
Originally posted by hgpayne:
Tivo is the bigger market share holder and the one more likely to survive, thus I continue to go with Tivo. |
Well luckily ReplayTV has already gone through the whole bankruptcy thing and was snapped up by D&M Holdings, the company that owns Denon, Marantz, McIntosh, Escient, etc. =]
Also, just to stir the pot a little more, from this CNet review:
We rated the ReplayTV 5040 higher overall than the TiVo Series2 in our reviews. In brief, ReplayTV offers more features and better picture quality, especially for HDTV owners.
Message edited by author 2004-07-14 12:41:54. |
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07/14/2004 12:45:01 PM · #21 |
Keep in mind that Tivo is a subscription service that comes with a monthly fee that helps you figure out what to watch, then records it on a peice of hardware called a PVR. If you know what you want to watch and just need the hardware you can get it without the monthly fee, and the long learning curve and cumbersome interface of the Tivo.
I had Tivo, hated it. I have a PVR love it. I keep a few dozen hours of stuff I want to watch on the disk, and now can watch what I want when I want and can watch an hour long show from commercial TV in 42 min.
Being able to pause live TV ( bottom of the ninth two out, and a client calls, you can stop the action untill reality stops intruding) is great. |
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07/14/2004 01:09:32 PM · #22 |
Originally posted by BrennanOB:
Keep in mind that Tivo is a subscription service that comes with a monthly fee that helps you figure out what to watch, then records it on a peice of hardware called a PVR. If you know what you want to watch and just need the hardware you can get it without the monthly fee, and the long learning curve and cumbersome interface of the Tivo. |
Of all interfaces I've ever dealt with, I would have to call the Tivo interface the *least* cumbersome of any. The fact that it's a fee-based service makes it more desirable to me, as it keeps them on their toes to bring out new features.
Just an alternative point of view. |
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07/14/2004 01:23:43 PM · #23 |
Originally posted by EddyG:
Originally posted by thelsel:
1. The cooling fan is very loud and it runs ALL THE TIME. Even when the unit is off. |
Luckily they've addressed this issue and the fans in the latest products are much quieter. (It probably wouldn't be hard to find a replacement fan that is quieter; somebody on one of the PVR forums has probably already done the research.) =] |
Whatdya know Tom, here is such a thread. =] Also, Here is one fan that is a "direct fit" replacement (only 15mm thick).
Message edited by author 2004-07-14 13:29:42. |
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07/14/2004 06:28:43 PM · #24 |
I have a Replay 5060 and I must say that my TV viewing is SO much better. I never watch "live" TV anymore. It is so convenient that I can't imagine TV with out it! I found that I no longer waste time just channel surfing and watching TV just to be watching TV. I have the shows that I know I want to watch and that's all I watch, when I want to watch them and commercial free. :) And add all the other included features, RJ45 Broadband connectivity for my updates, something to consider if you have to call in for your updates and for me that would have been a long distance charge. Commercial advance, and the dedicated 30-second skip button. They also are very good at updating the software, done automated for you. :) Most recently they added a "Nav" control that is way cool, it added a feature that will skip "segments" of a show, kinda like chapter search on a DVD, very nice. Also like EddyG stated DVArchive is an Awesome free utility.
However I would stay away from AVSForum.com that EddyG linked to... I started going there for tips on my Replay and ended up browsing the other topics such as HT and ended up finding a great message board that was informative and very addictive. Next thing I knew I was spending my hard earned green-backs on a great front projector and surround sound system. The people there are very helpful and it was very easy to find myself in a new hobby and broke. Wait a tick! This site has Great people that are very willing to help and now I find myself thinking that I should to upgrade to a DSLR... Oh well, not a problem I'm still broke from my new HT...
I love my replay! I just learned that if I mod my X-Box that I can stream my Replay shows to it! Now off to learn how to do that...
Hey EddyG, I was going to break into my Replay and re-format the drive as it is a 80 gig drive with a 60 gig partition now that my warranty period is over, but now with DVArchive and it's automated show moving to my PC when I tell it to I'm thinking that I might just leave it be:) Beta tester eh? Cool...
My $0.02
edit (sp)
Message edited by author 2004-07-14 19:03:33. |
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07/14/2004 06:56:42 PM · #25 |
Originally posted by the_Seeker:
However I would stay away from AVSForum.com that EddyG linked to... I stated going there for tips on my Replay and ended up browsing the other topics such as HT and ended up finding a great message board that was informative and very addictive. |
I second that emotion. AVSForum.com will be the death of me. Now that I've got a Sanyo Z2 and over $6000 of other A/V equipment, I've slowed my visits to that site to try and reign in my expenses (and avoid the upgrade bug). But definitely a very addictive site indeed. |
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