Anyone with a TiVo: I have Questions!

[JKRowling]

I want to buy a TiVo for someone's birthday. My main question is whether 40 hrs is too little and whether 80 hrs is really necessary. Thoughts?

 

[MustISO]

It really depends on how much they record, at what quality and how soon they delete it. I have a 80GB hard drive in mine and at best quality it's around 23 hours of recording time.

 

[KeithP]

I have an 80 hour model and I have never filled it up. However, I think 40 hours would be a little tight for me. I record most things on highest quality. As MustISO said, it really depends on the person.

If you buy a 40 hour, is upgrading at a later date out of the question? WeaKnees makes the process of upgrading your TiVo about as painless as possible (and they accept PayPal). I got the impression that most people buying 40 hour units do so because they wanted the least expensive model because they planned on upgrading themselves.

-KeithP

 

[Modder N Art]

Originally posted by: JKRowling
I want to buy a TiVo for someone's birthday. My main question is whether 40 hrs is too little and whether 80 hrs is really necessary. Thoughts?

Keep in mind that those numbers are for the lowest quality setting. There's lots of artifacting at that setting, on a big screen it can be kind of ugly. The more motion in the content, the more ugly it looks.

At full quality, those units record 10 and 20 hours, respectively.

If you are ever away from home for a week or more, you may wish you'd gotten, or be glad you'd gotten, the larger unit 🙂

Lisa

 

[hirschma]

Originally posted by: JKRowling
I want to buy a TiVo for someone's birthday. My main question is whether 40 hrs is too little and whether 80 hrs is really necessary. Thoughts?

I have a two person household that shares the Tivo. The first Tivo was a modded unit, Series 1, from back in the day, increased to 120 hours at worst quality. At best, it holds about 40 hours (I think).

It was replaced by a DTivo, one of the DirecTV models. These are different than the standard Tivos because they ONLY record in best quality. As a result, a 40 hour unit means 40 hours. We haven't run into space issues with it.

So, for someone that watches a fair amount of TV, they should get by with 20-40 hours at best quality no problem. That means either going with the 80 hour unit, or buying the cheap one and agreeing to mod it to larger capacity if they hit the limit (typically, it is cheaper to add a second HD later, which will almost certainly give you gobs more space... but will also void your warranty).

BTW, DTivo is way nicer than normal Tivo. Two tuners, well integrated PPV, better output options, etc. Absolutely the only way to fly if you're using DirecTV (which I also highly recommend over cable).

Jonathan

 

[9ball]

It was replaced by a DTivo, one of the DirecTV models. These are different than the standard Tivos because they ONLY record in best quality. As a result, a 40 hour unit means 40 hours. We haven't run into space issues with it.

So the Dtivo 40hrs actually has a 120GB HD in it? can anyone comfirm this

 

[EvanAdams]

I have had three TIVOs.

The first was a series one 30hr. My parents have it now. They like it but my dad like recording at best as he has a video distribution system that severly hurts image quality. Thus he needs as good as he can get in.

The second is the first Phillips DirecTIVO. It is great and is still in my tv room. It has digital out for hooking into the HT reciever and it works great. My major problem with it is the DirecTV $5 a month charge. I paid for the lifetime subscription which today does not count since DirecTV owns the TIVO part now. My series one has a lifetime subscription that still works. It is a little slow when you get a year of programing info into it.

The third is a new Samsung DirecTIVO it has USB ports that are not being used right now. Normal TIVOs can have the HMO (home media option) that plays music and pictures around the home via ethernet. Also TIVO2Go is on the way and that I really want! Supposedly it will be for puting TV on your laptop to take with you. I want this SO BAD!!!! But, DirecTV is *NOT* known for adding value like this. They have not enabled the USB and to my knowledge dont plan on it as they have to pay for the software upgrade work.

A good thing to remember is DirecTIVOs can record two shows at the same time. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE FOR ME. This way when networks mess around with me by puting two shows I want to watch up next to oneanother I get em both. Down with the network execs.

Be carefull with buying TIVO for someone as a suprise. There all have subscription costs. If they have DirecTV I higly sugest the DirecTIVO. If not you should try to get them to get DirecTV it is worth it.

In regard to 80 vs 40. I say it depends. How big the TV. the bigger the TV the nicer the recording quality the more hours they will want. I say if no DirecTV then go with 80 if you can afford it, that way they wont have to comprimise