DVR Question

[TallBill]

I'm fairly clueless about DVR units. I watch tv about once a month so its not for me, but my wife wants one, and I want to get her one for christmas.

If I buy say, a Tivo box, and subscribe for lifetime for 299, what happens when that box breaks or I decide to get a new one in the future? Is your account tied to just one box, or could I switch it over to a new one?

What other services are out there? I do not want to pay a monthly fee for the rest of time. Wireless compatability is a must.

 

[Quasmo]

I'd say HTPC.

 

[marketsons1985]

From the Tivo website:

A product lifetime subscription to the TiVo service covers the life of the TiVo Digital Video Recorder (DVR) you buy--not the life of the subscriber. The product lifetime subscription accompanies the product in case of ownership transfer. The subscription remains in effect if your DVR needs to be repaired or replaced due to a malfunction (see manufacturer warranty details). Because a product lifetime subscription is linked to a particular DVR, it cannot be transferred to any other DVR (unless the DVR is replaced due to a malfunction covered by the manufacturer's warranty). Each DVR purchased requires its own service subscription and activation.

 

[quakefiend420]

Originally posted by: Quasmo
I'd say HTPC.

seconded

for about(maybe a bit more) what you would spend on a tivo and a lifetime subscription you could build a htpc that would do everything the tivo would do and a lot more

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: marketsons1985
From the Tivo website:

A product lifetime subscription to the TiVo service covers the life of the TiVo Digital Video Recorder (DVR) you buy--not the life of the subscriber. The product lifetime subscription accompanies the product in case of ownership transfer. The subscription remains in effect if your DVR needs to be repaired or replaced due to a malfunction (see manufacturer warranty details). Because a product lifetime subscription is linked to a particular DVR, it cannot be transferred to any other DVR (unless the DVR is replaced due to a malfunction covered by the manufacturer's warranty). Each DVR purchased requires its own service subscription and activation.

Ok, well no way in hell I'm getting Tivo then.

I think I'm gonna look into a HTPC. I have an old athlon xp1600 and mobo laying around. Any good websites (I'm sure that there are) on building one?

 

[quakefiend420]

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: marketsons1985
From the Tivo website:

A product lifetime subscription to the TiVo service covers the life of the TiVo Digital Video Recorder (DVR) you buy--not the life of the subscriber. The product lifetime subscription accompanies the product in case of ownership transfer. The subscription remains in effect if your DVR needs to be repaired or replaced due to a malfunction (see manufacturer warranty details). Because a product lifetime subscription is linked to a particular DVR, it cannot be transferred to any other DVR (unless the DVR is replaced due to a malfunction covered by the manufacturer's warranty). Each DVR purchased requires its own service subscription and activation.

Ok, well no way in hell I'm getting Tivo then.

I think I'm gonna look into a HTPC. I have an old athlon xp1600 and mobo laying around. Any good websites (I'm sure that there are) on building one?

the only issue with the hardware you listed, is you may have trouble playing hi-def content

my comp is a barton mobile@2.4ghz but i still have trouble with some 1080i video

720 and most 1080 are lag free though

liek the insane quality q4 trailer lags out a bit on me

 

[MrChad]

For me, $9/month for a DVR from the cable company works for me. I get dual tuners, if my box breaks I can have it immediately replaced, and it costs me about $100 a year.

 

[DaveSimmons]

If you have cable, the $10/month for their DVR gives you something easier to use than a HTPC, a good idea since you won't be the one using it.

 

[Kelemvor]

http://www.sagetv.com
http://forums.sagetv.com

I use Sage and it works great. I don't do the Live TV watching and rewinding stuff, I just use it as a real fancy VCR so I can just type the name of a show and have it record. Check out their site and go read around in the forums for a while and you can get a good feel for the program. I have no complaints about it.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: TallBill
What other services are out there? I do not want to pay a monthly fee for the rest of time. Wireless compatability is a must.

Look for a DVR which offers free TiVo basic such as the Toshiba SD-H400 or build an HTPC.

Buy.com has the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500MCE Dual Tuner PCI Card on sale for $129.94 with free shipping. Use the 5% off coupon link below to save $6.50 and get it for $123.44 shipped.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: TallBill
What other services are out there? I do not want to pay a monthly fee for the rest of time. Wireless compatability is a must.

Look for a DVR which offers free TiVo basic such as the Toshiba SD-H400 or build an HTPC.

Buy.com has the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500MCE Dual Tuner PCI Card on sale for $129.94 with free shipping. Use the 5% off coupon link below to save $6.50 and get it for $123.44 shipped.

I was trying to buy a SD-H400 off of a user here, but no such luck so far. Any other tivo basic units out there?

Btw, all the fancy tv stuff means nothing at all to me.. I dont need one tuner, let alone a dual tuner

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: TallBill
What other services are out there? I do not want to pay a monthly fee for the rest of time. Wireless compatability is a must.

Look for a DVR which offers free TiVo basic such as the Toshiba SD-H400 or build an HTPC.

Buy.com has the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500MCE Dual Tuner PCI Card on sale for $129.94 with free shipping. Use the 5% off coupon link below to save $6.50 and get it for $123.44 shipped.

I was trying to buy a SD-H400 off of a user here, but no such luck so far. Any other tivo basic units out there?

Btw, all the fancy tv stuff means nothing at all to me.. I dont need one tuner, let alone a dual tuner

I have a refurb Toshiba SD-400 which I haven't used yet if you're interested.

 

[Kelemvor]

You need to have at least one tuner otherwise you can't record or view anything....

 

[sohcrates]

i just got a dvr through the cable company. it's great, and it really only adds $13 a month and gives me dual tuners, Picture-in-picture, and lots of stuff. i wholly support tivo, but the 300 activation kinda shys me away.

 

[ColdFusion718]

yeah but HTPC (using windows media center edition), doesn't support QAM cablecard so if you're going for HD through cable, you're kind of out of luck.

 

[lokiju]

Myth TV box FTW.

Thats what I want to try atleast.

I have a Windows Media Center setup now on my HDTV and it works pretty well.

 

[eelw]

Alternate option, buy a set top DVD Recorder with built-in hard drive. You don't get the electronic programming guide found in PVRs, but you can still manually program timers.

 

[Dunbar]

If it's for your wife forget the home-made solutions, you need something easy to use. For $13 a month I get a dual HD tuner DVR which includes the HDTV service. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Dunbar
If it's for your wife forget the home-made solutions, you need something easy to use. For $13 a month I get a dual HD tuner DVR which includes the HDTV service. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

I think cable DVRs have several advantages:

1) No upfront cost of $199 to buy a TiVo just call your local cable company and ask for their DVR.
2) $10 - $13 per month is the same as Tivo or ReplayTV's month to month fees.
3) Most cable company DVR's offer DUAL tuners, record two shows at the same time while watching a previously recorded show.
4) If the DVR breaks call your cable company and get a new one.

 

[Pastore]

Actually there are standalone DVD Recorder/HD recorder units out there that have built in TV guides.

Such as...

here

and

here