Got Phillips 20hr Tivo for $116, was this hot or not?

[supernova87a]

I went to the friendly Walmart, and found that they had 2 deep discounted Tivos (selling at $129 from original $269) left. Asked the manager for a little discount, seeing as they were so unpopular -- got it for $116.

Was this hot or not? I can return it if not...

 

[Delbert]

So so. This has been discussed here several times, some time ago. I got three at Target a few months back for under $100.

 

[mmarcuse]

I picked up a 20-hour at Target (pronounced Tar-schzay!) for $40 a few weeks ago. I cracked it open, popped in that Staples 40 Gig for $45 and now have a 66 hour unit for $85. SCORE!!!!

 

[RobsTV]

Don't you have to pay $9.95 monthly fee to use the Tivo?
What are you using this with, cable, sat or antenna?
So that fee would be in addition to your normal cable or Sat bill.

As a total then it seems cold, when you can get other systems
that do the same for no extra monthly fee.

Pick up one of the Dish 500 deals for 99 cents (301), and get the top 100 for $9.
Then go to e8ay and pickup a Dishplayer for around $130.
Add that to your plan for $5 more, (extra receiver charge), and you are done.
Total, $14 a month including Top 100 and Personal TV features, 2 receivers.
That is the method I took, and once you use PTV, you can never watch TV the old way again.
The best part is not recording, but instead pausing live TV, Rewinding, and FF.
Or use the included keyboard and do a search for your favorite programs.
Even play built-in games like Doom, and YDKJ.
Uses a standard ATA 66 Hard drive, and in reality records about 1 hour per gig.
Comes with 8 gig (7100) or 20 gig (7200). Upgraded mine with a 40 gig.

Here is a site that compares Tivo, Replay TV and Dishplayer.
It is outdated though, as they still list Dishplayer as costing a $9.95 monthly fee.
They stopped charging a monthly fee about a year ago. Totally free now.
Dishplayers also have taken many updates/upgrades to add more features than what's listed.
Still, the site gives a fairly good comparison.
iwantpaytv.com

 

[Rab]

Yep, there is an additional fee, soon to be $300 for a lifetime subscription.

Still, as Tivos go, it's not that bad a deal.

 

[BenCJedi]

The free PTV functions with Dish Network are only free for 2 years after you activate the receiver. I own both a Dishplayer 7100 and TIVO. The TIVO, by far, is much more powerful in functions and configurability for recording programs. The $9.95/month TIVO price is a small price to pay for being able to skip commercials 30 seconds at a time (hidden code: start a record program, press select, play, select, 3, 0, select and you'll hear a ringing.. the skip-to-end button becomes a 30-sec skip button) and all the recording options. My Dishplayer is basically a dummy, digital VCR. It doesn't realize when a program is moved to a new time to record it. It also crashes frequently (run by Microsoft software). The advantage of a Dishplayer is that the incoming signal is not recompressed, so what is being pulled down from the satellite in space is the same content you play at your leisure (not recompressed, as a standalone TIVO would).

 

[gopunk]

what is this about compression?

 

[RobsTV]

Sounds like your dishplayer needs an update/upgrade, and you don't know how to use it.
I too have a 7100 that now shows as a 7200 with the HD upgrade.
Crashes are practically non-existant anymore.
It does have 30 second one button skip forward (comercial skip) feature. no hidden codes.
Also has 7 second replay (RW) feature.
It is smart, and will NOT record one of your scheduled events if it somehow changes.
It also has the option to record whenever program exists, instead of date/time.
Also records in Dolby Digital, which other devices can not do.

The free PTV feature is now permanent.
Reason for that was Microsoft ended it's initial deal with echostar, and now is a
direct competitor with MS own Replay TV device. One of the settlement terms
was no longer charging a fee for PTV services. It was supposed to be free until
2002, so that MS and echostar could work out a new agreement. Now permanent.
The DP have been replaced with the 501.
These no longer use MS based software, so no fee ever was needed for these.
They are PVR not PTV units. No more PTV units are being made.
Support is still required under contract with MS for original DP units with MS software.
They now regularly update once or twice a month.

Apparently a lot has changed since you used your DP.
Current software is at v115, and 5709.
Go to help/Personal TV/ Watching shows/step 8, and it clearly shows 30 commercial skip.
The $10 a month savings alone nearly pays for the Dishplayer entirely in about a year.

 

[BenCJedi]

Dishplayer does not recompress the incoming signal for storage.. it takes the MPEG2 stream for what it is and copies it to the internal hard drive.

Standalone TIVO on satellite is getting the MPEG2 stream off the dish, but then it has to compress it again for storage on the TIVO itself, so there is some loss in quality. It 's isn't bad though.

A DirecTiVO on the other hand is like the Dishplayer in that the incoming MPEG2 stream is stored direct to disk.. you just get all the greatness of TIVO to deal with recording things. If I knew I could get waivers for FOX (since my local TV market doesn;t upload its siganl) and UPN on DirectTV, I would have this.

 

[kbcrowe]

$10/month for TiVo service is HOT. I pay over $30/mo. for Basic cable, and I'd rather give that up and only have the broadcast networks with Tivo than give up TiVo.

 

[supernova87a]

Well, I plan on trying out the Tivo only as a digital vcr for right now -- all of its timed recording features work without buying service, right?

Maybe if I really feel indulgent, I'll get the service...

 

[BenCJedi]

RobsTV I use my Dishplayer 7100 everyday. It asks me to upgrade, but I read at www.dbsforums.com that if I upgrade my system will crash even more, so I get around the notice by pressing the HOME button on my remote. I don't care about manual recordings. The version I have also does 30-second skip. I just press the up arrow twice on my remote. I never did say the Dishplayer did not have 30-second skip. Read more carefully please. On my TIVO, I press the button ONCE to skip 30 seconds. On my Dishplayer I have to press up twice quickly and then up for each additional 30-second skip. You are right.. the Dolby Digital and digital sound direct-to-disk on Dishplayer is nice and not available on a standalone TIVO.. just having it capture the sound "as-is" in the digital domain is great. With the no-recompression on the Dishplayer and the better sound, this is why I record Enterprise on my Dishplayer only. I also use it for conflicts. Everyday shows, I record on my upgraded TIVO where I have 87 hours of stuff to watch. I'll get around to upgrading the disk in my Dishplayer eventually.

So the newest Dishplayer software is stable? I think I need to read up on it more. I have not read anything current on my Dishplayer. I'm going with what I read last July.. where there was an enormous thread of upset people with a plethora of problems with the new version of the Dishplayer software. My Dishplayer crashes enough.. didn't want to make it worse. Though if it is good now, I will surely let the upgrade proceed.

And the lifted limit on the free PTV functions for Dish Network is great news! Time to re-evaluate TIVO VS Dishplayer. I'm still partial to TIVO, due to me winning one that was selling for $399 retail at the time. I wish Dish Network would give me a $399 PVR.

 

[theshamu]

RobsTV,
How did you get PTV for free? I have the 8 gig Dishplayer, and PTV is listed as fee-based service. Did you get the PTV feature as part of the $9/mon promotion?

 

[Rab]

<< Well, I plan on trying out the Tivo only as a digital vcr for right now -- all of its timed recording features work without buying service, right? >>



Nope. With the newer receivers, you must have the service, or you'll have to manually record things.

 

[supernova87a]

Right, what I meant is that I will manually input the times and channels I want to record -- it will still do that, correct?

 

[RobsTV]

theshamu.
No I didn't get get it as part of $9 package.
I bought Dishplayer on e8ay and added it to my plan.
To enable PTV (if not already), simply call Dish and tell them to turn it on.


BenCJedi,
I re-read your post, and it looked like you were saying you like the tivo at
$10 a month over the DP because it would do 30 second commercial skip.
Sorry if I misunderstood you.
Also, the 30 second skip is only a one button press now.
That, plus much more has been changed in the past 3 months alone.

 

[noswal]

on a side note, I just cringe anytime someone says or writes "Tarjay". Talk about an overused suburban clique!

 

[theshamu]

RobsTV,
Thanks. When I checked my dish last night, it still says the PTV is a $9.99/mon service. Yet when I went to Dishnetwork's web site, I could not find any reference to PTV! Guess I'll be calling Dishnetwork tonight...

 

[Technocrat]

Anyone have a Tivo for sale reasonably cheap?

 

[samgoody69]

Technocrat

Check your local wal-mart, you can find the 14hrs Tivo for 69.99

 

[SleeplessHeart]

nothing much, i'd say

 

[VisionsUCI]

lol. sleepless, i noticed you've just made like 10 posts in the last five minutes... you bumped up an entire first page of threads with one line sentences

 

[breweyez]

yes....I believe they call that NEFing...which can get you a vacation if the mods in a bad mood.:Q

 

[Netopia]

<< Talk about an overused suburban clique! >>



LOL.... fate is ironic, isn't it? I personally enjoy pronouncing it as if it were French.... but your post is funny because what you wrote was....

"Talk about an overused suburban close knit, exclusive circle of friends!"

I think what you meant to say was

Talk about an overused suburban clich[/u]e!

Joe

 

[jamesd1343]

Ive checked my are no TIVOs at Target or Walmart. Anyone want to score me a second one?