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Should I get a Series 1 or Series 2 Tivo?

G

geckojohn

Diamond Member
Hey Everyone, i'm thinking about getting in on the Tivo bandwagon. I've been watching a lot of tv and sometimes i miss some of my favorite shows because i get home from work late or i have other plans. Should I get a Tivo then?

Well, I just have normal basic cable tv at home and have a broadband connection. Please let me know what you think. Also are there any good deals around?

Thanks!
 
Originally posted by: geckojohn
Hey Everyone, i'm thinking about getting in on the Tivo bandwagon. I've been watching a lot of tv and sometimes i miss some of my favorite shows because i get home from work late or i have other plans. Should I get a Tivo then?

Well, I just have normal basic cable tv at home and have a broadband connection. Please let me know what you think. Also are there any good deals around?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

As a non Tivo user I always wanted to do the HTPC thing. I had one for a month and then I sold it. It crashed too much. (dell w/ windows media center)

If p2p were to disappear I would pay for a Tivo because it is simple and you don't have to worry about crashing.
 
Originally posted by: MrMaster
Originally posted by: geckojohn
Hey Everyone, i'm thinking about getting in on the Tivo bandwagon. I've been watching a lot of tv and sometimes i miss some of my favorite shows because i get home from work late or i have other plans. Should I get a Tivo then?

Well, I just have normal basic cable tv at home and have a broadband connection. Please let me know what you think. Also are there any good deals around?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

As a non Tivo user I always wanted to do the HTPC thing. I had one for a month and then I sold it. It crashed too much. (dell w/ windows media center)

If p2p were to disappear I would pay for a Tivo because it is simple and you don't have to worry about crashing.
Click to expand...

You suck at teh HTPC. Your problem has been bolded.
 
If you have Comcast, their DVR is much better than TiVo in my opinion. This comes from someone that owns a TiVo, Replay, a Windows Media PC, and a comcast DVR.
 
Check out a ReaplyTV, I went with them for 2 big reasons: built in NIC and they don't force ads on you.
 
Originally posted by: Ramma2
Check out a ReaplyTV, I went with them for 2 big reasons: built in NIC and they don't force ads on you.
Click to expand...

I have a series 2 TiVo. My only complaint with it is the lack of a NIC. I had a to buy a usb network adaptor thingy. Other than that it Works Great.

I'm not sure what is meant by forcing ads on you? I can fast forward through programs with ease and no ads stopping me in that endeavor.
 
Originally posted by: geckojohn
If I'm using just basic cable tv with no box... can I record one show while watching another show? Thanks
Click to expand...

I believe only directv tivos have a dual tuner for this purpose so no you can't. You can record a show on tivo and switch to your TV to watch another show.
 
I have a regular series 2 TiVo in one room, and a Comcast (HD) DVR in another. The TiVo is infinitesimally better then the DVR. It's more user-friendly, and has more options. The only annoyance is that you need to use an IR Blaster with Digital Cable. If you don't have digital cable, the TiVo, in my opinion, is pretty much flawless, except for the lack of dual-tuners (unless you use DirecTV). Get a TiVo, it's worth it.

Actually, you can watch one show and record another, but you would have to change the input of the TV in order to do so, and switch back and forth. Kind of annoying, but doable.
 
Just get Tivo Series 2 and be done with it. We got ours as a gift and is is 100x easier than the capture-card-based HTPC I attempted to put together.

If your time is worth any value, Tivo >> DIY HTPC.
 
Originally posted by: geckojohn
If I'm using just basic cable tv with no box... can I record one show while watching another show? Thanks
Click to expand...


Your setup is extremely Tivo/Replay friendly. Use a splitter to your TV and Tivo. Then you can record one show and watch another. The only con is you won't have the features of Tivo if you are watching through your TV.
 
Originally posted by: SLCentral
I have a regular series 2 TiVo in one room, and a Comcast (HD) DVR in another. The TiVo is infinitesimally better then the DVR. It's more user-friendly, and has more options. The only annoyance is that you need to use an IR Blaster with Digital Cable. If you don't have digital cable, the TiVo, in my opinion, is pretty much flawless, except for the lack of dual-tuners (unless you use DirecTV). Get a TiVo, it's worth it.

Actually, you can watch one show and record another, but you would have to change the input of the TV in order to do so, and switch back and forth. Kind of annoying, but doable.
Click to expand...

Uh... do you mean that it is infinitely better or did you really mean infinitesimally which means basically so small it can't be measured?

Anyway to answer the OP, Series 2 is the way to go unless you get some totally outrageous deal on a series 1. There are at least a few features of S2 that you will miss with just S1.
 
Originally posted by: Xyclone
Is building an HTPC hard?
Click to expand...

It's not necessarily hard, but it's not as simple as plugging in a Tivo, either.

Like most things, if you want to DIY, you'll need to do a bit of research and buy specific, supported hardware, and then deal with your own technical support if and when you have problems with it.

Sometimes DIY is preferred over an existed consumer solution, sometimes it's not. You have to make the decision yourself.
 
Originally posted by: RedCOMET
Originally posted by: Ramma2
Check out a ReaplyTV, I went with them for 2 big reasons: built in NIC and they don't force ads on you.
Click to expand...

I have a series 2 TiVo. My only complaint with it is the lack of a NIC. I had a to buy a usb network adaptor thingy. Other than that it Works Great.

I'm not sure what is meant by forcing ads on you? I can fast forward through programs with ease and no ads stopping me in that endeavor.
Click to expand...


I thought they now show ads while you are ffing commercials. I could be wrong though.

Another reason for the Replay, complete commercial skip with the single press of a button!
 
Originally posted by: Ramma2
Originally posted by: RedCOMET
Originally posted by: Ramma2
Check out a ReaplyTV, I went with them for 2 big reasons: built in NIC and they don't force ads on you.
Click to expand...

I have a series 2 TiVo. My only complaint with it is the lack of a NIC. I had a to buy a usb network adaptor thingy. Other than that it Works Great.

I'm not sure what is meant by forcing ads on you? I can fast forward through programs with ease and no ads stopping me in that endeavor.
Click to expand...


I thought they now show ads while you are ffing commercials. I could be wrong though.

Another reason for the Replay, complete commercial skip with the single press of a button!
Click to expand...

I'm not sure where that idea came from, but my Series 2 works fine with no ads and even has a 30-second skip button. 😉
 
Originally posted by: Ramma2
I thought they now show ads while you are ffing commercials. I could be wrong though.
Click to expand...
A program in the pilot stages. An ad appears on the screen while you are fast-forwarding through commercials. Since it still takes a few seconds to fast-forward through a set of ads at full speed, I don't see why this is a problem. As long as you can figure out when to hit "play" who cares if it is a blur on the screen or an ad?
Another reason for the Replay, complete commercial skip with the single press of a button!
Click to expand...

I think the ad system mentioned above will eventually result in this being removed in a software update, but for the time being, it is no secret that hitting Select-Play-Select-3-0-Select turns the ->| button into a 30-second-skip button, which amounts to a complete commercial skip, and also prevents you from seeing any ads since you aren't really fast-forwarding.
 
Originally posted by: torpid
Originally posted by: SLCentral
I have a regular series 2 TiVo in one room, and a Comcast (HD) DVR in another. The TiVo is infinitesimally better then the DVR. It's more user-friendly, and has more options. The only annoyance is that you need to use an IR Blaster with Digital Cable. If you don't have digital cable, the TiVo, in my opinion, is pretty much flawless, except for the lack of dual-tuners (unless you use DirecTV). Get a TiVo, it's worth it.

Actually, you can watch one show and record another, but you would have to change the input of the TV in order to do so, and switch back and forth. Kind of annoying, but doable.
Click to expand...

Uh... do you mean that it is infinitely better or did you really mean infinitesimally which means basically so small it can't be measured?

Anyway to answer the OP, Series 2 is the way to go unless you get some totally outrageous deal on a series 1. There are at least a few features of S2 that you will miss with just S1.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm a moron 🙂. I meant infinitely.

 
Gecko,

You've come to the right place. First, I have too many PCs (and did not want to leave the thing running all the time) so I went with a Series 2 (SD-DVR-80) Directv w/tivo (I have DirecTV of course). I bought a floor model because they pretty much stopped selling the Series 2 in March 2005. The newer model (series 2.5) is the R-10. DO NOT buy this unit if you want to be able to extract video - it is not easily hackable.

If you choose to go this route (and perhaps go with DTV) buy yourself a Series 2 (perhaps Ebay). If you are not happy with the amount of recording time then you can replace the HD (I replaced the 80 with a 160 gig HD).

Go here to find all the instructions you need to hack your unit IF you choose to do so:

Hacking a Series II DVR

It took me a while but it worked for me as advertised.

PM me if you need additional info.
 
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