TIVO or ReplayTV?

[cpals]

Probably a repost, but with newer technologies, things may have changed...

Which is better, TIVO or ReplayTV?

 

[Anubis]

dont care

 

[n0cmonkey]

I'm interested in the answer.

 

[K1052]

I got a free Tivo with free service, so I like it better.

 

[Wallydraigle]

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women.

 

[cpals]

I see this thread is off to a great start.

 

[rancidcrabtree]

Replay is tivo for smart people.


kev

 

[cpals]

Hmm... thinking tivo right now.

 

[Kilrsat]

Your own HTPC.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Kilrsat
Your own HTPC.

Winner.

Advantage = no monthly fees + change your programming over the internet.

PC + Video Card + TV Tuner + PVR Software = Best PVR solution

 

[Kilrsat]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: Kilrsat
Your own HTPC.

Winner.

Advantage = no monthly fees + change your programming over the internet.

PC + Video Card + TV Tuner + PVR Software = Best PVR solution

Or PC + Video Card + TV Tuner + TV Tuner + TV Tuner + PVR Software for even more fun

 

[loup garou]

Tivo. More specifically, one of the new ones with the built in dvd-r's.

 

[JulesMaximus]

You are assuming there is anyone here with experience with both? Good luck with that.

I have Tivo but since I haven't tried (or heard of) ReplayTV I cannot take part in your poll.

 

[ohtwell]

TIVO

I have had both, and I think the TIVO is the better of the two.


: ) Amanda

 

[BornStar]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: Kilrsat
Your own HTPC.

Winner.

Advantage = no monthly fees + change your programming over the internet.

PC + Video Card + TV Tuner + PVR Software = Best PVR solution

I spent $80 on my TiVo and I have the option of either no monthly fees (TiVo basic) or changing my programming over the internet (TiVo plus). Even if I went with a lifetime subscription to TiVo plus I would have spent $380 which is at best the same price one would pay for a PC with a PVR quality tuner.

 

[Kilrsat]

Originally posted by: BornStar18

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: Kilrsat
Your own HTPC.

Winner.

Advantage = no monthly fees + change your programming over the internet.

PC + Video Card + TV Tuner + PVR Software = Best PVR solution

I spent $80 on my TiVo and I have the option of either no monthly fees (TiVo basic) or changing my programming over the internet (TiVo plus). Even if I went with a lifetime subscription to TiVo plus I would have spent $380 which is at best the same price one would pay for a PC with a PVR quality tuner.

PVR-150MCEs are $70 or less, a Geforce FX 5200 works as a wonderful video card here (hardware mpeg-2 decoding) and can be had for $50, toss in a decent amount of ram, a good size harddrive, and the rest of it can be as cheap as you want. You don't even need gobs of storage if you already have centralized network storage at home. You can always automate the tasks of transfering from the recording PC to your storage one.

Plus you have the bonus of being able to do whatever you want with the recorded shows. Edit out the commercials, reencode in divx/xvid/etc for permanent storage, watch recordings from any PC, stick them on a cd/dvd/whatever, recencode for streaming to your pocketpc.

Its the last point that's the biggest, the recordings are yours to do whatever you want with. No restrictions, no forced ads if you're fast-forwarding through commercials (I really hope TiVo wises up and doesn't go this route), ability to transfer them to as many devices as you want, send clips to your friends on the internet, etc.

You also get the bonus of PCs being multi-function devices, so from this one box you can watch DVDs, listen to music, play games (through the wonders of emulation you can relive your childhood playing your old NES/SNES/Genesis/Sega master system/N64 games). All of that enjoyment for basically the price of your TiVo and its lifetime subscription.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: Kilrsat

Originally posted by: BornStar18

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: Kilrsat
Your own HTPC.

Winner.

Advantage = no monthly fees + change your programming over the internet.

PC + Video Card + TV Tuner + PVR Software = Best PVR solution

I spent $80 on my TiVo and I have the option of either no monthly fees (TiVo basic) or changing my programming over the internet (TiVo plus). Even if I went with a lifetime subscription to TiVo plus I would have spent $380 which is at best the same price one would pay for a PC with a PVR quality tuner.

PVR-150MCEs are $70 or less, a Geforce FX 5200 works as a wonderful video card here (hardware mpeg-2 decoding) and can be had for $50, toss in a decent amount of ram, a good size harddrive, and the rest of it can be as cheap as you want. You don't even need gobs of storage if you already have centralized network storage at home. You can always automate the tasks of transfering from the recording PC to your storage one.

Plus you have the bonus of being able to do whatever you want with the recorded shows. Edit out the commercials, reencode in divx/xvid/etc for permanent storage, watch recordings from any PC, stick them on a cd/dvd/whatever, recencode for streaming to your pocketpc.

Its the last point that's the biggest, the recordings are yours to do whatever you want with. No restrictions, no forced ads if you're fast-forwarding through commercials (I really hope TiVo wises up and doesn't go this route), ability to transfer them to as many devices as you want, send clips to your friends on the internet, etc.

You also get the bonus of PCs being multi-function devices, so from this one box you can watch DVDs, listen to music, play games (through the wonders of emulation you can relive your childhood playing your old NES/SNES/Genesis/Sega master system/N64 games). All of that enjoyment for basically the price of your TiVo and its lifetime subscription.

I'm no fanboy, but I'd highly recommend a Radeon card for an HTPC so that you can use their component adapter for output....unless nVidia offers something similar that I don't know about.

Right now, I have 2 Tivos, but one isn't going to be mine anymore in a month or so. I'm building an MCE2k5 box to take its place. I think MCE2k5 is a great competitor for Tivo and Replay, especiallly for us geeky types.

 

[Muadib]

I love my Directivo, and would love to own the new HDTV model.

 

[Fritzo]

Tivo has a better menu system and better service offerings. Replay has more gadgetry built in and is a geek fan, but they're in big trouble moneywise and will probably go bankrupt within the next few months. The new Series 2 Tivos allow you to do nearly anything the Replay can do (wireless/LAN connectivity, MP3/Photo server for your TV, etc), plus they're introducing Tivo2Go that will allow you to record shows to your PC's hard drive or to DVD. Been using it for 8 months now and it's one of the best entertainment investments our family has ever made. It allows the TV to work around our schedule, plus we never miss things that we like (that we didn't even know were on ).

I also have WinXP MCE running, and the menu system is no where near as good nor as easy to use as Tivo. MS really needs to improve that to compete. The picture quality of TV cards isn't all that great either (unless you fork over the $$$ for an HDTV card).

 

[jammur21]

Ok I've had both of them. TiVo is more for kicking back and lounging around when you watch TV. The menus and remote are super intuitive and doesn't require any thinking. Tivo Season pass is much better than the crappy way the Replay tries to record a TV show series. When I had my 5504 Replay I always had to lean forward to figure out the menu system and remote control layout. The Replay has the significant feature of being able to stream shows via DVarchive. 5x00 series Replays can access Poopli for P2P replaytv sharing, 5504/5508 do not have internet or commercial skip features.

Just depends how you want to watch TV. I sold the ReplayTV and am in the process of selling my series2 Tivo. Im replacing with MCE2005 and twin PVR-250's.

 

[rahvin]

ReplayTV was purchased by Denon/Marantz and is now backed by one the largest, longest surviving and highest end makers of home audio equipment in the market.

I prefer the TIVO, the intereface is better and if you get a DirectTivo you have dual tuners.

Seriously consider the comments of people in this thread with the following caveat, do you really want to keep shows forever? My modded DirectTivo has around 150hours of recording time. Antying we want to keep we can keep indefinately on the Tivo without adverse impact to our scheduled recordings, but after getting one you will realize one thing, there is very little you want to keep and if you like the TV show that much you are better off just buying the DVD of the shows. Frankly I have yet to see any other PVR/DVR match the ease of use of the TIVO, if you are married to someone other than a tech geek don't buy anything but a Tivo.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Kilrsat

Originally posted by: BornStar18

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: Kilrsat
Your own HTPC.

Winner.

Advantage = no monthly fees + change your programming over the internet.

PC + Video Card + TV Tuner + PVR Software = Best PVR solution

I spent $80 on my TiVo and I have the option of either no monthly fees (TiVo basic) or changing my programming over the internet (TiVo plus). Even if I went with a lifetime subscription to TiVo plus I would have spent $380 which is at best the same price one would pay for a PC with a PVR quality tuner.

PVR-150MCEs are $70 or less, a Geforce FX 5200 works as a wonderful video card here (hardware mpeg-2 decoding) and can be had for $50, toss in a decent amount of ram, a good size harddrive, and the rest of it can be as cheap as you want. You don't even need gobs of storage if you already have centralized network storage at home. You can always automate the tasks of transfering from the recording PC to your storage one.

Plus you have the bonus of being able to do whatever you want with the recorded shows. Edit out the commercials, reencode in divx/xvid/etc for permanent storage, watch recordings from any PC, stick them on a cd/dvd/whatever, recencode for streaming to your pocketpc.

Its the last point that's the biggest, the recordings are yours to do whatever you want with. No restrictions, no forced ads if you're fast-forwarding through commercials (I really hope TiVo wises up and doesn't go this route), ability to transfer them to as many devices as you want, send clips to your friends on the internet, etc.

You also get the bonus of PCs being multi-function devices, so from this one box you can watch DVDs, listen to music, play games (through the wonders of emulation you can relive your childhood playing your old NES/SNES/Genesis/Sega master system/N64 games). All of that enjoyment for basically the price of your TiVo and its lifetime subscription.

I agree with all those points. I also like the flexibility that PVR software such as SageTV and BeyondTV offer.

 

[Apex]

I prefer the ReplayTV because the quality is better, especially from the progressive YPbPr output. The difference is small, but definitely visible on high quality displays.

 

[BornStar]

Originally posted by: Apex
I prefer the ReplayTV because the quality is better, especially from the progressive YPbPr output. The difference is small, but definitely visible on high quality displays.

Is that a statement that ReplayTV is the only one with progressive YPbPr or they have better output quality? While I can't argue with the latter (I don't know because I don't have a progressive TV hooked up to it), I can state that my TiVo unit definitely has progressive YPbPr.

edit: punctuation

 

[ViRGE]

Either get the ReplayTV, or build your own. Tivo is selling out to save their own skin, so they have plans in the future for self-deleting shows, showing ads when you try to fast forward, etc. There's no reason why you should have to go through this with a PVR.