Tivo question.

[Jgtdragon]

Can I just buy the hardware and record like a vcr or I need to paid monthly fee?
I don't know anyone who owns tivo.

The reason I am looking into Tivo is I got comcast digital cable and I can't record from a vcr, since it doesn't go to 3 digits channels.

 

[RossMAN]

I *think* you can do this with the free basic plan.

 

[loup garou]

You can do that with Tivo Basic, but it's really worth it to pay for the service.

 

[SpunkyJones]

Get a Tivo and pay the fee. You'll never want to watch tv without it again.

 

[Jgtdragon]

Ok, lifetime service is $299. I think that beats $12 a month.

 

[sciencewhiz]

If all you want to do is use it like a vcr, you don't need the subscription. You can tell it to manually record shows at certain times, just like your VCR. If you want to be able to fast forward through commercials on a show that you just sit down to watch, you would change to that channel, pause it for 5 or 10 minutes while you do other things (or press the record button). Then when you come back, you can fast forward.

However, the real advantage of tivo comes from the subscription. It then has access to all the tv listings. For example, I set up a season pass for the olympics with only a few steps. Now, every hour of the olympics are recorded, and it doesn't record the repeat show at 2am. To do it manually would be very time consuming.

My family has between 15 and 20 season passes. We have it recording news and political talk shows my dad and myself, old tv shows for my brother (MASH, I love Lucy, Cosby Show, Bonzana, etc), jeopardy for the whole family, etc. It took about 15 minutes to set up, and now whenever we turn on the tv, there is always something good on to watch. Especially for my brother's shows, he'd never know they were on, because they are on in the middle of night when he's asleep or the middle of the day when he's at school. If any of those shows change times or channels, tivo still gets them.

I'd suggest paying for it monthly for a month or two, and then decide if you want it.

 

[austin316]

Originally posted by: Jgtdragon
Can I just buy the hardware and record like a vcr or I need to paid monthly fee?
I don't know anyone who owns tivo.

The reason I am looking into Tivo is I got comcast digital cable and I can't record from a vcr, since it doesn't go to 3 digits channels.

if you are already paying for comcast digital cable, just upgrade for like $6 a month and get the dvr through them. you will be very, very happy.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: Jgtdragon
Ok, lifetime service is $299. I think that beats $12 a month.

Yup, or you could try it out for a month and then decide if it's worth it. I think you will in the end though. Plus "lifetime" is tied to the lifetime of the device IIRC.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: austin316

Originally posted by: Jgtdragon
Can I just buy the hardware and record like a vcr or I need to paid monthly fee?
I don't know anyone who owns tivo.

The reason I am looking into Tivo is I got comcast digital cable and I can't record from a vcr, since it doesn't go to 3 digits channels.

if you are already paying for comcast digital cable, just upgrade for like $6 a month and get the dvr through them. you will be very, very happy.

Not if you've ever used a Tivo or ReplayTV before.

 

[Ausm]

Tivo Rox don't be a cheap fvcker and pony up the cash 😉

I have two of them.

Ausm

 

[Ausm]

Forum Beeeeelch

 

[sciencewhiz]

See this post in the thread Ross linked to:

Originally posted by: Fritzo
This really is an amazing device. I didn't realize how much we scheduled our lives around TV- "We gotta get home to watch this!" or "I'm staying home tonight to watch that". No more- love the TiVo

 

[cherrytwist]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: Jgtdragon
Ok, lifetime service is $299. I think that beats $12 a month.

Yup, or you could try it out for a month and then decide if it's worth it. I think you will in the end though. Plus "lifetime" is tied to the lifetime of the device IIRC.

Yup, that's the deal. So you're betting on the live of the TiVo itself.

Get DirecTivo. Only $5.99/month.

 

[sciencewhiz]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Yup, or you could try it out for a month and then decide if it's worth it. I think you will in the end though. Plus "lifetime" is tied to the lifetime of the device IIRC.

Yes it is. There is a 3 month labor, 1 year parts warranty. If it dies after 1 year, but before about 2.5 years, you will have payed more with the lifetime.

I'm monthly on both my tivos (I had one for a year, then tried to upgrade the capacity, forgot to plug in the fan and killed it). It was as easy as going to best buy, buying a new one, and transfering the monthly service over the internet. I just bought my second one, and only have to pay $6.95 a month for it.

 

[DanceMan]

Originally posted by: Jgtdragon
Can I just buy the hardware and record like a vcr or I need to paid monthly fee?
I don't know anyone who owns tivo.

The reason I am looking into Tivo is I got comcast digital cable and I can't record from a vcr, since it doesn't go to 3 digits channels.

I have a Tivo, and love it. However, there are many people who don't like paying the monthly fee. So, here's a suggestion: Ditch the VCR, and purchase a standalone DVD recorder with Hard Drive. Some can be purchased for $399 or less, and this gets you the best of both worlds, without the monthly fee.

By the way, you can also get the model that has Tivo, Hard drive and DVD recorder. I would prefer to have this, but until they have a version that works with Direct TV and two tuners, it's not really more useful than what I have now.

 

[NakaNaka]

Originally posted by: Ausm
Tivo Rox don't be a cheap fvcker and pony up the cash 😉

Amen. Sure you could use it like a VCR but you won't want to. It's 10x easier with having the program guide on the TV so that you can easily pick which shows you want to record.