TiVo Series 3 to retail for $799

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: loup garou

Originally posted by: JS80
the cable companies are offering built in dvrs to their boxes...death of tivo is coming soon

Not really. As already stated, Comcast and Cox are licensing the TiVo software for their boxes because customers are starting to realize just how ****** the cableco DVRs are.

Of course, this box will be $50 AR in a few years, just like the S2 boxes are now. $799 is actually less than I expected this to be at launch. I was thinking it would be an even $1k. I'm going to hold off until Vista boxes with CableCard tuners come out so I can see if I want to go back to TiVo from MediaCenter, or get a new Vista MCE box.

And I'm going to hold off on cable card tuners until someone actually supports them.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: loup garou

Originally posted by: DonVito
Frankly I think you'd have to be nuts to buy one of these if you have access to an HD-DVR through your cable company, as I do. I like the Tivo interface, but certainly not $800 worth.

Frankly I think you'd have to be nuts to use a cableco DVR. I've yet to see one that's worth a damn.

I use a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD, which costs me something like $15/month. It may not have an interface as nice as a Tivo product, but it also doesn't cost $800. I literally can't imagine what a Tivo could do that would justify the exorbitant price. I guess if cost were no object (I make a pretty good living, but $800 is a significant expense for me) I'd consider it, but as it is it just seems like a collossal waste of money.

What is so much better about Tivo that I'm "nuts" not to spend $800 on one?

 

[Ausm]

Screw that make your own HTPC


Ausm

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: DonVito
I use a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD, which costs me something like $15/month. It may not have an interface as nice as a Tivo product, but it also doesn't cost $800. I literally can't imagine what a Tivo could do that would justify the exorbitant price. I guess if cost were no object (I make a pretty good living, but $800 is a significant expense for me) I'd consider it, but as it is it just seems like a collossal waste of money.

What is so much better about Tivo that I'm "nuts" not to spend $800 on one?

Well, obviously I can't make a direct comparison between the 8300HD and the S3 since I haven't used the S3 yet. There are also different software loads on 8300HDs, so your experience may be different than mine, but from what I've read online, my experience is par for the course for both Passport and SARA loads.

I had 2 8300HDs die on me in the space of 6 months. My S2 TiVo is going on 4 years of continual use.

The 8300HD is huge, hot, noisy, and crashes constantly. The interface is lacking to say the least, the guide is limited, the search is horrible, it would record the same episodes of shows multiple times, no Wishlisting, no log of what I've recorded, and there was no way to group or organize recorded content.

Also missing (although I hear other markets outside NYC have them) is the Media features and transfer of content between DVRs (I used to have 2 TiVos and use HMO pretty extensively).

Now I'm not going to say all this is worth $800 vs "free," but my experience with the 8300HD has left a very, very bad taste in my mouth. Plus, I dislike giving TWC one cent more than I have to. Oh and the worst part was lugging those 2 beasts back to TWC office and waiting in line for 2 hours each time to swap them out.

I've pretty much become an MCE convert and MS really only has to do 2 things that I don't see happening in Vista to make it perfect IMO:

1) Make the buffer savable. This drives me nuts. I love how on TiVo if I start watching something and decide I want to record it, when I hit record, it records everything back to when I changed the channel (within the buffer limits). MCE just records from when the button is pressed.
2) Reaction time compensation for FF/RW. Another thing the 8300HD didn't do. When FF at top speed, TiVo has a built-in compensation for your reaction time that is eerily accurate. I love this feature.

 

[arod]

i have a moto 6416 with pioneer passport software and the thing has been rock solid for me... had it about 2 yrs now has has crashed 2 times in that period.

that said i will be getting vista media center over the s3 tivo namely because as good as the hms part of tivo is media center is much much better.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: loup garou

Well, obviously I can't make a direct comparison between the 8300HD and the S3 since I haven't used the S3 yet. There are also different software loads on 8300HDs, so your experience may be different than mine, but from what I've read online, my experience is par for the course for both Passport and SARA loads.

I had 2 8300HDs die on me in the space of 6 months. My S2 TiVo is going on 4 years of continual use.

The 8300HD is huge, hot, noisy, and crashes constantly. The interface is lacking to say the least, the guide is limited, the search is horrible, it would record the same episodes of shows multiple times, no Wishlisting, no log of what I've recorded, and there was no way to group or organize recorded content.

Also missing (although I hear other markets outside NYC have them) is the Media features and transfer of content between DVRs (I used to have 2 TiVos and use HMO pretty extensively).

Now I'm not going to say all this is worth $800 vs "free," but my experience with the 8300HD has left a very, very bad taste in my mouth. Plus, I dislike giving TWC one cent more than I have to. Oh and the worst part was lugging those 2 beasts back to TWC office and waiting in line for 2 hours each time to swap them out.

I've pretty much become an MCE convert and MS really only has to do 2 things that I don't see happening in Vista to make it perfect IMO:

1) Make the buffer savable. This drives me nuts. I love how on TiVo if I start watching something and decide I want to record it, when I hit record, it records everything back to when I changed the channel (within the buffer limits). MCE just records from when the button is pressed.
2) Reaction time compensation for FF/RW. Another thing the 8300HD didn't do. When FF at top speed, TiVo has a built-in compensation for your reaction time that is eerily accurate. I love this feature.

Wow - you certainly sound like a DVR power user at a level I can't even imagine. I guess I would never have realized or cared about nearly any of the shortcomings you mention - I have never heard of SARA or Passport loads, nor would it even occur to me to want a log of what I've recorded or a more streamlined way of organizing recorded content. I use mine for more mundane purposes, and almost never want to archive things for long periods of time. I don't care that it's huge and hot (I've never noticed the latter), and I've never noticed that it's noisy, nor have I ever had mine crash even once. I can certainly see why you prefer your Tivo, but nothing you've mentioned would ever make me even consider paying $800 for one. I'm not sure I'd pay even $100 more for them.

FWIW, I haven't had any reliability problems with my 8300HD, but as luck would have it, it's a 10-minute drive to the TW office, and I've never encountered a wait there.

 

[jpeyton]

For once, I'm praising Comcast for the $10/month I pay for my Dual-Tuner HD-DVR.

Good luck TiVo; the competition can do it for a lot cheaper than $800.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: DonVito
Wow - you certainly sound like a DVR power user at a level I can't even imagine. I guess I would never have realized or cared about nearly any of the shortcomings you mention - I have never heard of SARA or Passport loads, nor would it even occur to me to want a log of what I've recorded or a more streamlined way of organizing recorded content. I use mine for more mundane purposes, and almost never want to archive things for long periods of time. I don't care that it's huge and hot (I've never noticed the latter), and I've never noticed that it's noisy, nor have I ever had mine crash even once. I can certainly see why you prefer your Tivo, but nothing you've mentioned would ever make me even consider paying $800 for one. I'm not sure I'd pay even $100 more for them.

FWIW, I haven't had any reliability problems with my 8300HD, but as luck would have it, it's a 10-minute drive to the TW office, and I've never encountered a wait there.

I can understand where you're coming from -- I probably wouldn't pay $800 for one either. Hell, all in all, my current MCE box was only about $400 in total after some Dell finagling and tuner card purchases, and I was still wincing at the purchase. The TiVo was about $500 back in the day with a lifetime sub, but it was a gift (probably the only reason I still have it and not a media center extender in its place in the bedroom). There are just so many usability features missing from TWC DVRs that their low price and HD features just can't make up for it to me. Not to mention the lack of reliability I've experienced.

Oh and I'm convinced the 23rd St TWC Manhattan office is one of the lowest circles of Hell.

 

[VTHodge]

Originally posted by: loup garou
When FF at top speed, TiVo has a built-in compensation for your reaction time that is eerily accurate. I love this feature.

QFT . . . dead-on-balls accurate

 

[VTHodge]

Originally posted by: Astaroth33
I wonder if it piqued your interest as well?

/grammar nazi

Every once in a while I debate whether to subscribe to cable tv (I have no tv service now) and get a Tivo, but lately the signal to noise ratio of good shows versus crap has been far too low to justify the expense.

The signal-to-noise ratio is the perfect reason to get a TiVo. If there is only a couple of hours of good TV on per day, you don't have to plan around them. They are there when you are ready to watch. If you have a good reception, then you don't even need cable.

/not a grammer nazi, but I know when to use hyphens.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: loup garou
2) Reaction time compensation for FF/RW. Another thing the 8300HD didn't do. When FF at top speed, TiVo has a built-in compensation for your reaction time that is eerily accurate. I love this feature.

I hate the reaction time compensation. I usually hit the button too fast and have to fast-forward again, rinse, repeat.

But then I use the 30 second skip feature which is much more useful.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: loup garou
2) Reaction time compensation for FF/RW. Another thing the 8300HD didn't do. When FF at top speed, TiVo has a built-in compensation for your reaction time that is eerily accurate. I love this feature.

I hate the reaction time compensation. I usually hit the button too fast and have to fast-forward again, rinse, repeat.

But then I use the 30 second skip feature which is much more useful.

Weird, I vastly prefer it to the 30 second skip (which MCE has a dedicated remote button for). At worst, I have to watch 5 seconds of commercials. Much better than going too far at high-speed FF or 30 seconds+ too far into your show. Especially now that networks are wise to DVR features and throw in odd-lengthed commercial breaks.