my big issues with having a PC record my television shows are: even the nicest looking case will look out of place, the noise factor, and the usability factor. it's nice to be able to just hand someone the remote control and let them go to town.
though once I upgrade my mobo/cpu, I might use my old hardware to create a second dvr. my big problem with Tivo is its inability to record 2 shows at once.
though once I upgrade my mobo/cpu, I might use my old hardware to create a second dvr. my big problem with Tivo is its inability to record 2 shows at once.
Thats what I want. To beable to record 2 shows or movies at once because sometimes I need that but most of the time not.
Doesn't one of the Tivos do this ? Forgot which one.
Huh? Mine does. And I can also watch a recorded show while it's doing it.
DirecTivo - has two tuners.
Also, DirecTivo is a satellite tuner and TIVO in one box - hence no digital to analog conversion and back to digital for the recording as with other TIVOs. The recorded picture is absolutely identical to the broadcast signal.
I send the video via firewire to my computer and make DVD quality recordings - virtually no signal loss. Try that with a tuner card.
Which Tivo do you have please and does it record movies, tv shows, etc even if the time slow changes because of a longer than expected football game, unexpected news event, etc ?
This is another feature thats important because I hate having to record longer with my VCR because not sure if the tv show will be on at the normal time or not. Then when I try to watch it have to go searching for it.
RossMAN
Grand Nagus
- Feb 24, 2000
- 79,006
- 430
- 136
Originally posted by: imtim83
Originally posted by: RossMAN
Originally posted by: imtim83
So I would hve to have DirectTV service to beable to have no monthly fee with the Toshiba SD400?
Why is it so hard to find now?
I wish I had bought one when it was $199 at BB after rebate
Why? Whats so good about it?
Free Tivo basic with no monthly fees.
But it sounds like you would want Tivo Plus.
Originally posted by: RossMAN
Originally posted by: imtim83
Originally posted by: RossMAN
Originally posted by: imtim83
So I would hve to have DirectTV service to beable to have no monthly fee with the Toshiba SD400?
Why is it so hard to find now?
I wish I had bought one when it was $199 at BB after rebate
Why? Whats so good about it?
Free Tivo basic with no monthly fees.
But it sounds like you would want Tivo Plus.
What does Tivo basic include and what does it not allow you to do that the paid version will let you?
RossMAN
Grand Nagus
- Feb 24, 2000
- 79,006
- 430
- 136
No because it's also a DirecTV receiver and gets it's updates via satellite.
So your choices are:
1) MythTV HTPC with no monthly fees.
2) Toshiba SD400, hard to find.
3) HTPC using a Windows program like BeyondTV or SageTV. This offers the most flexibility and no monthly fees. Just make sure you have a large hard drive and you can record hundreds of hours of TV.
4) Buy a stand alone Tivo series 2 and pay monthly or lifetime fee, plus TivoToGo should be here soon.
5) Buy a ReplayTV 3xxx, 4xxxx or 5xxx series. The older ReplayTV 3xxx series has to dial in over the phone BUT it includes LIFETIME activation. The 5040 and others can update via broadband internet (Ethernet port built in), features include Internet Video Sharing and Commercial Advance. Fees for the 4xxx and 5xxx series are the same as the Tivo. I bought a ReplayTV 3060 (30 hours) a few years ago when Mercata()com had them for $325 after rebate. I loved it because there were no monthly fees. Now I'll probably sell it if I can get a decent offer for it.
We have a Tivo series 2 and LOVE IT. I like the season pass and never having to worry about forgetting to record Lost, Desperate Housewives, etc.
I have yet to see anyone who bought and paid for a Replay TV or Tivo (I prefer Replay TV) who was unhappy with his purchase. I cannot understand why more people don't have them. There is no point to even trying to watch TV in this commercial-ridden market without one.
RossMAN
Grand Nagus
- Feb 24, 2000
- 79,006
- 430
- 136
no, and the main reason is because it's only capable of recording the MPEG stream from the satellite, nothing else.
If you want 2 tuners to be able to record 2 shows simultaneously, AFIAK you're currently limited to Directivo, certain cable company DVR's, or your homebrew with multiple capture cards.
RossMAN just curious but do you pay the monthly fee for your Tivo series 2 or did you pay the lifetime fee of $299?
Will a HTPC record a tv show, movie, etc even if the time slot changes because a football game ran longer than expected, unexpected news event, etc ?
I noticed how Tivo Plus has all of these fancy features that look really nice.
http://customersupport.tivo.co...root/public/tv1199.htm
Can a Tivo Plus only do this?
http://customersupport.tivo.co...root/public/tv1199.htm
Can a Tivo Plus only do this?
The way I see it, satellite has the best picture anyway, so DirecTivo was my choice.
And I'd rather pay the subscription, because Season's Pass is worth the price admission alone.
The only disadvantage to the DirecTivos is the lack of home networking. The Series 2 DVRs have no provision for it.
However, I can run an S-Video cable to my camcorder and use it to do the analog (TIVO out) to digital conversion and then via firewire into my PC for video capture. Seems half-assed I know, but works like a charm. Some people buy a camcorder for this purpouse alone. There is very little signal loss. And while those video capture cards claim to have hadware MPEG encoders on-board, most actually to the conversion from raw .AVI format in software on your PC. True hardware encoders cost thousands.
And I'd rather pay the subscription, because Season's Pass is worth the price admission alone.
The only disadvantage to the DirecTivos is the lack of home networking. The Series 2 DVRs have no provision for it.
However, I can run an S-Video cable to my camcorder and use it to do the analog (TIVO out) to digital conversion and then via firewire into my PC for video capture. Seems half-assed I know, but works like a charm. Some people buy a camcorder for this purpouse alone. There is very little signal loss. And while those video capture cards claim to have hadware MPEG encoders on-board, most actually to the conversion from raw .AVI format in software on your PC. True hardware encoders cost thousands.
I have a Hughes series 2 DVR that I upgraded to 105hrs with an additional hard drive. No, it isn't smart enough to realize when a program runs long - but in my experience, things like that don't happen all that often. Guess it depends on what kind of programming you watch. There is the ability to customize your recordings any way you want though. Instead of telling it to record football on channel XX at a given time, you can tell it to record for 3hrs on channel XX if you want - instead of 2:30 if you want. You can get it to do anything you want really.
The Season's Pass on DirecTivo is the cat's ass though. You can tell it to record every episode of a particular series, or to only record the new episodes (not the reruns). It's pretty smart in that respect - but you have to pay the monthly charge for the TIVO service to do that (programming).
Best thing since sliced bread.
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes + WCL Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 22K
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 23K
-
News NVIDIA and Intel to Develop AI Infrastructure and Personal Computing Products- Started by poke01
- Replies: 403
-
Facebook
Twitter