How does TIVO work?

wilheim · May 16, 2005

Just got back to the states after a long stay in Latin America so I have no idea how it works (Plus Shrink wants to know also).

Thanks, wil. :icon_conf

SportSavant · May 16, 2005

the receiver box (digital Box)

has a hard drive stored right in it....

which allows you to record anything up to 80 hours or so.....

you simply select what you want from the electronic guide on the TV screen & later you can select your SHOWS from the menu & watch them when you want.

phenomenal cauz you can fast forward all the commercials.... an hour show like survivor is only about 30 minutes with TIVO

ZZZSpeedster · May 17, 2005

and you can easily hack it allowing you to add a second hard drive
you can buy the cheapest model, and a 200 GIG hard drive, and have 2 drives in the unit instead of one

works like a charm too :dancefool

TTinCO · May 17, 2005

It's a linux computer with a hard drive (that you can replace with a bigger one) that has replaced the VCR. Ironically, I've had one for a year & have never activated it since there isn't much I see on TV that is worth watching if it isn't live.

GreenDoberman · May 17, 2005

Big TiVo fan here, especially since oddball hours cause me to miss many games.

You won't want to watch a game in real time after you've watched an entire football game in about 40 minutes and missed essentially nothing but filler.

THE SHRINK · May 17, 2005

How much does it cost if you puchase it the honest way?

Thanks for asking this question Wil...

THE SHRINK

GreenDoberman · May 17, 2005

It's around $99 if you can find a rebate offer.

Service fee for month is $11.95 or $12.95.
This uploads all the info onto your hard drive.

truthteller · May 17, 2005

Does it work outside of North America?

Brock Landers · May 17, 2005

Its really awesome, just grabs programs off the dish for you, you can sprcify it to save anything by say, tom cruise, and anything he is in will be saved. we use it daily!

Just got all the Elvis stuff from CBS last week and watched it, saved all sorts of time and watched it on our own schedule.

Highdaddy · May 17, 2005

the monthly fee can be replaced by a one time fee of like $299 for the lifetime of the product i think...i also believe you need a phone line connected to it so it can call and get information.

ZZZSpeedster · May 17, 2005

THE SHRINK said:
How much does it cost if you puchase it the honest way?

Thanks for asking this question Wil...

THE SHRINK

Shrink,

Adding a second(larger) hard drive is in no way illegal...You are adding additional storage space.

Please don't get this confused with stealing of services

volhound · May 17, 2005

I had it for a while but turned it back in because I couldn't record in HD and b/c you can't watch one show while recording another unless you have 2 cable boxes or something
Everybody else loves it, but it didn't work for me, in regards to my needs

SportSavant · May 17, 2005

volhound said:
I had it for a while but turned it back in because I couldn't record in HD and b/c you can't watch one show while recording another unless you have 2 cable boxes or something
Everybody else loves it, but it didn't work for me, in regards to my needs

this depends on the receiver box.... you want to get yourself a DUAL TUNER box.... then you can record one show while watching another....

also.... Most cable companies should have a PERSONAL VIDEO RECORDER style of digital Box.....

is it really 11$ a month for PVR service in the USA?

I work for the cable company here in Canada & PVR service is only 1.99$....

we have DUAL TUNER PVR's that are able to record in HD,

make sure you get the right box.... they are expensive up here though.

HiloBoy · May 17, 2005

dish network and most cable companies have their own type of box called a pvr that works better than tivo with that companies service. tivo works best with direc tv service (but can record any company). i believe they have another company called replay tv (if they are still around). you can usally find good prices on the equipment on ebay.

wolfie_cr · May 17, 2005

truthteller, you need to have a phone line attached to it, I have considered trying it and plug it into the voice over ip box but I haven't done it, it only connects periodically to download certain things such as firmware updates and the programming schedules

Col.Forbin · May 17, 2005

tivo

tivo is the way to go, it's changed my life, hehe. the directv tivo goes for around 200-300$ and has 2 tuners, which means u can record desperate housewives on one chanel and watch a ballgame on another. or you can record two shows at the same time. it has 36 hours of drive space on it. It allows you to set favorite's which will automatically record whatever you program into your settings, good for those of us who travel alot so you won't miss an episode of 24 or whatever you're hooked on. i highly recommend tivo, no need to watch any more commercials just skip right over them.

volhound · May 17, 2005

SportSavant said:
this depends on the receiver box.... you want to get yourself a DUAL TUNER box.... then you can record one show while watching another....

also.... Most cable companies should have a PERSONAL VIDEO RECORDER style of digital Box.....

is it really 11$ a month for PVR service in the USA?

I work for the cable company here in Canada & PVR service is only 1.99$....

we have DUAL TUNER PVR's that are able to record in HD,

make sure you get the right box.... they are expensive up here though.

\

I have directv and paid $300 a piece for my HD receivers. To be able to do what I want, Iwould have needed to purchase the directv tivo HD box for another $1000, so it didn't work out for me. I didn't like having to pay for the first 2 receivers just to be able to get HD, so the extra $1000 is out of the question, especially since the receiver it was replacing would be $300 down the drain
but thanx for the info - a lot of that I didn't know

SportSavant · May 17, 2005

I would not consider buying a receiver unless it was

1) HDTV compatibale

2) 2 TUNER receiver so you can record one channel while watching another

***ALL in ONE unit***

Woody0 · May 17, 2005

It's great for football. You can record while watching then backup and replay critical events even more times than the TV network.

Brock Landers · May 17, 2005

SportSavant said:
I would not consider buying a receiver unless it was

1) HDTV compatibale

2) 2 TUNER receiver so you can record one channel while watching another

***ALL in ONE unit***

they have these at Best buy, the HD tuners though are expensive because it takes up a lot more memory to save HD programs...like 1000 bux for one of these, and they are in such demand they need to be ordered from my local Best Buy.