Replacement for TIVO ?

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295 posts

Ultimate Geek

#993676 24-Feb-2014 21:59

JimmyH:
Jaxson:

That's interesting as I find the Tivo interface damn annoying. It's all SD and buries things in weird places / levels down the menus.
It prompts me to confirm what I wish it would just do, like hitting record on a show brings up the do I really want to record this (or book a season pass) prompt.
And I just don't get that 'now showing' is not live TV etc.

Snap. That, the fact that it does not have AV inputs to connect my Sky box, the absence of DLNA connectivity to non-TiVo media players, and the annoying eternally recording/buffering on the last two channels "feature" all irritated me. Mine is on a shelf in the garage and hasn't been powered on for circa 12 months. Replaced with a Panasonic XW390 which, in my opinion, beats it hands down.

Apart from a god-awful menu system, and a manual that reads like it was written by a drunken dyslexic Lemur, it's a good bit of kit. In contrast to the Tivo it has:
- a bigger hard drive
- ability to burn material to discs
- DLNA connectivity to non-TiVo networked media players etc
- AV Inputs for sources like Sky, and
- No damn constant 24/7 recording ahead of the last two channels watched.

Much happier that I was with the TiVo, must get round to putting the barely-used TiVo on TradeMe at some point.........

The OP wanted to know what good alternatives there are if the Tivo breaks down. Gotta admire your stamina and persistence in using this as another opportunity to slag off Tivo. Buyers remorse bites hard huh?

A time-poor geek is hardly a geek at all

dacraka

766 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#993681 24-Feb-2014 22:03

Maxcat:

I want to try to maintain my Tivos as long as I can - watch for fan noise!

You said "watch for fan noise", well mine has intermittent fan noise, should I be wondering about how much life it has left?

Maxcat

273 posts

Ultimate Geek

#993800 25-Feb-2014 07:02

I had the same thing but the noise was so loud I thought it was hard drive failure - this according to the Tivo Dr is a common experience. if you've got noise but your picture is stable it's probably the fan!

It's an easy fix but one of the first things to draw attention to a Tivo owner. Simply add 3-1 type light oil to the center bearing - not much!

Air flow is needed obviously so better to keep it working with a drop or two at the first signs of the noise.

It is one of the things I like about the Tivo is it is easy to maintain/upgrade (unless you have CPU failure).

Athlonite

1828 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#993809 25-Feb-2014 07:19

DTVS smart 1 is a great box android based it does everything I need or want it to do
4x USB 2.0 ports
HDMI out with upscale to 1080p
wired/wireless networking with 802.11bgn
SD card slot
doesn't require you to reformat an HDD from NTFS to FAT or exFAT (mine is currently hooked upto an WD 2TB external HDD)
records in an PC watchable format (MPC-HC or VLC)
and all the other good bits like dlna series link etc etc ... and only $399

bazzer

3438 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#993857 25-Feb-2014 09:14

Athlonite: DTVS smart 1 is a great box android based it does everything I need or want it to do
4x USB 2.0 ports
HDMI out with upscale to 1080p
wired/wireless networking with 802.11bgn
SD card slot
doesn't require you to reformat an HDD from NTFS to FAT or exFAT (mine is currently hooked upto an WD 2TB external HDD)
records in an PC watchable format (MPC-HC or VLC)
and all the other good bits like dlna series link etc etc ... and only $399

Is this satellite only? Too bad, sounds like a reasonable unit to me.

Jaxson

8041 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#993898 25-Feb-2014 09:59

compost:
JimmyH:
Jaxson:

That's interesting as I find the Tivo interface damn annoying. It's all SD and buries things in weird places / levels down the menus.
It prompts me to confirm what I wish it would just do, like hitting record on a show brings up the do I really want to record this (or book a season pass) prompt.
And I just don't get that 'now showing' is not live TV etc.

Snap. That, the fact that it does not have AV inputs to connect my Sky box, the absence of DLNA connectivity to non-TiVo media players, and the annoying eternally recording/buffering on the last two channels "feature" all irritated me. Mine is on a shelf in the garage and hasn't been powered on for circa 12 months. Replaced with a Panasonic XW390 which, in my opinion, beats it hands down.

Apart from a god-awful menu system, and a manual that reads like it was written by a drunken dyslexic Lemur, it's a good bit of kit. In contrast to the Tivo it has:
- a bigger hard drive
- ability to burn material to discs
- DLNA connectivity to non-TiVo networked media players etc
- AV Inputs for sources like Sky, and
- No damn constant 24/7 recording ahead of the last two channels watched.

Much happier that I was with the TiVo, must get round to putting the barely-used TiVo on TradeMe at some point.........

The OP wanted to know what good alternatives there are if the Tivo breaks down. Gotta admire your stamina and persistence in using this as another opportunity to slag off Tivo. Buyers remorse bites hard huh?

I would have thougth the above post does give an option to the OP. Contact JimmyH and buy his one from the garage shelf.

I have a TIVO, but I don't subscribe to this I must therefore love it thing. Seems to be some chronic brand loyalty at play here.

I, like the OP, am keen to learn what alternatives exist should mine ever die also.
JimmyH has given a first hand example of what he did to replace his unit, and the reasons why he finds it a good replacement. Sounds legit to me.

bazzer

3438 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#993914 25-Feb-2014 10:18

I intend to buy the DMR-BWT835GZ unless something better comes along.

Equinox IT

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Jaxson

8041 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#993939 25-Feb-2014 10:26

bazzer: I intend to buy the DMR-BWT835GZ

That's the GeekZone version right?

alvin

207 posts

Master Geek

#993997 25-Feb-2014 11:30

thanks for the advice, maxcat. Got the same problem with my tivo. any particular brand of oil? sorry, i have no idea what is a 3-1 light oil is..

Maxcat: I had the same thing but the noise was so loud I thought it was hard drive failure - this according to the Tivo Dr is a common experience. if you've got noise but your picture is stable it's probably the fan!

It's an easy fix but one of the first things to draw attention to a Tivo owner. Simply add 3-1 type light oil to the center bearing - not much!

Air flow is needed obviously so better to keep it working with a drop or two at the first signs of the noise.

It is one of the things I like about the Tivo is it is easy to maintain/upgrade (unless you have CPU failure).

Maxcat

273 posts

Ultimate Geek

#994053 25-Feb-2014 12:31

Singer 3-1 oil dabbed lightly should do the trick. Probably still available from Countdown..

alvin

207 posts

Master Geek

#994133 25-Feb-2014 14:08

^ thanks maxcat!

Athlonite

1828 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#994272 25-Feb-2014 16:49

bazzer:
Athlonite: DTVS smart 1 is a great box android based it does everything I need or want it to do
4x USB 2.0 ports
HDMI out with upscale to 1080p
wired/wireless networking with 802.11bgn
SD card slot
doesn't require you to reformat an HDD from NTFS to FAT or exFAT (mine is currently hooked upto an WD 2TB external HDD)
records in an PC watchable format (MPC-HC or VLC)
and all the other good bits like dlna series link etc etc ... and only $399

Is this satellite only? Too bad, sounds like a reasonable unit to me.

Yes it is unfortunately although there is always this

Brand: DTVS
Model: DTVS-T1
Terrestrial High Definition
Freeview accredited
USB Recording+Freeview EPG

Easy Installation
Will find new channels when they become available
Follows Freeview assigned channel numbers
Freeview 8 day Electronic Programme Guide
USB PVR Ready. Attach a USB HDD to enable recording
Will record via the Freeview EPG once a USB hard disk drive is attached
Series recording via Freeview EPG
Record two channels at once on same multiplexer
High Definition via HDMI output
Requires a UHF Antenna
Antenna In, Antenna Out,HDMI, USB, Component Out,
Audio L+R, S/PDIF, SCART

JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#994430 25-Feb-2014 21:00

compost:
JimmyH:
Jaxson:

That's interesting as I find the Tivo interface damn annoying. It's all SD and buries things in weird places / levels down the menus.
It prompts me to confirm what I wish it would just do, like hitting record on a show brings up the do I really want to record this (or book a season pass) prompt.
And I just don't get that 'now showing' is not live TV etc.

Snap. That, the fact that it does not have AV inputs to connect my Sky box, the absence of DLNA connectivity to non-TiVo media players, and the annoying eternally recording/buffering on the last two channels "feature" all irritated me. Mine is on a shelf in the garage and hasn't been powered on for circa 12 months. Replaced with a Panasonic XW390 which, in my opinion, beats it hands down.

Apart from a god-awful menu system, and a manual that reads like it was written by a drunken dyslexic Lemur, it's a good bit of kit. In contrast to the Tivo it has:
- a bigger hard drive
- ability to burn material to discs
- DLNA connectivity to non-TiVo networked media players etc
- AV Inputs for sources like Sky, and
- No damn constant 24/7 recording ahead of the last two channels watched.

Much happier that I was with the TiVo, must get round to putting the barely-used TiVo on TradeMe at some point.........

The OP wanted to know what good alternatives there are if the Tivo breaks down. Gotta admire your stamina and persistence in using this as another opportunity to slag off Tivo. Buyers remorse bites hard huh?

Sorry you feel that way.

The OP asked for advice on alternatives to a TiVo. I gave him advice on an alternative product that I felt was an alternative, and some commentary on how I felt the performance and feature set compared to TiVo (ie it does pretty much what the TiVo does and many more useful things as well). All I really said about against the TiVo was that I didn't like the menus and wished the constant recording could be disabled - not exactly a slagging. The rest was commentary on the product I was recommending.

I don't really have buyer's remorse - it didn't cost very much, and was an OK unit until something better came along. Which it did.

Maxcat

273 posts

Ultimate Geek

#994441 25-Feb-2014 21:10

I have a couple of DLNA devices (WDTV, Vulkano, Foobar on PC).

The Home Networking Package on my Tivo gives me pictures, music and other video material. I enjoy having it on the one device instead of switching between the other DLNA devices.

But what else would a DLNA link do that isn't covered by the Home Networking Tivo with pyTivo?

http://pytivo.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/PyTivo

ilovemusic

1439 posts

Uber Geek

#995386 27-Feb-2014 11:27

my tivo also had the dreaded fan noise.

a bash on the case provided temporary relief.
it took a thorough clean out of the fan to restore relative silence.

if i was in the market for a relacement it would be one of the panasonic fv recorders.

how ever broadcast tv is such a dreckfest that my tivo gets little use so if it broke tomorrow i wouldn't replace it.

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