TiVo Service ending on 31 October 2017

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#1748788 27-Mar-2017 15:51

mattwnz:

The problem is it is very difficult to test PVRs prior to purchase, to find out how good they really are. Some retailers do provide a returns policy, but it is usually for credit than a refund, unless the product has a fault.

With a Freeview PVR, its only a Panny or Dish, and they have the same Freeview UI. The Dish T2200 DVB-T is full off issues, so that helps narrow the field down to one brand

Jaxson

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#1748851 27-Mar-2017 17:38

Yup, the Dish TV ones are too close to just rebranded China OEM type models for my liking.

It's a dying market, so that leaves you with the Panny or take a punt on not having a PVR at all, moving to on demand services for catch up etc.

mattwnz

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#1748893 27-Mar-2017 18:39

Jaxson:

Yup, the Dish TV ones are too close to just rebranded China OEM type models for my liking.

It's a dying market, so that leaves you with the Panny or take a punt on not having a PVR at all, moving to on demand services for catch up etc.

On demand in NZ is too painful as no chromecast support at all, and full of adverts. Plus many shows disappear after a few weeks.

Jaxson

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#1748901 27-Mar-2017 18:47

Totally agree. Went with a Sony TV so can use the android app versions hopefully, and without the need for casting.

It sucks for sure, but I just don't want enough Freeview content to warrant replacing a TiVo with something else at $500+

JimmyH

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#1748929 27-Mar-2017 19:40

I picked up a BWT840 Panny unit on sale at JB HiFi about 2 weeks ago, to replace a DVD recorder that is elderly, has had a lot of use, and is getting somewhat flaky. On sale for $399, which got me:

- twin tuner, Freeview Terrestrial

- AV inputs

- 1TB drive

- fully networkable (DLNA client and server)

- the ability to burn content to Blu Ray or DVD

- ability to expand with a USB hard drive, and play material of external drives, USB sticks and memory cards.

All in all, I thought it was a much better deal than the Dish units, which look a bit feature lite and (purely based on the other threads here) buggy.

minimoke

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#1748932 27-Mar-2017 19:49

I've been in touch with Fetch today. Kinda figure if they know there is interest in NZ it might encourage their entry here. Here is their reply (edit: standard template reply)

"Thanks for your email, expansion to New Zealand is still something we are looking into but not likely to be taking place in the short term.

At this time Fetch is only available within Australia."

I am happy to hold off to 31 October before I make my purchase decision - might just be something on the horizon. I think Fetch have an excellent window of opportunity between now and 31 October. If they leave their decision after that it will be too late as 10,000 approx current tivo owners will have found an alternative.

sbiddle

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#1748939 27-Mar-2017 20:00

minimoke:

I've been in touch with Fetch today. Kinda figure if they know there is interest in NZ it might encourage their entry here. Here is their reply

"Thanks for your email, expansion to New Zealand is still something we are looking into but not likely to be taking place in the short term.

At this time Fetch is only available within Australia."

I am happy to hold off to 31 October before I make my purchase decision - might just be something on the horizon. I think Fetch have an excellent window of opportunity between now and 31 October. If they leave their decision after that it will be too late as 10,000 approx current tivo owners will have found an alternative.

10,000 still in use? Yeah nah. While I never heard an official sales figure I do know when they were dumping then at Noel Leeming that total sales figures for NZ were nowhere near that figure. I'd be surprised if they even made it to 10,000 even with all the stock they sold cheaply.

I hope you realise Fetch is a proprietary box with proprietary EPG that will end up going the same way as Tivo if support is ever pulled.

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minimoke

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#1748949 27-Mar-2017 20:14

10,000 still in use? Yeah nah. While I never heard an official sales figure I do know when they were dumping then at Noel Leeming that total sales figures for NZ were nowhere near that figure. I'd be surprised if they even made it to 10,000 even with all the stock they sold cheaply.

I hope you realise Fetch is a proprietary box with proprietary EPG that will end up going the same way as Tivo if support is ever pulled.

10,000 may be a bit optimistic. One thing is for sure Hybrid and Tivo will know exactly how many boxes remain connected. That would be useful information for them to have.

Yup - I realise it proprietary - which is why I am looking, just out of interst to, see how these things work

tdgeek

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#1748952 27-Mar-2017 20:20

JimmyH:

I picked up a BWT840 Panny unit on sale at JB HiFi about 2 weeks ago, to replace a DVD recorder that is elderly, has had a lot of use, and is getting somewhat flaky. On sale for $399, which got me:

- twin tuner, Freeview Terrestrial

- AV inputs

- 1TB drive

- fully networkable (DLNA client and server)

- the ability to burn content to Blu Ray or DVD

- ability to expand with a USB hard drive, and play material of external drives, USB sticks and memory cards.

All in all, I thought it was a much better deal than the Dish units, which look a bit feature lite and (purely based on the other threads here) buggy.

Wow thats cheap. isn't the 760 $749? and the 840 is better?

old3eyes

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#1749291 28-Mar-2017 11:15

minimoke:

I've been in touch with Fetch today. Kinda figure if they know there is interest in NZ it might encourage their entry here. Here is their reply (edit: standard template reply)

"Thanks for your email, expansion to New Zealand is still something we are looking into but not likely to be taking place in the short term.

At this time Fetch is only available within Australia."

I am happy to hold off to 31 October before I make my purchase decision - might just be something on the horizon. I think Fetch have an excellent window of opportunity between now and 31 October. If they leave their decision after that it will be too late as 10,000 approx current tivo owners will have found an alternative.

Got the same copy / paste reply a couple of weeks ago when I asked them..

Regards,

Old3eyes

kevwest

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#1753004 2-Apr-2017 07:39

So I took delivery of a new DU+ Solo SE V2 with a Dual Terrestrial Tuner last week and have finally got it up and running. I tried a few UI's but have finally settled on OPenvix. The biggest problem to overcome was that it only had EPG for the next hour. After considerable effort and some help from Rytec, I have managed to access 7 days of EPG using XMLTV. The UI is nowhere as good as the TiVo, this said however I have now found the web interface for it and my initial feeling is that this makes the VU+ so much more user friendly than the TiVo. I can access all 7 days of EPG from my PC and can set timers for recording, including duration and repeats, plus direct the recording to a particular file. (The recordings/files are stored on an attached 2tb Passport drive)

Currently we are using WD Media PLayers to access and play the recordings throughout the house, but I have been eying up the Amazon Fire TV (Box) which from what I have seen so far, looks pretty good and might just do the job.

lucasnz

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#1753376 2-Apr-2017 20:34

Riggleby:

Anyone got suggestions for an alternative? I've got zero clue on what is out there in the market since I've had this for so long.

I've been following this thread for some time. Going back to the orginal quesion, alternatives to TiVo... This is what I've set up as a TiVo replacement setup, a Home Theatre PC (HTPC). I settled on LibreELEC (rather than MythTV that @robfish suggests - primarily because it seemed easier to set up). All up it cost me less than $250 - but I had a few parts. I've included a cheaper alternative using a Raspberry Pi 3 which would cost under $200.

It's not as simple as a TiVo (just plug in and turn on), but it's not overly complicated either. For those interested in the EPG, here's a screenshot.

Click to see full size

If you're interested in setting one up, here's a list of components:

HTPC:

Intel NUC $136.68 USD (inc shipping) (approx $200 NZD) - price appears to have gone up unfortunately:

Intel NUC NUC5CPYH

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XPVRR5M/
https://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=3201954

RAM $28.75 NZD (not required for Raspberry Pi):

Crucial 2GB LAPTOP DDR3 1600Mhz SODIMM
https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MEMCRU052049/Crucial-2GB-LAPTOP-DDR3-1600Mhz-SODIMM-135V15V-204
https://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=1183825

Rasberry Pi 3 (cheaper) $169 NZD for the combo - but you need to install an infrared receiver, get a remote that comes with a receiver OR use a smart phone as a remote (there a remote app for Andriod that connects via IP)

https://pishop.nz/RPI3-COMBO-1/
ir receiver setup:
https://learn.adafruit.com/using-an-ir-remote-with-a-raspberry-pi-media-center/hardware

Main benefits of the NUC over the (raspberry Pi):

1. Infrared receiver is built in
2. 4k video support
3. optical audio out
4. 2.5in HDD/SSD support

Other Components:

Storage (I already had a 50GB SSD - so I'm using this - it's not huge, so if I need long term storage I'll transfer recordings to my PC):

The NUC has an SD Card slot, a 2.5in (laptop size) hard drive slot, and USB ports (for removable hard drives).
The Raspberry Pi has an SD Card slot and USB ports (for removable hard drives).
Both systems could support an SD Card for the OS, and a removable hard drive for long term storage.

USB Tuner about $10 NZD each (I've bought 2 this enables you to record one channel and watch another):

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Brand-New-RTL2832U-USB-DVB-T-RTL-SDR-Digital-TV-Stick-R820T-Tuner-Receptor-1pc/32744688856.html
OR
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/RTL-SDR-Realtek-RTL2832U-Tuner-USB-Receiver-Dongle-PAL-IEC-Input/32611469389.html

Remote control (I used my Logitec Harmony universal remote):

If you have a universal remote set it to: Device Type: Media Center PC, Manufacture: Microsoft, Model: Windows Media Center
Otherwise you can buy any MCE (Media Centre Edition) compliant remote (about $10) - NUC has a built-in infrared receiver (so don't need one with an ir receiver), but if you go the rasberry pi route, then you might want one with an ir receiver.
https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-mce-remote.html

Steps to get it running:

1. Assemble the components
2. Create installation media (using USB drive): https://wiki.libreelec.tv/index.php?title=LibreELEC_USB-SD_Creator
3. Boot using USB drive and follow on screen prompts to install
4. Basic Setup:

1. Set up live TV Server:

1. Inside Kodi go to: System >> Add-ons >> Install from repository >> LibreELEC Add-ons >> Services >> TVHeadend 4.2 >> Install
2. Configure tvheadend from a browser on another device: http://<HTPC-IP>:9981/
3. tvheadend config is mostly straight forward but unfortunately currently loads the wrong frequencies for NZ, so you need to manually set this up under: Configuration > DVB Inputs > Muxes

2. Set up live TV client:

1. Inside Kodi go to Settings >> Add-ons >> install from repository >> Kodi official >> PVR Clients >> TVheadend >> Install
2. The defaults are probably fine - if you set up a password on your server you'll need to enter this
3. If getting confused, see: http://nucblog.net/2014/04/enabling-live-tv-in-xbmcopenelec/

5. Bonus/Advanced setup

1. Access media on your computer:

1. Set up a windows Share on your computer
2. Add the share as a media source in Kodi

2. Other stuff you might want to do (That I've done):

1. EPG download - I found that not all the channels had 7 days EPG data - http://www.matthuisman.nz/2016/10/freeview-nz-xmltv-epg.html
2. Install TVNZ & Three Add-ons - http://www.matthuisman.nz/2017/02/kodi-tvnz-ondemand-add-on.html http://www.matthuisman.nz/2017/03/threenow-kodi-add-on.html
3. If you have a blank screen after rebooting when your monitor/tv/projector is off, ssh onto the htpc, and run the following command: getedid create
4. The remote mostly works fine out of the box, but you can tweak the buttons to work better for your particular remote - http://nucblog.net/2014/01/mapping-the-buttons-on-the-remote-control/

3. Access live TV and/or recordings from HTPC2 see step 2 above but when configuring but the HTPC1's IP address

Hope this helps someone.

Luke

petercad

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#1753428 3-Apr-2017 06:19

Anyone considered or tried these - https://beyonwiz.com.au/products/

Been in touch with them and they advise with different firmware the channel spacing will work in N, and they have a grid style EPG

tdgeek

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#1753430 3-Apr-2017 06:36

petercad:

Anyone considered or tried these - https://beyonwiz.com.au/products/

Been in touch with them and they advise with different firmware the channel spacing will work in N, and they have a grid style EPG

Doesnt seem to have season pass

robfish

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#1753486 3-Apr-2017 08:35

lucasnz:I've been following this thread for some time. Going back to the orginal quesion, alternatives to TiVo... This is what I've set up as a TiVo replacement setup, a Home Theatre PC (HTPC). I settled on LibreELEC (rather than MythTV that @robfish suggests - primarily because it seemed easier to set up).

Luke

Good post Luke.

My son has a similar setup and it seems to work well. Anyone who can set this up would not struggle with MythTV so I wouldn't say it would be more difficult.

MythTV would be more expensive but it does offer some more benefits such as central (and unlimited) storage and multiple "frontends" (I have frontends in my lounge, living room, study, computer, garage/gym, spa pool and my phone and tablet.)

Rob

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