TiVo Service ending on 31 October 2017

Forums › TiVo › TiVo Service ending on 31 October 2017

1 | ... | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | ... | 68

3866 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1805749 23-Jun-2017 16:27

We're not ready to give up broadcast TV yet, so I recently bought a Panasonic DMR-HWT260 recently on special for $350 and the experience so far is pretty reasonable. The unit is in my workshop at present while I check it's WAF. I'm also waiting for our Tivo to record the last few episodes of a favourite TV series. Once that's done, I will suck the recordings off the Tivo and put them on my NAS and then unleash the Panny on the Mrs.

It's not quite as nice as the Tivo, IMHO, but is the best alternative I have found short of rolling your own solution. There are a couple of quirks (like having to go back to 'live TV mode' to see the EPG if you had previously paused or rewound live TV and were still 'catching up'), but we can live with these I think.

The Panasonic only has 32 slots for scheduled recordings, so if for example you had 25 series that you had asked it to record, there would only be 7 slots free for one-off scheduled recordings. Our living room Tivo has dozens of season passes. A lot of them are historical, but I like that a new season of a favourite show is automatically recorded.

The last quirk I have noted is the 'rewind 10 seconds' button that we use HEAPS on the Tivo (when fast forwarding through advertisements, we use this button a couple of times when you overshoot the end of the ad break) does not work the same on the Panasonic. On the Panny this button only works when you are viewing recorded content, and not on live TV.

My Panny unit was manufactured about 4 months ago, and there was a firmware update offered when I powered it on, so I plan on approaching Panasonic and asking where I can send feature requests (just in case someone actually listens). I would really like the 'rewind 10 seconds' button to work during llve TV, doubling the available recording slots, and for them to look at being able to bring up the EPG when watching TV in catch-up mode (so if you see a movie advertised, you can schedule the recording without losing your place).

Rellies of mine have had a couple of DishTV boxes, and they are definitely not as nice to use IMHO.

I've not yet tried any of the advanced features like remote scheduling of recordings (aka Tivo Genie).

Good luck with your search. If you are anywhere near west Auckland in the next few weeks, you can come and have a test drive of our Panny.

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

Referral links to services I use, really like, and may be rewarded if you sign up:
PocketSmith for budgeting and personal finance management. A great Kiwi company.

cafeg

697 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#1805783 23-Jun-2017 17:13

I'm going to stick with the Tivo until October and see what is around then as my Tivo box is working fine. The only thing I've noticed that is out of sync now are the subtitles, they are way out at times, and sometimes it will reboot itself at random.

I was talking to a Panasonic CSR the other day as if I buy one here I want it to work in OZ when I go there. He said the 3 Panasonic models currently sold here will work in both countries, he also said they were getting a lot of enquiries about them right now that Tivo is stopping.

So perhaps by October Samsung and LG might join in the market as well as there will be a lot of Tivo owners looking for a replacement in October.

cafeg

697 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#1805814 23-Jun-2017 18:13

Actually I have a new LG 55" 4K ultra TV now and that will record onto a USB drive using the guide. But you cant change channels while recording but for things while you aren't home you can set it to record a program and it does it perfectly. no time shifting though :)

After watching programs on Netflix with the network connection on the TV, I dont think I would ever have anything to do with Sky ever again as there is a lot of 4K programs on Netflix now :) A lot of content from Movies to the latest TV shows as well, Netflix is great :)

I can get all the Americas Cup yachting races live and replayed with a VPN to canada and all it cost me was $10usd to buy the viewing for all the races on the Americas Cup site and just send it via HDMI to the TV or by wireless on the local network from my Laptop.

I dont need Sky for anything, they can stick it where the sun don't shine !

BarTender

3606 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1805844 23-Jun-2017 19:43

The options for keeping it going post October look relatively promising. It's looking likely to be able to leverage the existing Series 1 hacks and tweaking them for the Series 3. But the PROM will need to be swapped so getting that done ahead of time is worth doing in my view. Also having a full backup of your drive is a good investment in my view should the drive die.

rosco62

55 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#1805917 23-Jun-2017 22:56

That sounds promising as I have 3 TiVo's and keen to keep using them. I have a 4k TV and have hooked up a USB drive and tried recording with the app. It works but is the most butt ugly way of doing it that I have ever seen. And you need to use a differentnt app to play it back. Ugly !

ronw

1222 posts

Uber Geek

#1805919 23-Jun-2017 23:05

Re Panasonic PVR remember you can always do manual add programs. In many ways Manual let's you do more things like recording every night news. I want it to stay at 5.59 and record till 6.01 if you user the program list it can do funny things if anything happens to program guide

Nokia 7 Plus
Nexus 6P 32Gb
Nexus 6 Phone
Nexus 5 Phone
Nexus 7 2013 Tablet
Samsung TAB A 8"
Samsung TAB A 10"

& many Windows laptops, Desktops etc

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#1805939 24-Jun-2017 01:03

ronw: Re Panasonic PVR remember you can always do manual add programs. In many ways Manual let's you do more things like recording every night news. I want it to stay at 5.59 and record till 6.01 if you user the program list it can do funny things if anything happens to program guide

I have tested the panasonic and found it a quite laggy, and not as user friendly, when compared to the tivo. But maybe ithat gets better when you get used to it. Not a fan of panasonics user interfaces. Also I don't think it remains on all the time, it seems to be more like a VCR, where it is turned off when not being used. Also I don't think it has a way to filter types of programs. eg if you want to view all movies in the EPG guide. A pity sony haven't come one of the NZ market

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

sonyxperiageek

2958 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1805959 24-Jun-2017 08:26

@Dynamic Can you view recorded TV programs from TiVo when it is transferred over to your NAS?

Sony

Groucho

524 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1806029 24-Jun-2017 11:59

Dynamic:

The Panasonic only has 32 slots for scheduled recordings, so if for example you had 25 series that you had asked it to record, there would only be 7 slots free for one-off scheduled recordings. Our living room Tivo has dozens of season passes. A lot of them are historical, but I like that a new season of a favourite show is automatically recorded.

Does this unit seriously only allow 32 "Season Passes" aka Series Links? Admittedly many of my Season Passes are historic of series that are no longer made (or available on free to air) but I have over 100 of them.

Dynamic

3866 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1806566 25-Jun-2017 20:06

sonyxperiageek: @Dynamic Can you view recorded TV programs from TiVo when it is transferred over to your NAS?

Yes, for me. I bought the Tivo Home Networking Package which lets you download the recordings and optionally decrypt them at crappy resolution. 3rd party freeware lets you use the same home networking package 'key' to download the recordings and decrypt them at full resolution. I don't think the HNP can be purchased any more.

Groucho:

Dynamic: The Panasonic only has 32 slots for scheduled recordings, so if for example you had 25 series that you had asked it to record, there would only be 7 slots free for one-off scheduled recordings. Our living room Tivo has dozens of season passes. A lot of them are historical, but I like that a new season of a favourite show is automatically recorded.

Does this unit seriously only allow 32 "Season Passes" aka Series Links? Admittedly many of my Season Passes are historic of series that are no longer made (or available on free to air) but I have over 100 of them.

Product page https://www.panasonic.com/nz/consumer/home-entertainment/freeview-recorders/dmr-hwt260.html has a link to a PDF manual in the support section. Top of page 23 indicates 32 slots for recording.

mattwnz: I have tested the panasonic ..... I don't think it remains on all the time, it seems to be more like a VCR, where it is turned off when not being used.

When you run through the guided setup, it asks which 'standby' mode you want to use and explains the difference. In the lowest power mode, the display on the front is blank and the machine is 'off' until you switch it on. In the higher-power-use mode, the clock on the front panel stays on and the machine will 'wake up' to action your scheduled recordings.

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

Referral links to services I use, really like, and may be rewarded if you sign up:
PocketSmith for budgeting and personal finance management. A great Kiwi company.

Groucho

524 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1806869 26-Jun-2017 12:06

Dynamic:

Groucho:

Dynamic: The Panasonic only has 32 slots for scheduled recordings, so if for example you had 25 series that you had asked it to record, there would only be 7 slots free for one-off scheduled recordings. Our living room Tivo has dozens of season passes. A lot of them are historical, but I like that a new season of a favourite show is automatically recorded.

Does this unit seriously only allow 32 "Season Passes" aka Series Links? Admittedly many of my Season Passes are historic of series that are no longer made (or available on free to air) but I have over 100 of them.

Product page https://www.panasonic.com/nz/consumer/home-entertainment/freeview-recorders/dmr-hwt260.html has a link to a PDF manual in the support section. Top of page 23 indicates 32 slots for recording.

Thanks, appreciate that. I read a bit further and noticed top right of page 24 is the bullet point "The series recording will be cancelled if there has been no episode of the series for 13 weeks". Using TiVo terminology does this mean if a Season Pass is set and a season finishes and doesn't restart till after 13 weeks the Season Pass itself is deleted and won't record subsequent episodes of the new season?

Guess there's a few of us who are also researching on behalf of parents and other friends/family etc... for the most comparable replacement to TiVo.

Dynamic

3866 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1806876 26-Jun-2017 12:29

Groucho: Thanks, appreciate that. I read a bit further and noticed top right of page 24 is the bullet point "The series recording will be cancelled if there has been no episode of the series for 13 weeks". Using TiVo terminology does this mean if a Season Pass is set and a season finishes and doesn't restart till after 13 weeks the Season Pass itself is deleted and won't record subsequent episodes of the new season?

Guess there's a few of us who are also researching on behalf of parents and other friends/family etc... for the most comparable replacement to TiVo.

Hmmmm... I hadn't spotted that 'feature'. For some people it might make sense, but for me (as an example) I would like all Doctor Who episodes and "Air Crash Investigation" episodes to record for as many years as the unit is operational.

I quite understand about the 'buying for relatives', as one of my colleagues has picked one of these Panny units up for rellies as well recently. In that case, just like mine, the Panny unit is in a secondary location so the rellies can get use to it before it gets put onto the main TV.

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

Referral links to services I use, really like, and may be rewarded if you sign up:
PocketSmith for budgeting and personal finance management. A great Kiwi company.

old3eyes

9119 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1807056 26-Jun-2017 15:52

Just wondering if thew TiVo activation system has already finished. Ran up my spare TiVo today to set it up before the service finishes. Went thru the setup OK and tuned all the channels but said was not activated and to go to the activation page on mytivo.co.nz Went there and added in the new serial number and then did another connection to TiVo service and download. After 30 minutes still showed as not activated. Last time I did this back in 2011 when I changed my unit to a new one I seem to remember it was pretty much instant.. I suspect that this one will be a STB after shutdown as will the existing one as my Sony TV bought in 2007 only has an analog tuner. Must start saying to the finance committee that the existing one is 10 years old and should be replaced. Only problem is this one apart from the fact of tuner works great..

Regards,

Old3eyes

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#1807061 26-Jun-2017 15:55

old3eyes:

Just wondering if thew TiVo activation system has already finished. Ran up my spare TiVo today to set it up before the service finishes. Went thru the setup OK and tuned all the channels but said was not activated and to go to the activation page on mytivo.co.nz Went there and added in the new serial number and then did another connection to TiVo service and download. After 30 minutes still showed as not activated. Last time I did this back in 2011 when I changed my unit to a new one I seem to remember it was pretty much instant.. I suspect that this one will be a STB after shutdown as will the existing one as my Sony TV bought in 2007 only has an analog tuner. Must start saying to the finance committee that the existing one is 10 years old and should be replaced. Only problem is this one apart from the fact of tuner works great..

Not sure. I was able to deactivate one about 2 weeks ago, and that worked. Maybe you need to reboot it, what does it say in the tivos main info screen?. I recall that it did take about a day for a new tivo to be activated on the website.

BarTender

3606 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1807064 26-Jun-2017 15:59

old3eyes:

Just wondering if thew TiVo activation system has already finished. Ran up my spare TiVo today to set it up before the service finishes. Went thru the setup OK and tuned all the channels but said was not activated and to go to the activation page on mytivo.co.nz Went there and added in the new serial number and then did another connection to TiVo service and download. After 30 minutes still showed as not activated. Last time I did this back in 2011 when I changed my unit to a new one I seem to remember it was pretty much instant.. I suspect that this one will be a STB after shutdown as will the existing one as my Sony TV bought in 2007 only has an analog tuner. Must start saying to the finance committee that the existing one is 10 years old and should be replaced. Only problem is this one apart from the fact of tuner works great..

I managed to move a Tivo onto my account a few weeks ago, that went through fine without drama. So as long as the Tivo was deregistered then you should be able to register it.

1 | ... | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | ... | 68