I'm giving up on Tivo

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JimmyH

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#113912 31-Jan-2013 22:24

I have realised mine hasn't been powered up for more than 12 weeks. I hated the fact that it kept recording dross on both tuners 24/7 regardless of whether there was anything to watch, so I only powered it up when I wanted to use it, and then sort of stopped using it entirely. My DVD recorder was doing what I wanted, so I used that instead. Also, with it withdrawn from the NZ market and the continued EPG support into the future far from assured, my original plan of buying further units and buying the network package to link them looks like throwing good money after bad.

So, the Tivo will be offered to some friends first and, if they don't want it, going on Trademe. It was a nice concept and nice hardware, but some strange design choices and the complete hash made of the whole thing by TVNZ/Hybrid mean that it's a semi-useless orphaned product. If I can get rid of it for $100+ I won't be too worried, as I only paid $199.

To replace it, I have picked up a Panny XW390 on sale, which I will connect up this weekend, and which will also replace my older DVD recorder - which will be pensioned-off to the spare room. I've decided it does all I wanted the Tivo to do, does it better, and offers more as well:
- no 24/7 endless recording
- bigger hard drive
- ability to record from external (so from Sky decoder as well as twin tuners)
- DLNA server to watch recorded material (incl Sky) over network
- FV EPG that I'm confident will be supported long-term
- Ability to burn disks

No real downside compared to Tivo as far as I can see. Only downside is that compared to my older, non-Freeview, DVD recorder it has had the 60-second skip function removed to comply with the cursed FV spec.

Tivo will go onto the long list of "things that might have been". Nice concept, nice hardware, shame about the mess Hybrid made of the marketing & support.

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16338 posts

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#754136 31-Jan-2013 22:34

Yes, but you do get what you pay for. You pay a lot less for the tivo. It does what it does well. It is essentially a freeview recording time shifting device.

You can also turn off the auto recording of the 'suggested' programs, but it on on by default. It also does stop recording to the harddrives when not in use, because often when I turn mine on, there is nothing previously recorded prior to turning it on.

People who I have suggested getting one for $199 all love their tivo and couldn't do without it. However there are currently some problems with the EPG that hybrid are providing which has broken season passes on some programs.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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Geekzone

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#754155 31-Jan-2013 22:59

While you can turn off the automatic recording of recommendations, I think the OP was talking about the buffer that is always being recorded for the current channel and the last channel watched so that you can go back 30 minutes in a program on either channel.

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K1000716

569 posts

Ultimate Geek

#754163 31-Jan-2013 23:11

They've got some pretty whack descriptions in the EPG. We saw a Gone with the Wind listing a few days ago, but the description was something about a guy planning on having sex with someone. o.O

I'm still a fan, mainly because it's not broke yet. I like JimmyH's spec list (not worried about disc burning) but next time I'd like triple or quad tuners.

GeoffisPure

436 posts

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#754186 31-Jan-2013 23:56

What sold me on the TiVo was the ability to transfer recordings between the one in the lounge and the one in the bedroom. I agree that the constant recording and inability to turn it off without a long start up process is annoying, though.

Skolink

1081 posts

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#754189 1-Feb-2013 01:12

TiVo has a superior UI to any other recorder I have used or seen used. MySky is pretty close though. Will be interested to hear how the Panasonic XW390 compares. Hopefully not too clunky/plain/unintelligent.

PS, I hope your TiVoHD makes it to Trademe ;).

Klipspringer

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#754198 1-Feb-2013 07:16

Skolink: PS, I hope your TiVoHD makes it to Trademe ;).

Yes. I'm looking for a second one myself.

scuwp

3298 posts

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#754205 1-Feb-2013 07:54

I can't help but agree with a lot of what the OP says. Regardless I love mine to bits and will hold out till I am forced to make a change. Then to what I am not sure as there is nothing really comparable, at least not yet. (Maybe an Igloo box once they wake up and put a HDD in it?)

As for the buffering...that's one of the main features of the device that I would now struggle to live without.

Always be yourself, unless you can be Batman, then always be the Batman

freitasm

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#754213 1-Feb-2013 08:27

I'm actually going to order a replacement remote to keep ours going. Should do this today...

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BigMal

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#754236 1-Feb-2013 09:01

Skolink: TiVo has a superior UI to any other recorder I have used or seen used. MySky is pretty close though. Will be interested to hear how the Panasonic XW390 compares. Hopefully not too clunky/plain/unintelligent.

PS, I hope your TiVoHD makes it to Trademe ;).

I'd go a step further and say the Tivo UI is considerably better than my MySky. Heck even my 10 year old series 1 Tivo has a better UI than Mysky. However the lack of content and being terrestrial only meant it was no use to me.

If only you could use a Sky subscription with Tivo.....I'd be in heaven.

BTW I put my HD Tivo on trademe if anyones interested.....http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=556539666

Good luck with the Panny solution JimmyH. Be nice if, in NZ, we could subscribe to a provider (Sky) and use the hardware of our choice.

K1000716

569 posts

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#754254 1-Feb-2013 09:26

BigMal: BTW I put my HD Tivo on trademe if anyones interested.....http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=556539666

I'd seriously recommend using Pass The Parcel with this. It's reasonably priced, they pick it up and you will get much more interest in the auction. You pass the cost on to the buyer anyway and it's very simple.

Jaxson

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#754287 1-Feb-2013 10:28

I don't think the UI is that much to write home about actually.

Also it looks like all the menus are in SD as it becomes noticably sharper should you ever venture into that CASPASS place. I mention that because I think the EPG could have been a lot clearer. I've said it before, but the Magic TV EPG looked awesome for instant, before being dumped for the SD freeview sloooow version:

Design wise I don't think people in NZ use it as it's intended, given we've got tuners in our TV's anyway, instead of having to use a box of some sort to view cable. We use TIVO to book and replay recorded programs only, so a continuous live buffer is pointless for how I want to use it. I have a harmony remote, so switching between the TV tuners and the TIVO unit is close to instant.

I think TIVO was awesome for the price, but the likes of the Panasonic 3D Bluray and twin tuner HDD unit was on sale for $499 the other day...

BlueShift

1528 posts

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#754292 1-Feb-2013 10:38

Jaxson: Design wise I don't think people in NZ use it as it's intended, given we've got tuners in our TV's anyway, instead of having to use a box of some sort to view cable. We use TIVO to book and replay recorded programs only, so a continuous live buffer is pointless for how I want to use it. I have a harmony remote, so switching between the TV tuners and the TIVO unit is close to instant.

I think TIVO was awesome for the price, but the likes of the Panasonic 3D Bluray and twin tuner HDD unit was on sale for $499 the other day...

Speak for yourself - I haven't used my TV tuner since the day I plugged the TiVo in. Switching between my TiVo and TV is irrelevant, the TiVo remote does all we need it to do.
TiVo is still awesome for the price it was - $499 on sale, even with BluRay on board (3D doesn't count, no-one cares) is more than twice TiVo at its cheapest, and still way dearer than the $360 I paid for mine.

freitasm

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#754297 1-Feb-2013 10:47

I have an old Sony Bravia. Analogue tuner. It either gets signal via HDMI (in this order) from my Windows 7 Media Center (HDhomerun), TiVo or IGLOO (which shall be retired soon, just testing).

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Behodar

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#754309 1-Feb-2013 10:59

Jaxson: I don't think the UI is that much to write home about actually.

I have to agree with this; it's a bit clunky (such as choosing "Now Playing" to watch something pre-recorded). Also if I designed it then I'd buffer to RAM instead of running the hard drive 24/7. You're also right about the TiVo menus being in SD.

Jaxson

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#754330 1-Feb-2013 11:41

It's obvious people use it in different ways, and I fully get that my take on it might be different if my TV was not freeview equipped.

I basically don't watch any live TV any more, except for the 5.30 news on prime as it suits my own family routine quite well. I personally have zero use for anything live TV related.

I'm in the strange position of actually having a TIVO but not thinking that much of it. I would and have recommended it to others based solely on features for the price. Personally though the interface bugs me and I find it quite clunky and old fashioned. If you can find one for $200 or even $300 then it's still good value for what you get.

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