I'm giving up on Tivo

Forums › TiVo › I'm giving up on Tivo

1 | 2 | 3

2385 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#754342 1-Feb-2013 11:52

Agreed on the comments about the interface being a bit old fashioned, clunky, low resolution etc.

- 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

I have yet to see something that does a better job. Tivo is easy to use (Its compatable with my missus, big+) and it normally just does what its suppose to. I have no issues with the constant recording and buffering. In fact I can't understand why some have issues with this? Will the hard drive wear out quicker? maybe! But that's an easy fix if it happens. My PC's run 24/7 too

Sure it could do some things better, but is there really that much on freeview that warrants all those other features. DLNA/burn to disks etc?

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung (affiliate link).

allan

2030 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#754350 1-Feb-2013 12:06

Likewise, we almost never watch live TV these days. Almost everything is watched via the Tivo. The WAF is great and I don't get any of those "Here you do it, I can't figure it out" conversations.

Klipspringer

2385 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#754351 1-Feb-2013 12:09

allan: The WAF is great and I don't get any of those "Here you do it, I can't figure it out" conversations.

Yip the WAF is probably the most important thing. Far more important than those HD menus.

foamfollower

152 posts

Master Geek

#754356 1-Feb-2013 12:20

I bought a second hand one, and it hasn't missed a beat. I hope it keeps going for many years - I have already bought the spare remote, and even a spare disk with the NZ image on it. Keep going Tivo!

minimoke

750 posts

Ultimate Geek

#754399 1-Feb-2013 13:42

Love my Tivos and wouldn't be without. We watch zero live tv content - its all through the TV. I can skip ads and the buffering is great. For example turned the tv on last night and the new NZ show with that ghastly Robin (?) chick was on. Cant remember the name of the show but thought I might give it a go. Trouble was it was 10 minutes in - no problem for the Tivo. Hit record and I get the whole show. Also not sure if there is a remote to beat - peanut is comfy as.

mattwnz

20003 posts

Uber Geek

#754422 1-Feb-2013 14:21

freitasm: 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.

Yes I realize that, but I have noticed that it does stop buffering if it hasn't been on for a while. I think it is linked to the tv power button, because sometimes when I switch on the TV, and try to rewind the tivo on the channel that is already on, there is no buffer on either tuner, so at some stage it stopped recording. Someone else in another thread also noted this happened. So at some stage it can stop buffering. Maybe it is an energy or harddrive preservation thing.

wallop

367 posts

Ultimate Geek

#754424 1-Feb-2013 14:29

If it has just finished recording on that tuner then you do not have a buffer. It starts to build up again after the recording ends.

mattwnz

20003 posts

Uber Geek

#754428 1-Feb-2013 14:44

wallop: If it has just finished recording on that tuner then you do not have a buffer. It starts to build up again after the recording ends.

Understand that. Although that didn't apply in my case. Maybe it stops buffering after a few days of non use on no recordings.

JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#754520 1-Feb-2013 18:59

Yes, I did mean the constant buffering of whichever channels randomly happened to have been watched most recently.

@Klipspringer - I agree that there isn't really that much on freeview that warrants all the features I have listed. There is a real dearth of content on FV, and I watch the FV channels only rarely, and virtually never live. Most of what I watch is Sky. That's where the features I listed will be most relevant - record a movie in the living room (which is where the Sky box is), watch it using DLNA in the bedroom and/or burn to disk if I want to keep it. If all I wanted to do was watch FV then I doubt I would even spring extra for a two-tuner unit - there's seldom even one thing I want to watch enough to suffer the ad-saturated irritation in an evening, let along two things simultaneously.

I also can't see why so many people seem to love the Tivo interface so much. It's OK, but not great, and distinctly annoying in some ways. I'm not worried about the XW390's interface - it will be my third Panny recorder, and I coped with the other two just fine.

Now, if only I could figure out a way to re-enable the 60-second Skip that the XW390 is allowed to have in some other countries.......

reven

3729 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#754521 1-Feb-2013 19:09

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.

i find that surprising, because thats what put me off tivo and the reason I sold mine. thought the UI was ugly and too low resolution.

im use to HTPCs like xbmc and windows media centre, 1080p menus that make good use of the screen.

the recording and functionality was fine, just the gui i hated (which in my opinion is pretty important)

Spong

1005 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#754629 2-Feb-2013 00:39

I suspect both TiVo and MySky have SD guis as there are still some out there using them with old generation SD CRT TVs. Better still if the interface was switchable, but neither have bothered to offer this as an option.

Tivo upgrades to operate with the new OzTivo EPG, support and service. Over 400 performed here so far. See: www.hillcrest.net.nz

compost

295 posts

Ultimate Geek

#754750 2-Feb-2013 11:40

I don't think the problem is the Tivo device per se but the whole commercial environment around it. Ironically, global Tivo is finally turning the corner as a business while NZ Tivo is sleepwalking.

We are stuck with an old device because the Australasia franchisee (Hybrid) took a bath due to ill conceived business model and strategy, and they don't have the stomach to make the investment that would be needed to introduce newer versions. Even worse, the major NZ shareholder in Hybrid (TVNZ) has gone on to launch a competing platform (Igloo) and now has every reason to want Tivo to stagnate.

I live in hope that one day Tivo will force Hybrid to relinquish the franchise due to being an ineffective franchisee, and let someone else have a go. Hybrid continues to release the occasional new movie on CASPA, presumably a token effort to cover their a** legally and keep the franchisor at bay, so it seems unlikely Hybrid will give it up without a fight.

Also Sky has a recent track record of getting TVNZ to dance to their tune, so I'd expect they would be pressuring TVNZ to prevent Tivo falling into the "wrong" hands.

A time-poor geek is hardly a geek at all

mattwnz

20003 posts

Uber Geek

#754754 2-Feb-2013 12:22

When they were $200-$300, they would have likely been sold at a loss. Standalone HD freeview boxes were about this price, so they were fantastic value as you also got a PVR. I have still got 3 of them, around the house all networked together, so you can easily transfer programs between each other. As long as the EPG is maintained and the HD doesn't die, hopefully they will last many years. It is not as though freeview or it's technology has improved so there is no reason they shouldn't last. Sure they are not perfect, but who is. BUt there are lots of shortcuts with the menus and remote if you learn them

nathan

5695 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#756862 7-Feb-2013 11:13

BigMal:
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.

if you think the Tivo UI is better than Mysky, which i agree with, checkout Windows Media Centre

i have a tivo, i laugh at mysky it is pathetic user experience

out of all the TV UIs I've tried i still prefer MCE

Klipspringer

2385 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#756868 7-Feb-2013 11:29

JimmyH:
@Klipspringer - I agree that there isn't really that much on freeview that warrants all the features I have listed. There is a real dearth of content on FV, and I watch the FV channels only rarely, and virtually never live. Most of what I watch is Sky. That's where the features I listed will be most relevant - record a movie in the living room (which is where the Sky box is), watch it using DLNA in the bedroom and/or burn to disk if I want to keep it. If all I wanted to do was watch FV then I doubt I would even spring extra for a two-tuner unit - there's seldom even one thing I want to watch enough to suffer the ad-saturated irritation in an evening, let along two things simultaneously.

Surely the features you are proposing then should be supplied by your mysky box? Not Tivo?

Tivo is a freeview box, its not going to work with Sky. In fact you will be hard pressed to find any sort of device that can record from Sky and do what you proposing. I don?t see how this can be a Tivo issue? Sky is locking everyone else out by forcing you to make use of their crappy mysky box.

1 | 2 | 3