Tivo vs PVR for FREEVIEW

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meremaiden

134 posts

Master Geek

#64225 11-Jul-2010 11:57

Hi all,
Just curious if anyone has any suggestions. I have freeview via an old sky dish and a normal decoder and was anxious to record some shows. J
ust curious if anyone has any recommendations on Tivo vs another PVR? There's such a significant price difference I'm curious what the actual practical differences are. Of course, ease of use is a huge factor, so does anyone have any good PVR recommendations?
Many thanks!

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Biddle Corp

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#349911 11-Jul-2010 12:12

Tivo is only available via Freeview|HD which is a UHF service. It will not work with a satellite dish.

meremaiden

134 posts

Master Geek

#349913 11-Jul-2010 12:20

Thanks for that, I think we have a UHF antenna up-- and according to Tivo site we're highly likely to be able to get a signal. Would UHF be phased out soon though-- is it worth buying a Tivo over 3 years for a technology that might be irrelevant soon-- I'm totally speculating here, know nothing about it...

sbiddle

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#349914 11-Jul-2010 12:27

meremaiden: Thanks for that, I think we have a UHF antenna up-- and according to Tivo site we're highly likely to be able to get a signal. Would UHF be phased out soon though-- is it worth buying a Tivo over 3 years for a technology that might be irrelevant soon-- I'm totally speculating here, know nothing about it...

UHF is not being phased out - I'm not sure where you got that idea from.

Freeview|HD on UHF is the primary method of FTA TV delivery with currently 75% of the population having access to Freeview|HD and that level increaseing to 87% before the analogue channels are shut off.

helicrew

77 posts

Master Geek

#349916 11-Jul-2010 12:35

I'm just finishing off a pvr using win7 and SageTV. Ease of use is great and I have both DVB-T and DVB-S cards in it - as well as a card to grab my cable tv stuff. There is certainly a large "fiddle" factor with a pvr so be prepared to put in a bit of work if you want to go down that track.

Lurch

1061 posts

Uber Geek

#349925 11-Jul-2010 14:31

helicrew: I'm just finishing off a pvr using win7 and SageTV. Ease of use is great and I have both DVB-T and DVB-S cards in it - as well as a card to grab my cable tv stuff. There is certainly a large "fiddle" factor with a pvr so be prepared to put in a bit of work if you want to go down that track.

Thought that would be a HTPC? a PVR is usually a set top box :-)

ascroft

396 posts

Ultimate Geek

#349926 11-Jul-2010 14:35

$718 versus $599 for say a Magic isnt that much of a difference....

common sense is not very common

helicrew

77 posts

Master Geek

#349932 11-Jul-2010 15:12

Interesting comment Lurch. SageTV describes itself as a PVR

"Live TV with PVR and season recordings"

Semantics I think :-)

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Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

sbiddle

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#349935 11-Jul-2010 15:19

Lurch:
helicrew: I'm just finishing off a pvr using win7 and SageTV. Ease of use is great and I have both DVB-T and DVB-S cards in it - as well as a card to grab my cable tv stuff. There is certainly a large "fiddle" factor with a pvr so be prepared to put in a bit of work if you want to go down that track.

Thought that would be a HTPC? a PVR is usually a set top box :-)

To me they are one and the same. I certainly refer to my PC as a PVR.

Most standalone units seem to actually be referred to as DVR's by manufacturers.

meremaiden

134 posts

Master Geek

#349943 11-Jul-2010 15:50

I should have specified, I was talking about a set-top bo-- a decoder for the satelite and recorder for freeview...

Gemini

429 posts

Ultimate Geek

#349967 11-Jul-2010 17:42

I have a MagicTV, so will start the ball rolling

Some key benefits one has over the other

Tivo
- pay per view movie download functionality (via broadband)
- Tivo easy of use/functionality (improved EPG requires broadband)
- possible that more features could be delivered in the future via broadband
Magic
- has EPG for Prime and Maori (Tivo doesn't)
- doesn't need broadband for EPG
- less likely to fold than Tivo, which is really struggling in NZ
- 500GB HDD all others are smaller

meremaiden

134 posts

Master Geek

#350048 11-Jul-2010 22:37

Thanks for the replies-- very helpful for those of us who aren't as well versed in all the ins and outs!

Jaxson

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#350157 12-Jul-2010 11:00

Yeah freeview comes through two delivery methods.

One is Satellite, which covers the whole country but is not HD.

The other is Terrestrial which is broadcast from certain land based towers throughout NZ. Terrestrial can deliver HD and 5.1 on some shows/channels.

Terrestrial is broadcast over UHF. Eventually the old fashioned analogue TV will be shut off and only the newer freeview Terrestrial signal will remain on UHF from the land based towers. Hope that is clear.

There are only two systems really that can handle freeview from both delivery methods. One is the Hyundai AH-3110 unit and the others are home built HTPC computers with separate satellite and terrestrial tuner cards installed.

All the other PVR/DVR/freeview units that can record only work with one delivery system or the other.

TIVO and magic TV boxes both use the terrestrial delivery service.

There are satellite PVR's available too.

meremaiden

134 posts

Master Geek

#350159 12-Jul-2010 11:03

Jaxson-- are there any satellite PVRs that compare with TiVo (EPG at least-- the suggestions isnt so necessary)..

Jaxson

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#350185 12-Jul-2010 11:51

Well kind of depends on what you mean by compares with?

Tivo is a funny one in that it gets its EPG data via the internet, so with no internet connection you are stuffed, and also it has no EPG data for Prime and Maori I think it was.

If you are in a terrestrial reception area, AND have no need for a satellite recorder (ie no second sat dish pointed somewere else than freeview's Optus D1 satellite), then I would go with a terrestrial recorder.

If you want to go satellite, then the Ultraplus, Topfield are known good quality receivers and there's always this new Satlink duo v+ thingy coming soon, perhaps.

Where are you and what are you really after is the main thing at this stage....

webwat

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#350262 12-Jul-2010 14:15

sbiddle:
meremaiden: Thanks for that, I think we have a UHF antenna up-- and according to Tivo site we're highly likely to be able to get a signal. Would UHF be phased out soon though-- is it worth buying a Tivo over 3 years for a technology that might be irrelevant soon-- I'm totally speculating here, know nothing about it...

UHF is not being phased out - I'm not sure where you got that idea from.

Freeview|HD on UHF is the primary method of FTA TV delivery with currently 75% of the population having access to Freeview|HD and that level increaseing to 87% before the analogue channels are shut off.

VHF is being phased out (UHF is still great for digital), so my old analogue TV wont be much good after that.

Time to find a new industry!

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