TiVo?

Re: TiVo?

Originally posted by warcraftmaster
9.who thinks Apple might create similar media-pc bridging devices?🙂

Click to expand...

that rumor has been tossed around for a while... i dont know the answers to the other questions... my friend has a tivo and loves it... i think its a little overrated personally

1.but i want to know if i can watch tv on my powerbook? using my airport .

-->No.

2.i know works with my airport but what card would i use(for the tivo)?

-->Read the Tivo website. They have 1 USB adaptor they support. It's a Linksys.

3.what TiVo work best for me?

-->How much can you afford?

4.does their Home Media Option premium feature package work in canada?

-->I'm sure this is on their website somewhere.

5.does any one know where i can get a tivo in canada?

-->Also on the Tivo website.

6.how is your tivo and setup?

-->80 hour 2nd gen Tivo with Home Media Option. It connects to my Airport Base station for updates and to my Mac (also wireless) for pictures and music. Every CD I own is ripped to a hard drive as MP3 (Tivo doesn't support AAC) and they stream to the Tivo.

7.how does the itunes work does it have a optical digital outputs?

-->iTunes is software. It doesn't have optical input/output.

8.does it work as good as the home pod?(if any one has both)

-->Probably works about the same. Better features/value on the Tivo though.

9.who thinks Apple might create similar media-pc bridging devices?

-->I sorta doubt it, but we'll see.

Hey HorrorTaxi, can you tell me (us) more about your Tivo set-up? Sounds interesting.

Marc

Yeah--I'm interested in the home media option, but isn't there an extra monthly fee involved? That's what's kept me from trying it.

Edit: never mind. I just checked the TiVo Web site, and it's a one-time $99 fee. But another question--can it access your Mac music files while the Mac is sleeping? My guess would be no. And the fact that it doesn't handle AAC is a problem.

Re: Re: TiVo?

Originally posted by gwuMACaddict
that rumor has been tossed around for a while... i dont know the answers to the other questions... my friend has a tivo and loves it... i think its a little overrated personally

Click to expand...

Doesn't eyetv basically do this? (Sure, there are limitations, but it's a good first approximation).

You should check with your local cable/satellite provider before dropping $300+ on a tivo. Our local cable company offers a tivo like cable box for ~$10 a month, but it includes around 150 channels! I know that over time this will cost more than a tivo, but it has full replacement service. If it breaks you get a brand new one.

This, at least for many people, is a far better solution for recording television shows and movies.

Oh yeah, the boxes from the cable company offer 40 or 80 Gb drives. I think there's one that's 160, but it's mainly for HD tivo (it cost more than $10 as well).

Originally posted by kuyu
You should check with your local cable/satellite provider before dropping $300+ on a tivo. Our local cable company offers a tivo like cable box for ~$10 a month, but it includes around 150 channels! I know that over time this will cost more than a tivo, but it has full replacement service. If it breaks you get a brand new one.

Click to expand...

It will be a long time, though. For the most part, any cable co. offering will be much better price wise. Tivo is $12.95/month, after the hardware purchase ($200-300), or $300 lifetime. So, for $600 up front or $10/month, what's your choice? I take $10/month. In five years, you'll be left with an 80GB outdated harddrive, while I'll be using a 2TB unit that records my HD and does who knows what.

Originally posted by wordmunger
Edit: never mind. I just checked the TiVo Web site, and it's a one-time $99 fee. But another question--can it access your Mac music files while the Mac is sleeping? My guess would be no. And the fact that it doesn't handle AAC is a problem.

Click to expand...

You can't access much of anything while your Mac is sleeping. Back in January they let everybody try Home Media Option for free for a few weeks plus it was only $79.99. I tried it but was very unimpressed. It worked but wouldn't play AAC files (I could understand not playing the protected ones) so I imported a CD I had as MP3 and it worked just fine. But since I have a laptop the odds of it not being asleep while I'm not using it were slim. Same with the photos. They worked but again. My computer is asleep when I'm not using it.

The other problem I had with it was that I had to configure my firewall on my Mac to share in the first place. Nowhere on Tivo's site does it tell you what ports you need to open up but I found this information elsewhere. I can't seem to find it now however.

My other problem (which isn't Tivo's fault) is that I have two different routers on my network and since my computer and my Tivo weren't on the same one they couldn't meet and greet each other. So once I plugged my laptop directly into the router my Tivo was plugged into and opened the correct port it worked.

I think you can also share your videos between Tivo's if you have more than one which I don't.

You can also schedule recordings on your Tivo by going to a website, logging in, selecting which Tivo you want to schedule a recording on, and then finding what you want to record. This is nice but the only way your Tivo will know to record the new show is when your Tivo connects to the service (typically once a day). Since mine usually does this early in the morning, remotely scheduling a show for later in the same day doesn't work as it won't get the information until the next morning which is too late.

Maybe if I had a desktop that I didn't put to sleep and they supported AAC files I'd go for it... until then... it doesn't suit me. It might suit you though.

Originally posted by marccarter
Hey HorrorTaxi, can you tell me (us) more about your Tivo set-up? Sounds interesting.

Marc

Click to expand...

What do you want to know?

Tivo is in the living room, connected to the cable box, TV, and the stereo. Tivo has Home Media and a Linksys wireless bridge. My Mac with all the music on it is in another room with Tivo's sharing software on it. I can access my entire iTunes library--playlists and everything (sans aac, but I burn/rip my protected aac's as mp3) from the Tivo and listen to them in the living room. It's nice to be able to access 7000 songs without even getting up. Sound quality is fine response time is good.

To get program/software updates, Tivo uses my Airport Extreme base station.

I have a Cube that I don't use for much of anything so I'm thinking about putting a bigger hard drive in it and using it as an MP3 server for the Tivo and other computers. It's silent so always being on wouldn't be a problem. There are a couple logistical problems to work out before I can do that. Hey, can you run a Mac without a monitor?

Another thing I do with Tivo/Mac is burn shows I've watched. There are people who hack Tivo to get the file right out of it, but I get good results my way. I run the Tivo output into my DV camera, which connects to my iBook. Then I just import into iMovie, edit out commercials or whatever, and burn.

Any more questions?