DVR / TiVo recommendations?

[mkrishnan]

To the op, before you get a Sony RDR-HX900 any of those non-Tivo DVD recorder units, be sure you get a FULL demo of a Tivo or Replay from an experienced user. The Sony unit above from the review I read has very poor PVR functionality. I'm confident that either a Tivo or Replay will be WAY better in this department.

I don't know how good/bad the PVR (onscreen guide, scheduling, etc) functions of the Sony are, but I can't agree enough with how important this comment is. To me (at least), the sea of difference between a hard disk recorder that has the recording interface of a VCR and TiVo or Replay, is almost every bit as big as the difference between a VCR and TiVo or Replay. It's all about the PVR aspect, and not just the fact that it's digital.

 

[Bozola]

As an owner of the Sony, I would agree.. if it's PVR only.. go with Tivo

if you want to take that recording to DVD.. then look elsewhere.


Bozola

 

[Cooknn]

I know what you mean. In the car with the radio, I want to reach for the rewind button!

That's funny, I've thought the same thing while listening to XM in my car. Hehe

 

[mkrishnan]

That's funny, I've thought the same thing while listening to XM in my car. Hehe

XM and Sirius should really implement this. Think of how much easier and cheaper it would be to implement this for audio only than for audio / video...you can easily use RAM to accomplish it!

 

[wPod]

I've had one of my Series 1 Tivos since 2/01,

Not a way to get a series 1 anymore is there? i heard that in all new DVRs they are designed to accept a blocking signal that will not allow the recording of certain shows. (thus forcing you to actually watch the show or pull out the ol' VCR)

 

[mkrishnan]

Not a way to get a series 1 anymore is there? i heard that in all new DVRs they are designed to accept a blocking signal that will not allow the recording of certain shows. (thus forcing you to actually watch the show or pull out the ol' VCR)

When did this happen? My Replay, which is about six months old, doesn't have anything like that.

Actually, now I seem to remember that TiVo implemented this in software as a future possibility but didn't start using it...hmm...lemme see if I can find a link. Hmmm...anyone have onesuch?

 

[aloofman]

LOL, I think the US has been supposed to switch over to high-def within two years for the past eight years at least.

The deadline that everyone seems to allude to -- but was unrealistic even then -- was that all broadcasts should be digital, not that they had to be high-def.

 

[mkrishnan]

The deadline that everyone seems to allude to -- but was unrealistic even then -- was that all broadcasts should be digital, not that they had to be high-def.

Well, that's the latest iteration of the deadline. Dunno...I'm just not holding my breath so much. I'd like to see it. But it's been such a long time coming, that I wouldn't be surprised if some other more robust definition than the DTV standards usurps it before it gets widely implemented....

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

XM and Sirius should really implement this. Think of how much easier and cheaper it would be to implement this for audio only than for audio / video...you can easily use RAM to accomplish it!

Actually I wouldn't mind seeing someone like Alpine putting this in one of their head units. Might be the feature that I would be willing to buy the more expensive units for...

 

[emw]

When did this happen? My Replay, which is about six months old, doesn't have anything like that.

Actually, now I seem to remember that TiVo implemented this in software as a future possibility but didn't start using it...hmm...lemme see if I can find a link. Hmmm...anyone have onesuch?

I don't have the link, but I remember what you're talking about - I don't think it's ever been implemented. There was also discussion around being able to disable TiVoToGo for certain programs as well. Anyone experience that yet?

 

[emw]

Actually I wouldn't mind seeing someone like Alpine putting this in one of their head units. Might be the feature that I would be willing to buy the more expensive units for...

It would be interesting. The thing about TiVo is that it caches 1/2 hour of whatever you're watching, but changing channels clears the cache. With radio, maybe they could store 1/2 hour of all your preset channels or something. Then you could get in the car in the morning and not have to listen to commercials all the way to work...

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

It would be interesting. The thing about TiVo is that it caches 1/2 hour of whatever you're watching, but changing channels clears the cache. With radio, maybe they could store 1/2 hour of all your preset channels or something. Then you could get in the car in the morning and not have to listen to commercials all the way to work...

I would think that a 10 minute cache would be enough. For me just a 3 to 5 minute cache would be enough. I just want o bak-up to a story or song that I was distracted from because of traffic.,

 

[mkrishnan]

I would think that a 10 minute cache would be enough. For me just a 3 to 5 minute cache would be enough. I just want o bak-up to a story or song that I was distracted from because of traffic.,

It might be nice, though, too, with a longer cache, to be able to pause a song you really like so you can run inside a store, or whatever, and then start listening to it again when you get back in the car. If the system used realtime compression for the buffer, I would think that even a one-hour cache, just to be on the safe side, would not be prohibitively expensive. Better yet, put bluetooth in it, have it act as a hands-free for your phone, and make it capable of receiving AAC files via the BT and storing them.

 

[cwerdna]

another discussion

For another current Replay vs. Tivo discussion and debate, see http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=238020&page=1&pp=20

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=2825540&&#post2825540 and http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=2827150&&#post2827150 discuss the inferiority/limitations of Replay's scheduling system. DrStrange there also happens to write the reviews on pvrcompare.com. Before he had his own domain, he'd post up his VERY lengthy comparos regularly on tivocommunity.

 

[cwerdna]

I don't really care what unit any of you buy, but I fail to understand how assigning each show a priority value between 1 and 99 meets the criterion of the "lack of a tool to examine and alter the priority list." It's right there in the options for the show, next to all the other options. It is true that it doesn't do a very good job of warning you of when conflicts arise or how they will play out, but there is a fairly intuitive prioritization system.

Out of curiosity, is this only available for theme channels? DrStrange's response to Replay's priorities is at http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=2831936&&#post2831936.

 

[mkrishnan]

Out of curiosity, is this only available for theme channels? DrStrange's response to Replay's priorities is at http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=2831936&&#post2831936.

Actually I don't know. I have it on mine. There was some thread of things that you could enable by typing codes into the Replay menu. It's possible that this is one of them, in which case I apologize. I'll try to check for you.

EDIT: I think its possible that I enabled it using the procedure described here (takes less than 30 seconds, but it is a hack of sorts): http://www.replayfaqs.com/clawfootcommands

Specifically:

MeLikeCookie added on 10/06/2003: Type 'THEME PRIORITY' into the clawfoot portal and you can prioritize theme recordings from 1 (highest) to 99 (lowest). This is good for when you have multiple theme recordings that may come up at the same time - you can control which show gets recorded.