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TiVo Introduces 'Roamio' DVR That Streams Live and Recorded Shows to iOS Devices
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Are you in the US? What does the TiVo service actually provide?
Over here you only get the EPG, but there's no monthly fee for it. Do you get more than that in the US?
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I love my TiVo HD XL but I'm not seeing much of a future for them unless they make it the must-have cable-cutting DVR. The new boxes still don't support Amazon Prime and the medium and high capacity models won't record local over-the-air channels. I don't care if the media is on the TiVo's hard drive or if it starts streaming immediately from the Internet; I would like their slick user interface to work the same for more content sources than they support today.
Last I checked you could only stream FTA channels - all of which are free on TV Catchup or online anyway. Does it allow you to stream Sky Movies, On Demand content, etc? Thats what they promised when it was launched.
Sounds like a bad cable card, and yes sometimes people go through 7 or 8, it is not in Comcast's best interest to have your TiVo working.
No, it's not a bad cable card, I went through many of them while testing it out, even brand new ones out of the box from Comcast. It makes no sense that it's the cable card.
And yes, it is in their best interest to have my TiVo working, if they want me paying for a Comcast subscription.
What...
How is TiVo still vialble since most cable providers provide the basically the same service with HD channels?
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I am in the US, and I am asking the same question. Not sure why I would need TiVo now.
How is TiVo still vialble since most cable providers provide the basically the same service with HD channels?
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I am in the US, and I am asking the same question. Not sure why I would need TiVo now.
For a long time, it was about the interface, which used to be far better on the TiVo than it was on the DVRs the cable companies offered (and in some cases, still is). As far as I know (someone correct me if I'm wrong), they were among the first, if not the first, to offer streaming from one DVR to another. Also, they offered the ability to program your TiVo online before cable companies started to.
Now, cable companies are starting to catch up, and they're offering DVRs that at the very least, you can say aren't "laughable" anymore compared to a TiVo.
Also...TiVo offers the ability to use other services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime on the same box. Comcast isn't going to do anything like that because it's just going to encourage you to use their bandwidth, and watch other content that they're not technically providing. Honestly, I'd probably still be with TiVo if it weren't for all of the connectivity issues with Comcast and cablecards that I grew tired of dealing with.
Tivo ignore antenna users
I was very disappointed that TIVO continues to ignore those of us who use antenna as our content source. This is amazing considering so many people are cutting the cable cord and need a good DVR. The new Roamio has a ghetto edition for antenna that basically does little over Premiere and doesn't offer streaming like the two cable models do. They also give a paltry 75 hours of hard disk space. I really wish Tivo would wake up and realize that it could increase its market segment by treating us non cable customers on parity with the cable models. I'd buy a new Roamio in a second if they would increase hard disk space and allow IOS streaming. For now I'll keep my two old Tivo IIIs since the new version gives me so little.
I was very disappointed that TIVO continues to ignore those of us who use antenna as our content source. This is amazing considering so many people are cutting the cable cord and need a good DVR. The new Roamio has a ghetto edition for antenna that basically does little over Premiere and doesn't offer streaming like the two cable models do. They also give a paltry 75 hours of hard disk space. I really wish Tivo would wake up and realize that it could increase its market segment by treating us non cable customers on parity with the cable models. I'd buy a new Roamio in a second if they would increase hard disk space and allow IOS streaming. For now I'll keep my two old Tivo IIIs since the new version gives me so little.
Guide data is about it.
Monthly is not really an option for me since I prefer to pay once and be done. If I wanted the new Roamio box I'd have to pay between $200 and $600 for the box (depending on which model) plus $500 for lifetime service. That's $700 - $1100.
I just don't get their business model. They must not make any money on hardware because it's set up in a way that there's no incentive for existing customers to upgrade and if you do they gouge you on the service.
Yes, they need to make money but maybe they need to look at different revenue streams. They already show you ads (on a box/service you've already spent a lot of money on). Maybe they could incorporate the ability to sign up for Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. right from the Tivo and get a cut of revenue. Or when you rent a movie on PPV they get a cut. Maybe they do all of that already. If they are they shouldn't need $500 from me. If they're not then they need to try harder and lower the cost to bring in and keep customers.
I agree that there's no technical reason. I think the reason centers around usability.
To watch live TV on a TiVo mini, the mini utilizes a tuner on the host TiVo. I think this is great, BTW -- the mini allows me to have live TV in other rooms without having to pay for a cable card in every room).
But that means that every time someone on a mini watches live TV, it decrements the number of tuners on the host TiVo. So one mini watching live TV turns a 2-tuner TiVo into a 1-tuner TiVo. Two minis watching live TV turns a 2-tuner TiVo into a 0-tuner TiVo. Or, if both tuners on a 2-tuner TiVo are busy recording stuff, none of the minis could watch live TV.
I think that situation would piss off most average consumers, so TiVo decided for usability reasons (not technical reasons) to say that minis can only be used with 4-tuner TiVos.
For me, (after a large up-front investment) TiVo works out to be a whole lot cheaper, and it's always been way more fun to use.
My cable company charges $60/month for me to rent a six-tuner DVR box (living room) + rent three additional "converter boxes" so the bedrooms can watch the recorded shows.
If I were to go out and buy the biggest six-tuner TiVo Roamio (living room) + three TiVo minis (bedrooms), and pay Lifetime Service for each, I'd be out $1,746 up front.
At the end of five years:
... I would have paid $3,600 to the cable company just for the fees to rent their DVR + convertor boxes.
... I would have paid $1,746 for TiVo DVR hardware + service. Plus I own the equipment, and can resell it. I just sold a TiVo Series 3 on eBay this week for $350. I bought it back in 2007 for ~$650 (including Lifetime Service).
Comparing what it costs to rent the stuff from my cable company, I break even with the high-upfront cost TiVos on month 30. Every month after that is $60/month saved.
nice and impressive, but overpriced. they used to produce inexpensive products i dont know what happened to them. i see low sales.
That's shocking. My box was NZ$300 (about US$240) and there are no service charges on top of that. Maybe they were going for economies of scale here or something; make it cheap enough that "everyone" buys one. That didn't seem to work out, because not only have I seen very few TiVos "in the wild" but you can no longer even buy a new box here (although old boxes continue to work and they still replace defective ones).