TIVO, anyone?

[Juaru]

Just wondering who uses Tivo or something similar.

Personally, I could not live without my Tivo!

John (not Jon) Arthur

www.JonRocket.com

 

[seo]

Originally posted by Juaru
Personally, I could not live without my Tivo!


www.JonRocket.com

They can have my TiVo when they pry it from my dead cold fingers....

 

[Elapid]

that someone could have access to every push of the button, recording my every move...viewing habits, preferences...

no thanks.

you guys can be test subjects if you like, i'm no lab rat.

 

[illini]

I've looked at Tivo. It looks interesting, but somebody tell me what it really does for me other than give me the ability to record two things at once with no commercials? That's not a sarcastic question. I don't even have cable because of the low signal-to-noise ratio (in my opinion). So, recording, much less recording two things at once, is rarely an issue. Seriously, what's the advantage?

 

[Elapid]

but is probably only useful for the truly video-addicted...

you can set it to automatically record your favorite show each week, then watch the entire series at some later date without missing a show or, i guess being bothered with commercials.

you can record the superbowl while you have a house full of friends over watching the latest space-shot!


stuff like that.

you can also get instant replays, pause the show while you go to the bathroom and not miss a line.

still, the invasion of my privacy is a concern that will keep me TIVO-free

 

[Juaru]

The advantage is, to put it simply, you can watch what you want, when you want to watch it. Also:

Skip Commercials
Don't have to set VCR
Tivo suggests shows I might like watch.
Season Pass - Records my favorite shows every week.
Pause live TV - Gotta go to the bathroom!
Rewind live TV

I never channel surf, and I actually watch less TV than I did before TIVO.

John A

 

[lalligood]

My cable provider (Brighthouse) has their own DVR device that has the digital cable box integrated into one package. It's my understanding that the features aren't quite a slick as a Tivo, but it's i-n-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y better than having to use a VCR

I can still record 2 channels simultaneously & it saves up to 50hrs of programs. It has truly changed the way my wife & I watch television.

Privacy concerns aside, DVRs are EVERYTHING that programming your VCR should have been! A technophobe like my wife had it pretty much mastered within 30 minutes of setting it up & turning it on...

 

[rocketsonly]

A couple of my friends have it, and it's very useful when they want to show me a previously shown TV show. Also it's great when there's nothing on TV.

 

[Juaru]

Originally posted by rocketsonly
Also it's great when there's nothing on TV.

That's the whole point. There's ALWAYS something good on when you've got TIVO!

John A

 

[illini]

I think I just realized why Tivo wouldn't do much for me...I rarely watch regular TV programming! Other than 24, I can't think of a single show I watch regularly. My wife and I get Netflix and tend to get cable mini- and regular-series. We get to choose the best of cable without the hassles of cable.

 

[eugenefl]

I don't own a Tivo. Heck, I'm not even a cable subscriber. I've just never been big on watching TV whenever there's a computer around. There is so much info on the web and so little time. You could toss me in a room with 4 white walls so long as there is a desk, a comfortable chair, and computer in there with a broadband connection.

Movies? We go to our local video store and purchase 3 previewed DVDs for $25 every month. They are usually of the latest overstock and of current titles. We thought of cable, but it usually comes with a hefty pricetag. For any real channels you end up in the upper $100-$120 a month range.

Rockets, computers, and some DVDs...I'm good.

 

[hokkyokusei]

I don't have a TV but I have DVR. I couldn't live without it. I watch about an hour of TV/day, to unwind when I get in from my first job, and before I start on my second. I used to have to watch whatever was on, when I sat down. Not anymore! Now, every few days, I spend 20 minutes going through the schedule picking what to record. Then, when I get in, I can watch what I chose over the last few days.

It's odd, because on cable I have a hundred or so channels, but there's never anything on that I want to watch when I want to watch it. My DVR is DTT only and I get about dozen channels, but there's always too much stuff on the disk to watch!

I should add that I may be biased, as I work for a company that produces DVRs and other STBs.

 

[illini]

Originally posted by eugenefl
Rockets, computers, and some DVDs...I'm good.

Yeah, same here. Only difference is that we get our DVD's through Netflix. $22 a month to have 3 out at a time.

 

[Maelstrom]

Originally posted by Elapid

still, the invasion of my privacy is a concern that will keep me TIVO-free [/B]

hahahaha, I'll just bet you dont give any marketing information to anyone ever, I think you'd be surprised at how much of your 'privacy' you share, do you encrypt all of your email? because your ISP is allowed to look at it if they want to, so is any other server that it passes through and is stored on any hard drive, do you have any wireless products that arent encrypted? do you shred or burn all of your trash, do you have a "bonus" card for your grocery store, do you use any credit cards, or rent movies? did you fill out factual information when you created your account here, did you know google keeps a persistant cookie on your hard drive and their servers know every term you've ever searched for from your IP address?

it is not an invasion of your privacy when you allow it


personally, for the convenience it offers, I couldnt care less if they know what shows I like, in fact, I HOPE they know what shows I like because it can only benefit me

you can easily live without a microwave, but once you've had one you realize how much it would suck to NOT have one anymore, my Tivo is the same

 

[astronboy]

I have local cabel DVR.

I now find my thumb twitching all day, attempting to rewind life itself, in order to see an instant replay...

Fred

 

[Stymye]

I watch very little tv...it just seems like nothing more than a big advertisement tool to me

If I do watch any, I like discovery ,history, and the forensic type stuff
I just set the VCR if I want to record something

TIVO sounds like the way to go for those who do watch tv alot tho

 

[Neil]

What th' heck is "tivo"!?

Honestly, I have never heard of it.

Oh, wait... Is it that thing that lets you playback shows or whatever? DOes it record everything, then let you watch it at random? SOunds pretty cool...

We have very, very basic cable. If it didnt make the regular channels come in better, it wouldent be worth it. Its got a load of crappy shopping channels, three or four channels with nothing but infomercials on, plus the Discovery channel, but the sound doesent work on it, so its just a very loud buzzing/crackling sound... It would be great if I could hear it... And then theres UPN and Spike, which have Star Trek on regularly... I watch Star Trek for an hour a day, plus the news from 6-7, and thats just about it...

 

[astronboy]

Hi Neil,

TIVO is a digital video recorder.

Rather than using a vcr, TIVO (and its equivalents) digitally record television programs internally. There is no cd to insert or remove.

My DVR also allows instant replays, just by pressing a button. Whatever show is on will rewind 10 seconds and start playing from there. Better yet, you can just press 'pause' at anytime, and the DVR will record the program currently playing (up to 1 hour).

So if I need to cut the lawn, and my wife insists that it be done right in the middle of Star Trek, I can hit pause, cut thel awn, then come back and watch the rest of the show just where I left off.

Fred

 

[LOGAN]

I love my tivo - i setup "rocket" in the Keyword list to record any

show in the interests/educational section and I just watched a

history of rockets special that had the V2 rocket special that i did

not know existed.

I will get the exact name of the show when I go home today.

Rockets to space .....something like that.

 

[Stewart32]

is it a subscription service?

or hardward purchase?

or both?

 

[astronboy]

Well,

That depends...

TIVO is hardware.

DVR, like I have is a cable subscription, and they give you the hardware plus a bazillion other channels as part of the deal.

Fred

 

[hokkyokusei]

With TIVO, don't you also subscribe to a service for the listings? I know that used to be the case here in the UK, but it may have changed, and/or be different in the US.

My DVR is UK digital terrestrial only, there's no subscription, I think they're about £200 right now for a 40Gb unit.

 

[Juaru]

The TIVO unit itself cost 150.00 - 350.00 depending on the size of the hard drive. The service is 11.95 per month or 200.00ish for a lifetime (of the unit) subscription.

John (not Jon) Arthur

www.JonRocket.com

 

[Elapid]

Originally posted by Maelstrom
hahahaha, I'll just bet you dont give any marketing information to anyone ever, I think you'd be surprised at how much of your 'privacy' you share, do you encrypt all of your email? because your ISP is allowed to look at it if they want to, so is any other server that it passes through and is stored on any hard drive, do you have any wireless products that arent encrypted? do you shred or burn all of your trash, do you have a "bonus" card for your grocery store, do you use any credit cards, or rent movies? did you fill out factual information when you created your account here, did you know google keeps a persistant cookie on your hard drive and their servers know every term you've ever searched for from your IP address?

maybe not...
if i were doing anything questionable, i would use...

ziplip secure email
firewalls (hardware/software)
anonymous surfing software (different IP each time, none my own)
trash goes out when the truck is coming down the street
document shredder
pay with cash except on ebay and mortgage payments
my email and web board accounts are a mix of fact and fiction.
cookies are deleted regularly
spyware blaster and ad aware


i'm not invisible, but i don't leave a huge trail.
but, then again, i'm nobody that should really worry in the first place...

 

[Hospital_Rocket]

I use a DVR called Replay. It was way better tnan TIVO when I boufgt it for one major reason. It has an ethernet connection. So I can

1 - Update my channel listings in about 2 minutes

2. Link multiple players via my home network

3. Back up things I may want to keep to one of my servers (yes I have 4)

4. Send a recorded program to other Replay users over the internet.

A

 

[Steve]

Originally posted by Maelstrom
you can easily live without a microwave, but once you've had one you realize how much it would suck to NOT have one anymore, my Tivo is the same

Exactly.

And you don't have to be a huge tv fanatic to enjoy having a DVR. Ours is from Dish Network, and has an 80g hard drive. It stores approximately 60 hours of tv shows and movies - give or take. It's almost always around 2/3 full, and probably 1/2 of what's recorded just gets deleted and never watched. That's one of the things I like the most. I'll program shows I think I'll be interested in up to 8 days in advance, then when I do want to watch some tv, I'm not restricted to whatever the networks are showing at that time. I can scroll through whatever I've recorded, and pick and choose what I want to watch (or erase). It doesn't matter when 24 or The Sopranos or Modern Marvels or whatever is on. I'll watch it when I want to. And, oh yeah - you can rewind, fast forward, pause, skip commercials, slow down (even frame-by-frame -- I love that for sports). Just icing on the cake.

I guess TiVo tracks what you watch, then guesses at what you might like? Mine doesn't do that - and that's fine with me. Heck, I rarely know what I want to watch from one day to the next.

I just think that the DVR is basically a clever and useful combination of existing technologies, and it delivers more than I expected. Can't say that about much these days.

S..

 

[Maelstrom]

Tivo can pre-record things it thinks you might like based upon how you rate other shows. Other than that, Tivo does collect anonymous Viewing Information, Diagnostic Information, Commerce Information, and Service Information. https://www.tivo.com/5.11.3.asp Cetainly nothing the average person would be concerned with.

It's great not to be tied to the clock to watch what you want, even if it's only 1 show. Plus I can do a keyword search for "rocket" or "paintball" or whatever and find shows I would never have known about.

 

[illini]

Originally posted by Maelstrom
Plus I can do a keyword search for "rocket" or "paintball" or whatever and find shows I would never have known about.

That part about keyword searches is *very* interesting to me. I don't even have cable 'cause the signal-to-noise ratio is so low. Having a keyword search would be like coherently integrating to get a 30 dB S/N boost. Not too shabby.

Do other DVRs do this, or is this uniquely part of Tivo?

 

[Hospital_Rocket]

The Replay also does similar searches. It does not do the "try this" mode though.