TiVo

[rmhodv]

Our Video is on the blink, and as we've had it a few years now I can't really complain. Was wandering if anyone knows if TiVo is still around. I looked on there website and it hasn't been updated since 2002.

[MartinDB]

The UK Tivo is no longer in production, but is still supported so no problem getting listings (and if it becomes a problem, an alternative will be available through hacks before guide data runs out).
If you want a machine, 2nd hand is the only way. Over on the TiVo Community the two sources suggested regularly are EBay and TiVoland . I've also seen them for sale here (like this ).
Subscription is £200 for lifetime, or £10 per month.

It's very easy to upgrade the disk capacity, I've replaced the 40GB disc with 2x120GB giving me almost 82 hours at the Best Quality, and 286 hours at Basic Quality, compared to 12 and 40 hours as standard.
You can also add a network card and control it from your PC, there are a lot of added functions available this way, and you can also access it remotely.

I love mine, and have not watched any programme live for months.

Martin.

[rmhodv]

Cheers, thanks for your advice

[steve-p]

I have dealt with Tivoland recently (bought a big hard drive upgrade and a new remote control for mine) and delivery was very quick. I've been using Tivo since October 2000 and wouldn't be without it. Although Sky+ has some technical advantages, the software and user interface are nowhere near as good.

[craigw]

Martin, I've got one which I bought from someone at work & all working fine. One question though, can you watch a tivo recorded programme while recording another programme with tivo ?

[simpo two]

There's always the Toshiba DVD recorder which has a HD as well. Not cheap but it has very good reviews, and it means you can do 'minidisc-style' editing on the HD then copy to DVD-R for archiving and frees up space too.

[Mark.S]

craigw said:

Martin, I've got one which I bought from someone at work & all working fine. One question though, can you watch a tivo recorded programme while recording another programme with tivo ?

Yes, you can watch a recorded programme while its recording something else. Can't record from two channels or record while watching something else live though (which sky+ does).

Had one for a couple of years, superb bit of kit.

[page3]

TiVo is a top piece of kit - and really DOES change the way you watch TV

Two of my brothers and my parents have all bought one after seeing it in action.

(Oh, and being able to change channel and make silly message appear on the TV at home when I'm at work, and my Wife is trying to watch TV is priceless )

[page3]

craigw said:

Martin, I've got one which I bought from someone at work & all working fine. One question though, can you watch a tivo recorded programme while recording another programme with tivo ?

You can even watch the programme you are recording, but at a different point - say, 15 minutes behind and then skip over the adverts

[craigw]

page3 said:

TiVo is a top piece of kit - and really DOES change the way you watch TV Two of my brothers and my parents have all bought one after seeing it in action. (Oh, and being able to change channel and make silly message appear on the TV at home when I'm at work, and my Wife is trying to watch TV is priceless )

How do you do that ?

[page3]

craigw said:

page3 said: TiVo is a top piece of kit - and really DOES change the way you watch TV Two of my brothers and my parents have all bought one after seeing it in action. (Oh, and being able to change channel and make silly message appear on the TV at home when I'm at work, and my Wife is trying to watch TV is priceless ) How do you do that ?

Get a network card for TiVo and run TiVoWeb. You can then access it remotely and do almost anything - loads of modules out there.

[steve-p]

Behind the consumer-friendly GUI lurks some custom hardware, but running a linux operating system. Some upgrades can be carried out quite easily, for example buying a larger hard disk which already contains the software means you can just open the case and swap the new drive for the old one and you don't need to know your dd's from your cpio's. However, it must be stressed that while all this makes it attractive to people who want to mod it and tweak it, it's also quite feasible to use it as Tivo Inc intended, without ever needing to concern yourself with the internals.