Finally broke down and got a Tivo. It seems cool so far. All the benefits of digital cable (except, you know, the additional channels and the higher-quality picture) without having to pay extra for said digital cable. (Okay, all I really wanted from the digital cable was the channel guide.)
There's a few things they don't tell you, like "80 hours" means "only at basic quality", but that's okay with me. It's not like I need my shows to be super-high quality, and I only have basic cable anyway. Also, if you're recording two shows at the same time you can't watch TV unless you have another feed. I can do that, because I have a splitter behind the TV and can put in another feed on one of my other video ports, but it would still be nice to know. (You can, however, watch something saved while you're recording your two other shows.)
I like how it automatically begins recording when you flip to a new channel, so you can get instant replay -- useful for sports or for a line you miss, but don't want to record the whole program.
*shrug* We'll see how things go. So far it seems pretty cool, although it's still downloading program data.
If 80 hours isn't enough, upgrade it. Go here http://www.weaknees.com/ for the details.
I ♥ my Tivo
I just got DirectTV with DVR, and I love it. Cheaper than cable, too.
Thanks for the website.
Now I see what people mean when they say you'll run out of space quickly on the default drive: I just set about 20 episodes of Star Trek to record over the next two weeks, along with a season pass for John Doe (on SciFi) and a bunch of movies.
Now I know what to get for Hanukkah: a bigger HD.
I don't know how I ever lived without my DVR.
Odd. I just looked up the number to cancel my TiVo service (it's not compatable with HD - too old). The Comcast DVR is pretty good, but I miss TiVo's bloop bloop bloops.
I thought about getting TiVo...but I don't know if we need it.
Quote from: cnamon on May 21, 2006, 09:28:11 AM
I thought about getting TiVo...but I don't know if we need it.
For two years I've thought about it, but until now, I never really decided I wanted it. However, there really wasn't anything I WANTED wanted for my birthday. This was the closest thing I could think of.
Like I said, so far I've scheduled about 40 hours of programming. Fortunately, I can download it to my computer and watch it whenever, or burn it to DVD if I really want to keep it. Plus the wife forced me to get her a Season Pass to Guiding Light (her soap), but she can watch that every night and delete the old eps.
Once you get it you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. Kind of like oxygen.
I've been pondering getting basic cable. But what I'd really like is a la carte cable. *swoon* Just a few channels, skip the rest. There's a big fuss about that, and I can see why. If you're Mr. Cable Channel Producer and you produce the crap channel, nobody's going to want to pay for it if cable goes a la carte. With the way cable is now, you get the crap channel whether you want it or not.
I read somewhere that an a la carte option would actually be more expensive in relationship to the number of channels you get. I know out of the 160 or so channels I have I only ever watch about 10 of them. Although Boomerang in Spanish is rather amusing to watch.
That's not surprising. You'll pay more to get exactly what you want...
But I already get what I want. And I have this neat "favorites" setting on my cable box, so I can go right to what I want to see without having to tread through the muck, so to speak.
Quote from: ReBurn on May 22, 2006, 08:52:55 AM
I read somewhere that an a la carte option would actually be more expensive in relationship to the number of channels you get. I know out of the 160 or so channels I have I only ever watch about 10 of them. Although Boomerang in Spanish is rather amusing to watch.
That's one of the main reasons I don't have cable... I'm too cheap to pay for stuff I don't watch, and too cheap to pay more for stuff I would watch!
I love cable...even on the crap channels, there are sometimes interesting things...like G4. I loved Fastlane when it is on, so I watch it occasionally when I stumble on it on G4. Otherwise, the channel is pretty much worthless to me.
Quote from: cnamon on May 22, 2006, 09:22:53 AM
I love cable...even on the crap channels, there are sometimes interesting things...like G4. I loved Fastlane when it is on, so I watch it occasionally when I stumble on it on G4. Otherwise, the channel is pretty much worthless to me.
Although G4 totally ruined Tech TV, I still like it. Lots and lots of Star Trek:TNG!
Quote from: ReBurn on May 22, 2006, 09:28:21 AM
Quote from: cnamon on May 22, 2006, 09:22:53 AM
I love cable...even on the crap channels, there are sometimes interesting things...like G4. I loved Fastlane when it is on, so I watch it occasionally when I stumble on it on G4. Otherwise, the channel is pretty much worthless to me.
Although G4 totally ruined Tech TV, I still like it. Lots and lots of Star Trek:TNG!
And Attack of the Show, which as much as I want to detest it I can't.
Also, I read somewhere that Leo was returning to Screen Savers.
Quote from: dazie on May 22, 2006, 08:43:50 AM
I've been pondering getting basic cable. But what I'd really like is a la carte cable. *swoon* Just a few channels, skip the rest. There's a big fuss about that, and I can see why. If you're Mr. Cable Channel Producer and you produce the crap channel, nobody's going to want to pay for it if cable goes a la carte. With the way cable is now, you get the crap channel whether you want it or not.
The reason it's like that is because of (if I remember right) must-carry rules. Without legally mandating that certain channels be required to be on cable systems, they'd never get picked up alacarte. So if a cablesystem wants to carry (ie) CNN, it also has to carry CNN/HN and probably a few others.
Quote from: Beefy on May 22, 2006, 09:41:02 AM
Quote from: ReBurn on May 22, 2006, 09:28:21 AM
Quote from: cnamon on May 22, 2006, 09:22:53 AM
I love cable...even on the crap channels, there are sometimes interesting things...like G4. I loved Fastlane when it is on, so I watch it occasionally when I stumble on it on G4. Otherwise, the channel is pretty much worthless to me.
Although G4 totally ruined Tech TV, I still like it. Lots and lots of Star Trek:TNG!
And Attack of the Show, which as much as I want to detest it I can't.
Also, I read somewhere that Leo was returning to Screen Savers.
He does Call for Help on TechTVCanada.
He is all over the podcast world, with the other SS staff, at twit.tv
Quote from: Infobahn on May 22, 2006, 01:46:43 PM
Quote from: Beefy on May 22, 2006, 09:41:02 AM
Quote from: ReBurn on May 22, 2006, 09:28:21 AM
Quote from: cnamon on May 22, 2006, 09:22:53 AM
I love cable...even on the crap channels, there are sometimes interesting things...like G4. I loved Fastlane when it is on, so I watch it occasionally when I stumble on it on G4. Otherwise, the channel is pretty much worthless to me.
Although G4 totally ruined Tech TV, I still like it. Lots and lots of Star Trek:TNG!
And Attack of the Show, which as much as I want to detest it I can't.
Also, I read somewhere that Leo was returning to Screen Savers.
He does Call for Help on TechTVCanada.
He is all over the podcast world, with the other SS staff, at twit.tv
I refuse to get involved with this podcasting fad. Hell, even the writers and producers of Lost have podcasts and I won't listen to them.
I would need to get a pod to cast to.
Leo Laporte is the reason I found fark. Indirectly. Sort of.
Quote from: Beefy on May 22, 2006, 02:19:34 PM
Quote from: Infobahn on May 22, 2006, 01:46:43 PM
Quote from: Beefy on May 22, 2006, 09:41:02 AM
Quote from: ReBurn on May 22, 2006, 09:28:21 AM
Quote from: cnamon on May 22, 2006, 09:22:53 AM
I love cable...even on the crap channels, there are sometimes interesting things...like G4. I loved Fastlane when it is on, so I watch it occasionally when I stumble on it on G4. Otherwise, the channel is pretty much worthless to me.
Although G4 totally ruined Tech TV, I still like it. Lots and lots of Star Trek:TNG!
And Attack of the Show, which as much as I want to detest it I can't.
Also, I read somewhere that Leo was returning to Screen Savers.
He does Call for Help on TechTVCanada.
He is all over the podcast world, with the other SS staff, at twit.tv
I refuse to get involved with this podcasting fad. Hell, even the writers and producers of Lost have podcasts and I won't listen to them.
Luddite
Quote from: Beefy on May 22, 2006, 02:19:34 PM
Quote from: Infobahn on May 22, 2006, 01:46:43 PM
Quote from: Beefy on May 22, 2006, 09:41:02 AM
Quote from: ReBurn on May 22, 2006, 09:28:21 AM
Quote from: cnamon on May 22, 2006, 09:22:53 AM
I love cable...even on the crap channels, there are sometimes interesting things...like G4. I loved Fastlane when it is on, so I watch it occasionally when I stumble on it on G4. Otherwise, the channel is pretty much worthless to me.
Although G4 totally ruined Tech TV, I still like it. Lots and lots of Star Trek:TNG!
And Attack of the Show, which as much as I want to detest it I can't.
Also, I read somewhere that Leo was returning to Screen Savers.
He does Call for Help on TechTVCanada.
He is all over the podcast world, with the other SS staff, at twit.tv
I refuse to get involved with this podcasting fad. Hell, even the writers and producers of Lost have podcasts and I won't listen to them.
I ran a daily podcast for three months, then a bi-weekly podcast, then... well... no one was listening, so I gave up.
It's still in the Early Adopter phase. Give it two more years.
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40563
TiVo doesn't have a free space indicator. I would like one. But the people in this thread are making WAY too big a deal out of the reasons why there isn't.