edytwinky

I just bought an open box Series 2 Tivo at Target yesterday for like $40. They have a 30 day return policy on it so I thought I'd try it out. I already have a DVR through Cox but was wondering if it was worth the change.

Some questions I had:

1.) I have digital cable, how do you go about recording two different shows?

2.) Does any wireless USB adaptor work with it?

3.) Does Tivo offer an early cancellation policy for their plans if I do not like the service?

Thanks in advance guys for any help.

Tracer Bullet

1) You can't, unless your channels 2-99 come through unscrambled. The TiVo can only control one cable box. Also, are you certain you bought the dual-tuner series 2?

2) No, only certain ones work. Here's a list from TiVo: http://customersupport.tivo.com/Laun...2-253346b15256

3) They do, but they charge you a penalty of $150 (much like a cell phone company). I believe if you cancel before your initial 30 days are up, they do not charge you this fee.

TheBigDave

When I had a Tivo (Series 2), I used a Linksys WUSB12 adapter. But that was about 2 years ago. There are probably newer models now.

Ephemeral_Life

TiVo's wireless adapter works great.

Red Dog

As a change, probably not worth it. With a cable DVR, you can record 2 channels at once. With TIVO, only 1, plus you probably have to deal with an IR-blaster. Plus your monthly TIVO fee is probably higher than what Cox charges you for monthly DVR service. Now if you can live with one tuner-recording capability, TIVO gives you much better DVR functionality.

edytwinky

It was a single tuner, so I returned it. But i'm looking at buying a two-tuner.

I have a linksys usb adapter and I've checked the website, it's compatible.

So I need to purchase a splitter if I have a dual tuner Tivo?

Through Cox i'm paying $14.95 for my DVR. $4.95 box rental plus a $9.95 service fee.

Tracer Bullet

Keep in mind that WPA won't work with anything but the TiVo wi-fi adapter. The box doesn't have enough processing power to decrypt WPA, so the TiVo adapter does the bulk of that work. WEP will work, though.

JasonF

Series 3 TiVos have dual tuners and cable-card ports, so you can record off two channels at once and don't need to deal with a cable box. I don't know about the dual tuner Series 2s. At the very least, you should be able to use a splitter and run one tuner through the cable box and the other straight from the wall, which would allow you to record non-scrambled channels on the second tuner.

All TiVos (I think) have a serial port for input from the cable box, so if your cable box supports serial out, you don't have to deal with the IR-blaster.

Red Dog

That's a lot, however, keep the following in mind:

1) I assume the $9.95 is for your digital service. That would remain with the TIVO assuming you want that digital tier.

2) If you want to record digital, you'll still pay the $4.95 for a box.

3) If you get a dual-tuner TIVO (do they even make dual-tuner S2 TIVOs?) and spilt, unless you get a 2nd digital box, for one tuner, you'll be restricted to recording analog (ch.2-99).

4) Instead of the $14.95 to Cox for the DVR, you'll pay the monthly fee to TIVO. $12.95?

Tracer Bullet

Yes, you can do that. However, he should check to make sure he can get channels 2-99 off straight coax- many cable companies have started scrambling them. Mine does, so my dual-tuner unit is effectively a single.

Tracer Bullet

They do, but they can still only control one cable box.

Red Dog

Mine doesn't....yet. I assume that is going to change sometime in the next few years when the official switch to digital occurs.

edytwinky

1.) No, it's actually around $15 for the DVR service alone. The digital cable price is separate.

3.) Yeah they do make S2 Dual Tuner ones. And my current cable company does let me view analog channels 2-99.

4.) I was looking at Tivo's pricing structure and the only way to get $12.95 is to do a 3 year contract. $16.95 if you do a month to month which sucks.

So i'm thinking about getting the Tivo box at Best Buy or something and try it out for a week, if I don't like it I can cancel. I just want to see what the different features are like and it it's worth the change.

I really like the whole send to computer and vcr option. Ughh so many thoughts to ponder.

edytwinky

http://dynamic.tivo.com/movieoffer.html
Anybody see they are now offering a free wireless adapter with the purchase of a Tivo now? Man it's like God is telling me to make the switch!

I had another question. When they advertise an 80 hour tivo, how many shows is that actually? Is that 80 hours at the lowest quality or best quality? How does that work?

Tracer Bullet

It's 80 hours at the lowest quality setting. I find with digital cable that the next highest setting is watchable, and I get probably 50 hours- more than enough for me, but take that under consideration.

Ephemeral_Life

It's also very easy to upgrade the TiVo with bigger hard drives (following instructions and using free software available on various places on the net). I switched the 80-gig one it came with out for a 160-gig drive, and it's just about the perfect amount of space for me.

The way I have it set up is that the Tivo uses a SD cable box via the IR blaster thingies, and for watching regular TV I have my separate HD cable box. That way the TiVo has access to all but my HD channels, and I can still watch everything I want to on live TV no matter what the box is recording.

Chew

I haven't been keeping up with it, but the last time I heard: you can now set up the Series 3 with an external drive for additional storage, which is obviously even easier than cracking it open to replace what's there.

edytwinky

What's this IR blaster thing everybody keeps talking about?

Duran

It sends a IR signal that controls your cable box, telling it to change channels.

You'll still have to spend the $5/month for the cable box. Frankly, it doesn't seem worth it to me, which is why I never bothered with a series 2.