Jadzia

I am researching DirecTivo and I was reading the online reviews at Circuit City.com

One guy mentioned ReplayTV and I thought his comment was funny:

I think what this guy is looking for is a time machine...something that will magically transport him farther into a show than what has aired yet.

"I wish I could zap through the commercials to find out who wins American Idol faster than the rest of the country..."

Gasspasser

Well the solution is to just start watching your show a little late (like 10 min or so). That way as you skip the commercials you are actually catching up to the regular show. At least, that is how I understand the thing works.

Jadzia

Yeah, that's what I do. I always start watching at least 15 minutes into the show.

I am so impatient now, I watch very little "live" TV.

I just thought it was funny this guy expected it to skip commercials while watching it live. That'd be a neat trick for a machine to do, especially during a football game or something.

Brian_92gsr

But that isn't what he's saying at all. He is saying that he can't change the channel and watch something else while it is recording a show. Basically if you have a VCR and you're recording something you couldn't watch something else with the VCR, because it only has one tuner. But don't all of the PVR's have their own tuners, so he'd be able to watch something else with the TV's tuner anways.

Chew

The only live TV I watch anymore are football games. The last commercials I actually watched were during the Super Bowl.

I used to run my standalone TiVo through my VCR, so if it was recording something I could watch something else through the VCR. Now with a DirecTiVo, I can just switch to the second tuner if the first is recording something.

I've had extensive experience with DishPVR, ReplayTV, TiVo, and DirecTiVo and I agree with that reviews last comment on the DirecTiVo:

Red Dog

Yeah he is basically an idiot when it comes to splitting signals. If you have cable, split your signal - one to the TV and one to the Replay (like I do; actually I do 3 splits: 1 to my 1st Replay connected to digital cable, 1 to my 2nd Replay, 1 direct to my TV - I can record 2 shows and watch another live (or 2 if I use PIP).

Of course to do what he wants to do with DirectTV and Replay, he would need 2 receivers. Of course, it is obvious that if you have DirectTV, a Directivo makes the most sense.

I tend to wait a little bit too unless there are multiple programs that I like at the same time. Then I generally watch one live.

Roto

As much as I love my ReplayTV, if you have DirecTV there isn't much to research about. Just get the DirecTivo already! And you said you can replace a hard drive in your computer, well then I don't imagine there being a problem with upgrading a Tivo. I upgraded My Replay in an hour, and that was including everything from setup to cleanup. It included finding out my computer couldn't recognize a 250 gig drive so I had to use the pci card that handily came with the drive. I also had to go find the software. If I don't include the time it took me to get everything ready the actual upgrade process was probably 15 to 20 minutes.

Jadzia

So, if i buy a DirecTivo, I should probably also order the upgrade kit and then do the upgrade before I hook it up, right?

That way I won't have to worry about losing any of my data?

Chew

Yeah, I kinda wish I had done the upgrade right away myself. I cleared out the memory of shows, then did the upgrade. But, spent the next several days adding my Season Passes back in. The DirecTiVo "trickles" guide data in over time and can take 2-3 days before completing.

If you're going to get a DirecTiVo and fully intend to upgrade, do both at once . Much easier that way.

By the way, in case you haven't come across the info: DirecTV charges a $5/month DVR fee for a DirecTiVo.

Jadzia

So all I need to do is unplug my DirecTV receiver, plug in the new DirecTivo unit and call DirecTV to activate it?

Is that correct? Or is there more to it than that?

Chew

A standard receiver can even be activated online, maybe even the TiVo.

But, yeah, it was only a phone call for me.

Just make sure they activate the DVR service in addition to the receiver portion. They need to do both for it to work.

Jadzia

And thenI can hold on to my extra receiver, in case I ever want to add it to another room? I just got it as part of the 2-room free deal.

Chew

I believe they will require the same number of receivers you signed up with to remain active throughout your commitment. So, DirecTiVo plus one other receiver would work.