Please move to the proper forum. I didn't think it belonged in TechTalk - that seemed like computer discussions.

I want a Tivo. I have a new house wired with ethernet and want to use the Tivo to do the Home Media Option stuff.

I'm concerned it will be a hassle to use with a digital cable box. Since mostly I'll be wanting to record stuff on HBO (read the Sopranos), I need this to work easily. Also, there is the wife factor. While she is technically proficient, she'll have less patience than me in flipping around between video sources and the like.

So, how does it record a schedule I define if I'm watching something? Do I constantly have to make sure that I'm on the right input? According to their setup and "viewing something while recording something else" setup guide, it says that I'd be watching regular cable (not HBO) while the Tivo is recording. How am I supposed to know when the Tivo is recording if I set up some elaborate schedule?

Help me out on this. Is it easier than I'm thinking it will be?

The TiVo has a red light that tells you it's recording.

Well, thats great. But what if my wife puts on some show and then it starts recording the schedule I programmed? The cable box needs to be on the correct channel.

So the red light is the only safeguard, eh?

I take it that the Tivo is designed for a simple cable connection with no cable box then?

TV Talk? Interesting. I thought this was all talk about shows...

You can only watch something you've already recorded while it records something else, with the standalone Tivo. You can't watch something live while it records something else live. You can't watch NBC, for instance, while taping The Sopranos. You CAN, however, watch last week's Sopranos while taping this week's.

If you are watching a Seinfeld rerun live, and it's time to record a scheduled Sopranos episode, a message will pop up saying "Tivo needs to change the channel to record The Sopranos at 8PM. Click OK to change the channel, or cancel to not record The Sopranos" or words to that effect.

Hey thanks. Now we are getting somewhere. You can watch NBC while taping the Sopranos according to their setup guide. You need a splitter.

But thats a help. The Tivo will pop a message up and tell you it want to record. At that point, I click yes and flip the input.

Now, how does the Tivo change the channel on the cable box????

Split your cable line - send one to the box and one to the TV. You will then be able to watch cable tv (analog channels only) while you record something. Connect box to TIVO and then TIVO to TV using the A/V connections.

The TIVO will include an IR Blaster. This will allow the TIVO to change the channel of the box when recording.

No, it will work with your cable box via an IR blaster. You can put it in standby mode and watch another show while it is recording, the caveat being it has to be a standard cable show (digital cable won't work).

A lot of cable companies are offering dual-tuner DVR's now that double as receivers. That's the best option, IMHO, to prevent these kinds of problems.

OK, so Numanoid said it will put up a dialog to tell you it wants to record something. You click OK.

What if you aren't there? I assume it defaults to OK after a period of time?

It also comes with a serial cable, so if you're cable box has a serial cable input, you can tell it to change channels that way.

Here's how I have my cable set up: The coaxial comes out of the wall, through the cable box, through the TiVo, through the VCR, and to the TV. The serial cable connects the TiVo back to the cable box. With this set up, I cannot watch one channel on live TV while I am recording another, but with two TVs in the house, that situation rarely arises.

With TiVo, if I am watching ER at 9 (central time, of course) and I have it programmed to record the Daily show at 10, then at 9:58 or so, a pop-up will tell me the TiVo needs to change channels. I can either select OK, do nothing (which is the same as selecting OK), or select "Stay on this channel, cancel recording." Similarly, if I've got it preprogrammed to record Friends at 7 and I decide I want to record Tru Calling (also at 7), a pop-up will tell me it can't record both and ask me which I want to record.

Hopefully, this helps answer some of your questions.

It doesn't even bother with the message if you haven't used the remote for a while. If you don't do anything, it changes the channel anyway.

I’m guessing it depends on the cable company.

My [long since replaced by DirecTV] cable box (analog) was required to watch/record anything. An output splitter would do no good.

In this case, you couldn’t watch a live broadcast whilst recording another. With a standalone Tivo (or a 2nd vcr) you could, however, watch a recording while something else is (live) being recorded.

My cable box (Motorola DCT2000) has an "RF Bypass" which I currently use to, for instance, tape the Sopranos on the VCR and watch something else (via analog channels). I don't know if anyone uses this feature or not. It essesntially does (and I'm not too swift on connections) what a splitter would do.

I just don't want to be a slave to what the Tivo is recording. I suppose the best solution is to get two Tivos and have the one upstairs do all the recording and then use the Home Media Option to watch the shows on my downstairs TV. I purposely put ethernet jacks in every room for this type of scenario.

So, does this mean that the Tivo would switch to the Daily Show and screw you out of the last minute of ER? That would be extremely annoying.

The whole purpose of this for me is to time shift. I don't want to watch the Sopranos at 9. Chances are the youngster is still up and about and I miss the beginning. But since I want to record it, I'd like the option of watching something less offensive ...

I'm not sure how attached you are to cable but have you considered DirecTV?

They have a $99 receiver with a Tivo built in. It DOES allow you teh use of two tuners so you can watch one show while recording another.

You can also record two at once while watching a third recorded
show.

I've had both stand alone and this unit and I very much prefer this one.

TiVo would swittch over at whatever time Comedy Central says that the Daily Show begins. Sometimes you miss out on the begining or end of shows, but that's because the network runs them over. For example Frasier often spills over about 15-30 seconds into the previous and next time slots, so if you don't record Happy Family, you miss the first 15 seconds of Frasier, and if you don't record Scrubs, you miss the last 15 seconds. But that's the fault of the network giving TiVo bad information, not a problem inherent to TiVo.

If all you're concerned about is the Sopranos, keep in mind that HBO reruns it half a dozen times during the week.

Time shift is what Tivo excels at. I’m a slave to Tivo, and I worship at its alter. I have a box chock full o’ Tivo goodness and rarely have the need to watch live TV. Commercials are a thing of the past.

Plus, if a show normally runs over, you can just pad the Tivo by a few minutes. This is why the DirecTivo is so great-- with the two tuners, the extra pad time won;t affect you if you're taping a show in the next time slot.

I went from digital cable with a stand-alone ReplayTV unit to DirecTivo last year and I've never looked back.

I was already in love with my stand-alone PVR, but the DirecTivo just runs circles around that even.

I have a structured wiring system where each room is wired with coax and brought to a central point in the basement where the main cable feeds the whole house. Would I be able to use this wiring for DirecTV or would they need to run cables outside the house?

DirecTV would hamper any HDTV in the future since I'd have to buy their expensive receiver. DirecTV also doesn't carry the local sports station so I'd miss out on home Philles, Flyers and Sixers games.

I'd love DirecTV honestly since I'm not too fond of the cable company...

There would be an issue with that wiring situation. DirecTV communicates both ways through the cable so each receiver
needs it's own line (two in the case of the DirecTivo) that then
run to a multiswitch before the dish.

That central point in the basement would be a likely location for such a multiswitch so I think that's a good solution.

Someone here who's more knowledgable could probably expand on that for you.

I never watch any live TV at all besides Sixers games. I have a dual tuner so Im not sure how accurate this would be but just go go on a TV vacation for a week. I always have a backlog of stuff I like.