I used an IR blaster for a few years. It only fucked up twice which is better than the success rate I've had with the SA DVRs from Comcast.

I feel lucky to have the Comcast Motorola box, then. It doesn't have the TiVo bells and whistles, but it records series TV quite reliably.

Does it record by name like Tivo does? I'm interesting in getting one of these but only if it's really worth it. Tivo had a season pass feature where you could just enter the name of the show you want to record, and it would find the show no matter what channel it was on or at what time, and record it.

When I first got a DVR, my Comcast location gave me a really crappy Motorola box that was actually worse than a VCR. It only had one tuner and only recorded by time.

I complained about this because I know people who have the SA boxes -- Comcast handles cable for the whole region because they bought out somebody up where I'm at. The places that were always Comcast have SA while we have Motorola. They explained that they gave me the wrong box. I traded it for what I have now.

There is a feature that allows you to input the starting 4-5 characters of a show name. I prefer to set up what I want to record by going into the guide and setting it up, though. You can instruct the DVR to record the show. You can set up a single recording or a series recording. If you set up a series recording, you can set it up for first run only, first run and repeats, or all episodes. You can also determine whether the DVR records every instance of the show on all channels or just on the channel the instance you're dealing with is on. I like the flexibility. There are also time record options and options that allow you to pad the start and/or finish of the recording.

The best part about all of this is that it is dual tuner. I'm very happy with it.

If you're lucky enough to have a cable box with a serial port, you can use that instead of the IR blaster. I did this until I got rid of digital cable and it worked brilliantly.

Motorola already makes a dual tuner DVR: the 6412. It records HD to boot. The software on the box leaves a lot to be desired though, so I will welcome Tivo software on it even though I prefer ReplayTV. The 6412 is offered by Comcast, Cox, and probably others.

This can work, but be aware that just because you cable box has a serial port doesn't mean it is actually enabled and working.

Yep.

Sounds like you have the Moto 6412. If you are very happy about it, you have probably never used ReplayTV or Tivo. I have a 6412 and find it to be pretty bad. Yes, it will record shows just fine, and it is nice to be able to record HD. However, it is ridiculously difficult to navigate within recordings. Depending on the software and provider, the box may or may not have a 30-second skip feature (which is not on the remote but can be added IF the box supports it). Even the fastest FF speed is horribly slow. If you want to watch, for example, the last quarter of a football game, it takes a LONG time for FF to get there. Oh, and if you happen to go too far and FF past the end of the show, you have to start all over. The software is laughably bad compared to ReplayTV or Tivo.

I guess I am just spoiled by my ReplayTVs. Not only do they automatically skip commercials, they allow me to instantly skip X minutes ahead in a show by simply pressing X + Quickskip. That is the way it should be.

I haven't personally had one, but I am familiar with them because I know people who have them. Yes, I have a 6412 III.

I have no idea if I have that. I may now have to do some digging.

The fastest FF speed works pretty well for anything one hour in length or shorter. I can get to near the end of a drama in just a couple of minutes. The 4th quarter of a football game is more annoying, though. I will say that I have noticed that top speed seems to vary depending on whether or not the recording was done on a digital channel. If it was from a digital channel, fast forward is much slower.

You're right about starting over. That is a pain. I'd characterize these things as little annoyances, but you're pretty right on that I'd be happy to throw a couple more bones a month onto the cable bill to get better software. The box records what I want to see very reliably and is workable, though.

Yeah, but mine was.

Ok, be patient with me. I almost have it. Sorry this is turning into a tech dialogue, but I've been wanting TiVo forever and I've decided to go ahead and take the plunge, and I need to know if I can do this!

So I get the splitter, one line to TiVo, one line to cable box. You said then you run both to TiVo..that's where I get confused.

Well, I guess I'll just get the TiVo as I see that my needs can be met. I understand that I can only tape from channels 0-99 which is just perfect.

I heard from my brother that the IR blaster isn't reliable. He tried it and TiVo missed a digit and didn't tape a basketball game (which pissed him off).

YMMV with IR blasters. Mine was very reliable. I would certainly try that route first so you can record the digital (>99) channels. If you find that the IR blaster isn't working well, then go the other route and sacrifice digital recording capability.

If you go the other route: Split cable:
Split 1 -->TIVO --> connect TIVO to TV via A/V cables.
Split 2 --> Cable box --> connect box to TV via A/V cables.

It's all laid out in the directions.

As of right now, would I be able to pick up a TIVO with the Lifetime service plan, or has it already gone by the wayside? Also, doesn't TIVO make an HD recorder?

Run both to the TV.

Sorry that was a typo/brain fart on my part.

Just split the cable. 1 to the Cable box, then hook the cable box up to the TV via s-video or rca cables (the red white and yellow plugs).

1 cable to the tivo, and hook it up to the TV however (s-video or rca if inputs are still available) or just to the coax cable screw if no inputs left.

Then just switch TV inputs to watch either the Tivo or the cable box. Obviously the hook up will be different if you have an A/V receiver as they you could plug the cable box and Tivo into it and just switch inputs on it rather than the TV.

Not a stand-alone HD recorder.

The more I think about this the more I am warming up to it, especially for the HD-Tivos. I'd much rather do $20 a month than shell out $700 in one lump sum.

I'm looking to dump the cable co, the only thing holding me back is the cheap HD-DVR. Tivo may be a little more the first couple years but I'd still be saving $40 a month ditching cable. I am sooo looking forward to that day.

1) Those prices are almost certainly not going to apply to the Series3 HD capable Tivos (if and when they are actually released).

2) How are you planning on dumping cable but having Tivo for HD? OTA?

Look if everyone told TIVO to stick it, and didn't pay the stupid monthly payment, and as a result, TIVO say they were loosing money they would go back and do the lifetime offering. I like TIVO, but I don't NEED TIVO....hell I don't even need TV or satellite thanks to the wonderful medium of DVD, which allows me to see all new tv shows when I want to. Its better because, I will work like a feign, but when Christmas comes and I get 2 weeks off, I can sit back and catch up on all my favorite TV on DVD shows.

The only thing that sucks is I miss watching Laker home games.....that's honestly it.

One note on the Motorola 6412 that I can't believe: You have to manually switch between the two tuners. So if you are recording something and watching it and decide to switch channels or watch something else you ave to hit the PiP Swap button, which doesn't actually have anything to do with PiP and switches between the two tuners. I've spoken with people who aren't savvy enough to go to AVSForum and places like that to solve this undocumented problem and just assume that even with the 2 tuners you can't actually watch one thing and record something else. It's ridiculous.

Comcast has entered into some deal with Tivo so we'll see if it will be possible to swap for a Tivo box or new software or something. Comcast reps that I've spoken with have no clue.

Yes, it is annoying that it is so difficult to swap the tuners on the 6412. The most annoying thing about that is that the swap button will not work when the "recording started" message is on the TV. Back when I was both DVRing SVU for my wife and watching Nip/Tuck or The Shield at 10 on Tuesdays, it was very frustrating having to wait out that stupid message before I could flip the tuners so we could watch the one we wanted to watch live.

1. I don't see them coming up with this plan to draw new customers and only use it on the outdated Series 2. That doesn't make sense. But who knows.

2. Yes. OTA. I had Voom so I still have the receiver and professionally installed antenna. It works flawlessly, I just can't record so It hasn't been hooked up since last summer. 99% of what I watch is network shows, the only other things I watch are an occasional sports game of my team, and usually that is usually at someone else's house.

Ok, I tried to do a search but I'm at work and have limited time and I need your help. Please direct me to a previous post if this has been discussed.

Since TiVo now has new pricing plans which include the TiVo unit, why are stores still selling TiVo units and advertising them with the rebate and the old $12.95 pricing plan?

The new pricing plans are in addition to their existing $12.95/mo plan, not replacing it.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=458392

What Morf said... you're still going to be able to buy a Tivo unit and pay the old ($12.95) pricing. You're just going to have the additional option of the higher per month price and not having to buy the unit.