DVR question
 

I was thinking about getting a Tivo player, until I found out they were going to stop offering lifetime service soon(idiotic move).Anyway, I was wondering if there were any decent DVR services out there that still offer lifetime service?

Unless you buy it used, I'm pretty sure you won't find a lifetime service DVR anymore. I think you still have a few days on the TiVo lifetime if you hurry.

Agreed. If you want the lifetime service, pick one up ASAP. The option for lifetime service ends sometime this month IIRC.

I think it ends on the 18th, I might pick it up

Cable company?

I love my Comcast DVR.

MythTV

If you have cable, check out their DVR service. I had TIVO for about a year, and I'm much happier with my cable DVR.

While the TIVO has a better interface/menu, it can only record one program at a time, no HDTV, and unless you mod it with a couple extra hard drives, there's very little space for recorded shows.

My cable DVR is built into the cable box which means one less box on my rack. The DVR menu is basically the same as my regular cable menu (which sucks). But it can record 2 shows at the same time (while watching a 3rd previously-recorded show). It also handles HDTV. And these HD boxes hold tons of stuff.

I miss a few of the bells and whistles with TIVO, but I'm a lot happier with my cable DVR.

Amen to that. I'm real happy and for only $10 a month and NO purchase fee, it works out to be a better deal than TIVO for the first few years anyway. Yeah, it can't record every show featuring your favorite star, but it can do most of the other stuff (like a Season Pass would). Recording two things at once is a lifesaver since I now double up on Monday (24 + Apprentice), Tues (Boston Legal + TAR), Thurs (Everybody Hates Chris + Survivor) and Sunday (Desperate Housewives + Sopranos). It's been a lifesaver.

Wait a few months for Series 3 TiVo and you'll have a dual tuner HDTV TiVo DVR with a big harddrive. :)

If all things were equal, I'd go with a TIVO. But you're talking about waiting 6 months until the new models come out. Then paying probably $500+ for the box and $20 a month for service.

I'm pretty happy paying the cable company $12 a month for box rental and service. And if I ever have a problem with the DVR box (I haven't yet), I just take it back to the local cable office and they give me a new box.

Those new TIVOs do look pretty nice though.

If you can live w/o summer programming, like me, then the wait isn't so bad. The regular viewing season is almost over I'd vote for wait as well if you are interested in HD at all.

I know I'm starting to sound like a shill for the cable companies, but here goes.

Why bother waiting until the new TIVOs come out? You don't have to buy the cable DVR or sign-up for a long term commitment. Try it out for a couple months. If you're not happy, cancel the service and go for the new TIVO.

Personally, I've tried both, and taking everything into account I prefer the cable DVR.

The cable DVRs really seem to widely range in quality. I tried my cable DVR for about 3-4 days: it froze constantly, it missed recordings, it deleted recordings for no reason, it claimed to be full when that wasn't even remotely the case. I'm sticking to TiVo. :)

I have the same dilemna. Not sure if I should get a Tivo or Dish Network and their DVR. I currently have standard cable. The available program choices between cable and Dish are not an issue for me. I don't need the extra stations Dish offers. My wife and I are expecting our first child soon and we both want a decent solution that will record our favorite shows.

My one lone hangup with Dish, in addition to having a dish on the house/roof, is having the receiver near a phone line. In two rooms the TV's are situated on the opposite wall from the phone jack (no we can't move the TV's) and we don't want a phone cord running along the wall in each room. With the Tivo, we would just put it in one room where the phone jack is close by. However, Tivo doesn't allow 2 shows to be recorded at once which may come into play at times. Plus, between the cable cost and the cost for Tivo, my monthly charge would be more than if I just had Dish.

Decisions, decisions....

Why not just get a wireless phonejack? That'll solve your problem without much fuss or expense.

Here's just one suggestion: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...lance&n=172282

How much does a Comcast DVR cost a month? Do they lend you a reveiver? and do they require digital cable to use it?

I think I'm paying $10 a month for the DVR.

In my area, you do have to have digital cable. They have a digital tier 0 here that doesn't actually include any digital channels -- it just includes digital receiver and access to OnDemand. If you don't want any of the additional channels, that type of thing may be the way to go.

I have a Comcast HDTV DVR ($13/mo.) and I've never been happier...

I've had it since Oct. & the most I've filled it to was 58%, a couple weeks back...
-and that was with the entire series of Fawlty Towers, Season 3 of Arrested Development, a dozen episodes of South Park, 2 Bruins games, the Oscars, the Independent Spirit Awards, 3 movies, and 5-7 other random shows...

My point... That's a shitload of programing, and it was the first time I broke 50%... The duel tuner is a great feature (one of the main attractions for me). And the convenience of being able to have a new one brought out if a problem comes up, is great.

I've never had or used a TIVO, so I'm not going to say one's better then the other... All I will say is that I'm perfectly happy with what I have and haven't found a reason to look into anything else.

I second the cable co's dvr, if you have cable, esp. digital cable.
In my case, the box itself is no additional hardware charge [over the regular 'digital box' rental fee.]
Dual-tuner 120 GB [I think] HD DVR, with name-based recording and up to 9 day EPG. 7.95 DVR fee a month. Very reasonable.
I will second that there is good hardware/software, and bad hardware/software. Mine runs Passport Echo software, and there are some things I'd change in the interface if I could, and the hardware itself is not exceptionally stable [about once a week it just 'stops' recording, and we have to unplug/plug it to restart it--for some reason, it almost always happens on my wife's programs]. If we want to, we just call the cable company and tell them to fix it, since it's still theirs, no matter how long we have it.

When I was with Dish, I didn't have my box plugged into a phone line, ever. I did have the DVR, but it wasn't a TiVo. Not sure if they've cracked down on that, this was 2 years ago.

You should be able to access your local cable co's website and see their rack-rate prices/packages to get an idea.

I have had Tivo for three years and HD DVR (Scientific Atlanta 8300 from Cablevision) for a little over a month, and I agree with what you've written, with a few caveats. But first, to bolster your argument:

• Cable DVR - watch live TV while recording something else. Even better, record 2 things simultaneously while watching something you've already recorded. Tivo can do neither.
• Price, price price. Advantage cable.
• HD - advantage DVR

Tivo advantages (what I miss the most)

• Tivo can search by keyword--not just by title like my 8300.
• Wishlists...when you have a lot of movie channels, and you're waiting for Beaches (a joke--it's a joke) to air again, you just set it up in a wishlist. With cable, I would have to keep checking until it appears on the schedule.
• 1 month vs. 1 week. Tivo gave me listings for about a month in advance. My cable DVR only gives me 7 days.
• Tivo suggestions. You'd never miss this if you didn't have Tivo, but there are some great shows that Tivo recorded for me that I never would have watched or recorded on my own. I miss that.

IMO, if you've had neither, you will be satisfied with your cable company's DVR. If you switch from Tivo like I did, you will embrace the advantages and forget the disadvantages in time.

--Noah K.

My dad's DirecTv Tivo has dual tuners. So it can be recording 2 shows and you can still watch something else you recorded. One thing about Comcast's DVR that is PISSING me off is the series recording. If you set a series to be recorded that is say on Comedy Central or MTV or any channel that fairly often repeats episodes of a show 8 million times, be prepared for that episode to be recorded every time. Even though you select the option of new episodes only, the info on a new show will have the new tag in it until the next week when a new episode really does air. Soooo your DVR will record every instance of that episode whenever it says new.

So it's bsically useless to use series recording unless you are recording a primetime show on CBS NBC or FOX that doesn't re-air new episodes throughout the week. My dad's Tivo never had this problem and it really has irked me.

Well, in that scenario the DVR is doing what it's supposed to. The bigger issue there is that the channels replay the samn damn episode nine jillion times a week. [I counted one time, TLC played Trading Spaces 14 times in one weekend, I think there were two episodes.]
You do have other recording options, depending on your unit:
* every time
* only at 0900 Mondays [or whatever]
* only on certain days [Tues and Thurs]
* only on certain channels
and you can keep 1-5 or 'all' episodes from being automatically purged.
Depending on the program, this may or may not work--we record a couple of shows for my son, and it only keeps 3 episodes, if there are duplicates, they will get purged off soon.
It probably also has a little to do with how the system's EPG labels and identifies the program. I've never used the 'new episodes only', so I'm not real familiar with how it works.

If it's a show you just have to have, I'd record all and set them to keep, then if it's a rerun/duplicate, just 'unkeep' it and it'll get purged off automatically.

Anyway, if you have cable, I'd suggest going ahead and trying their DVR. No contract, no obligation, no setup fee [usually]. Try it for a month or two, if you don't like it, tell them to take it back.

One caveat about the 'lifetime' subs, is that usually, they are for the lifetime of the hardware, not your lifetime. So if you buy the lifetime sub, then it dies 2 days after warranty, you're out of luck. Some companies allow you to pay a transfer fee to transfer that sub a limited amount of times to new hardware, some don't.

Another vote for cable DVR. My dual tuner Motorola is awesome and I haven't had to watch a damn commercial since I bought it...I just fastforward to what I intended on watching in the first place!

I agree here about quality. The recorded picture is not near as nice as the live counterpart. Still better than SD, but far from a perfect HD recording, at least on my Motorola box.

No, but why shell out $60(not including taxes and all the other fees they lop on) a month for four months($240) for a device and programming I'm not interested in? Sure there is no commitment, but it seems like an awful pricy trial period to test it out.

May-September is DVDs, DVDs, DVDs for me(why watch the summer cable shows in SD when I can wait and watch them on DVD with much better pic/sound later on). It would be VERY different if they didn't require you to add their $45 digital service, countless channels I don't want just to get HD. It's fucking ridiculous.

If they ONLY offered the local networks in HD for about $13 a month(for the box), I'd sign up in a heartbeat for that and forgo the tivo. The fact is they are shoving $60 in services I don't want down my throat just to get 4 channels in HD. That doesn't sit well with me. I can't believe I'm the only one that has a problem with this.

But as it stands, tivo is a cheaper option for my viewing needs. Consider I'm paying $720 a year for cable service. That is $720 I could put towards an HD Tivo the first year and save $564($720 minus $13/mo tivo service) every year after. Also look at those 4 summer months, instead of giving $240 to the cable co. I would only be giving Tivo $52.