A Tivo Cautionary Tale

[SMAC]

I got TIVO last Saturday and after only a week it has changed how I watch tv. It's a great service for people with busy schedules who must find the time to sit and relax. I would highly recommend this product.

 

[Cardsmasochist]

before my DVRs, I my favorite tv shows controlled my schedule. Now, I control when to watch my favorite shows.

I like The Simpsons, The Sopranos, Conan O'Brien, The Daily Show, Seinfeld. I can set up my DVR to record them whenever they are on.

When I get a chance to watch TV, I just click on the "List" button on my remote, and there is a list of all the shows it recorded. I can watch a 30 minute show in about 22 minutes. An hour show only takes about 44 minutes because you can skip over the commercials.

Again, there is no equipment to buy (which will be obsolete when they come out with better DVRs).

I love it!!!!

 

[abomb]

So you're saying Tivo is just as good as a VCR?

Take last night for example:

Stanley Cup playoffs at 5:00 on ESPN.

NBA Western Conference playoffs at 6:00 on TNT.

Az D-Backs at 7:00 on local channel 3.

How about this? Last night's finale of '24' overlapped with the Lakers/D-Backs, so I toted my spare 13" over to D-Dogg's house and split the cable next to his 27" and we bascially watched the Red Sox/A's game, Lakers/TWolves, DBacks/ Giants, 24 and part of American Idol. I felt like a rap DJ with all the dual remote control action. Must be my redneck roots shining through!

A-Bomb

 

[Russ Smith]

Question, Russ. If the guy already has a Dish network dish mounted and installed, couldn't you just remove it and put a DirecTV dish in it's place and re-run DTV wires (if necessary...maybe you could use the same wires?)?

It seems odd that the guy would have a dish there, but object to you installing DirecTV.

they don't face the same direction (satellite wise) and it's HIS dish so if I took it down I'd be breaking the lease.

I have considered buying a directv receiver, marking precisely where his dish network dish points, and then rotating it to where Directv points and using his dish with a directv receiver, I assume the dish itself is identical it's the receiver that makes the difference?

But I'm not sure the guy would be happy if I'm up on his roof moving his dish around and I am just renting his townhouse so I have a little less leeway than if I owned the place.

 

[Red Air Force]

Nidan-

With all due respect, you are the kind of consumer that could ruin free TV sports as we now know it.

The endless pursuit of convience at any cost is just what professional sports owners want you to do. If they can pursuade enough people to purchase direct links to satellite programming for a hefty enough fee, free TV games will be a thing of the past.

Take the new NFL network for example: if you want it, you must buy Direct TV. Cable companies won't carry it, due to the fee the NFL demands for the programming, and non NFL fans would howl if the cable companies passed the extra cost on to subscribers. The NFL wants it's most hard core fans hooked up to Direct TV, so they can SELL games to them during the season.

Oh those pesky commercials ...

They actually pay the salaries of most NFL football players. Well, the commercials themselves don't pay any salaries, it's the people in this entire country that buy those products advertised during free NFL football telecasts that actually pay the salaries. It's the economy of the United States at work.

The commercials are for going to the fridge etc...

A few years ago, the big thing was digital cable, now the big thing is high def. So we are expected to go out, buy a big new high def TV, hook it up to our digital cable, only to learn we need to buy Voom, since cable doesn't have much HDTV. And free enterprise rolls along.

I get the newspaper. On sundays, the TV guide comes in it. If there's a program I want to watch bad enough, that I'm not home for, I have 3 VCR's, and they'll even edit out the commercials for you.

Well ya get what ya pay for I guess.

 

[Lex]

Pssst, Russ-

(sports bar)

You can use the money you saved by not getting Direct TV on beer, not to mention all the high five'n from fellow Cardinal fans.

P.S. that rent number is sick.

 

[Cardinal Bob]

they don't face the same direction (satellite wise) and it's HIS dish so if I took it down I'd be breaking the lease.

I have considered buying a directv receiver, marking precisely where his dish network dish points, and then rotating it to where Directv points and using his dish with a directv receiver, I assume the dish itself is identical it's the receiver that makes the difference?

But I'm not sure the guy would be happy if I'm up on his roof moving his dish around and I am just renting his townhouse so I have a little less leeway than if I owned the place.

I knew there had to be a catch! That sucks.

I wonder if he'd even notice if you moved it...assuming he didn't see you up on the roof moving the dish settings.

I guess it's probably not worth getting in hot water over lease-wise if the guy doesn't really want you to change it.

Bummer!

 

[Russ Smith]

Pssst, Russ-

(sports bar)

You can use the money you saved by not getting Direct TV on beer, not to mention all the high five'n from fellow Cardinal fans.

P.S. that rent number is sick.

Very few fellow Card fans in Cupertino! Problem with the bar I go to is as the season wears on they stop putting our game on because it has no playoff implications and they have too few people who want to watch the game, that's their reasoning at least.

I am hoping this year we'll be in the playoff hunt and I won't have as much of a problem getting them to give me a TV for that time, although I won't be within walking distance now I'll still be 10-15 minutes away by car.

 

[JeffGollin]

A couple of points.

1. DirecTV is beginning to offer a DVR "with TIVO" (I suppose the point being, you can install a hard-drive to record and store programming without TIVO, and the TIVO service is likely to positioned as more of a programming grid interface that enables you to book your recordings a week or two in advance and do it easily).

2. Lex - It's more than just a glorified video tape recorder. (My wife - who cannot program the simplest of VCR's - has no trouble recording via TIVO.

Also - a really big application comes into play during real-time viewing, when the chili you just ate attacks your intestinal tract just when Tony Soprano is about to whack somebody. All you have to do is hit "pause", and resume watching the whacking after you've taken care of business.

And it has 2 tuners - so you can watch Josh McCown throw a TD pass while TIVO records a second game or your significant O's favorite show.

3. I've had a couple of TIVO units die on me. In both cases, I received a replacement at no charge (and in the second instance, told not to bother returning the damaged unit). The key is to deal with Phillips or Thomson and not DirecTV (In the end, all they'll do is refer you to the mfgr anyway).

4. Finally, I'm very happy with TIVO (and I tend to complain a lot).

 

[Ryanwb]

My biggest DirecTV complaint is how they have their channels setup. They have the local stations, then like 3875 channels of payperview then you have to scroll through stations you don't have access to because they are on the east coast, then the home shopping stations, then the discovery channels, sports and finally HBO and crap.

I wish I could not see certain channels in "guide" (can you do that???)

 

[TigToad]

Direct TV

Yes, you can. I can do it, but its not that easy and I would have to have my TV on and remote in hand to walk you through it. I know you start with Menu and go to one of the personal settings options. Then comes up this screen with every channel and a check mark in the boxes.. you uncheck the boxes (channels) you do not want.

The hard part is getting it to save your settings. I forget what you have to do to exit, I think you hit clear or exit to back out and have it save.. if you click over to the menu bar to leave, it doesn't save.

Again, those directions are bad and probably innaccurate, but I am at work and don't have my TV with me.

My biggest DirecTV complaint is how they have their channels setup. They have the local stations, then like 3875 channels of payperview then you have to scroll through stations you don't have access to because they are on the east coast, then the home shopping stations, then the discovery channels, sports and finally HBO and crap.

I wish I could not see certain channels in "guide" (can you do that???)

 

[AzCards21]

My biggest DirecTV complaint is how they have their channels setup. They have the local stations, then like 3875 channels of payperview then you have to scroll through stations you don't have access to because they are on the east coast, then the home shopping stations, then the discovery channels, sports and finally HBO and crap.

I wish I could not see certain channels in "guide" (can you do that???)

Set up your favorite's list.

 

[Ryanwb]

Thanks guys! I'll try it on the TV in our bedroom and set it to all "Adult" channels and see if it puts my wife in a trance.....muhahahahah

 

[AzCards21]

Thanks guys! I'll try it on the TV in our bedroom and set it to all "Adult" channels and see if it puts my wife in a trance.....muhahahahah

LOL! Hypnotize her with a swinging midget.

You are getting verrryyyy hornnnnyyyyyy!

 

[Lex]

There's always a give and take. Was Tivo invented because people could never really figure out how to program a VCR? Was it invented so people would have to buy more equipment that figured out how to record a program by pressing "enter?"

Can your wife watch a Tivo'd HGTV show, while you watch a Tivo'd game?

I can plug a video tape into a VCR, and with a TV guide in my hand, tape every show I'd like to watch that week, on sunday morning. My wife can do the same on another VCR. Then we can each watch our taped shows on different TV's in different rooms.

Jeff- I hear you about the Soprano's. I got hung up at Fox Sports Grill Sunday night watching the Laker/T-wolves game. Lingered a little long, and didn't get home till 9:30, Soprano's was half over. So I checked out my handy TV guide, and found it was showing again Tuesday at 11:00 PM, or tonight at 9:00. I will see it tonight.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

There's always a give and take. Was Tivo invented because people could never really figure out how to program a VCR? Was it invented so people would have to buy more equipment that figured out how to record a program by pressing "enter?"

Can your wife watch a Tivo'd HGTV show, while you watch a Tivo'd game?

I can plug a video tape into a VCR, and with a TV guide in my hand, tape every show I'd like to watch that week, on sunday morning. My wife can do the same on another VCR. Then we can each watch our taped shows on different TV's in different rooms.

Jeff- I hear you about the Soprano's. I got hung up at Fox Sports Grill Sunday night watching the Laker/T-wolves game. Lingered a little long, and didn't get home till 9:30, Soprano's was half over. So I checked out my handy TV guide, and found it was showing again Tuesday at 11:00 PM, or tonight at 9:00. I will see it tonight.

It's called progress.

Did someone invent a Pentium 2.0 ghz because the Pentium 66mhz was too slow?

Yes...lol

TIVO makes your tv life so much easier. What if your favorite show moves from Thursday to Tuesday one week and you didn't know?

Well, your VCR would miss it, while TIVO would just pick it up and record it.

And like someone said...watching two games on two live tuners is great. I love to watch the Dbacks and the NBA playoffs at the same time.

And you can get two tivos if you guys don't want to watch TV together

Mike

 

[AzCards21]

There's always a give and take. Was Tivo invented because people could never really figure out how to program a VCR? Was it invented so people would have to buy more equipment that figured out how to record a program by pressing "enter?"

Can your wife watch a Tivo'd HGTV show, while you watch a Tivo'd game?

I can plug a video tape into a VCR, and with a TV guide in my hand, tape every show I'd like to watch that week, on sunday morning. My wife can do the same on another VCR. Then we can each watch our taped shows on different TV's in different rooms.

Jeff- I hear you about the Soprano's. I got hung up at Fox Sports Grill Sunday night watching the Laker/T-wolves game. Lingered a little long, and didn't get home till 9:30, Soprano's was half over. So I checked out my handy TV guide, and found it was showing again Tuesday at 11:00 PM, or tonight at 9:00. I will see it tonight.

If you had Tivo and had set it to record all episodes of the Saprano's you could have enjoyed another beer without worry.

 

[Lex]

Mike-

Progress?

Progress was the invention of the home video recorder. Before that happened, there was no way to do it. Tivo just made it easier.

Every time a newer faster chip is introduced, equipment must be replaced. A better question would be: why don't they just sell the big one right off the bat? Answer: they make more money by getting you to buy it in smaller increments.

If my favorite show changes from tue, to thur, and I didn't realize it ...the TV guide would show the change.

My TV has picture in picture, so I already have the capability to watch two live shows at one time, AND tape another one.

What else ya got?

 

[SoCal Cardfan]

"but for you Tivo-less folks out there I have this to ask. How do you survive"


Easy....I watch two things on TV

1. Football... .If I don't make it to the game in person, I would much rather watch it on TV as it happens.

2. The History Channel... If you miss a paticular show it's a good bet it will play again in a few hours.

 

[Pariah]

Can your wife watch a Tivo'd HGTV show, while you watch a Tivo'd game?

Yes, you can network your Tivos so that everything you have recorded on one is playable on another and vice-versa. Just like a VCR and a tape, you'd need two TVs and two TiVo units, though.

Scratch that last part, actually. You may not need two Tivos. I seem to recall a tech-geek friend of mine babbling on about a device you can attach to a non-TiVo TV that will grab all of the TiVo programs. I forget what he said it was called, though.

Lex, no matter the arguements you present, TiVo makes TV better. It may not replace a VCR for a few years, but it will. Soon, you'll be able to zip VikesFan last year's season finale through e-mail just as you might send Kerouac9 pictures of his sister today (dems just jokes). TiVo makes a TV program just another digital file -- a format that's much easier to deal with than a VHS cassette tape.

Remember when computers used tapes and a tape recorder like you might see on the A-Team? Man, those were the days!

 

[Lex]

Yes, I remember when cell phones weighed 30 lbs, and when people used them to actually talk to one another, instead of using e-mail.

I'm not against technology, but I think a lot of it is redundant to what already exists.

As PT Barnum said- "there's a sucker born every minute."

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Mike-

Progress?

Progress was the invention of the home video recorder. Before that happened, there was no way to do it. Tivo just made it easier.

Every time a newer faster chip is introduced, equipment must be replaced. A better question would be: why don't they just sell the big one right off the bat? Answer: they make more money by getting you to buy it in smaller increments.

If my favorite show changes from tue, to thur, and I didn't realize it ...the TV guide would show the change.

My TV has picture in picture, so I already have the capability to watch two live shows at one time, AND tape another one.

What else ya got?

this is so funny...are you just against all progress or something? Doesn't seem to be limited to the VCR.

The reason they don't just realize a BIG CHIP right off is because things are constantly changing...they wouldn't just realize a 100.0 ghz chip right now because it would probably be the size of your current computer...instead, in a few years, we'll have learned enough to make it small.

What if you're out of town and the shows change? What if you didn't read TV Guide that week?

And your picture in picture is nice, but I'll bet if you miss something in the PIP, you can't go back up to it and rewind to see what you missed

Mike

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Yes, I remember when cell phones weighed 30 lbs, and when people used them to actually talk to one another, instead of using e-mail.

I'm not against technology, but I think a lot of it is redundant to what already exists.

As PT Barnum said- "there's a sucker born every minute."

Wow...did you just call us suckers?

How about people who want to keep up with the times.

There is no argument: Tivo is much easier and a HUGE improvement over a VCR...that pretty much is a fact.

"Prejudice is the child of ignorance." - Anonymous



Mike

 

[LVCARDFREAK]

Yes, I remember when cell phones weighed 30 lbs, and when people used them to actually talk to one another, instead of using e-mail.

I'm not against technology, but I think a lot of it is redundant to what already exists.

As PT Barnum said- "there's a sucker born every minute."

One thing no one has mentioned on this thread is quality. I dont know about your VCR's but tapes pale in comparison to quality of vcr tapes. Having to track it, getting red and blue lines through it etc etc.

No thanks!

 

[Sandan]

Sometimes, when you record a game something special happens, and you decide to keep the recording for future viewing. Like RJ's perfect game last week. Or, I like to pull out the Cardinals only playoff win, over the cowboys in 1998.

If I had only Tivo'd that game, could I still watch it 6 years later?

Yep, you can dump it to tape