Tivo Me...or Not?

March 2, 2007 9:55 AM

So, can the Series 2 dual-tuner Tivo box record two channels at once, or not?

I am hoping someone can clarify this language on the tivo website regarding the Series 2:

* Record from two basic cable channels, or one basic cable and one digital cable channel, at once. Does not support recording from two digital cable or satellite channels at once. Supports recording from cable and satellite sources only; does not support recording from over-the-air antenna.

I currently have the TimeWarner DVR with my digital cable and have been thinking about upgrading to the Tivo, since I know the UI is way better. But how can I tell which of my TimeWarner channels are 'digital' and which are plain ol' cable? I'm not shelling out for Series 3.

posted by miss tea to Technology (15 answers total)

Anything coming through your digital cable box is digital, so you can't do dual-tuning of that.

I have the DT S2 and it works fine, but we're thankfully not on digital cable yet. (The benefits are slight, compared with, say, HD, but I'm also not about to shell out for an S3.)

That's my understanding at least; it's an all-or-nothing deal, not like HD, where only certain channels are HD.
posted by disillusioned at 10:05 AM on March 2, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks, disillusioned, I think it was the HD/ digital distinction that was throwing me off.

Bummer.
posted by miss tea at 10:06 AM on March 2, 2007

the tivocommunity is a great resource for tivo info. lots of people willing to help there.
posted by sharkfu at 10:16 AM on March 2, 2007

But how can I tell which of my TimeWarner channels are 'digital' and which are plain ol' cable?

The simplest way is determine for sure which, if any, channels are available to you as analog channels is to simply connect the coax cable straight to your TV without using your cable box. You'll probably discover that the cable company is sending you two dozen or so stations via analog.
posted by RichardP at 10:29 AM on March 2, 2007

RichardP has a valid point. They might multiplex so to speak, they might not. I just know that if it's coming out of the digital box, it's digital.
(Analog channels take up a great deal more bandwidth, which is why you're able to receive so many more channels with digital cable, so maybe not.)

Easy solution? Back down to analog cable and use the dual tuner TiVo. The quality difference between analog and digital isn't nearly as wild as between cable/HD, and the TiVo offers all of the cool cable box features that you use presently, except that it's also a TiVo and thus, kicks ass. Downside? You lose some channels, to be sure.
posted by disillusioned at 10:35 AM on March 2, 2007

Up till about one minute ago, I would have said "The series two cannot record two channels at once. It has a single tuner."

The Series 3 can both record HD and has two tuners.

Now that I went over to their site, and they state that they now have two tuners in the series 2.

It sounds like the wiring would be setup a bit of a kludge. When you're accessing something 'digitally' you have to go through your existing digital box (which tivo will control). You also wire the cable directly to the tivo.

The direct connection is only able to access basic cable. Tivo can route and control this easily - but they're dependent on the cable box for the digital channels.

So, Tivo gets the direct (basic) feed from the actual coaxial cable (they probably split it internally to two tuners), and also are pulling the output of your digital box (necessary for channels higher than 100; where all the pay digital channels lie.)

I'm guessing about this, since I've never seen a Series 2 with two tuners (but I have someting similar hacked on my system.)
posted by filmgeek at 10:41 AM on March 2, 2007

I think the general rule about digital v analog was 0-99 = analog. Any channel above 99 is digital.

I love/hate my Comcast DVR. Love because it has dual tuners and will record ANY two channels at the same time and because it records in HD. Hate everything else. But those two factors are the deal breakers. And I'm unwilling to pay $1000 plus a monthly fee for the Series 3. So 3 dealbreakers I guess.

I keep hearing that Comcast is supposed to work a deal with Tivo where Tivo will provide the software/interface for the Comcast DVRs. GET ON IT PEOPLE!
posted by peep at 10:53 AM on March 2, 2007

oh, filmgeek already mentioned the channels above 99 thing.
posted by peep at 10:54 AM on March 2, 2007

Here in Atlanta, all channels below 100 are also broadcast in analog. So, if you have only one digital cable box in the room with the TiVo, you can record any channel below 100, using one tuner with the cable directly attached to the TiVo, and any other channel that the digital cable box can tune in, using the output from the cable box. An alternative to being limited to one tuner having access to fewer channels is to rent an additional box from the cable company (usu. $5/month).

My better solution as of a couple of weeks ago was to switch to DirecTV and get their dual tuner DVR. While not as user-friendly as TiVo, the quality is amazing and the interface not as bad as some I have seen.
posted by hankbear at 11:00 AM on March 2, 2007

On re-reading that, I realize the TiVo can't use two different digital cable boxes, so that's not an option. Hopefully, you wouldn't want to record two different things on channels above 100 that were on at the same time.
posted by hankbear at 11:03 AM on March 2, 2007

Dunno about the Series 2, but the Series 3 uses cable cards, specifically SCards ("single stream" cards), instead of a cable box.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:20 AM on March 2, 2007

I had a series 2 with digital cable. What your reading here is correct: only one digital channel at a time through the cable box or two analog channels directly tuned in the Tivo. I should add that it wasn't much of a hindrance though since almost everything I wanted to record was aired a couple of times a week. It would only be a problem if you are a big sports fan.
posted by chairface at 11:35 AM on March 2, 2007

I was anxiously awaiting the Series 3, but OMG I am not paying $800 for that. Like peep, I find the comcast box is an unmittigated disaster. The bastard will crash any old time it feels like it, even if nobody it touching it, and god help you if you are recording two channels while watching a recorded show!

Can't wait for the new Tivo software.
posted by trinity8-director at 4:18 PM on March 2, 2007

While it's still more expensive than I'm willing to pay, you can get the S3 for around $650 online these days.

I recently got a DVR (3416, it uses the digital simulcasts of the analog channels) from Cox, and despite my initial good impression (despite being a TiVo zealot), I'm learning to hate the thing because it bugs out all the time. I was hoping to live with it until they got the TiVo software, but between the tiny 160GB hard drive and the various intermittent problems (thus far, none recording related) I don't know if I can do it.

And, to answer the question, as others said, the Series 2 DT is like having two Series 2s, but with only one hooked up to a cable box.
posted by wierdo at 4:37 PM on March 2, 2007

I have a Series 2 DT with digital cable. It will record two shows and play a pre-recorded show at the same time.

The cable is split into two. One line goes into the digital cable box and then into the first input on the Tivo, the other goes into the second input on the Tivo. It'll record 2 analog or 1 analog & 1 digital, but not 2 digital at the same time.

I have an original Series 1 (Mar 2001) as well. I held off upgrading to a Series 2 until the dual tuner model came out. I'm glad I did. It works very well.
posted by dknott123 at 11:07 AM on March 3, 2007