Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with TV and TiVo

I'm a Comcast customer is looking to expand my TV horizons.

bamassippi — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:27:25 -0800

I'm a Comcast customer is looking to expand my TV horizons. The wife and I are looking into DVR options. We currently use Comcast (Seattle, WA) w/HD channels and, due to our apartment complex, do not have the option of Dish/DirecTV.

I would prefer a TiVo HD recorder due to TiVo's position in the market ad an industry leader. What successes/failures/thoughts do you have on TiVos current DVR technology

Is Comcast's DVR technology worth it? Obviously, the month-to-month payment is more wallet-friendly than the investment of a TiVo, though I didn't know if the end result was any better.

Thoughts?

a tivo we will go, a tivo we will go...

griffey — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:47:59 -0800

What's the best TIVO for me? We're completely fed up with our cable company (Charter) and their DVR service. We just got a new Motorola DVR from them, and the interface is so bad its impossible to use...looks like they let the engineers do User Interface work. Horrible.

I'm looking at grabbing a Tivo to replace it with, but can't find answers to a few questions: will replacing the cable box affect the channels we can receive? I could ask Charter, but don't think I'd get a straight answer, somehow.

Also, what's the difference between the Tivo HD Series 2 and the Series 3, besides nearly $200? What's the Series 3 got that makes it worth the extra cash? In a situation where we've got one central TV room, and a (right now) non-HD TV (although that will change within the year), and both of us would love to be able to use Tivo-to-go...what's the right Tivo for us?

Can I use an old TiVo without a program guide?

UMDirector — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 08:43:39 -0800

Using TiVo Series 1 without programming guide? Can I still tape stuff? I am getting a free series 1 TiVo that a friend does not use. I only want it to record basically one show to watch in the other room where I do not have a DVR (treadmill TV!). I don't want to pay a fee for the programming guide for one show. So what are my options? Is there any sort of manual record this channel at this time?

Any suggestions if I decide later to expand the functionality? Not sure if I will but maybe.

FYI I have Comcast Digital Cable but plug in Analog stuff seems to work as well..if that matters.

Tivo filter: Can I take working cablecards from one Tivo and put them into another Tivo?

VeniceGlass — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:16:34 -0800

Have a Tivo HD with two working cablecards, but about to get a Tivo S3 - can I just take the cards and put them into the S3 until I get the installer out to put in new cards?

Can i sling in HD with a Series 2 Tivo?

AsRuinsAreToRome — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:25:06 -0800

SlingFilter: I've got the Slingbox. I've got the Tivo. Will I be able to sling in HD? Electronics wizards inquire within! I just bought a Slingbox Pro and set it up. Its amazing. I love the ability to stream TV to my T-Mobile Dash wherever I can pick up a wifi signal. But here's my question:

Right now I have a standard digital cable box from Time Warner. I feed that via composite cables into my Series 2 Tivo which feeds into the back of my Slingbox Pro via composite (red/white/yellow) cables. Same thing from the Slingbox Pro to my TV. (I know I should be using S-Video).

I want to upgrade this whole setup to HD, but I'm having a hell of a time figuring out if its possible to get the Slingbox to stream HD without a Series 3 HD Tivo. Currently I have an Sanyo HD TV with an HDMI port in the back as well as component connection ports and I've also purchased Slingbox's HD Connect cable . If I upgrade my digital cable box to HD cable - will I still be able to control my Series 2 Tivo through my Slingbox without having to upgrade to a Sereis 3 Tivo?

Here's the back of the Slingbox Pro: http://www.slingcommunity.com/imagelib/slingarticleimages/15265/15265-3.jpg
http://www.slingcommunity.com/imagelib/slingarticleimages/15265/15265-4.jpg

Halp!

I'm extremely disappointed. I send you out for exciting, new designer drugs, you come back with tomato sauce.

striker — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 07:33:36 -0800

Tivo and DVD to another room of the house. So, doing some research it looks like I want to inject the signal from my tivo and the signal from my dvd player into the cable stream. What's the best/cheapest device to do this? I'm confused about how the remotes would work as well. Some devices claim to support the remotes somehow, but will I need to buy something else to do it? What do you recommend brilliant mefi colleagues? Thanks!

DVR Setup?

retro88 — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 23:10:25 -0800

Simplest home DIY home DVR setup? What is the simplest possible setup for home DVR? We have no cable but want to record and playback over-air TV shows to hard drive rather than investing in yet another crappy VCR and store bunches of tapes. I have a Windows XP Pro computer in the office that I could use to run Media Center, and wouldn't be opposed to doing something on Linux in a virtual machine. If necessary I could connect to a box by my TV via wireless or Cat-5 but I don't have coax cable running to the office (the TV is not in the office). I may subscribe to cable eventually but for now just the simple VCR functionality is what I'd like to do. Looking at home pictures and movies on the TV would be great as well. What hardware/software should I get? What should I think about for upgraded functionality in the future?

I don't mind investing some money in hardware but want to avoid any solution that requires a subscription fee.

What's the new dailymotion?

tylerfulltilt — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 22:39:23 -0800

I need a site like what dailymotion used to be before it got all dmca'd. Any suggestions? I don't have tivo or anything like that, all I have is an on the roof antenna and if I miss an episode of the office (one of my favorite shows right now) I used to be able to catch it on dailymotion. Now, I guess, they've taken down all of the episodes of the office because of some legal hassles.

so is there another site like what dailymotion used to be for me now?

Roll my own torrent player for my TV

blueplasticfish — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:47:48 -0800

How can I build a machine (PVR?) that downloads torrents automatically via RSS and allows me to access them in a Tivo/DVR/PVR like interface on my television? Ideally, I'd like to be able to control it through a remote. I don't watch a lot of TV, and therefore don't have cable. I do, however, enjoy a lot of educational shows and would like to be able to download and watch them on my television (not monitor).

I know there are a bunch of howtos out there about how to roll your own PVR/DVR, but none of them quite get me where I want to go. And, I know there are things like Torrentocracy and MythTV, which is very close to what I am looking for so maybe I just need some direction there. There has to be something like this available somewhere.

Help Configuring Home Video Solution

seinfeld — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 12:40:27 -0800

Home Theater Question: I have a LG 32LX1D LCD TV, Tivo Series 2, Sony DVD player with Component Outputs, and a Comcast CableCard, and an old-school VCR, all of which I would like connected. (No special audio considerations, for now). What's the best way to do it? The Tivo does not have component outputs (not HD-compatible) so I'd like to run S-Video and Composite Audio to the TV. Can someone help me figure out how to wire this?

And, how does the Comcast Cablecard work? I realize it plugs into the TV, but is there a cable running from the Cablecard to the TV? Or to another device? Thanks for the help!

Thanks!!

What should I do with an old TiVo?

peep — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 10:24:44 -0800

What should I do with an old TiVo unit? I have an early series 2 TiVo box, remote, & all cords. I don't use it anymore. What should I do with it?

I seem to recall programming it with some personal information, so I don't really want to throw it away or give it away to some random person. For this reason, and because of the hassle, I also don't want to sell it.

Plus, would trashing it be environmentally unfriendly? Is there some safe way of "recycling" it?

Any way to send 1 coax TV signal to a TV in another room wirelessly?

ilikebike — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 17:05:34 -0800

Any way to send 1 coax TV signal to a TV in another room wirelessly? We've moved into an apartment with 1 coaxial cable output in the living. We have basic cable (no box) and we have other goodies like tivo, dvd player, xbox media center, and a full wireless streaming server floating around. Needless to say, we're wired up for alot of things.

I need to be able to so a (seemingly) simple feat: Take the coax signal from my cable in the living room and shoot it wirelessly to the TV in the bedroom. The only catches are that the TV only has a coax input, no a/v or rca jacks, and since there is no cable box it uses the tuner in the TV to change the channel.

I picked up a video sender the other day, but it will only send 1 signal from an a/v or rca source, and it will not allow me to change channels on the TV. Some further investigating tells me I can get around this with a VCR tuner, but that would not let me change channels from the other room without either walking back to the living room or getting an remote sender of sorts. Our 2.4ghz frequency is crowded as it is!

So, is ther another way to get this done? Can I send the raw coax signal first to the TV or a VCR in the bedroom, or am I SOL when is comes to what I'd like to do?

How transfer Tivo bits to OSX

mark7570 — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 11:31:57 -0800

I'm a TiVo owner and Mac OSX user, and I'd like to the ability to transfer upcoming (and some currently saved) programs from my Tivo (Series 2, 80hour) to my Mac. I have DSL that comes into an Apple Air Port. What's the best way to do this? (Or is the easiest thing to buy an external DVD recorder on my TV and record stuff that way?) I just want to occasionally share a clip with non-TiVo-owning friends/colleagues that they should see.

Is TIVO dying?

keep it tight — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 05:30:55 -0800

Is TIVO dying? I was about to buy a Tivo Box (I have DVR from Time Warner and it sucks) when a friend of mine mentioned that he heard that Direct TV was dropping Tivo and hinted that the company (tivo) was hemorrhaging money. I am a little concerned that I may buy a box and service that won't exist in 6 months... Has anyone else heard anything on this?

Bittorrent: Good option for missed TV shows?

cccorlew — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 09:15:33 -0800

I missed my favorite TV show and really want to see it. Is Bittorrent a good option? Are there other options? Is it possible to fine last week's West Wing using Bittorrent? I don't quite get the bittorrent thing. I understand the idea behind the technology, but not how to find things. Where do I start? Can I find this weeks Commander and Chief that will play on my Mac? Is there a user guide for the confused somewhere? OR is there some other way I can catch shows I missed without signing up for something that will cost me money every month?

How are TV program listings compiled?

kk — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 19:55:48 -0800

TV program listings: how are they gathered, like in TV guide, or Yahoo TV, or TiVo? Is there one company who compiles the database (who?) and provides any taker with them for a fee, or is the data so ubiquitous that anyone can compile it now? If there is more than one source, is there any consensus on the better?

I live in the UK and I want a TiVo-like device, but I can't get Sky+. What are my best options?

yankeefog — Mon, 24 Jan 2005 06:51:46 -0800

I live in the UK and I want a TiVo-like device, but I can't get Sky+. What are my best options? (Oops--should have had a "MORE INSIDE." The more follows:)

My landlord won't let us install a Sky dish, so no Sky+ for us. (We can get Telewest broadband, and they say they are developing a PVR, but they haven't announced any details.) Having done some googling, I've found a couple of freeview PVRs, but it seems as though most of them are missing the single feature we most want out of a PVR: a "season pass" type feature that lets you record all instances of a single show, no matter how many times it changes time slot. Are there any PVRs in the UK that have that feature? Or is our best bet to buy a used TiVo on ebay.co.uk and hope it doesn't crap out on us?

(I should mention that I travel back and forth to the US a fair amount, so if my best bet is to buy a miniMac or an modded XBOX or a cheap PC and use it as a media center, I can do so at US prices, providing I won't have any PAL/NTSC problems. But I'm hoping it won't come to that, since I'm not too confident of my abilities to hack together a homebrew PVR. )

MythTV or TiVo?

eschatfische — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 19:52:18 -0800

My long-out-of-warranty TiVo just died. Do I go MythTV or TiVo? [mi]

Tivo

lilboo — Sat, 25 Sep 2004 19:04:22 -0800

Once upon a time, there was a young(ish) girl who had a cable box, a tivo box, a VCR, and a televison that played together quite nicely. She could record one channel on the Tivo, and watch a different channel, AT THE SAME TIME. Then one day the evil cable company convinced this girl to upgrade to digital service, and now, alas, she cannot figure out how to recreate this lost paradise. Why (oh why!) is this scenario no longer so? Can anyone answer her call of distress? [For we have to get ourselves back to the garrr-r-den!]

Seriously, any ideas? 'Cause this really BLOWS.

TiVO KillFilters

nakedcodemonkey — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 20:30:40 -0800

TiVoFilter Is there any way to create killfilters in TiVo? Essentially the equivalent of a Season Pass, but to mark a series as "ignore every instance of this series"? [mi] Thumbs-down and WishList sub-categorizing/prioritizing isn't getting the job done. Manually deleting crap to reduce conflicts with good stuff is defeating the purpose of automation. There's gotta be a better way, right? Educate me, oh wise TiVo-ones. (This is a standard Series2, by the way.)

What application do you use to record TV on your PC?

sebas — Mon, 12 Jul 2004 05:34:24 -0800

What application do you use to record TV on your pc? (More Inside) I bought a new pc over the weekend and now I am the proud owner of a Pinnacle PCTV card, cable tv, hundreds of Gb free hard disk space and a tv close to my pc. The pc came with something called Pinnacle Media Center, which does not work too well.

What I would like to have is an application that allows me to schedule recordings and play back of course. What is your favourite program? (Currently running Windows XP, but have no problems with switching to Linux for this.)

2 TVs and a TiVo

agregoli — Thu, 08 Jan 2004 13:46:29 -0800

I have TiVo set up in the living room, and a television without cable in the bedroom. I figure it would be possible to split the cable before it hits the TiVo and get cable in the bedroom, but I'm not sure if it would make TiVo appear in the television in there as well. Any insights? I'm obviously clueless.