Quote:
Originally Posted by
HoustonPerson 
Those 4 items I listed are just really important to me, and really hate to give them up - so spoiled I guess. To me, those items are some of the major reasons to even have a DVR.
I think you misinterpreted bicker's responses. TiVo offers three of those four features, although the implementation may differ somewhat from you are accustomed with the Sony DHD. With TiVo, you can save searches. You can click record on a live program to save the buffered portion together with the remainder. You can record immediately upcoming programs by selecting them in the EPG.
TiVo does
not offer offer automatic commercial skip, but neither does the Sony or any other non-ReplayTV DVR. As far as I know, the only advantage Sony offers with regard to skipping commercials is the ability to customize the behavior of the ADVANCE button to jump multiple intervals of 30 seconds. TiVo's ADVANCE button is locked to 30 seconds, but you can can use macros on a universal remote to send multiple commands in sequence. On TiVo, this function doesn't lag as it does on most cable and satellite DVRs; you press ADVANCE four times without pause or delay and you've jumped two minutes within 0.3s.
The TiVo Premiere adjusts the
default behavior of the ADVANCE button somewhat. Every time you press the ADVANCE button, the TiVo fast forwards through a 30 second interval at high speed. Pressing the ADVANCE multiple times in a row queues added time. Press the button six times by hand (or macro) and the DVR fast forwards through 180 seconds at high speed. You can interrupt this at any time by pressing PLAY. The traditional 30 second "instant" skip is still available for those that want it.
More on the behavior of the Premiere's ADVANCE button:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bfdtv
Pressing and holding the ADVANCE button jumps to the end of the recording. If watching live TV on a delay, it jumps to the end of the live buffer (i.e. real-time).
Pressing and holding the REPLAY button jumps to the beginning of the recording. If watching live TV, it jumps to the beginning of the live buffer.
The TiVo places "tick" or chapter marks on the time bar at equal intervals. These tick marks are spaced every 15 minutes on live TV and recordings up to 3.0 hours, every 30 minutes on recordings 3.5 to 6.0 hours, and every hour on recordings 6.5 hours and longer. Each press of the ADVANCE button while fast forwarding will skip to the next "tick" on the time bar. Each press of the ADVANCE button while rewinding will skip to the previous "tick" on the time bar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
HoustonPerson
Of course the current system I am using is TVGOS both good and bad. The TiVo would use the high cost internet both good and bad. There are always trade offs.
TiVo will offer a USB phone line adapter for those without broadband. However, the new HD UI
may require broadband. Phone line users
may be forced to use the older SD "Classic" UI. That is not yet clear.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
HoustonPerson
bfdtv, have you had experience using the Sony DVR? If so, how does it compare from an operational standpoint?
Record and search are superior on the TiVo.
The primary advantage of the Sony is ClearQAM mapping. In addition to the the customizable ADVANCE duration, another Sony advantage is the ability to bookmark multiple spots in a recording; the TiVo remembers your last position, but you can't bookmark multiple spots. Compared to the classic TiVo UI, some also prefer the way Sony displays information directly for each program on the recorded list, without having to click SELECT on the program; the new HD UI on the TiVo Premiere incorporates that "feature."
Rammitinski found that SD upconversion was better on the Sony DHD than the TivoHD. The new chip in the Premiere claims improved video deinterlace, scaling capability, and font rendering, but until the product is released and compared, we won't know what effect that has on picture quality.
Since you mentioned search, I'll address that specifically. On the Premiere, there are two forms of search. The standard function searches every word in every program title and actor name, with results for actors, movies, and shows displayed in order by popularity. As an example, enter "G" and the first results listed are Grey's Anatomy, Glee, Gossip Girl, The Good Wife, and Ghost Whisperer. Enter "M" and the first results listed are Mad Men, Mythbusters, Masterpiece Classic, The Mentalist, Medium, and Mercy. The TiVo does
not save these searches.
The second form of search on a TiVo is a wishlist. This is a saved search. From the TivoHD FAQ:
Quote:
A Wishlist is a saved search that combines one or more keywords, title keywords, actors, and/or directors with a category (such as sports event) of your choice. Each word or phrase you enter as a keyword or title keyword requires an
exact match unless a wildcard is used. Creating a wishlist with separate keywords will require both matches by default. If you want to make a title keyword, keyword, actor, or director
optional or
excluded, you can do that with boolean operators. Highlight the entry, select it by pressing OK, and then use the "Thumbs up" button to toggle between required (AND), optional (OR), and excluded (NOT), as shown in
this screenshot.
You can choose to display the results of this search, or you can set the TiVo to automatically record all future matches on the channels you receive, regardless of the date, time, and channel. If autorecord is set, the wishlist continuously searches the guide data for matches to record in the background, without any intervention from the user. Programs recorded by each wishlist are organized into a
single folder with a customizable name. As with any other season pass, you prioritize autorecord wishlists in Season Pass Manager so they do not interfere with your favorite programs. You can choose whether to record new (first-run) programs only, or new and repeat episodes; you can also set the number of programs to keep and whether to keep until space is needed or until you manually delete.
With the option to auto-record, these saved searches allow you create custom season passes to record specific events (or groups of events) whenever and wherever they are broadcast. It allows you to define the record parameters, rather than letting the guide do it for you based only on program title. This eliminates the need to keep up with TV schedules for pro and college sports teams; it also eliminates the need to keep up with the TV schedules for award shows, golf tournaments, tennis tournaments, racing events, etc.
You can find a number of wishlist examples with screenshots
for existing TiVos here. TiVo has not said (or shown) what changes the Premiere will make to this functionality.
