TiVo Series 3 - "Official" Thread - Page 57

I got a service update 2 days ago...not sure if it's the same one mentioned here...

Just got the update, too.

Yeah got the 8.3 release... happy to say the esata external still running strong.

Hi. I am considering switching to Tivo from my current SA8300HD setup. I am sold on Tivo, if not quite the price. One question I had. If I have multiple Tivos, do I pay one price for the service, or do I pay per unit? When I had Tivos with DirecTV, I paid one fee for as many Tivos as I could fit in my house. From what I can tell, this is not the case with non-satelltite Tivos.

Thanks,
Ted

You will pay for each unit but there is a Multi-Service Discount for up to five boxes. You can find the details here.
http://www.tivo.com/1.6.2.asp#MSD

Cool. Thanks.

Ted

I paid for 3 years upfront for my first box for $299 which averages out to $8.30 a month. Then my other two boxes I signed up for 3 years with the monthly service so with the multi unit discount it's $6.95 a month for each of those.

FYI:

TiVo Introduces 'Swivel Search' Feature
May 15, 2007, 5:03 PM

TiVo on Tuesday unveiled a new feature to help customers navigate through the hundreds of channels they receive and find programming that actually interests them. Named "Swivel Search," the new option will begin rolling out to Series2 and Series3 TiVo users Tuesday.

Dubbed the first "TV-centric on-screen search tool," Swivel Search (view a demo) http://www.tivo.com/swivel_demo/moreOptions.html starts on a program itself rather than requiring the user to type in keywords or titles. TiVo customers can select "More options" on a program to access the feature, which pulls up detailed information on the show or movie.


Swivel Search displays upcoming showings and programs the viewer might also enjoy. In addition, a list of the program's cast are displayed, enabling the user to see what else each actor or actress has starred in. TiVo has also included tags for each program, which enables users to find other programs with the same topics or terms.

"We know that as broadband video continues its rapid growth, and broadcast and cable programming continue to proliferate, consumers are finding it more and more difficult to find the content they want, when they want it. Now there is a fun and easy new way for TiVo subscribers to explore the few degrees of separation connecting content that they enjoy," remarked TiVo CEO Tom Rogers.

Swivel Search is also compatible with TiVoCast programming, as well as titles from Amazon's Unbox service, which lets TiVo customers download movies and other content over the Internet directly to their DVR.

TiVo subscribers can sign up at www.tivo.com/priority to ensure Swivel Search is delivered to their set-top boxes as soon as possible.

The eSATA port on the back can now be enabled via a short process. It works on both 8.1 and 8.3 apparently, so as long as you have at least the 8.1 software version, it works. I have a Cavalry 500 GB drive hooked up to it now, and the unit reports 98 HD hours, 927 SD hours.

You can upgrade the internal drive, too, but that is a more expensive (and time-consuming) task, it seems.

Yup, just bought a 500GB Seagate drive and it literally took 5 minutes to install/activate it. Works like a charm.

Not time consuming at all, if you buy a preformatted drive. I was up and running within a half hour with a Seagate 750GB DB35 from WeaKnees. But, yes, it is a bit more expensive though prices seem to be coming down.

I use WPA in my home network, and my TIVO wireless G adapter works fine with it.

I did just this two months ago. The quality is better in all respects, to my untrained eyes and ears. Yes, you can choose between several input signals. I leave mine at 1080i fixed and it seems to look fabulous. But you can choose Native, 720p, etc. if you so choose.

The main thing, though, is that it is a TIVO. I owned a DirecTIVO for four years, and an SA8300HD for two years, and now back to TIVO (Series 3). I paid $650 for the box and $299 for three years of subscription. It's definitely like driving a Lexus after driving a Yugo for a few years. And now that the eSata port is active, I have almost 100 HD hours available. And fantastic search capabilities. And Wishlists. And it's a photo and music server. And the remote control is a work of art. I could go on and on...

Yep External ESATA drive and WPA working

The interface IS much better. So is everything else.

1) Season Passes. The 8300 HD of course lets you set recurring recordings, but you can't prioritize them like you can with TIVO. With TIVO, your higher preference recordings will get recorded in the case of conflicts.

2) Wishlists. TIVO will let you set Wishlists, like "Sitcoms" or "Scarlett Johansson", or "Atlanta Braves", and then you can peruse these as you like to see upcoming programs. You can even set Auto-Recording Wishlists, and your Wishlist items will record automatically. For example, I love poker, so I set up a Wishlist for "Poker", and TIVO will record any program it finds with poker somewhere in the description. Try THAT with the SA8300HD.

3) TIVO suggestions. TIVO will eventually catch on to the kind of stuff you like and start recording stuff for you. I love coming home and finding stuff TIVO has recorded for me. Sometimes I discover great shows this way. TIVO handles these shows intelligently (they never bump recordings you have setup, and get deleted if the drive gets full). Nothing even remotely like this on the 8300HD.

4) Recently Deleted Folder. This is entirely missing from the SA8300HD, if I recall. If you delete something and later wish you had not, you can retrieve your show. These shows get permantly deleted first, when the hard drive gets full.

5) 30 second skip. I love this button. Not officially supported, but works great. Not available on the SA8300HD.

6) Better video and audio quality.

7) It is a music and photo media server, meaning I can listen to my computer's MP3's and look at my photos using the TIVO. The 8300HD? Nope.

8) Podcasts. I can subscribe to any Podcast I choose using the TIVO and listen to them at my leisure. You guessed it - not available on the 8300HD.

9) TIVO remembers where I was when I stop watching a show. In fact, I can have multiple shows already started watching, and TIVO remembers where I left off with each of them. Like bookmarks, really. The 8300HD cannot do this.

10) Universal Swivel Search. This is very new, but I love it already. It lets you easily find shows similar to the one you are studying, and lets you link easily to other shows your favorite actors are in. I'm not doing this feature justice. You really have to see it in action. It's like having a direct link to an Imdb-type database.

11) The peanut remote is a thing of beauty. The keys are nicely backlit, with the words on the keys. There is a nice ribbing on the bottom so you easily tell which way is up in the dark. There is an aspect ration button. And most importantly, it is a learning remote, which means you can control your other devices. In fact, you can teach it some functions from the TIVO menu. Doing this alone I was able to control my TV's on/off, my stereo's volume, and the TIVO, of course.

12) Weather and traffic updates. No such thing on the SA8300HD.

13) TIVOcasts, which are video podcasts. Not a lot of content yet, but I love CNET and The Onion. They keep adding new TIVOcasts. MIA on the 8300HD.

14) Search by Title is MUCH better on the TIVO. IIRC, on the 8300HD you could only search by title on one specific day at a time. The TIVO will let you search your entire lineup for the next two weeks. Also, you can filter your search, or your guides, for that matter, by HD shows only.

15) Two weeks of guide data instead of one.

16) My 8300HD occassionally would not record something. When it did this, it would offer no explanation. TIVO has a handy recording history that explains why a certain show may not have recorded.

17) Show padding. TIVO will prompt you to pad live shows by minutes or even hours so you don't miss that last hour of the Academy Awards.

18) Intelligent conflict resolution. If, because of show overruns, a conflict occurs, TIVO will shave a few minutes off your lower priority show. Example (Dual Tuners assumed): Show A runs from 8:00-9:00. Shows B and C run from 9:00 to 10:00. If Show A ends up running until 9:02, most DVR's (including the TIVO of yore), will actually not record either show B or C in their entirety. The new TIVO will make a decision based on your shows' priorities, and will shave minutes off the lowest priority show. For example, if Show A is the lowest priority, it will cut off the last two minutes, and record B & C in their entirety. If Show B is the lowest priority, it will clip the first two minutes of it to catch all of Shows A and C. But you'll still get 58 minutes of Show B.

Whew! Sorry to get so long-winded. As you can tell, I'm a bit of a Tivangelist. But having had both TIVO and SA8300HD for years, I'm in a position to have studied both pretty in-depth.

So, I hope I have shown that TIVO is not just "a prettier interface".

AMEN!

Yes, it can with the new 8.3 software.

If you'll give it time, and religously give thumbs-up or thumbs-down to programming, you'll find it gets better and better at guessing your interests. I usually go into my suggestions list and spend a few minutes every day giving the thumbs.

TIVO suggestions only record when you have spare space, they never bump recordings you setup, and they get deleted first whenever you start running out of space. So you can't really say that they "waste space". They're handled intelligently.

I pretty much never "channel surf" anymore. That is so 90's.

Really, though, TIVO has changed my habits so much I RARELY watch live TV. If I want to watch something, there is always something waiting for me in my Now Playing List or TIVO Suggestions. And if not, I search for something via my Wishlists or do a Search by Title for something specific. If I do watch live TV (rare), I pull up the Guide (TIVO Guide, not Grid Guide), and I can see what's on about ten channels at once, and what's on for the next eight to twelve hours on any specific channel.

I got mine for about $650, and I paid for three years upfront for $299, which is $8.31/month. After having a POS SA8300HD for two years, I'm loving this TIVO S3.

Also very happy with my Tivo Series 3 -

A question on the e-Sata drive ... how does this work with the Tivo software? Does the Tivo just recognize the extra HD space, and it's thus transparent to the user?

Instructions can be found at TivoCommunity forum
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...&&#post5124019

It's not plug and play but, it is simple. You can also find a list of what drives and enclosures are working in that first post.

How do you do a 30 second skip?

Thenks, CB

select, play, select, 3, 0, select

It's just one of many "SPS" codes that the TiVo recognizes. HERE is a list of those codes. I use the shortcuts (TiVo + number) all of time (TiVo+1 = Season Pass Manager, TiVo+2=ToDo List, etc).

Be careful though, some of more arcane codes them can mess up your unit.

CableCard 2 has died. In CableCard menu where it should show Host ID, I get a message:

"There was a technical problem during the authorization of this device, Please contact retailer."

Yesterday both cards worked fine.

Is this a Time Warner or TiVo problem?

Thanks, CB

It's simple. You turn off the S3, hook up and power up the eSATA drive, turn on the TiVo holding the pause button, wait for a light change, hit 62, and it will reboot and recognize the new drive.

When TiVo reboots, it says, "Additional Hard Drive Recognized" on the startup screen and finishes. And from there it's totally transparent to you.

Exactly. I paid an average of $8.31/month (paying $299 for three years). We pay $477 a month for health insurance for the wifey and myself, and that is cheap compared to what some families pay. That's a monthly ransom!

My install was not without problems, either. But a determined installer, a few calls, a few "hits", and a few guided setups later (total of about three hours in the house), saw my TIVO S3 working perfectly. It really is an amazing unit, truly the Cadillac of DVR's.

I totally agree. Even within the same area you can have different experiences. My initial install went fine, I had a supervisor and a lead tech come out to do the install. The supervisor even left his card for me if I had any problems. About a month later I noticed I was having problems receiving certain channels. With the takeover from Adelphia I was moved from Macedonia to Concord office. Tech came out with a whole different attitude (negative) and when I called the supervisor he apologized and explained he couldn't help me. He did however contact someone in head end who called me and helped me with my problem.

I disagree though about "Cadillac" it's more of a Rolls Royce IMHO.

Agreed. The monthly fee for Tivo pales in comparison to other common monthly expenses (mortgage, health insurance, car insurance, electricity, gas, etc).