Official AVS TiVo HD Topic! - Page 132

For those on or coming off 3yr/$299 subscriptions, TiVo is apparently allowing an upgrade to lifetime service for $99.

+1 I just bought my Tivo HD last week and I couldn't be happier with it, there are a few things that I don't like, like looking at your list of recordewd shows while watching a show but hey, it works.

Ok, from my experience with getting my network to stream HD Netflix and VUDU. It comes down to 2 things...
A) You have to have a good enough Internet connection, I had Road Runner Standard which was 7mbps now I have Road Runner Turbo 15-20mbps...

B) A GOOD ROUTER...

I had a linksys router before, I think a WRT160N, think it was, it was pretty much the worst router I have ever had, period! The wirelss was TERRIBLE frequent connection drops, and the wired part was just as bad... Connections lost, with a WIRED connection, so I ended up buying a Netgear WNDR3700, best router I have ever had... No connection problems, it streams HD Netflix and VUDU HDX, wirelessly perfect. I also have a LG BD390, with both I have them hooked up wireless and stream netflix HD without a problem, once in a blue moon I have a drop out and it has to resync but happy with both! Now with my netgear it has a feature that it will prioritize Video on the network, don't know if that's the magic ticket or what.

So to sum things up you NEED a good router, spend a little money if you want reliability. Think about it this way, it's your backbone to the internet, if you have a lousy connection to the internet it doesn't matter one bit how good your internet connection is. And if you think because your wired it doesn't matter... It does, spend money on a GOOD switch! There is a reason why things are priced differently, do some research, just don't go out and buy the MOST expensive router or switch, do some research.

Hope this helps!

ha, coincidence - i had the Linksys WRT600N (best router of its time) but I wasn't happy with the performance, plus it never really allowed my iPhone to connect for some reason. I just bought the WNDR3700 and I LOVE it. It's super fast (I'm pulling 2MB/sec over wireless, and could probably go faster).

Linksys USED to be a great router company, but ever since they went to the flat spaceship looking design it's been down hill since then!

Glad you like your WNDR3700!!!

Yeah I think I'll contact him as well. Yesterday in the middle of a Netflix stream my cable modem did lose connection to the Net. Man the TiVo froze and the only thing I could do was unplug it. So maybe even though I have fast download speeds, my Internet connection is not as robust as it should be. But the other 99% of the time TiVo is great for streaming.

Despite a few problems early on, I have not had any difficulties watching Netflix streaming on my TiVo Series3. The PQ has been just fine on both SD and HD selections. Also, TiVo's user interface is exponentially superior to the PS3's, or so it seems to me.

This has been my only issue with the TiVo and streaming NetFlix. It crashes if the Internet connection gets spotty during peak times or if the NetFlix servers get bogged down and stall their transmission for an appreciable amount of time. I have found that when a video stream stalls (either because of Internet interruption or NetFlix overload) I get I one chance to push the LiveTV button and recover an operational TiVo. So now when it stalls I'm careful to not push any button on the remote and if after 30 sec it is still stalled, I exit out back to live TV and wait a while before I go back into NetFlix. It beats having to pull the plug and restart the TiVo -- which for me often takes a couple times after a NetFlix crash, before it makes it all the way through the bootup.

Here's what's going on. It seems like my HD TiVo changes channels to stations I never watch. I think this is because SDV gives it a boot every once in a while.

However sometimes I'll turn on the television and I have a frozen picture. It's always on an SDV channel. Then when I change the channels, I lose that entire card. I have 2 s cards in my machines.

A simple reboot fixes it but I'm curious if others have seen this.

The frozen pic is likely a SDV channel that has been 'withdrawn' from you due to the SDV system needing the bandwidth for other programs. Now when you say that you cahnge channels, you lose the entire card... can you explain that a bit more? What do you mean 'you lose the entire card'?

In otherwords I only have 1 tuner capability. The tuner on the channel with the frozen picture will display a grey screen, no picture, no sound no matter what channel I pick. I think "tuner" would have been a better word then card.

This happened to my tivo twice, two weeks ago, but not since. I had to pull the power both times. When this happens, I can only tune to HD channels, my analog channels are dead. Sounds pretty similar to your issue. As an fyi, I have comcast, but don't yet use cablecards.

The issue with the analog tuners is well-known. Refer to the Known Issues section of the first post.

the 600N was the last of the routers that weren't in that form factor, it was supposed to be the be-all end-all for routers and was $250 when I got it in early 2008. They almost immediately stopped supporting it, and I never had the performance I felt I should've had. Also, it would never recognize any hard drives to share through USB. I was just very disappointed in it.

More than happy with the Netgear. I now have all my devices locked to MAC and IP, and I get crazy speeds and great connections through the place

Interesting... what does DVR Diags indicate for that 'tuner'?

Looks like Netflix will add 1080p24 and DD5.1 streaming later this year.

I wonder if TiVo will update the software to support 1080p24 output on that content? The chips inside the TivoHD and Series3 support 1080p24 output, but they have not enabled that capability in their software. DirecTV and Dish Network use the same chip to support 1080p24 output on their VOD/PPV.

Full 1080p60 output is not possible on any existing OTA, cable, or satellite DVR. That might be something we see on a future TiVo.

Apparently it's just DD 5.1 and CC, no 1080p. CC and DD 5.1 will definitely be nice to have though.

1080p streaming not coming to Netflix this year

http://gizmodo.com/5467011/netflix-s...-update-or-not
I was getting my hopes up too

My DSL connection is only 3Mbps so 1080p streaming has little meaning for me. 5.1 sound, however, would be a big deal and I'm looking forward to that. I don't see that it would require anything on TiVo's part to enable since I'm already TiVo streaming 5.1 audio when I stream a ripped DVD from my server. The only down side is that part of the announcement that says "later this year". bummer . . .

Is there no other external hard drive we can use besides the WD DVR Expander? They're hard to find these days.

As far as I know that's it. I don't know what's going on here, but it looks like they have stopped making them a while ago and supplies have dried up. It is listed as out of stock on the TiVo site and on the Western Digital site. I've checked a bunch of on-line retailers and anyone who listed it at "normal" price was out of stock. People who did have it in stock available for sale were price-gouging and selling the 500GB version for $200 plus. That's usually a sign the supply has dried up. The USB version expander for Dish DVR's is readily available for under $100.

Your best bet is gonna be Best Buy. I was in the same boat, I finally ordered one through Bestbuy.com, but then it was back ordered. So I expanded my search, I live in Milwaukee, there were none available, so I searched Madison for an instore pickup and 2 stores had them, so I drove the 2hr round trip to get one. Think that is gonna be your only option. I did hear from another member that they stopped production but are gonna start it up again. Hope this helps!

You can always make your own. Visit the tivocommunity website for detailed instructions.

Yes, that is the way to go.
Perhaps WD has finally realized that the expanders, particularly the 500GB unit, are short on longevity and are planning a more robust replacement.
Waiting till the current stock is gone before introducing a replacement to avoid buyers from being shammed into buying the old unit thinking they are getting the new one.

Of course no reputable merchant would do that, now would they.

i think more likely Tivo has decided to move on to other options.

TiVo's Got Something Big Coming March 2nd

Sounds like TiVo might be announcing some new stuff...

here's to hoping. if it's a huge revision and change, i'll probably purchase at least one. if it's just the premiere, well then I don't care.

Got to be the most speculative thing I've ever read.

Well, whatever it is it can't be more expensive hardware. They already set the price bar with the TiVo HD at $250. So it has to be the same price or cheaper which may mean lower build quality.

Their competition is Moxie and the competition charges $500 for a box with no further costs. That's what TiVo has to match by some combination of hardware cost and/or lowered subscription price. ATSC tuners aside, the network functionality is what would keep me squarely in the TiVo camp, but that may not be important to the bulk of their cable using customers. Guess we'll just wait and see.

From CrunchGear

Obviously this individual does not understand that tru2way uses CableCARD, so I would suggest taking his comments with a grain of salt, or two. But, also differentiate between his comments and what he says he was told.