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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
byclang_jangle ( 975789 ) * writes:
I would expect that those of us who like to use our computers for video would already have these capabilities without spending $200/yr on a subscription. I know I do.
byivan256 ( 17499 ) writes:
Me too.
I pay $100 a year for the subscription.
The subscription to TiVo is worth every penny just for the lack of having to fiddle with it all the time.... Getting the updates installed with no time investment, etc...
And that's before you take into account its ability to record encrypted QAM, since it's cableCARD certified.
I used to use a home-built DVR, but TV just doesn't matter enough to me to invest the time. I'd rather throw (much) less than a day's pay at it once a year and not have to think about it.
byjedidiah ( 1196 ) writes:
The "fiddling" with a home-made DVR is driven primarily by other "fiddling".
Set it up and leave it alone and it tends to stay setup. That first part is the trick.
Once you make Tivo the combination of a random collection of spare parts and some
software, you are going to blow away Tivo's strength in this area. It will be like
trying to run MacOS on a non-mac using some hack.
Simply put: Tivo is last to the party and is in serious danger of being left
behind by everyone.
If you are already accustomed to the more powerful features of PC PVR software
then a PC running Tivo software is not going to be that compelling. Otherwise
you would already just be running a Tivo anyways.
What HD capture options will it have? How open will the recordings be?
Will I be able to use the software on the platform of my choice?
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byivan256 ( 17499 ) writes:
If you are already accustomed to the more powerful features of PC PVR software
then a PC running Tivo software is not going to be that compelling.
You're right. I don't see the appeal of running TiVo's software on a PC. Just give me the box.
Could I go back to my PC based DVR which lacked recording encrypted HD, and neded to be reconfigured when the "free" data sources changed/went away, or when my channel lineup changes? What features am I missing? I can record my shows to DVD if I want... I can watch in multiple rooms... I can watch on the road...
The only reason TiVo is being left behind is that the less-featured cable company DVRs are "good enough"
byjedidiah ( 1196 ) writes:
If you are already accustomed to the more powerful features of PC PVR software
then a PC running Tivo software is not going to be that compelling.
You're right. I don't see the appeal of running TiVo's software on a PC. Just give me the box.
Could I go back to my PC based DVR which lacked recording encrypted HD, and neded to be reconfigured when the "free" data
sources changed/went away, or when my channel lineup changes? What features am I missing? I can record my shows to DVD if
1) My PC based DVR can record encrypted content. Tivo's edge here is gone now.
2) Data sources don't change that often. If you are groping in this then you
really don't have that much to whine about.
3) Tivo will screw the pooch just the same when the guide data doesn't keep up.
At least with a open platform I can fix my own problems myself.
I want... I can watch in multiple rooms... I can watch on the road...
The only reason TiVo is being left behind is that the less-featured cable company DVRs are "good enough" for almost everybody. PC DVRs are a speck in TiVo's rear view mirror.
...so I can put "extenders" in as many rooms as I like and they
will all see the same content? That's certainly news to me. Any
ra
bycayenne8 ( 626475 ) writes:
"My PC based DVR can record encrypted content. "
What are you using? How are you decrypting encrypted content (assuming off cable)??
You mentioned open source in your post...is this with MythTV? I can't find how to decrypted channels with Myth....
byjedidiah ( 1196 ) writes:
Buy yourself a Hauppauge 1212.
Can't miss it. We're all gushing over it.
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byivan256 ( 17499 ) writes:
That's a nice device.
But it doesn't record encrypted digital content. It records analog content. You have to re-encode. It's misleading to describe that as recording encrypted content, because it assumes you have another device that is willing to do the decryption and conversion to analog without lowering the resolution or quality.
byjedidiah ( 1196 ) writes:
Misleading? Not really.
It records all of those other channels that Tivo for a short time had a monopoly on access to.
It does it, just like any other older Tivo does.
byjedidiah ( 1196 ) writes:
While you're splitting hairs, I'm watching HD content recorded off of DirecTV.
byivan256 ( 17499 ) writes:
While you're splitting hairs, (elsewhere in the thread) I'm watching HD content off FiOS, using less storage to do it, and not dealing with re-encoding artifacts. :)
It'll also be three years before my service fees add up to the cost of the those encoders had I purchased enough of them for a four tuner setup equivalent to what I have now...
byjedidiah ( 1196 ) writes:
"uses less storage and doesn't have any transcoding artifacts" all at the same time?
That's a "remarkable" system they have there.
byivan256 ( 17499 ) writes:
This whole conversation has gotten silly. You jumped into a thread to attack a solution using a bogus list of limitations, the only one of which was accurate was that that data isn't stored in an open, unencumbered format, and for what? I certainly don't know.
I'm done mudslinging for the day. Thanks for the pointer to the 1212. I didn't know about it, and I'm glad I do now.
● current threshold.
byivan256 ( 17499 ) writes:
1) My PC based DVR can record encrypted content. Tivo's edge here is gone now.
What hardware/software do you use for this? Something new must have come out recently... As recently as a year ago I was unable to find a legal device that would allow me to record encrypted QAM from my cable connection. Even the devices that claimed to be able to do it, but were bundled with Windows media center couldn't actually get the job done as expected (could only decrypt when saving to DRM encumbered WMV).
...so I can put "extenders" in as many rooms as I like and they
will all see the same content? That's certainly news to me. Any
random PC in the house can be another "extender"? News to me.
Yup. As long as the "random PC" is running Windows, MacOS, or Wine. I watch the shows that are
byjedidiah ( 1196 ) writes:
Of course I am adding "extra requirements".
That's why I'm not a Tivo user. I have "extra requirements".
I want a client-server solution and I want open access to the
content so I can put it on any device I like.
It's MPEG2, there's simply no excuse for it to be an engima.
byivan256 ( 17499 ) writes:
"Extra requirements" is fine. It's just hard to discuss something with somebody if they're always moving the goalposts.
It does what I said it does... not the extra stuff you added on. If it doesn't work for you, so be it. I have a feeling it *would* work for you though, 'cause there's a big difference between "any device I like" when the list is made up of what you'd actually use and "any device I like" when the list is made up of any device you can think of such that you can say "See! It sucks! It doesn't
byjedidiah ( 1196 ) writes:
What part of "open" and "client-server" did you not get previously?
There is nothing in Tivo-land that approximates a Media Server Extender.
End of story.
byivan256 ( 17499 ) writes:
What part of "open" and "client-server" did you not get previously?
There is nothing in Tivo-land that approximates a Media Server Extender.
End of story.
Why should there be? Another TiVo dies everything an extender does, plus more, for less money than any pure extender on the market. (Unless you know of some HD extender for less than $149? I didn't think so.) If you want a software extender, a TiVo comes with one for free.
If you don't think the TiVo->TiVo or TiVo->Tivo Desktop architecture is "Client-server" then I don't know what else to say about it.
The only sticking point is "open", which again, is only a sticking point if the closed architecture d
byjedidiah ( 1196 ) writes:
Why should there be? Another TiVo dies everything an extender does, plus more, for less money than any pure extender on the market. (Unless you know of some HD extender for less than $149? I didn't think so.) If you want a software extender, a TiVo comes with one for free.
If you don't think the TiVo->TiVo or TiVo->Tivo Desktop architecture is "Client-server" then I don't know what else to say about it.
Ok... so I go into the living room fire up my Tivo and automagically
see all the same content that any of my other Tivos can see?
So.... I can stop MythBusters in the living room and pick it up in
the bedroom or the play room, or on any PC accessable in the home
network?
That's quite a claim.
You know, some of us have closets full of old Tivos, so you
might want to ease up on the overselling there.
Some PC running some oddball desktop software is not an extender.
byCramer ( 69040 ) writes:
No. Tivo does not have a remote control api. You can retrieve and watch any non-copy protected content from one tivo on another. One would assume all of your tivos are connected to the same inputs, so if one is recording MythBusters, any of the others should be able to tune to the same station.
What you are asking for is a central media server. To my knowledge, no one has ever built such a thing within the price range affordable to mere mortals. And before you get the idea to bring such a thing to marke
byEric Sharkey ( 1717 ) writes:
1) My PC based DVR can record encrypted content. Tivo's edge here is gone now.
What hardware/software do you use for this? Something new must have come out recently... As recently as a year ago I was unable to find a legal device that would allow me to record encrypted QAM from my cable connection.
I use a Motorola DCH-3200, provided by Comcast, to handle the decryption. The decrypted signal is sent via firewire to my mythtv box. See the MythTv FireWire [mythtv.org] page for details.
In the US, FCC regulations require ca
byivan256 ( 17499 ) writes:
Said regulations don't disallow disabling the output for flagged content. My experience with Firewire output on cable boxes while I was playing with MythTV were that the older boxes worked, but the newer ones would provide a blank screen for some shows... And you didn't find out until you went to watch it hours later.
The problem was that the older boxes didn't work with switched video.
I also tried hacked DirecTV boxes with firewire out (DirecTV isn't bound by the regulation), and they were flaky at best. Th
byJherek Carnelian ( 831679 ) writes:
1) My PC based DVR can record encrypted content. Tivo's edge here is gone now.
What hardware/software do you use for this?
A Motoroloa DCP501 [cnet.com] plus a R5000 mod [nextcomwireless.com] plus either an SVN Myth build or SageTV.
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