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Old 03-19-2014, 09:45 AM   #21
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We would like to replace the Comcast DVRs we have as they are Junk (with a capital J) and we are returning the third one in three months today . I can't believe they are still handing out the Scientific Atlanta 8300 boxes that are legacy devices and are crappy to start with.

Our other alternative after moving into this newer home in November 2013 is Consolidated Communications wich is as bad or worse than Comcast. Uverse or Verizon are not available here.

We have three rooms with TVs (Family room - main viewing, master bedroom, and second bedroom which is not routinely used.

What would be a good Tivo setup for the house given that DW records her "shows" () and watches them in the family room or master bedroom. I am a light TV watcher and only watch news and some shows I record on the Velocity channel (car nut here).

Current cost of equipment is as follows:

Comcast:

2 HDDVRs @ $17.95 each = $35.90/month
1 Std DVR @ $9.95 = $9.95/month
Service plan @ $3.99 = =$3.99/month (may not need this with Tivo)
Lease of modem = @ $8.00 = $8.00/month (could replace with bought unit)

Total monthly fees not including internet and channel package = $57.75

I suspect I would need to purchase a Tivo Roamio and a couple of Minis to handle the coverage. Would a mini in the master bedroom suffice if all DW wanted to do was watch shows recorded on the family room unit?

It looks like the equipment package for two minis and the Roamio is about $350 from Amazon (Prime membership). What gets me is the "service fees" from Tivo, especially if you buy the lifetime of $800 to cover all three units.

I suspect we will be in this house for a long time since we are "older" than most folks here and our kids and grandkids are all local. So spreading out the "service cost" over a long period sounds reasonable.

Anybody, especially the Tivo users here, have any suggestions or things I should be concerned about if I undertake this adventure?
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Old 03-19-2014, 09:48 AM   #22
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Not sure if this works with Cable, but here's what I'm using for OTA TV and it works great. I actually have the 1T model but have found I would have been fine with the smaller hard drive.
Purchase the Magnavox 320GB HDD and DVD Recorder at Walmart.com. Save money. Live better.
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Old 03-19-2014, 10:21 AM   #23
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REWahoo : You seem to have missed some of my message:
Quote:
I could probably set up HDHomeRun and keep it working for me pretty reliably. I don't. It's not "worth" the bother or effort, to me.
Expecting everyone to appreciate the things you decide to take onto yourself is unreasonable.
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Old 03-19-2014, 10:24 AM   #24
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I need something inexpensive and simple, so HDHomeRun and Tivo may be out of the running considering these criteria, but Magnavox is starting to look pretty good...
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Old 03-19-2014, 10:25 AM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aja8888 View Post
We would like to replace the Comcast DVRs we have as they are Junk (with a capital J) and we are returning the third one in three months today . I can't believe they are still handing out the Scientific Atlanta 8300 boxes that are legacy devices and are crappy to start with.

Our other alternative after moving into this newer home in November 2013 is Consolidated Communications wich is as bad or worse than Comcast. Uverse or Verizon are not available here.

We have three rooms with TVs (Family room - main viewing, master bedroom, and second bedroom which is not routinely used.

What would be a good Tivo setup for the house given that DW records her "shows" () and watches them in the family room or master bedroom. I am a light TV watcher and only watch news and some shows I record on the Velocity channel (car nut here).

Current cost of equipment is as follows:

Comcast:

2 HDDVRs @ $17.95 each = $35.90/month
1 Std DVR @ $9.95 = $9.95/month
Service plan @ $3.99 = =$3.99/month (may not need this with Tivo)
Lease of modem = @ $8.00 = $8.00/month (could replace with bought unit)

Total monthly fees not including internet and channel package = $57.75

I suspect I would need to purchase a Tivo Roamio and a couple of Minis to handle the coverage. Would a mini in the master bedroom suffice if all DW wanted to do was watch shows recorded on the family room unit?

It looks like the equipment package for two minis and the Roamio is about $350 from Amazon (Prime membership). What gets me is the "service fees" from Tivo, especially if you buy the lifetime of $800 to cover all three units.

I suspect we will be in this house for a long time since we are "older" than most folks here and our kids and grandkids are all local. So spreading out the "service cost" over a long period sounds reasonable.

Anybody, especially the Tivo users here, have any suggestions or things I should be concerned about if I undertake this adventure?
Tivo Roamio and Mini will let you all view recordings on the main Roamio box from any of the Minis.

You must have ethernet or coax between the rooms though. Wireless is not supported.

I bought a Roamio Plus and a Mini, both with Lifetimes, for about $1200 with tax delivered.

What made that work for me though is that I switched from Direct TV and Uverse for Internet to a Comcast double-play package that costs $50 less a month for 2 years.

I get more premium channels (though I got more HBO and Showtime channels, both East and West feeds, on Direct TV) and faster Internet for that lower monthly bill.
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Old 03-19-2014, 10:30 AM   #26
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I considered the Windows Media DVR route too.

But I would have wanted a nice computer that I could hook up to my HDTV and would have wanted the cable card version of the Homerun tuner so I could have saved a bit of money but not too much.

And I heard in the end that WMC and the HD Homerun Prime are not that reliable.

Plus, Tivo gives me streaming on the iPad and iPhone, in and out of the home, as well as the ability to control the DVR. It's a lot easier to delete recordings and browse the guide with the Tivo iPad app.
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Old 03-19-2014, 10:31 AM   #27
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Like KiraC, I also have the Magnavox 1T model. Of the ones I've owned (I had two different brands earlier), this one is definitely the most reliable. Plus, it has a buit-in DVD player/recorder and dubbing ability from/to DVD and DVR and you can quickly skip past commercials from the remote.

On the minus side, the picture quaility isn't as super sharp like on some, and only records 1 program at a time. Also, programming to record is similar to old VCRs by entering day/time/channel info. Programming is done via the remote. But personally, I don't see that as that bad as I only have a handful of programs which I record regularly.


Overall, I'm quite happy with this DVR.
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Old 03-19-2014, 10:49 AM   #28
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Originally Posted by mpeirce View Post
While the new models support streaming directly (The Roamio models), I have a TiVo Stream stand alone box that does the streaming to my iPhone/iPad both locally and out over the internet. This was a software upgrade.
Well, I may have the capability then and never realized it. I'll have to try it out next time I'm out of town. Thanks for the tip!
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Old 03-19-2014, 12:27 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by explanade View Post
Tivo Roamio and Mini will let you all view recordings on the main Roamio box from any of the Minis.

You must have ethernet or coax between the rooms though. Wireless is not supported.
Yes, the TiVo mini has an wired ethernet port and no built-in WiFi, but...

What the mini requires is fast networking - the streaming data needs to flow fast enough to keep up. So, by sing a wireless to wired router, like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EZT2PB4
(there are many other options, I just have one of these and it works well)

you can easily hook up the mini where there isn't ethernet. I do this for our older TiVo HD (though I use an old Apple Airport Express).

It's a smidgen more complicated, but not much. Just a router plugged into the power with an ethernet cable running from it to the TiVo mini. This all assumes you have fast WiFi in your house (g or n).

And the Roamio box has built in WiFi so it doesn't require a wired ethernet port either.
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Old 03-19-2014, 12:43 PM   #30
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I'd recommend MOCA:

Setting up a MoCA Network for Tivo - TiVo Community
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Old 03-19-2014, 01:29 PM   #31
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I am considering doing the pre-order for a tablo dvr. I don't need it and it could be junk. If it was $100 I would have already ordered it. Its $231 shipped, with a year of guide data thrown in. I'd want to experiment with something before I committed to cutting the cord.

For TIVO, if you don't buy your box from TIVO, word is the code PLSR cuts $100 off lifetime. Which is still expensive IMHO.
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Old 03-19-2014, 02:11 PM   #32
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I am considering doing the pre-order for a tablo dvr. I don't need it and it could be junk. If it was $100 I would have already ordered it. Its $231 shipped, with a year of guide data thrown in. I'd want to experiment with something before I committed to cutting the cord.

For TIVO, if you don't buy your box from TIVO, word is the code PLSR cuts $100 off lifetime. Which is still expensive IMHO.
This looks interesting. This lets you schedule recording for OTA channels only, correct?
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