Tivo & Cable

[fraggle551]

We just switched back to cable (cablevision) from Direct TV. I LOVED Direct TV. The only reason we switched is that my brother is now working for Cablevision and we get it for free. I HATE it. It is just awful, but the thing I miss the most is the DVR. I have one now from cablevision, but it is just awful. I am looking into getting a Tivo for just my TV. So my question is this...

I have a NON HD TV. I will not be getting one, and do not want one. Therefore, I am assuming I do not need an HD Tivo, I just need a regular one. Do they even make those?

Also, we have 4 DVR's in my house. If I do get a Tivo, do all 4 tv's need one? Or can I just have tivo, and the rest of the tv's have the regular DVR's from cablevision?

I think those are my questions for now. If anyone could help me out, I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[bicker]

I am looking into getting a Tivo for just my TV. So my question is this... I have a NON HD TV. I will not be getting one, and do not want one. Therefore, I am assuming I do not need an HD Tivo, I just need a regular one. Do they even make those?

You actually would need an HD TiVo, at this point, for a fully integrated solution. In the vast majority of areas, cable is mostly digital cable, and in some areas, cable is 100% digital cable. The HD TiVos (the TiVo Series 3/S3, the TiVo HD and HD/XL, and the TiVo Premiere) are the only TiVos that work with CableCARD, the standard interface for digital cable. Cablevision is required to rent CableCARDs to you for a very nominal fee, reviewed annually by regulatory agencies, generally between $1.50 and $5 per month each.

Older TiVos will only work with digital cable in conjunction with a cable box that you rent from Cablevision. Using that approach, dual-tuner TiVos are limited to a single tuner. Beyond that, the way they work with each other is generally via IR emitters, and many people (including myself, at at least one of our homes) experience a very high level of unreliability due to interference in the area.

I have a couple of old TiVo Series 2s in my basement. If you lived closer I'd dump one on you. And really, it would be "dumping". I've given a TiVo Series 2 away twice, only to have it returned both times, with apologies saying that the recipient would feel guilty not returning it given that they really didn't end up making use of it. It really isn't worth the bother of trying to get an old Series 1 or Series 2 working well anymore. The HD TiVos are not that expensive, and work fine even if all you want to do is record standard definition.

And to answer your question: No, they don't make Series 1 or Series 2 TiVos anymore.

Also, we have 4 DVR's in my house. If I do get a Tivo, do all 4 tv's need one? Or can I just have tivo, and the rest of the tv's have the regular DVR's from cablevision?

If I understand your expectations, you will need a TiVo for each television to satisfy those expectations. TiVo does allow you to watch programming on one TiVo that was recorded by another TiVo in the same home, on the same account, but you do need an actual TiVo at each end. I suppose you could get one TiVo Premiere to do the recording, and then use an old TiVo Series 2 to play back elsewhere in your home. (Of course, that would only work as long as you were sure not to record any HD, because the TiVo Series 2 couldn't play it back if you did.)

You can have just one TiVo, and then the rest of your televisions use the Cablevision DVR, but they won't talk to each other; they won't work with each other.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

 

[fraggle551]

You actually would need an HD TiVo, at this point, for a fully integrated solution. In the vast majority of areas, cable is mostly digital cable, and in some areas, cable is 100% digital cable. The HD TiVos (the TiVo Series 3/S3, the TiVo HD and HD/XL, and the TiVo Premiere) are the only TiVos that work with CableCARD, the standard interface for digital cable. Cablevision is required to rent CableCARDs to you for a very nominal fee, reviewed annually by regulatory agencies, generally between $1.50 and $5 per month each.

Older TiVos will only work with digital cable in conjunction with a cable box that you rent from Cablevision. Using that approach, dual-tuner TiVos are limited to a single tuner. Beyond that, the way they work with each other is generally via IR emitters, and many people (including myself, at at least one of our homes) experience a very high level of unreliability due to interference in the area.

I have a couple of old TiVo Series 2s in my basement. If you lived closer I'd dump one on you. And really, it would be "dumping". I've given a TiVo Series 2 away twice, only to have it returned both times, with apologies saying that the recipient would feel guilty not returning it given that they really didn't end up making use of it. It really isn't worth the bother of trying to get an old Series 1 or Series 2 working well anymore. The HD TiVos are not that expensive, and work fine even if all you want to do is record standard definition.

And to answer your question: No, they don't make Series 1 or Series 2 TiVos anymore.


If I understand your expectations, you will need a TiVo for each television to satisfy those expectations. TiVo does allow you to watch programming on one TiVo that was recorded by another TiVo in the same home, on the same account, but you do need an actual TiVo at each end. I suppose you could get one TiVo Premiere to do the recording, and then use an old TiVo Series 2 to play back elsewhere in your home. (Of course, that would only work as long as you were sure not to record any HD, because the TiVo Series 2 couldn't play it back if you did.)

You can have just one TiVo, and then the rest of your televisions use the Cablevision DVR, but they won't talk to each other; they won't work with each other.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Thank you, that does help a lot. I think I will be asking Santa to bring me a TiVo this year! That is, if I can stick it out that long with this terrible DVR.