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TiVo and other DVRs

Reality TVClubHouse Discussions: General Discussions ARCHIVES: Jan ~ Apr 2009: Buyers Banter: TiVo and other DVRs users admin

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Archive through March 21, 2008Colordeagua25 03-21-08  12:07 am
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Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Friday, March 21, 2008 - 12:18 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
I hope the squirrel is OK. They're soooo cute.

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Friday, March 21, 2008 - 12:21 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
Try again . . . this one.

Bob2112
Member

06-12-2002

Friday, March 21, 2008 - 9:18 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bob2112 a private message Print Post    
Here are the Screen Mode options for your TV:



They probably have it set for Auto Wide, but you may get a better picture in SD if you select a specific screen mode. There's usually a button that allows you to cycle through the 4 screen modes, so you can compare them fairly easily.

Normal is the mode I use most.
I think Wide Zoom is the mode that will cut off some of the top and bottom, but fill in the entire screen without altering the aspect ratio.
Full is the mode that makes everything fatter by stretching the picture wide.
Zoom would be used if your native resolution shows the picture in letter box with a border on all 4 sides. It will fill the entire screen without losing any of the picture or making things "fat", but the picture may be more grainy like when you enlarge a photo to 150%.

Another setting you should look at is the Picture Mode:



Often Vivid is the default, but some of the techies recommend changing to Standard. Actually, they want you to spend $400+ to have it professionally calibrated for your room using the Custom setting. Again, switch between the other 3 modes (not Custom) and see which picture you like better.


Bob2112
Member

06-12-2002

Friday, March 21, 2008 - 9:23 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bob2112 a private message Print Post    
The splitter should work fine. Since you already share the common antennae with other people in the building, it is already being split many times.

Sounds like your Tivo does have a dual tuner for OTA from 1 input, so that is good. Just split the input directly to the TV and tune the channels directly.

If the picture quality suffers, you may need to remove the splitter or live with it to get the option of watching a third show live.


Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Friday, March 21, 2008 - 9:30 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
When Abt hooked up the TV (that was a week plus before TiVo HD), guy quickly explained things and said this is the best for picture. At that point he was probably talking about screen mode and picture modes. I never messed with that. Then TiVo HD was hooked up. The TiVo has similar (but simpler?) settings. As I cannot now watch live TV through TV, don't TiVo settings trump TV settings?

Also when looking at info about recorded programs, gives you the percentage of disk space the program uses!

I think the delete from Recently Deleted folder is now working better. Knock-on-wood.

I don't care so much about being able to watch a third program. I think the picture quality may be just a bit better watching live TV through TV and not TiVo . . . maybe. Or maybe that's my imagination. I can't compare as it is now cuz I can't see it through TV.

Bob2112
Member

06-12-2002

Friday, March 21, 2008 - 9:31 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bob2112 a private message Print Post    


I think the squirrel must have a summer home, since we have not heard it for the past 2 nights. That's a good sign that there are not any babies, since mom would not leave them for 2 days. I can look for tracks in the snow when I get home, unless it melts by then.

Squirrels are cute, but if your friendly squirrel also ripped open a hole at the top of your balcony and proceeded to set up house keeping in the ceiling directly above your head in your bedroom, you may look at him a little differently. Add some babies, poop, urine and the fact that they may attract a raccoon who will kill the squirrel to take over the nest and you've got the makings of a real problem.

With no babies, I'm working on a catch and release program. I'll bring the squirrel to work and let it go there, even though I think you can now get a hefty fine doing that. 10 years ago they would not kill, now they do not release.


Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Friday, March 21, 2008 - 9:37 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
Squirrel bladders can be huge! Sometimes I was amazed at the size of the puddles on my balcony. One summer I had 6 - 8 of them that would come on my balcony. I was feeding them. Just the one was so tame. Couple of times one got INSIDE accidentally!! I told myself -- don't panic. I didn't. I coaxed them out with no problem. They're very territorial. When I had more than one on my balcony at the same time . . . it was flying squirrels. A circus of squirrels!

Bob2112
Member

06-12-2002

Friday, March 21, 2008 - 9:39 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bob2112 a private message Print Post    
There is no trump for settings, you have to take both into account and see what you like best.

Also, there is no "best for picture" because everybody has different criteria for what they want in a picture. You may like the vivid setting, but other think it is too bright. Some people like lots of sharp detail, while others prefer a smoother picture.

720i may give you that smaller picture with a border around all 4 sides. You probably have 2 options to fill the screen. Have your TV Zoom the input to full screen or have your Tivo output 1080i. Outputting 1080i adds more data, so the picture should not get more grainy. Zoom stretches same amount of data, so the picture will likely look worse.

Write down the settings you have now and start trying different combinations to see what you like. You may find different setting for HD versus SD that you like.


Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Friday, March 21, 2008 - 9:46 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
Two places to go for squirrel info . . .

Squirrel Lovers Club
Club's president was (and I think still is) in Elmhurst

Because of squirrels, I got to know someone in the Twin Cities area. He's very knowledgeable about squirrels and has a good web site. Never had it bookmarked and now am having trouble finding it.

ETA: Here's the other squirrel site Link

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Friday, March 21, 2008 - 10:08 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
A little computer . . . I e-mailed Jennifer around noon yesterday about appointment. No response as yet. Well, it is a holiday? Up so late last night I didn't turn the computer off.

Jujubzmom
Member

04-29-2008

Thursday, May 08, 2008 - 3:55 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jujubzmom a private message Print Post    
Bob - are you still here?

We're trading in our Directv Tivos for the Directv HD DVRs. I read your responses to the topic up above and wanted to get your opinion on the two services and the feature differences.

Thx JMom

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Thursday, May 08, 2008 - 6:26 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
Jmom, I've never had satellite (or cable) so don't have any experience with DVRs they offer. But in reading message boards (other than TVCH ) virtually all said no other DVRs were as good as TiVo. Just one other make / model might be passable, but don't remember what it was.

Bob2112
Member

06-12-2002

Thursday, May 08, 2008 - 9:18 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bob2112 a private message Print Post    
Jujubzmom: If you want/need HD then you should not have any concern moving up to the DirecTV HD DVR. The interface is different, but both will record 2 shows at the same time and let you watch a recorded show while recording.

Your options for HD DVR from DirecTV are limited to the HR20 and HR21. We upgraded to HD in November and at that time it was hit or miss on which receiver you would get. We requested the HR21 and when the installer got to our house he said he only had 1 on the truck and held it for us because there was a note on the work order. If another person also had a note for the HR21 that day, they would have got an HR20 or would have had to refuse the install.

Not sure what the status is now. The HR20 will likely start going away, so the HR21 may be the only thing available now or in the near future.

The biggest difference between the 2 models is that the HR20 has an input for over the air (OTA) HD broadcasts and can record those shows. The HR21 does not. The HR21 has a slightly larger hard drive and I believe a little more memory and faster CPU.

Now that DirecTV has all of the local channels in HD for many (most) of it's markets, the need for an OTA input quickly fading.

The only way I know for existing DirecTV customers to get DirecTivos is through www.weaknees.com. They also sell kits to expand your DirecTivo capacity and they can sell you a replacement hard drive (complete with installed software) in the event your DirecTivo has died.

DirecTV will only sell you their DVR.


Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Thursday, May 08, 2008 - 9:35 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
Bob, can a TiVo Series 2 still be used at all some how? I have mine here and don't need it myself. (I just have the one HD TV and TiVo HD.) I'll give it to a TVCHer for shipping only.

Jujubzmom
Member

04-29-2008

Thursday, May 08, 2008 - 12:33 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jujubzmom a private message Print Post    
Color and Bob - thank you both for your input.

Our Directv Tivo Series 2 died and they were going to replace it under a warranty but we cancelled that. We're buying the HR21 instead, as my husband decided to go with HD.

Our Directv HD Tivo is going strong, but Directv tells us it's not compatible with the new dish to get all the HD channels. They're replacing that one with the HR21 (after some complaining - because it's only 2 years old and is not incompatible?!) We had HD for the free 6 month trial period, but cancelld it. Now more channels will be available in our area.

I thought I read that Tivo and Directv only have a contract until 2010 or so, so we'll have to make a change then anyway. My husband feels that we might as well do it now, especially since we're getting one HR21 and the dish free.

My husband is familiar with weaknees.com. He did add a hard drive to the one that just crashed, that was nice. Maybe alittle too nice because I was holding alot of shows that I wanted to watch and now I can't.

My problems with the switch over is losing the best Tivo features.

Switching tuners: I occasionally will watch two shows side by side, or watch one show live and channel surf on the other tuner. I understand now I'll just have to "record" the shows to do that (in order to keep it paused).

I don't like the idea of having Caller ID show up on the screen, we don't need it. Can you turn that off?

I also don't like that Live TV stays on the screen when you're in different menus.

Here are some questions if you have time:

Is there a "to do" list?
Can you click on a show and "view upcoming episodes" (and choose to record one or more)?
Can you search for shows by title?
Do you have the "keep until..." option? (Most of ours are ...until I delete)

Thanks - I know I ask alot of questions.

Something else I just thought of - do you have your Tivo/DVRs networked together? That's something we'd like to do but, but my husband said Directv disabled that feature.

Jujubzmom
Member

04-29-2008

Monday, May 12, 2008 - 5:56 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jujubzmom a private message Print Post    
We got the new DVRs this weekend. So far so good, I worry for nothing as you see. Like that I have On Demand now, that's a nice plus with the HD package.

Just have alot of work re-programing my Season Passes.

Kitt
Member

09-06-2000

Monday, May 12, 2008 - 9:03 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kitt a private message Print Post    
Jujub, can you answer some of your own questions from your May 8th post? I'm interested in the answers as we have the old series 1 TiVo and I'm convinced any day now it's going to give up on us.

Jujubzmom
Member

04-29-2008

Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 6:26 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jujubzmom a private message Print Post    
Hi Kitt. We're doing good with the new DVRs, I really haven't had much time to read the manual and play around with it. All I've been doing is checking the guide each evening and setting up the recordings I want. Then I'll hope they're there when I'm ready to watch them.

We're liking the On Demand feature and we have all the movie channels for a limited time - so we're catching up on some movies too.

If you have to switch, don't freak out like I did. It's not so bad.

Here are some answers:

Switching tuners - unless I'm missing how to do it (like I said I haven't read the manual), you don't go back and forth like Tivo. You're just clicking the "previous" channel button.

Caller Id - you can turn it off.

Live TV staying on the screen. It's actually nice. If it's distracting when searching or setting up recordings, just mute it.

Yes to "to do list", "view upcoming shows", and "searching for shows".

All I've seen about "keep until..." is either until "disk full" or "I delete". I haven't seen anything like Tivo where it'll delete after a day or two. It could be there, and all my programs will delete soon, oh well.

The remote is hard to learn (it's the white one), and difficult to use in the dark.

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 7:51 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
If I'm understanding, switching tuners with TiVo is the same. Just press "Live TV" button to switch between two tuners. And press "Enter/Last" button to switch between two stations on the same tuner.

Kitt
Member

09-06-2000

Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 10:28 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kitt a private message Print Post    
Thanks for the answers, Jujubz and Color. I think I'd like live tv on the back of the text screens, my only complaint with that would be that sometimes I come in, find I'm taping something on both sides, and have to immediately press the TiVo button so I don't spoil part of either taped show. I guess I can use mute!

May I ask how much it costs a month? Our basic is $55 plus $6(??) for the TiVo, $5 for a second receiver :-(. Does it work out a lot more with HD?

Jujubzmom
Member

04-29-2008

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 6:53 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jujubzmom a private message Print Post    
There isn't a "Live TV" button on the RC23 white controller - to change between tuners. There's an "Active" button - maybe that's it. Honestly I haven't had the time or desire to watch anything or play around with it - it's not a priority until the Fall TV season. LOL Maybe I'll dig out the manual and read it during lunch.

Kitt we're paying about the same. $54.99 for Total Choice, $5.99 for the DVR Service, and it's $9.99 for HD Access. Plus $5.99 for Protection (exchange if a receiver dies or they need to re-align the dish due to wind - which I understand is crucial to HD).

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 8:18 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
I only know TiVo. I've never had cable or satellite, so all my viewing is OTA TV. Kitt, if both tuners are recording, the TV can be off -- you don't see either. Or you can press the TiVo button and then TV Power button and TiVo screen will come on (with no TV program in the background) and you can watch an already recorded program or one of the recordings in progress from the beginning.

I don't know the monthly cost. With both TiVo boxes I've had, I bought the "lifetime service". (It's lifetime of the box -- no matter who owns it (?).) I had the Series 2 for four years, so that was worthwhile. IIRC, life time service for that was $299. I had to pay $399 for lifetime service on my TiVo HD, but I don't know that it's available any longer.

Bob2112
Member

06-12-2002

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 9:05 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bob2112 a private message Print Post    
Jujubzmom: My understanding for the HD DVR is that there is only 1 90 minute buffer for the current channel, unlike the DirecTivo that has 2 30 minute buffers, one for each tuner. On the Tivo, the "Live TV" buffer would flip between those buffers and let you rewind either channel even though you were not recoding them. If you change the channel, you lose the buffer.

On the HD DVR, there is no second buffer to switch to, so there is no reason to think about which tuner you are watching. If you are recording 1 show and watching another live, then you can go through the menu to watch the show you are recording (because it is being stored on the hard drive) and you will still have the 90 minute buffer for your current channel. If you change channels, you lose the buffered show.

I would have preferred 2 45 minute buffers and functionality like the DirecTivo, but it does not seem to be there.


Kitt
Member

09-06-2000

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 9:23 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kitt a private message Print Post    
Color, we turned down lifetime service becaise it seemed so much at the time - but now we wish we had, as it's lasted over five years!

Thanks for explaining about the buffer, Bob. I get it now. You'd have thought a 90 minute buffer is excessive, really it you want something that long ago you'd have taped it. I buffer hop quite a lot when I'm not really into either programme, but I guess it's a habit I can drop.

Mameblanche
Member

08-24-2002

Thursday, May 22, 2008 - 7:59 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mameblanche a private message Print Post    
Popping in with a question, not sure this is the right thread:
My inlaws are looking for a regular old-fashioned VCR, but can only find those DVD/VCR combos which they don't want. Any ideas where dh can find a VCR for them?

Kitt
Member

09-06-2000

Thursday, May 22, 2008 - 8:32 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kitt a private message Print Post    
There might have been a very cheap vcr in Target when I was in there the other day, but I don't see it online, so I might be wrong. (And that doesn't help if it's Canada anyway.)

It might be worth getting one of those combo deals and weaning them onto dvds, it doesn't matter if they don't use the dvd part much at first. I did it with my technophobe parents, and they now, nervously, play and record to dvds.

Mameblanche
Member

08-24-2002

Thursday, May 22, 2008 - 4:08 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mameblanche a private message Print Post    
It might be worth getting one of those combo deals and weaning them onto dvds,

ITA Kitt. :-)

Pippin04
Member

10-26-2007

Thursday, May 22, 2008 - 4:21 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Pippin04 a private message Print Post    
If there is a Dumolin(sp) Electronics near you I saw them there recently.

Mameblanche
Member

08-24-2002

Friday, May 23, 2008 - 8:10 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mameblanche a private message Print Post    
Pippin, thx I'll check and see if we have one here in Toronto.

ETA - I've checked and Dumoulin Electronics is a boutique addition to the Sears Chain. So that's a great tip, thx Pippin!

Cinnamongirl
Member

01-10-2001

Thursday, July 10, 2008 - 11:18 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cinnamongirl a private message Print Post    
Hey Mame..did you ever find a VCR??