I'm home for christmas and my mother has a new job. The TV spends the day taping her soaps. Seems like a good excuse to get hera Tivo. Any recommendations on what to get? I know models vary in their hackability - and i'd like to do some hacking.

Yeah, I know its a gift that has a $13/month fee but i'd run it past my father first.

Oh, no concerns about high def....we do have high speed internet.

Get a ReplayTv instead. You can get them dirt cheap, and they are easier to hack/upgrade. There is also no annoying adware on them. If you get a 5000 series (not 5500) yoiu get commercial skip and Internet Video Sharing.

Stavs

The Replay is the way to go if you want to hack. It is really easy to get programs on to your computer and play/edit/burn them.

ReplayTV is it. Forget TiVo. Just STOF (search the old forum)for a lot of ReplayTV info.

Even if you don't have hi-def, if they have cable, you might want to investigate the cost to upgrade to a TiVo like digital tuner. Since they won't likely be hacking their TiVo, or their ReplayTV, it might make more sense to get them something that's more mainstream than RTV …

How is ReplayTV not mainstream, bfd? It's a package that works perfectly right out of the box and has an intuitive interface, unlike many of the highly buggy cable company boxes that incorporate tuners. I'm not quite sure what you're saying. A ReplayTV will work fine with almost any source. Outside tuners are controlled either by a direct serial connection to the replay, or via an IR blaster.

Does ReplayTV require some monthly subscription fee?

Its $12.95 a month.

JEBB Wrote:
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> Does ReplayTV require some monthly subscription
> fee?

Yes and no. They operate on the razor/razorblades business model. You can buy the box plus lifetime service for about $350 total (which is about what the hardware is really worth), or you can buy the box at an absurdly discounted price (usually around $50) and pay for service at $12.95/mo (though the monthly service option really makes no financial sense IMHO).






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2005 01:03PM by davester.

Are there any DVRs that you would recommend don't require a subscription of any variety?

With ReplayTV does it work with Dish or Direct or specific cable companies or all of the above?

I guess I'm asking about replacements for a VCR recorder.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2005 01:46PM by JEBB.

JEBB Wrote:
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> Are there any DVRs that you would recommend don't
> require a subscription of any variety?

I'm not sure what you mean by this. If you buy a ReplayTV with the service bundled, there is no subscription. Do you mean that you want a hard disk recorder that doesn't have any kind of program guide? I don't think anyone makes one. Sounds like a dumb idea to me anyway...it would be too hard to navigate and classify all that data without some kind of guide. Sounds like you want a DVD recorder, not a DVR. One other option out there is the eyeTV/eyehome combo. That uses a "free" guide, but they charge full price for the hardware so you'll end up paying more than the cost of a ReplayTV for a "nonsubscription" guide that is not that great. Just forget the "subscription" concept altogether and get your head around the fact that a DVR costs about $350 and includes a program guide (and the package is also rentable for a small deposit of $50 and $12.95/month). If you want something cheaper then you can't afford a DVR.


> With ReplayTV does it work with Dish or Direct or
> specific cable companies or all of the above?

Yep. Those companies also have their own DVRs (for rent only at about $10/month), but they have gadawful and buggy interfaces and a dearth of useful features (no 30 second skip ahead for example).

> I guess I'm asking about replacements for a VCR
> recorder.

Like I said, you are looking for a DVD recorder apparently. They are available cheap.

We have a Pioneer DVR (TIVO) with a burner. It has a 3 day onscreen guide. I have not paid one penny to TIVO since buying. If I want to record something within the window, I do it via the onscreen guide - if it is further out, I program like a VCR.

Your Mom can set up a M-F 1pm time to record her shows forever.

Wait until after MacWorld, Grasshoppa.

---

Unpaid Social Liaison

mick e Wrote:
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> Wait until after MacWorld, Grasshoppa.
>
>
>
> mick e is out


What does Mick E predict for the future?

mick e's mysterious orb of wonder shows hazy images of an intel-based set-top mac mini that will download video via itunes video. It may also include some flavor of Intel's Viiv thingamadealio.

The big question is whether it will feature a Tivo or "VCR" type interface for recording broadcast programming.

---

Unpaid Social Liaison



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2005 04:22PM by mick e.

I am in awe of your command of technical terminology, master mick e. I've heard of the term "dealio", but "thingamadealio" is way beyond anything I could ever understand.

davester Wrote:
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> I am in awe of your command of technical
> terminology, master mick e. I've heard of the
> term "dealio", but "thingamadealio" is way beyond
> anything I could ever understand.


And that is why mick e brings it to you here . . .


cheers

---

Bill
Flagler Beach, FL 32136

Carpe Vino!

Fermentation may have been a greater discovery than fire.
— David Rains Wallace



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2005 07:27PM by WHiiP.

I bit and got a dual-tuner Tivo from DirecTV and the wife and i are wondering why we waited so long. It is fabulous. It was nearly free. It's $7/mo.

---

What it is, man, a low-down and funky feelin'

davester Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How is ReplayTV not mainstream, bfd? It's a
> package that works perfectly right out of the box
> and has an intuitive interface, unlike many of the
> highly buggy cable company boxes that incorporate
> tuners. I'm not quite sure what you're saying. A
> ReplayTV will work fine with almost any source.
> Outside tuners are controlled either by a direct
> serial connection to the replay, or via an IR
> blaster.


After Replay got sued out of business and Denon/Marantz bought them out, what was great about ReplayTV was gone. They've lost considerable market share since then because of the questions about long term support. Even if D&M keeps their promises about supporting RTV in the U.S., they're really under no obligation to do so if you think about it. They can sell off at any time …

When bfd's saying mainstream, maybe he should've said TiVo, Cable and Satellite companies … obviously, ReplayTV is not thrown together by some kids in their garage. And for most people here, it's probably a better choice than others, given the extent to which you can "customize" the box for your own needs, but it is on the fringe when it comes to marketshare and that's what makes it a non-mainstream product in bfd's opinion…

Since the original post made mention of the fact that the box was for "parents", bfd made possibly an incorrect assumption about their level of comfort with gizmos. At any rate, the idea is that with pricing about the same, and with features about the same, what the others have in their favor, if indeed the parents are not technophiles, is support options.

If this is for your mom, I'm not sure why you want to "hack" it. ;)

If you're not going to be hacking after all, anyone who has both TiVo and Replay says the TiVo interface is better.

You can get "gift subscriptions" I think in 3, 6 or 12 month increments. Or I prefer to just get a lifetime subscription for $299 and be done with it.

bfd Wrote:
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> After Replay got sued out of business and
> Denon/Marantz bought them out, what was great
> about ReplayTV was gone. They've lost considerable
> market share since then because of the questions
> about long term support.

Hmmmmm, sounds like the same reason many people use to argue against buying Macintosh computers.

And it's equally valid.


> Even if D&M keeps
> their promises about supporting RTV in the U.S.,
> they're really under no obligation to do so if you
> think about it. They can sell off at any time …
>
> When bfd's saying mainstream, maybe he should've
> said TiVo, Cable and Satellite companies …
> obviously, ReplayTV is not thrown together by some
> kids in their garage. And for most people here,
> it's probably a better choice than others, given
> the extent to which you can "customize" the box
> for your own needs, but it is on the fringe when
> it comes to marketshare and that's what makes it a
> non-mainstream product in bfd's opinion…

Just like a Macintosh computer, right?

big fat dummy, you just keep digging your hole deeper and deeper. Didn't your daddy teach you when it's time to quit digging?


ReplayTV is moving to a software platform, and will quit being a hardware platform--which tells me they'll still be around.