TiVo Unveils Series3 HDTV DVR 309
MegaZone writes "TiVo unveiled their new Series3 unit at CES yesterday. The Series3 is a digital cable ready box, capable of recording two programs simultaneously. It supports cable and antenna input, and it can handle digital or analog cable, digital ATSC, or analog NTSC broadcasts. CableCARD is used for digital cable, and it can utilize a single multi-stream card, or two single-stream cards. The system also sports 2 USB ports, 10/100baseT Ethernet, and an E-SATA port for external storage expansion. Video output is HDMI, component, S-Video, and composite, and audio is optical digital or RCA stereo."
Re:Complete with (Score:4, Informative)
Re:It's about time! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Complete with (Score:4, Informative)
Comcast and TiVo has a deal that starts mid-2006 to market TiVo DVRs to Comcast customers.
http://news.com.com/TiVo,+Comcast+reach+DVR+deal/2 100-1041_3-5616961.html [com.com]
Re:Complete with (Score:5, Informative)
First, TiVo *just works*, and it works well for everything it is supposed to do. No tweaking required.
Second, the cable-company DVRs don't support home networking (while MythTV would, of course), and it is very nice to have TiVos in multiple rooms, or be able to play MP3s on TiVo, transfer stuff around, or use other value-added Internet-enabled "stuff" they're constantly adding.
Third, other options only record "exactly what you tell them to", and nothing more. While this may seem ok, one gets very easily addicted to TiVo's tendency to also record things it thinks you might want to watch (and sometimes do), but havn't explicitly told it to record.
Oh, and you can also do nifty things like schedule recordings over the internet, and even check the available recording list on your TiVo remotely.
(Ok, MythTV can do some of these things, but from the demos I saw, it required far too much "tweaking" for me to feel comfortable "trusting" it to always get my shows reliably recorded, and recorded without reruns and such. I actually do also have a MythTV box, but I use it for playing computer-stored video files and running game emulators.)
Re:Great! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Great! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:But does it have commercial skip? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Ethernet? USB? (Score:2, Informative)
Maybe you are thinking of TiVo Desktop -- the app they provide to let you download the shows from your TiVo? You don't even really need this (though it is nice), you can download through your browser if you find out the url.
<i><url:http://bryan.daneman.org/default.aspx?cat
TiVoToGo Webserver Url's
Here are some of the known Url's for accessing content on your TiVo. (This only applies to TiVo's with the TiVoToGo update.):
https://<TIVO-IP-ADDR>/nowplaying/index.html (username:tivo password:<your media access key>)
http://<TIVO-IP-ADDR>/TiVoConnect?Command=QueryCo
https://<TIVO-IP-ADDR>/TiVoConnect?Command=QueryC
</i>
Re:Ethernet? USB? (Score:5, Informative)
With current S2 TiVos you can do quite a bit with the ethernet -- play MP3s, slideshows, get weather/traffic/movie times and tickets/etc (the interface is open and extensible), transfer recordings to a PC and back (PC includes Windows, Mac, and Linux; although for the latter two you probably need to run Galleon [galleon.tv]), transfer MPEG2 video to the TiVo (and maybe MPEG4/H.264 w/ the Series3? It's not clear yet), and various other stuff.
As far as the video that's exported goes -- it's in a ".tivo" format which is a loosely containered MPEG2 video. It's completely trivial to strip off the outer layer and get to the real data beneath it. And it looks like the new TiVo Desktop software will even offer transcoding to a number of alternate (DRM'd) formats as well. But really, it's a joke to take off the TiVo DRM, or to just play it from a standard MPEG2 capable video player (it's designed to allow you to do that). Yes, you can play it in mplayer.
What about the data on the USB disk--is it encrypted or is it readable and usable MPEG files?
It's SATA, not USB, but that's a minor nit. The data is not in straight MPEG files -- it's on TiVo's proprietary FS. That was figured out [dealdatabase.com] long ago. But if you can simply download the stream to your PC, there's little reason to futz around with the drive -- especially since you cannot be assured that the entire video is stored on the external drive (it may be, but it may also cross drives; the article states this).
I can't wait for those to be available (Score:2, Informative)
My dream setup: two CableCARDs into a Series 3 Tivo, and one simple non-DVR box from Time Warner. That way I can keep my OnDemand stuff and I can record two channels at the same time on Tivo. I wonder, though, how much I will pay TWC for triplicating the service for me. The CableCARDs are $1.75/piece/month (here in NYC).
Re:But does it have commercial skip? (Score:2, Informative)
You do have to hit Select-Play-Select-3-0-Select after your TiVo reboots due to a service update. This happens to us about 2-4 times a YEAR so it is no problem.
If you are having issues with power you should really get a UPS for your Tivo (and likely the rest of your AV equiptment). It will save you a lot of money in the long term as power dips, drops, and spikes will fry a computer rather quickly.
-D
Re:TiVo no longer fits my needs (Score:3, Informative)
And what proprietary app? Haven't you figured out the https server running on each TiVo series 2 yet?
I'm with the grandparent. Elgato devices ship with software called "EyeTV" that is about as easy to use as a Tivo, but has a lot more functionality. I've used both systems and I went with the Elgato paired with an old mac when I had to choose for a number of reasons. I like to archive shows. EyeTV exports to dozens of formats, including presets for burning to DVD and to fit on iPod Videos. It also includes a simple editor, that even my girlfriend figured out in minutes, that makes it easy to edit out commercials and anything before or after the show. Adding more storage is as easy as adding drives (internal or external) to the mac and there is no DRM. I never have to worry that the provider will decide I can't keep a a show (unlike Tivos). I can just copy my files to my laptop for trips and use any player I feel like. I can edit out pieces of them to include in my own videos, or for presentations because it is all in open formats, like mpeg-4. The remote actually has the skip ahead button working by default (and skip ahead and back are configurable). Finally, With the Elgato solution I can pick my choice of scheduling providers. Instead of paying $14 a month, I just use a free, ad banner supported service and if I'm unhappy with them I can switch, because I'm not locked into on provider.
I like a number of features of the Tivo and having it all in one box is a great feature. The UI is nice, and using it is fairly easy. I don't, however, like all the proprietary lock-ins, lack of choices, and I just don't trust the company. They have made more and more choices that seem to benefit the cable providers more than the end users. That makes sense for them, as a business, since the cable companies are their biggest customers these days. It also means I can't trust them to do what is in my best interests as an individual customer. I chose an Elgato device and have not regretted it. Several of my friends who use Tivo have expressed their jealousy for the functionality they are missing.
Re:Requirements and accoutrements (Score:4, Informative)
And to head off the question, yes, even the initial setup on a Series 2 can be done via broadband, but only with *supported* USB ethernet adapters. Wireless can't be enabled until after setup, at least with v3.2. I think v4.0 of the software supports more adapters out-of-the-box, so it depends a little bit on which version you get in the package.
Re:My only complaint with TiVO (Score:3, Informative)
No, and it wouldn't do you any good anyway. What you're complaining about is having to use the IR blasters to change channels on a cable box. If you only have analog cable (or OTA) then there's no need for a cable box and TiVo will tune using it's internal tuners -- just as fast as your TV or cable box.
This version will also be just as fast, because it won't have to wait for the external tuner either.
You can also fiddle with the settings (in the UI) to change how quickly it sends IR commands out through the blasters. There are 3 settings -- slow, medium, and fast. The faster settings tend to run into problems if the IR blasters aren't well aligned, or there is a lot of noise in the environment -- many people have had success in constructing blackout boxes around the IR receiver to fix both issues. Fast is pretty fast.
The other fix is to get a cable box that can accept serial commands -- some of the Motorola boxes will work, but it also depends on if your cable company has it enabled or not. Of course, this software was only available in more recent versions of the software and not to S1 TiVos at all. My guess is you don't have that software. The S1 TiVos can control some DirecTV receivers (such as the RCA models I use).
Re:But does it have commercial skip? (Score:3, Informative)
FYI, commercial skip and 30 second skip ahead are not the same thing. On tries to detect commercials and auto skip them. The other skips ahead 30 seconds or whatever. Incidentally, Tivo hiding the 30 second skip as an easter egg was a major sign to me they they are more interested in what cable companies want than what end users want. Implementation of the broadcast flag and several other decisions since have convinced me to avoid their product and service.
Re:It's about time! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Broadcast flag? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Are people so addicted to media? (Score:3, Informative)
Or maybe that by having a DVR we can watch the shows we want while leaving more time for reading books, plaing Uno, playing with the kids, etc.
Being able to start an evening show I like an hour later (after the kids bedtimes), allows us to not try to rush things and still get everything we want to get done done.
Re:TiVo is dead (Score:4, Informative)
That said, it still seems like "mid to late 2006" is a tad late for something like this, although I believe most of their delay trouble has been wrestling with the cablecard standard.
This box also includes MPEG-4 and WMV support, probably for both downloadable content and futureproofing in case cable companies change codecs away from MPEG-2 as DirecTV has done. That change by DirecTV has obsoleted the HD DirecTivo-- isn't it worth a little extra wait to have one that won't become useless the second your cableco goes MPEG-4?
This box, and their Comcast partnership, should keep them afloat. (crosses fingers)
Re:I a little behind the times on Tivo - fill me i (Score:3, Informative)
seen
I still haven't found the right way to explain it to somebody who (like me in 2000) doesn't get it. I think the difficulty of explaining the box is hurting their sales, too.
Suffice it to say it's more reliable than a VCR, 100x easier to program and use, and it's the only piece of my home theatre that my fiancee doesn't think was designed by antisocial engineers specifically to torture her.
I worry about the DRM a bit, but so far, I've never run into it. I understand the flap we saw earlier this year was over a bug-- only PPV shows are supposed to disappear. Because, you know, you have to pay... per... view.