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I have a Tivo Romio OTA unit hooked to my antenna for local OTA viewing and recording.....

I hooked up several of the Tivo Minis on each TV in my house for viewing that content.

I also have Amazon FireTV box units on each tv, which I have Playstation VUE (for my cable channels I think now $45/mo), Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, etc.

Between these two, I have MORE than enough TV viewing and I saved myself over $100/mo from old cable.

TiVo only offers their OTA model as a one-time purchase with lifetime "all-in" service. There is no subscription option.

If you recorded shows last night on your DVR, you can transfer them to your phone over your local area network before you leave.

I'm talking about these tables. Why is it that the All-In Plan is so much more expensive for every model other than the Roamio OTA 1 TB?

A lot of people don't have $750 in a single month to pay for a $200 TiVo DVR and a $550 All-In Plan. The All-In Plan alone could pay for several years of the difference between home Internet-only service and home Internet with bundled TV.

Not sure what your'e talking about.

The Tivo Roamio, 1TB with lifetime plan was only about $399 for me awhile back.

Just checked on amazon Tivo same $399 price.

Looking at the Tivo website: Yep, scroll down to bottom of page, only Same $399 all inclusive price...

With Tivo it can search, and play across a number of OTA saved and streaming content all from one box.

You can add Tivo minis in other rooms around the house that connect with the main unit (I have the Tivo Roamio OTA) for your other rooms in the house.

This is the exact kind of crap that should really drive folks to do this.

I figured my set up....

For local channels, I set up an indoor HDTV antenna (you can find these on sale, I got mine at Wally Worldmart for $79). I put this up on a pole in my house and works great. I had to get this, in order to get our local PBS (WYES) that is still on VHF, and is very hard to pull in with other antennas. Otherwise, I'd recommend one of the Mohu Leaf HDAntennas. This one worked great except for my local PBS and I like some shows on there.

I bought a Tivo Roamia OTA 1TB DVR to act as my local channel tuner. It comes with included lifetime guide service. Worked great out of the box.

The only drawback of the Tivo unit, is that the Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming which it also does (and searches across), the front ends are horribly laggy, but for OTA needs, it is amazing.

For my streaming needs, I got the Amazon FireTV.

I got this over the FireTV stick for its extra computing power. It streams VERY well Netflix, and Amazon Prime (4K on these too). AND...the power was needed for my streaming app that solves my "cable network" needs.

I did Playstation VUE. I got the 70+ channels package for $35/mo. It has all the ESPNs (I like during college football season), all the cable news I want (MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, etc), and channels like TCM, TBS, Nat'l Geo, FX..etc...

It also has built in DVR functionality, which makes it great for catching the Walking Dead on AMC to watch at my convenience and skip commercials.

The Fire TV is powerful enough to use the VUE guide....Roku 3 and PS3 could not use the guide very well at all.

So, this is my living room.

For the other TVs in my house (bedrooms, office), I set up a bit of networking for those.

I set up Tivo Minis to stream from the main unit into each bedroom, for DVR and live HD tv. The main unit has 4 receivers, so you can watch different stuff in each room. I also have an Amazon FireTV for each other room, so I can watch streaming or VUE cable channels in each room. Again, each can be watching different things.

The Tivo Minis don't work wirelessly, and I also found the FireTVs don't work as well wireless as they do wired.

So, for each room I have Ethernet over AC....and a little TP-Link switch there too.

So now..everything hooks up nicely, and I dropped from $113/mo for UVerse to $35/mo with VUE.

I figure in about 8 mos I'll break even on the new hardware.

So far, the only caveats....my house has some less than optimal wiring, I think leftover from Katrina rework problems. At times, my Tivo has problems with slow network, but not that often. Also, setting up the Tivo minis...it has to go through Tivo Centrals computers before it can get recognized by your main DVR unit. This is a horribly thought out, PITA...but if you register your Mini online with tivo 24 hours before you hook it up, and then you have the main unit phone home a few times while trying to sync them , it will finally work. They need to fix that. I almost gave up on it, but once it syncs..works as intended and I live the Tivo guide and user interface. Auto commer

Good thing nobody has EVER thought of that before...

You don't have to buy the most expensive/latest TiVo to get the benefits of their new skip capability.

But you do need to buy TiVo service, and I seem to remember a sub costing $600 even on a device that isn't "the most expensive/latest".

Also, you can get the service as a subscription model.

If you're willing to pay $150 per year (source) for the use of a DVR, you might as well get the cable company's DVR, especially if you can bundle the federally mandated basic service (just locals, C-SPAN, and public access) with your existing Internet access from the same cable company. It's fewer boxes by your TV, and possibly more likely to support oddball cases such as SDV than putting a CableCARD access card in a TiVo DVR.

Last, they have sales on a regular basis

Sales on only the hardware or also on the sub?

My Romeo Plus supports streaming to portable devices. There is also the Tivo Stream to upgrade older devices:
https://www.tivo.com/shop/deta...

I also only need 1 Tivo with the + as it has 6 tuners. The Tivo Mini is how I connect up the other TV in my house.

Looking at their website I am not even sure the Bolt supports 4k. Their marketing mentions 4k all over the place but their specs pages appear to use UHD and 4k interchangeably which really makes me wonder if it truly does 4k or if it is really just supports UHD.

4k has a wider aspect ratio (17:9 instead of 16:9) and a different color space than UHD. Most of the cheaper (relatively speaking) consumer TVs and displays appear to be supporting UHD but not 4k but some of the higher-end displays tend true 4k at a 17:9 aspect ratio.

Much of the UHD content I have seen was originally shot in 4k and then cropped to fit the UHD aspect ratio. Often the colors are a bit wrong as well because they didn't correct for the different color space, so I try to stick to 4k whenever possible.

Whose lifetime?

The lifetime of the DVR. So until it breaks outside of the warranty period or becomes outmoded.

https://www.tivo.com/buytivo/popups/popup_servicePlans.html

An All-In Plan (a) lasts for the lifetime of your TiVo device (not your lifetime), (b) is not transferrable to another TiVo device (except in certain warranty replacement/repair cases)

One year is $150 that $360 is probably for the lifetime. Also the bolt comes with 1 year included.

Correct on the yearly plan. However for the lifetime plan it's worse than that. The lifetime (All-In) plan is $600: https://support.tivo.com/articles/Essential_Summary/TiVo-Payment-Plans-and-Policies

The Bolt unit itself is another $300, so the total pricetag for a lifetime TiVo setup comes to $900.

Anyone interested should look into one or more of the following alternatives. They don't add any ads to the experience as far as I know. The exception being Tivo, but my understanding is that their ads don't interfere with watching the content. Each of these alternatives have varying levels of openness and freedom ranging from truly FOSS to not FOSS/OSS at all...

Ceton's products: http://cetoncorp.com/
Silicon Dust's products: https://www.silicondust.com/
Kodi's offerings: http://kodi.tv/
Tivo's products: http://www.tivo.com/

https://www.tivo.com/shop/roam...

$199 + $499 = $700. How much did you spend on the TV tuner and computer?

http://www.rosswalker.co.uk/ti...

Upgrades are pretty much brain dead simple now. Throw in a new hard drive and off you go. You can also add USB or eSATA hard drives, which is as simple as it can be.

Don't add FUD.

A Tivo can have up to 16 TB of storage. Sure you can get more into a computer, but this is still huge.

Recordings are not trapped in the Tivo, Tivo Desktop is a free piece of software that pulls them off, and they can then easily be converted to MPeg, or just us kmttg. This process is just as complicated as MCE with MCEBuddy. I would like to go to MP4 like MCEBuddy, instead of MPEG with kmttg.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/file...
http://sourceforge.net/project...

Why should the broadcasters get to say how I process the *over the air* signals they've so graciously provided?

They don't; so long as you're processing them in a manner that's consistent with your own personal use you can do anything you want with them under the Fair Use doctrine. Aereo wasn't doing this; they were piggybacking off those signals and selling them for a profit. I time shift and stream my OTA channels all the time, through a combination of one of these and one of these. Nobody cares. I'm pretty sure they would care if I started distributing my recordings to the masses for a monthly fee....

Selecting GPLv2 or later ALSO allows for downstream Tivoization of your code.

So don't buy a TiVo then. "Tivoization of your code" is nonsense because Tivoization doesn't have anything to do with the code, in fact you can get the code here licensed under GPLv2 and use it under those terms just as you would any GPLv2 project.

Party D uses Party A's code, but locks it up a la TiVo.

False, the code is not "locked up", in fact TiVo's modified code is available right here. If what you mean is that you cannot replace the code running on a TiVo device with your own modified code then say that, because what you said is completely untrue.

Heaven forbid the big 3 Luddite networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC go out of business, so people have to keep paying ridiculous fees for garbage channels?

You do realize all three of those "Luddite" networks, along with FOX, the WB, the CW, etc., make their programming available for free to anyone willing to put up an antenna, right? If you want to argue in favor of cutting the cord you shouldn't be cheering on a company that was essentially freeloading off this ecosystem. The law already has mechanisms in place for companies that wish to retransmit OTA signals for profit. Cable companies have been doing it for decades and paying for the privilege of doing so. They tried to do it for free. Congress said no, clear back in the 1970s. Something you would have known if you had read the ruling before you posted.

Take heart, there's nothing stopping you from putting up an antenna. The investment in time and money will vary from "ridiculously easy" (rabbit ears) to "royal pain in the ass" (massive outdoor antenna with in-line amplifiers), but it's possible throughout the majority of CONUS. My set up cost me <$60, for one of these, a two-way splitter, a box of twist on connectors, and some RG6 I already had lying around the house (irony points: It was left here by a Time Warner tech, thanks for the free cable TWC!)

For that small investment in time and money I've got nine HD channels. For an additional recurring fee (~$15/mo) I have the best DVR ever made, which doubles as a STB that brings Netflix, Amazin, Hulu, etc. to my television, to complement the OTA offerings. The last part is optional of course, but it sure enhances the value of the setup. I've quite literally always got something to watch, because TiVo hunts for things I like 24/7.

Like TiVo? I wonder if making your own HTPCs with cable cards would better. I think you lose features like ondemand though. :(

You have three platforms now. The API is the platform, and Tivo has the Tivo API, Android has its own toolset and libraries, and X11 is a third.

If you want to define the word "platform" that way then sure, there are three platforms. None of them are linux platforms in that case, because you're defining the platform as the presence of some kind of non-Linux API (X11, etc). In fact, the software designed to run on X11 would probably be easier to run on FreeBSD than on Android, and that isn't Linux at all.

Linux is a kernel. It has an API - it is called the system call interface. You can target it with software if you so desire, though usually this is only done directly for fairly low-level stuff.

Right, but apps you write on your Tivo can't run on a GNU/Linux installation or an Android installation. You have three platforms now. The API is the platform, and Tivo has the Tivo API, Android has its own toolset and libraries, and X11 is a third.

All of them will probably support very basic command-line software with just a recompile, but if you're coding a finished app with a UI and the sort of interaction with high-level services users expect, you're going to be writing three different apps.

It is called a "DVR"

http://www.tivo.com/

2. That bothers me also but broadcast television really sucks. Being tied to a schedule not of my making is a horrible waste of human resources.

Ain't that the truth. Wouldn't it be great if, say, a computer could record it for you and then you could watch it later?

Android and TiVo demonstrate why Stallman is right on this issue. Nobody can deny that Android and TiVo are using Linux as a kernel, but the userland is completely different and certainly isn't GNU. Gone are the days when you could assume that any computer running Linux would also be running GNU.

Actually, TiVo uses the GNU userland - it's all standard GNU with proprietary addons. Of course, it's *old* GNU (pre-GPLv3), but it's still GNU.
http://www.tivo.com/linux/

Heck, they use glibc. Granted though, they do have DRM and other stuff, and the vast majority of stuff they use is proprietary and written by TiVo, but everything in it works the same way any regular GNU/Linux system works.

It's Android that's the odd one, being a completely new userland - the only thing GPL is the kernel itself. The rest of it is Apache, including the C library (Bionic). Heck, it has a completely rewritten version of BusyBox as well. Though, other than the kernel running init, that's where the similarities end - the startup system is different as is everything else. I'm sure Bionic isn't a full C library either - just enough to kickstart the Android environment and support the tools Android uses.

If someone was daring enough, they could implement the necessary services and such on BSD and make a completely compatible, but closed, version of Android.

Tivo has collected this information, which you can opt out of, for a while. Some information about his is in their privacy policy (search it for "Anonymous Viewing Information"). I believe they combine the data per zip code and use it for their "Stop Watch" service. More information here

A remote with a keyboard.

"Our last real freedom is Linux."

http://www.tivo.com/

I think you meant, "Our last real freedom is GNU/Linux," or perhaps you meant, "Our last real freedom is GPLv3 software," or just, "Our last real freedom is Fedora/Ubuntu/Slackware/[distro of choice]."

With one dvr you can record anywhere and watch anywhere haven't checked out tivo in awhile but for just that functionality it is well worth it.

You're pretty new here, so I'll clue you in on a big secret about technology: it changes, often in the form of added features. I wrote that without even checking the TiVo site or knowing much at all about TiVo, but yes, you are an idiot.

I have horrible service, only one company to choose from, and my DVR is a piece of shit.

The market already provided a solution to this particular problem. Yes, it'll cost you more, but most things worth having do. If you buy cheap (cable company DVR) you get what you pay for......

3. Changes to your TiVo Basic service. TiVo may at its discretion and from time to time change, add or remove features and functionality of the TiVo Basic service or the TiVo DVR without notice.

http://www.tivo.com/abouttivo/policies/tivobasicandtivoplusserviceagreement.html

TiVo also has a PC based solution (LiquidTV) now through a partnership with Nero. Check it out...

I've had TiVos for years and years and years. I have a Series 3 now. I love it.

But if you want a truly PC based solution, how about Nero LiquidTV? It is basically the official PC version of the TiVo software. It still needs a TiVo subscription, but it has all the features and the same fantastic interface.

I have a Tivo series 2 working fine with my DirectTV provider. While it's not as good as cable (can only record one show at a time), it's good enough for my needs.

DirectTV is supposed to be working on something with Tivo to provide a DVR service. See this link for more info:

http://www.tivo.com/dvr-products/tivo-partners/tivo-directv/index.html

At least everyone who has a TiVo.

That contradicts Tivo's own statements. Did you try to cancel your service and JUST LEAVE IT PLUGGED IN (to the network or phone line)?

From http://www.tivo.com/abouttivo/policies/tivobasicandtivoplusserviceagreement.html

16. The TiVo Basic service. Your TiVo DVR may be eligible to receive the TiVo Basic service. If your TiVo DVR is eligible to receive the TiVo Basic service and you choose to terminate your TiVo Plus service, this Agreement terminates immediately upon such termination and the terms and conditions of the TiVo Basic service agreement will apply

Isn't it interesting that Tivo has such a loyal crowd! I own three Tivos and I pay for service for two of them (the third is not connected). I wouldn't consider hacking my Tivo to avoid paying. Tivo has developed such a loyal following by being user friendly to it's users and trying to give them what they want that you are you can get kicked off and banned from forums for discussing it.
Sounds like the RIAA should hire Tivo to do it's PR work. :)

Way to go Tivo. I love my Tivos. Can't wait until next year. I'm getting a HD Tivo! :)

Isn't it interesting that Tivo has such a loyal crowd! I own three Tivos and I pay for service for two of them (the third is not connected). I wouldn't consider hacking my Tivo to avoid paying. Tivo has developed such a loyal following by being user friendly to it's users and trying to give them what they want that you are you can get kicked off and banned from forums for discussing it.
Sounds like the RIAA should hire Tivo to do it's PR work. :)

Way to go Tivo. I love my Tivos. Can't wait until next year. I'm getting a HD Tivo! :)

Isn't it interesting that Tivo has such a loyal crowd! I own three Tivos and I pay for service for two of them (the third is not connected). I wouldn't consider hacking my Tivo to avoid paying. Tivo has developed such a loyal following by being user friendly to it's users and trying to give them what they want that you are you can get kicked off and banned from forums for discussing it.
Sounds like the RIAA should hire Tivo to do it's PR work. :)

Way to go Tivo. I love my Tivos. Can't wait until next year. I'm getting a HD Tivo! :)

Isn't it interesting that Tivo has such a loyal crowd! I own three Tivos and I pay for service for two of them (the third is not connected). I wouldn't consider hacking my Tivo to avoid paying. Tivo has developed such a loyal following by being user friendly to it's users and trying to give them what they want that you are you can get kicked off and banned from forums for discussing it.
Sounds like the RIAA should hire Tivo to do it's PR work. :)

Way to go Tivo. I love my Tivos. Can't wait until next year. I'm getting a HD Tivo! :)

Isn't it interesting that Tivo has such a loyal crowd! I own three Tivos and I pay for service for two of them (the third is not connected). I wouldn't consider hacking my Tivo to avoid paying. Tivo has developed such a loyal following by being user friendly to it's users and trying to give them what they want that you are you can get kicked off and banned from forums for discussing it.
Sounds like the RIAA should hire Tivo to do it's PR work. :)

Way to go Tivo. I love my Tivos. Can't wait until next year. I'm getting a HD Tivo! :)

Isn't it interesting that Tivo has such a loyal crowd! I own three Tivos and I pay for service for two of them (the third is not connected). I wouldn't consider hacking my Tivo to avoid paying. Tivo has developed such a loyal following by being user friendly to it's users and trying to give them what they want that you are you can get kicked off and banned from forums for discussing it.
Sounds like the RIAA should hire Tivo to do it's PR work. :)

Way to go Tivo. I love my Tivos. Can't wait until next year. I'm getting a HD Tivo! :)

But Tivo is $12.95/month.
http://www.tivo.com/dvr-products/tivo-hd-dvr/index.html

It takes the focus off the product. I know that the Tivo is running Linux, but you wont find a mention of Linux on the Tivo website.

http://search.tivo.com/search?q=Linux

They do have this site

http://www.tivo.com/linux/

But the first words on the page are, "In compliance with the GPL version 2."

Imagine a radio interview on a top 40 station during a morning show that's sole purpose is to plug this little device.

The non-Linux version

Joe: Welcome to the show Bob tell me about this new thing.
Bob:Thanks Joe its great to be on. This little box does some really cool stuff. It will play radio stations from around the world and connect to your Facebook page
Joe: Wow that's really neat. How does it do all that
Bob:Well it connects to the Internet over your wireless connection. This also allows it to get updates automatically and allows new features to be added
Joe: That sounds complicated.
Bob: Actually its really simple. All you do is plug it in and push the connect button.
Joe: That does sound simple. Can it make coffee too?
Bob: ha ha ha.. Not yet, but we're working on it
Joe: That's all the time we have right now. Thanks for bringing us this really cool thing today Bob. I can't wait to buy one.
Bob: Not a problem, and thanks for having me on
Joe: Up next Lady Gaga Poker Face and the fart joke of the day

The Linux version

Joe: Welcome to the show Bob tell me about this new thing.
Bob:Thanks Joe its great to be on. This little box does some really cool stuff. It will play radio stations from around the world and connect to your Facebook page
Joe: Wow that's really neat. How does it do all that
Bob:Well it connects to the Internet over your wireless connection. This also allows it to get updates automatically and allows new features to be added
Joe: That sounds complicated.
Bob: Actually its really simple. We use a customized version of the Linux Kernel. Version 2.6.30 to be exact. All the software on our device is open source and is available for download from our website. We encourage our users to make modifications to this device.
Joe: But don't hackers use Linux to steal identities of people using the Internet?
Bob: ha ha ha.. No, don't be silly Joe. Hackers are the good guys. I think you mean crackers
Joe: Um.... Thanks for coming on Show. Up next Lady Gaga Poker Face and the fart joke of the day

It takes the focus off the product. I know that the Tivo is running Linux, but you wont find a mention of Linux on the Tivo website.

http://search.tivo.com/search?q=Linux

They do have this site

http://www.tivo.com/linux/

But the first words on the page are, "In compliance with the GPL version 2."

Imagine a radio interview on a top 40 station during a morning show that's sole purpose is to plug this little device.

The non-Linux version

Joe: Welcome to the show Bob tell me about this new thing.
Bob:Thanks Joe its great to be on. This little box does some really cool stuff. It will play radio stations from around the world and connect to your Facebook page
Joe: Wow that's really neat. How does it do all that
Bob:Well it connects to the Internet over your wireless connection. This also allows it to get updates automatically and allows new features to be added
Joe: That sounds complicated.
Bob: Actually its really simple. All you do is plug it in and push the connect button.
Joe: That does sound simple. Can it make coffee too?
Bob: ha ha ha.. Not yet, but we're working on it
Joe: That's all the time we have right now. Thanks for bringing us this really cool thing today Bob. I can't wait to buy one.
Bob: Not a problem, and thanks for having me on
Joe: Up next Lady Gaga Poker Face and the fart joke of the day

The Linux version

Joe: Welcome to the show Bob tell me about this new thing.
Bob:Thanks Joe its great to be on. This little box does some really cool stuff. It will play radio stations from around the world and connect to your Facebook page
Joe: Wow that's really neat. How does it do all that
Bob:Well it connects to the Internet over your wireless connection. This also allows it to get updates automatically and allows new features to be added
Joe: That sounds complicated.
Bob: Actually its really simple. We use a customized version of the Linux Kernel. Version 2.6.30 to be exact. All the software on our device is open source and is available for download from our website. We encourage our users to make modifications to this device.
Joe: But don't hackers use Linux to steal identities of people using the Internet?
Bob: ha ha ha.. No, don't be silly Joe. Hackers are the good guys. I think you mean crackers
Joe: Um.... Thanks for coming on Show. Up next Lady Gaga Poker Face and the fart joke of the day

http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/130

"A Fixed format does not preserve or optimize the output based on the video signals, but it eliminates any delay or screen flicker associated with switching formats."

As for channel-switching performance ... I've found that channel-switching performance annoyingly slow on *every* QAM (i.e. digital cable) tuner. Of all the faults unique to the HD TiVos (and there are a good number), slow channel-switching is not one of the ones for which TiVo deserves any blame.

I can't make a DVD of the show, for instance, with a Tivo. You can't even transfer it to a computer in order to make the DVD there.

[NotObama]
Yes you can.
[/NotObama]

http://www.tivo.com/whatistivo/anywhereyougo/anywhere_pc_mac.html

Answer: "Not enough" since we're getting inane txt-speak commercials about it.

What are these commercials you speak of?

It's a shame CableCard never caught on - then companies like TiVO could have offered a viable alternative to a set top box.

Um, companies like TiVO do offer alternatives. I'm using a TiVO HD with cableCARD right now, as a matter of fact.

The hardware in the Series 2 simply can't do the work. Netflix is using a codec that isn't supported there.

Maybe so, but I can 'stream' from the PC to the Series 2, through the same ethernet cable. What would be the major difference?

The S2 has a pathetically weak CPU and no corresponding dedicated acceleration hardware.

The first half of your sentence is very true, which makes the second half impossible.
TiVo Series 1 and 2 systems have dedicated hardware MPEG2 encoders/decoders.

Some web content (e.g. Amazon Unbox and Jaman movies, CNet.com and NYTimes.com "TiVoCasts") can be directly downloaded to Series2 TiVos. See http://www.tivo.com/mytivo/howto/downloadmoviesandtv/

All TiVos with network connections can stream video by copying content from a PC or remote server to their local disk and decoding from there, just as if they'd recorded it themselves. You can start watching the content before the copy completes, though if the transfer is slower than realtime (because of a slow network or high bitrate files) you may catch up to the download and have to wait for more content to be buffered. TiVo to TiVo transfers work roughly the same way.

The downloadable "TiVo Desktop" PC and Mac software supports automatically downloading content off the web, transcoding it if necessary, and holding it for transfer to your TiVo. Open source programs like pyTivo will also do that.

If Netflix doesn't want to handle downloads of large MPEG2 files for Series2s, they could work with TiVo to extend support for this proxy PC model. Content can even be copy protected using a key specific to any TiVo account.