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netdude built a 1.6TB (usable) TiVo unit, but doesn't say what it cost.

It would be nice if they put some of their resources into fixing problems with Tivo2Go that make it almost useless instead of new features:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.ph p?t=228168&page=2&pp=30

I read the Tivo community site from time to time. It's a comminuty which Tivo allows some employees to participate in. There were some rumblings from an employee of a super secret beta test a few weeks ago... and he was looking for beta testers. Perhaps this was it.

Directv is switching to MPEG-4 encoding this year with the launch of the spaceway sats. I'm sure there will be a transition period so your HDTiVo should work for a while, but there will come a point where you will have to upgrade.

A couple of good sites to find more info are:

http://www.dbsforums.com
http://www.dbstalk.com
http://www.tivocommunity.com

It's hard to explain in a list what makes TiVo so much better; each item on the list has to be explained in detail; it is hard for people to "get it" without actually seeing it in action.

TiVo features that aren't really duplicated well by anyone else:

Season Pass
Wishlist
Season Pass Manager
Recording History
Conflict Management
Suggestions
Fast Forward "Auto Correction"
Intelligent Searching
Superior Guide Data

More info here:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/

This never worked on either of our units for the first guided setup. Many others have reported similar problems at http://tivocommunity.com/ and TiVo's head of support there acknowledged the problem though he wasn't sure of the cause. Subsequent guided setups after networking was set up worked fine.

As for wireless, the setup procedure does not let you enter any network information prior to the initial call, so only insecure networks with DHCP could work in any case. Also, many units didn't even ship with drivers for wireless USB devices.

Be careful about telling people that the setup hack will always work based upon your own single example.

Sometimes there can be a third show recording, but it's a quirk involving the buffer, not actually 'live' TV (not that anything with TiVo is truly 'live'). Maybe this is what the original poster was referring to.

There's a recent thread at TC that describes it:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.ph p?t=229685/

Rumor of Apple buying TiVo was reported on CNBC this morning, but as far as I can tell this was just some analyst's idea that it would make sense for Apple to buy TiVo, no actual inside information that a deal is in the works...

Here's a link to the original FCC filing : http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?na tive_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6516887764

The tivocomunity posting has more FCC links and discussion.

Older FCC filings were an interesting source of information about TiVoToGo and the DRM arguments TiVo was having with content providers.

This post quotes a filing TiVo made with the FCC and explains some of the difficulties they've faced with cable companies dragging their feet on fully supporting CableCard.
TiVo will produce a dual CableCard 1.0 system as a costly stopgap until CableCard 2.0 is ready.

The cable companies also want to push back the July 2006 deadline for eliminating proprietary security systems for set top boxes.

I've had my TiVo for over 4 years now. I love it to death. I think that TiVo did a hell of a lot of things right. Some quick examples:

1. Unlike, say, Microsoft, they never discouraged their users from hacking their boxes. As a result, a huge community of TiVo hackers emerged (see http://www.tivocommunity.com/). I upgraded my TiVo's 30 gig hard drive to two 120's, and installed a cachecard/network card combo from 9th Tee, which means I can do fun tricks like scheduling shows and season passes from the road, or watching shows in my bedroom on my XBOX.

2. Really great support. I've only had to call TiVo a couple of times, both for channel lineup issues, but they were always extremely friendly and helpful over the phone. For example, after I moved into my new house, I realized that Adelphia had just upgraded the cable in my area, and TiVo didn't have the lineup yet. So I called support, and the next day, TiVo called me back to tell me that my lineup was added. Simply awesome.

3. Choosing Linux. When I telnet into my TiVo, I get a bash shell. I've installed an ftp server, web server (TiVoWeb), and even installed cron. How cool is that? Plus, this excellent decision has led to new software being developed exclusively for the TiVo (such as a caller id display that uses the TiVo's built-in modem, so you can see who's calling without getting up off the couch). Simply brilliant.

4. The interface. They obviously put a ton of work into it, and it really shows. It just kicks so much ass.

Now obviously, they dropped the ball in a couple of areas. The Comcast merger was just a more recent one. I think these are the two biggies:

1. I think that their biggest problem has always been slow adoption; as long as I've had the thing, I've been seeing ads pop up on TiVo Central giving me hot deals on new TiVo units, which I'm supposed to share with my friends and family. Great, I can save Dad $50 on his new unit. But if they really expect me to convince Dad that he can't live without a season pass on those Seinfeld reruns he loves so much, then they should be giving me the 50 smackers. I'd probably have 10 people signed up under me right now if I got some sort of compensation for it. (By the way, click here to get a free Mini Mac!) :-)

2. Too expensive. The hardware and service together really do cost too much, unless you got in early like I did (back when lifetime service was $200). They should do what my damn cell phone company does: Knock the hardware down to like $99, and make me pay a very affordable $9.95 a month. If I try to cancel before 2 years are up, hit me with some obscene early termination fee. Yes, I hate it when cell phone companies do this, but that's how they stay in business. Besides, it's not like I'd be foolish enough to cancel my TiVo service anyway. TiVo is heroin. So far, I've paid $499 for TiVo and lifetime service, so TiVo won't make any more money off of me. If they were using my above plan, I would have paid in $589 so far, with more coming in every month.

I would really hate to see TiVo go. I hope they don't. But I suspect that even if the service dies, thanks to the openness of their hardware platform, someone (maybe me) will figure out how to write a script to pull show data off of Yahoo! TV or something. And with Microsoft and MythTV and several others entering the PVR market, there's no question that TiVo's invention is here to stay.

bort.

Among the goodies folks are finding is an undocumented one: A built in web server.

No, apparently not Apache but something else, what counts is it's there, it works, and it allows download of XML files containing show listings and the shows themselves. To get to it follow these steps:

1. Sign up for an early download of TiVo 7.1. Must have a Series 2, no DVD burner built-in (player is ok), DirecTV models aren't handled by TiVo. Basically TiVo Service Numbers beginning with 110, 130, 140, 230, 240, 264, 540, & 590.

2. While on TiVo's web site note your password and the "Media Access Key" (MAK) for your TiVo. You'll need these later.

3. Wait for 7.1 to be downloaded and installed on your machine. Continually forcing reconnects will not hurry this, indeed the cumulative server load by that sort of thing will only delay the rollout.

4. Once you've got 7.1 (it's downloaded, installed, you've rebooted) point a web browser at https://your.tivo's.ip.address/nowplaying/index.ht ml . For user supply tivo and the password is your "MAK".

5. Go wild.

Turns out you need to have TiVo's DirectShow decryption filter installed, and that only comes with their TiVo Desktop v.2 which is, for now, Windows 2K/XP only. You also need a decent mpeg2 codec, which MS doesn't include in Windows. TiVo recommends a couple of commercial ones but there are also free ones out there too. Or, you might have one that came with DVD software.

However, contrary to TiVo's marketing, once a .tivo file is pulled through this it can be edited, saved, even burned to DVD, with nothing more special needed. That's right, no waiting for Sonic's soon-to-be-shipped software, no magic mojo involved, trusty ole TMPGEnc and Nero and all the rest are perfectly fine. Indeed once passed through the magic DirectShow filter (and your password supplied) the .tivo files are free to be rendered into a more normal mpeg2 files.

Sure the $50 "custom" software will probably do more with automation, labeling, and such, but I'm betting nothing that can't be whipped up in a few days by TiVo's customers, likely beating the Sonic software to the punch.

Pretty Kewl, eh?

Among the goodies folks are finding is an undocumented one: A built in web server.

No, apparently not Apache but something else, what counts is it's there, it works, and it allows download of XML files containing show listings and the shows themselves. To get to it follow these steps:

1. Sign up for an early download of TiVo 7.1. Must have a Series 2, no DVD burner built-in (player is ok), DirecTV models aren't handled by TiVo. Basically TiVo Service Numbers beginning with 110, 130, 140, 230, 240, 264, 540, & 590.

2. While on TiVo's web site note your password and the "Media Access Key" (MAK) for your TiVo. You'll need these later.

3. Wait for 7.1 to be downloaded and installed on your machine. Continually forcing reconnects will not hurry this, indeed the cumulative server load by that sort of thing will only delay the rollout.

4. Once you've got 7.1 (it's downloaded, installed, you've rebooted) point a web browser at https://your.tivo's.ip.address/nowplaying/index.ht ml . For user supply tivo and the password is your "MAK".

5. Go wild.

Turns out you need to have TiVo's DirectShow decryption filter installed, and that only comes with their TiVo Desktop v.2 which is, for now, Windows 2K/XP only. You also need a decent mpeg2 codec, which MS doesn't include in Windows. TiVo recommends a couple of commercial ones but there are also free ones out there too. Or, you might have one that came with DVD software.

However, contrary to TiVo's marketing, once a .tivo file is pulled through this it can be edited, saved, even burned to DVD, with nothing more special needed. That's right, no waiting for Sonic's soon-to-be-shipped software, no magic mojo involved, trusty ole TMPGEnc and Nero and all the rest are perfectly fine. Indeed once passed through the magic DirectShow filter (and your password supplied) the .tivo files are free to be rendered into a more normal mpeg2 files.

Sure the $50 "custom" software will probably do more with automation, labeling, and such, but I'm betting nothing that can't be whipped up in a few days by TiVo's customers, likely beating the Sonic software to the punch.

Pretty Kewl, eh?

Last year, Tivo announced TivoToGo at CES 2004. They annouced availablity this past Monday (Jan 3, 2005), and a very few people have got the new 7.1 software required for TivoToGo at the moment (check out the Tivo Community).

Tivo showed a demo of a CableCard 1.0 demo at CES today. They plan to offer a CC HD Tivo in 2006. They needed to get this cable card Tivo out in APRIL 2005, not 2006!!! CableCard is an open standard anyone can implement, Tivo or anyone else doesnt need permission from the cable companies.

There is only one caveat with their 2006 annoucement - there are a few limitations that Tivo might be waiting for CC 2.0 to come about for. The first big thing is that now CableCard 1.0 is unidirectional (from the cable co to your box). CC 1.0 is also limited to one tuner (analog or digital channel) per physical cable card. CableCard 2.0 is bidirection (so the Tivo box can talk to the cable company, allows PPV-on-demand, interactive guide data, etc), and CC2.0 provides up to 5 tuners per physical cable card.

I would bet that if Tivo is waiting until 2006 to release their CableCard HiDef-capable Tivo, it damn well better be CableCard 2.0. Tivo can provide splitters inside the box to allow for anywhere from 2, 3, up to 5 tuners. I doubt most people have a practical need for 5 tuners UNLESS... (this is my wish) Tivo enhances their Home Media Option to allow smart scheduling, so that you can have one SuperTivo and several client Tivos (pass through tuner, no Hard disk) that just stream content from the SuperTivo over a home network.

DirecTV controls what TiVo features are available on their receivers and they've been dragging their butts on offering anything new.

Rumors say that DTV may finally offer Home Media Option (HMO) features sometime this year.

There is an application for folks who've hacked their Tivo (I think only series 1's), that can help with this issue thoough. Called endpad. Here's a link to the announcement on the tivo community forums: Forums. This is especially useful for single tuner Tivos (as mentioned above).

I can tell you now - I expect you won't be bothered.

The article mentions some improvements to our tagging capabilities. Nothing changes in terms of your ability to move through a show.

The 'billboards', or new tags, can be interactive, just as Ipreview tags are today. While they can be larger than today's tags, you can always see what's going on. Your fast forwarding skills will not require revision.

Ipreview tags have always displayed based on a 'tag' that is embedded into the broadcast signal, and this works the same way. No Pepsi billboards over Coke commercials. No spillovers into the program you're watching. It's all tied to tags built into, and timed to, the commercial being broadcast.

And to state what's become old hat to many here - the article was very loose with it's description of TiVo and your privacy. TiVo does not know how many times *you* specifically watched Janet Jackson. We absolutely respect your privacy. Everything that is collected is both anonymous and aggregate. We know how many people watched a show, but not specifically which subscribers. The last quote in the article (just like the headline) made for a good soundbite...but is grossly misleading.

Cheers, Pony

See comments made by one of their company representatives over in the TiVo community discussion

All the best...

Steve

In 2003, TiVo introduced a standalone HD TiVo prototype with two Over-the-Air (OTA 8VSB) ATSC tuners. The unit was capable of receiving, recording and performing all TiVo functions on local digital/HDTV broadcasts received through an antenna.

TiVo mentioned in their Winter 2004 pre-CES conference call that the lack of interest from any electronics companies to build such a TiVo is the reason why none have been built.

TiVo.com now includes the following statement: Currently, there are no plans for TiVo to release an HD-compatible standalone DVR..

Seems there's a helpful FAQ on just this, and it begins with:

In 2003, TiVo introduced a standalone HD TiVo prototype with two Over-the-Air (OTA 8VSB) ATSC tuners. The unit was capable of receiving, recording and performing all TiVo functions on local digital/HDTV broadcasts received through an antenna.

TiVo mentioned in their Winter 2004 pre-CES conference call that the lack of interest from any electronics companies to build such a TiVo is the reason why none have been built.

TiVo.com now includes the following statement: Currently, there are no plans for TiVo to release an HD-compatible standalone DVR..

Tivo it ain't, and this guy clearly needs the simplicity of a Tivo.

Time-Warner doesn't have DirectTV's HD lineup either ( googled DirecTV HD Tivo link here ) which is definitely the way I'd go, IF I were blowing a ton of cash on HD ( er, I'm going to wait, thanks ). If I were to get an HD set right now, it'd be (1) a clear sign I have too much money (2) mainly for playing video games and watching DVDs (3) I'd get an off-air HD receiver, and *maybe* get a satellite HD feed... but even though my local Comcast HD cable is pretty good, it doesn't beat DirecTV's offerings, it just comes close.

Turn on the 30-second skip option on your TiVO. Makes skipping through the commercials a breeze.

To enable it, play something pre-recorded. Then hit "Select, Play, Select, 3, 0, Select". You will then hear three chimes. Your previously useless "skip to end" button is now a 30-second skip.

More info here: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.ph p?s=&threadid=71440

I just came from www.tivocommunity.com where they have a specific forum for TiVo hacking. Video extraction is anything but trivial.

Although the soon-to-be-released TivoToGo aims to fix this all in one software update.

You should read the forums again! :) Just check out the Hindsdale how-to, for example, they now provide a new LBA-enabled boot CD with the mfs tools.

This thread talks about upgrading w/ a single 200GB drive: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.ph p?s=ffe209f1d2484d578698d7b7c7b038c7&threadid=1934 39

Overall I thought the article was pretty good, but I feel it was off on a few points. I'll admit I own a TiVo, so I am going to focus more on them since I am familiar with the device/service.

Point 2: The article suggests 4 tuners, but how many should be recordable at one time? The HDTV TiVo unit can only record from any two tuners at a time. Does anyone know if current hard disks could handle two HD streams and two analog streams? I think this is the reason why TiVo only allows recording on two of the 4 tuners in their HD model at any given time.

Point 2: TiVo has already announced "TiVoToGo" which will implement what the article is requesting. It is scheduled for release this fall. The reason the ports are disabled on the Hughes model is because of DirecTV - not TiVo. TiVo has stated many times that if they had things their way, the DirecTV models would have all the features the standalone models do.

Point 3: I'm not really sold on needing a DVD burner in every unit if you can download the files to a PC to burn them to DVD like the author wants in the second point. If I have a DVD burner in my PC, I would rather not have to pay for another in my TiVo. I think the units should be available, but I don't think they should all be forced to have them.

Point 4: The HDTV unit from TiVo will almost surely have the Home Media Features and TiVoToGo. Again, the only reason the DirecTV HDTV unit does not is because DirecTV wants it that way for whatever reason.

Point 7: It might be a great idea to offer an external USB 2.0 add-on that you could use for simply holding media that has been already recorded. Meaning the TiVo still records to the internal hard disk, and manages everything like it always has, but you can copy a show to the external disk to free space on the internal disks. This saves TiVo from some tough questions (are the USB 2.0 ports fast enough for direct recording, how to handle if someone yanks the drive in the middle of a recording, which shows get stored where, etc), but still allows folks to get the additional space they need.

Point 9: I think TiVo's acquisition of Strangeberry will help implement features like these. Business 2.0 has an article right now that talks about what the Strangeberry purchase is bringing to the table for TiVo. Link to cut/paste of article (Business 2.0 is non-free/registration).

from the DirectiVo FAQ at Tivocommunity http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.ph p?s=00f9270813bbb29640cdb8edfdf17076&threadid=1514 43

Does the Broadcast Flag mean I will see a poor/downrezzed picture on my older HDTV?
The broadcast flag would, in theory, allow a content provider to tell the HDTiVo to play back a broadcast at 480p instead of the 720p or 1080i quality that it was broadcast with.
"The most important thing in the FCC's broadcast flag rules is that the broadcast flag cannot be used to prevent recording. That is not the intent of the broadcast flag, and even the MPAA in its comments filed to the FCC agreed that it should not restrict consumers from recording or copying for personal use. For that matter, the FCC doesn't have the authority to mandate something that overrides copyright law which allows us to record and copy for personal use.
The FCC rules do not require devices to reduce the resolution of flagged HD material when it is output in analog form. (The FCC did not take any action to close the "analog hole".) However, devices will be required to reduce the resolution of flagged HD material when it is output in digital form over a signal path that is not secure. The HDTiVo's HDMI connection has the HDCP encryption, so the rule isn't applicable.
The FCC rules also spell out how recorders are to comply with the broadcast flag. First, recorders have to preserve the flag. If the flag is there when it's recorded then it has to be there when it's played back. Second, recorders have to encrypt the stored content using an approved method so it can't be used elsewhere, except by other compliant products." -- Wayne Bundrick
"The broadcast flag prevents flagged content from being passed via unprotected digital outputs (unprotected Firewire or DVI). Digital output must be protected by 'approved' mechanisms ... namely 5C(DTCP, HDCP, CPRM, D-VHS) approved protections.
The only affect the broadcast flag could have on the HDTivo is that the DVI connection may require use of a DVI/HDCP compliant connection.
All that being said, there are additional copy restrictions (copy never, copy once, etc.) that can be applied above and beyond the broadcast flag by DirecTV (or any MSO). The FCC has issued guidelines on what types of restrictions can be imposed based on the content type (Broadcast, Subscription Channels, Premium Channels, PPV, VOD, etc). In the most restrictive case, premium content (like PPV) can be marked as 'copy never'. Even when content is marked as 'copy never', it is still allowed to be buffered/paused by a PVR for up to 90 minutes." -- dt_dc

The full service is still active in the UK - not limited at all. The UK units still sell at £200+ on eBay, and there is a strong UK community modifying and improving the hardware and software.

There is also an Australian 'Underground' TiVo scene, using modified UK and US units and 'home-grown' Australian TV listings.

Find out more at: http://www.tivocommunity.com/

DIRECTV and TiVo are aware of the issue. The short term solution is to unplug your unit for a few minutes and re-start. A software fix will be available to fix this issue as quickly as possible.

let me guess - your PC's cupholder is broken too, right?

http://www.tivocommunity.com/

What are you talking about?

My Sony TiVo has a couple hundred hours of recording capacity thanks to a 2nd hard drive that I added to it. I first put my new harddrive in a desktop computer and booted from one of the Linux boot CDs (I forgot which one, I think Dylan's) to configure it, then slapped it in to my TiVo and it was instantly available.

Adding a hard drive isn't good enough to count as 'hacking' even when it is seamlessly accepted by the interface? Okay, then add an Ethernet card to a 1st generation TiVo. After TiVo released there v3 software you don't even need to install drivers anymore for the most popular of the ethernet addons. What? Yes, you heard me: TiVo added built-in support for hacking your TiVo to have ethernet - even though they didn't announce support for ethernet officially until the Series 2 TiVos came with an external USB port. (There is a version with a built in wireless card too, called the airnet)

I even have a Cache Card in my TiVo. Talk about hack... Not only does it add an ethernet port, but it lets me add 512 megs of ram to cache the TiVo databases (which were large and slow on a tivo upgraded with so much recording capacity).

My TiVo is happily chugging along as expected. It didn't even mind when I added a web server to it, so that I could schedule recordings and modify my to-do list when I'm at work, even though I don't have a Series 2 unit that has that feature built-in.

You might want to check out the TiVo Community Forum (in particular the Upgrade Center and Underground sections) to see what the TiVo community is all about. There are utilities to display caller id info on screen, random pictures, the weather, stock tickers, instant messenger messages, and more. Oh, and before you say TiVo doesn't 'embrace' this community, search the postings - it shouldn't be too hard to find some posts from employees there.

Now if by "doesn't embrace" you mean "lets people trade files with reckless abandon on the internet" then yes, you are right. Everyone on that site 'plays fair'. Threads about decrypting/extracting the video files, hacking subscription information so you don't have to pay to get schedule listing updates, etc aren't allowed. Why bite the hand that feeds you? If we were to do things that got TiVo in trouble they wouldn't keep making sweet hardware for us to love!

at the Tivo community online. Your situation is hardly novel.

Some of the solutions have been mentioned here, flower pots, getting the landlord to agree to a roof mount, etc.

There are others who simply take the window, open it up, make sure that the window screen is fibreglass instead of wire, mount the dish on what becomes a piece of furniture, pointing out the window. When it gets cold they fill the void where the window would otherwise be, with a couple of pieces of plexiglass. It doesn't even have to be transparent.

Then there are the phased array antenas, which I agree cost too much for most appartment dwellers.

On the other hand, pretty much nothing I can do will help me. Physics is working against my getting sattelite reception from my appartment. Unless someone comes up with a way to position a satelite near the north pole, I have too much building in my way.

-Rusty

New Tivos in UK -- perhaps not, but old ones are still available on eBay and through dealers. A 300UKP TiVo is still preferable (and vastly cheaper) to a MCE PC and the TiVo service is still operating as normal in the UK. Add to this the strong TiVo user support (and thriving hacking community) at TiVo Community and you have every reason to seek a TiVo out.

Yeah, it's a shame there's nothing like that...

Dozens of HDTV channels over satellite? Not if you are on one of the big 2 satellite providers (DirecTV or DishNet). You'll get at most -1- dozen today (actually, with DirecTV I think it's more like a 1/2 dozen right now with plans to double that this year).

The only way to get -dozens- of HDTV channels over satellite is via VOOM and from all reviews I've seen their channels are almost worthless except for the few that are also on DirecTV. Voom has such a small subscriber base today that I don't have much faith in them making it (plus their satellites are so far down in the southern sky that often people can point their dishes at them).

I don't have direct experience with Dish other than to know that I dislike their STB hardware so I avoid it. I don't have experience with HDTV over cable because I can't get digital cable where I live (and the analog signal goes over a couple of hundred of miles of repeaters and ghosts worse than OTA NTSC).

I completely agree with you that we need satellite and cable HDTV cards but there are 2 things that are going to stop you:

1) The satellite providers have to cooperate with you and they are NOT interested in this. Yes, I know all the arguments we would make to them to allow this but they don't buy them. Hell, go read the TiVo community forums for DirecTV users and pay attention to the Organize an HMO request thread for an example of DirecTV not paying attention to customer demand for PC convergence ... and HMO is now -free- on standalone TiVo's.

2) The Cable companies do not have a unified standard (yet), hence the reason why the HDTiVo only supports satellite or OTA (for now). Until they have a standard not only agreed on but implemented it is way too fractionalized for an HDTV PC option to make sense to companies like ATI.

That 2nd point is being addressed and once you see the cable manufacturers adopt (I believe it is FCC mandated) an interoperable and compatible standard you probably will see PC options as well as an HDTiVo that handles them.

You will probably also see a large number of DirecTV/Dish subcribers moving and then see the satellite providers start dumping crap channels for HDTV channels. However I doubt you'll see a general purpose PC option for satellite HDTV viewing. MAYBE an OEMed one that includes the card reader and such but I don't think that the satellite providers are savvy enough to figure out how to make that work in a way that PC adopters would buy in to (it would probably be so crippled and expensive that we'd simply forget about it).

Dozens of HDTV channels over satellite? Not if you are on one of the big 2 satellite providers (DirecTV or DishNet). You'll get at most -1- dozen today (actually, with DirecTV I think it's more like a 1/2 dozen right now with plans to double that this year).

The only way to get -dozens- of HDTV channels over satellite is via VOOM and from all reviews I've seen their channels are almost worthless except for the few that are also on DirecTV. Voom has such a small subscriber base today that I don't have much faith in them making it (plus their satellites are so far down in the southern sky that often people can point their dishes at them).

I don't have direct experience with Dish other than to know that I dislike their STB hardware so I avoid it. I don't have experience with HDTV over cable because I can't get digital cable where I live (and the analog signal goes over a couple of hundred of miles of repeaters and ghosts worse than OTA NTSC).

I completely agree with you that we need satellite and cable HDTV cards but there are 2 things that are going to stop you:

1) The satellite providers have to cooperate with you and they are NOT interested in this. Yes, I know all the arguments we would make to them to allow this but they don't buy them. Hell, go read the TiVo community forums for DirecTV users and pay attention to the Organize an HMO request thread for an example of DirecTV not paying attention to customer demand for PC convergence ... and HMO is now -free- on standalone TiVo's.

2) The Cable companies do not have a unified standard (yet), hence the reason why the HDTiVo only supports satellite or OTA (for now). Until they have a standard not only agreed on but implemented it is way too fractionalized for an HDTV PC option to make sense to companies like ATI.

That 2nd point is being addressed and once you see the cable manufacturers adopt (I believe it is FCC mandated) an interoperable and compatible standard you probably will see PC options as well as an HDTiVo that handles them.

You will probably also see a large number of DirecTV/Dish subcribers moving and then see the satellite providers start dumping crap channels for HDTV channels. However I doubt you'll see a general purpose PC option for satellite HDTV viewing. MAYBE an OEMed one that includes the card reader and such but I don't think that the satellite providers are savvy enough to figure out how to make that work in a way that PC adopters would buy in to (it would probably be so crippled and expensive that we'd simply forget about it).

I've always found it odd at how the hacker community treats TiVo. There is little information or recent work on how to extract the video out of a TiVo box (except for extractstream), and don't even think about bringing it up on TiVo fan forums. In fact, those forums won't allow talk about removing the ads TiVo downloads into itself. I'm surprised at this. I'd think the "it's my hardware, how dare they download ads into it" mentality would win out.

Apple releases a new DRM scheme for iTunes and people are all over it trying to break it. And Apple is pretty liberal with what you can do with purchased music.

I just don't get what's so special about TiVo that there isn't more work being done to open the system.

This is great -- more PVR software to help innovate PVR along.

But remember, TiVo uses Linux too! There's a TiVo hacker forum here.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/poll.php?s=&a ction=showresults&pollid=2255

href="http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/poll.ph p?s=&action=showresults&pollid=2255

" read their first impressions. Suffice to say: they love it."

So I'm reading the first 3 (out of 4) pages from that link of early-impressions... seems like there are various problems -- including: cleaning out the menu signals (which are currently bleeding into the actual video feed), slow(er) menu response time, difficulties properly identifying and/or configuring which resolution to output to, and low quality when using the tivo unit to scale the video (instead of letting the TV do it).

Now some of these problems can be fixed easily (more or less) with a firmware update... others might be a sign that the hardware isn't up to snuff. Either way, I don't seem to be reading in rave reviews of the new TiVo... certainly nothing wild enough to dare claim anyone "loves it."

Personally, I think I'll hold on to my money for a while yet until a few of these kinks are worked out.

No, not on a DirecTiVo, because Netflix is unlikely to get DirecTV to agree to using their bandwidth to download movies from a rival service (their bandwidth being limited as it is), and DirecTV has also not allowed TiVo to activate the USB ports or to update to 4.0 software or to add HMO to the DirecTiVo units, so no dice.

However, standalone TiVos series 2 with 4.0 and HMO would be ideal candidates for a Netflix download service. In fact people on the TiVo community forum have been discussing this idea for quite some time; here's their most recent thread on the subject: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.ph p?s=&threadid=168949.

Go to http://www.tivocommunity.com/
and read the FAQs.

As someone who has used both the Sony-style and Phillips-style remotes, I can't see calling the Phillips 'peanut' well-designed.

I loved my Sony remotes, they were easy to hold and the buttons were all placed in easy to remember locations, and were very distinct by feel. The flaw with the 'Peanut' isn't evident until you try to use it in a darkened room.

First, the remote itself is symmetrical, which means you can't tell the top from the bottom. At least once a night, I point the bottom at the TV and either get no response, or the opposite effect (FF instead of RW, Pause instead of Play)

The next issue is that while the playback control buttons are different sizes and shapes, the thumbs up and down and page up/down are nearly the same shape and located next to each other. So sometimes, instead of scrolling through the guide, I'm randomly rating programs.

That's not the worst of it, the other control buttons (on/off, video select, go back and go to end) are all the same shape (small circles) and located immediately next to each other. The same issue occurs. I want to go back, and I end up turning off my TV. I want to change to another video input, and I end up going to the end of the program I'm watching.

On average, I hit the wrong button about 5 times in an evening's worth of viewing, or end up pointing the remote the wrong way. This is the only remote that I've owned that I've ever had an issue with, and it's serious enough that I've considered actually hacking my old Sony remotes that I still have. Sony Remote Hack

It's not that I hate the Phillip's 'Peanut's design itself, it is ergonomic. It's the button layout and sizes that are the main issue.

Dr. Wu
"I Know This SuperHighway"

I am too dumb to know how my audio-visual equipment works and feel it is easier to write this to slashdot than to research anything. Please tell me what to do 'cause I can't be bothered to read the manual, check a website, or consult google. Oh, and I am also so damn rich (bling bling), I have both a TiVo and a ReplayTV. Please help me out, I am in such a bind.

One of the benfits of asking technical questions on Slashdot is that almost always there's someone there who can point you to an even better source of information such as Tivo Community.

It won't be "dish only" -- it will have 2 DirecTV tuners, plus 2 over-the-air HD tuners, any 2 of which may be recording at the same time. Details here.

greed - the posting was way over the top for something that is old news. If you own a Tivo and didn't know this was taking place, then you haven't been paying attention.

Wouldn't surprise me if that's the problem - the original poster not owning a TiVo, and commenting on something he therefore knows little about. Everybody I know that owns a TiVo, as well as TiVo owners I've talked to on various message boards (such as at tivocommunity.com, seems to know and be perfectly fine with this practice.

And speaking as a TiVo owner myself, I have absolutely no problem with it. In fact, I tried to sign up to have my data collected non-anonymously - a service TiVo allows their customers to provide optionally (their web site wouldn't accept my TiVo model # when I tried to sign up). People complain constantly about the poor state of television in this country - this is how you go about changing that. If a show sucks, you don't watch it, and TiVo knows it and will tell the networks. I want TiVo to know that my viewing consists primarily of Antiques Roadshow, Once and Again reruns, The Office, Survivor and Mystery Science Theater 3000. And I want the added leverage (however small) of having an actual name attached to that data when it reaches the networks. I am not concerned in the slightest with how the networks plan to use this information, but if you're that embarrassed about your TV viewing habits that you can't bear the thought of anybody else knowing about them, then either just stay anonymous or don't buy TiVo. But they're not trying to hide anything - they post their privacy policy all over the place when you sign up.

Sounds to me like you need a multiswitch. You might find a good overview at this thread at TivoCommunity.

If you want something more complicated (i.e. all transponders+local OTA channels coming in on a single line of coax), then you might need a stacker/deStacker combo, but if you just want to have more odd+even lines, you should be able to get by with a multiswitch.

Unless you need the ability to watch different channels in different rooms at the same time, an easy solution is to use the composite video out to drive your main TV, and use the RF out for your second (or 3rd) TV. Then get an RF remote or remote extender so you can operate the receiver from another room.

Incidentally, if you really need seperate tuning capability, you can usually get a 2nd receiver for free, simply by re-uping your 1 yr commitment. Call DTV and ask. If they refuse, ask for Customer Retention and tell them you are thinking about switching to Dish since they are offering multiroom systems for free. You'll be amazed at what you can get for free by threatening to leave.

Browse the DTV Tivo forum for some examples.

is actually coming out it looks like: models to be available

If you have shell access to your tivo, check out this thread for a script that allows you to do negative padding. I use it to start certain recordings late/end them early.