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From the Hacking the Tivo FAQ , here are several programs for windows.

Ligos: Windows based PTV.
PowerVCR: Windows based VCR.
WinVCR: Windows based VCR.
SnapStream: Windows based PTV (freeware and commercial version).
ShowShifter: Windows based PTV (freeware).
VideoLAN is an open source, multi OS video streaming program.

Actually, TiVo does have a 30 second skip feature. It is just not enabled by default and it is not well known how to enable it. See this link for details on how to enable it.

Andrew Tridgell's notes on hacking the TiVo, including his various hacks for the device. Also, TiVo hacking FAQ may be of interest.

Tivo has a heads up over Replay because it had more marketing dollars (by initially charging their customers a monthly or one time fee). Tivo is also owned by Phillips.

Tivo willfully shares your Tivo data with others.

Tivo has violated their privacy agreement with you a number of times. They changed their privacy policy to allow them to share your data without notifying their customers. The link they provided in their manual still made you click through on about 3 or 4 links before actually getting to the policy. I know of many Tivo owners who were concerned about their privacy were in an absolute uproar about this.

Replay TV refused to share your private information and were almost forced to do so. They paid lawyers to keep my information to themselves.

Though Replay now charges a monthly fee like Tivo on NEW units, I have a unit that did not have this charge. I paid $300 for a 20 hour Replay TV and have never spent a dime since.

Replay TV has allowed for me to access my Replay TV from anywhere with an internet connection. I have heard that Tivo has also adopted this. Not sure though.

Replay TV gave me the 30 second skip so that I can easily bypass commercials. I believe Tivo has also snagged this feature as well?

One thing that Tivo has over Replay is that it was the first to let you can hack it to add larger drives. (1, 2, 3)
ReplayTV does now too. (1, 2) Tivo has historically been easier to do so, but I'm not sure about these days.

Overall, features on both are very similar, though the methodology to record shows is a little different. Replay gives you more pause time as it isn't just recording things it THINKS you MIGHT like. Replay makes you be specific about what you want to record, though they have theme recording channels. Tivo is programed to make certain assumptions about what you want it to record in addition to what you specifically specify.

I know folks who own one or the other. Regardless of brand, they are both extremely happy with their new options for watching TV. For those of you who say, I barely watch TV, its likely because you think there's too much crap on. There is, but with one of these units, you will only be watching exactly what you want, without commercials. Iron Chef, Battlebots, Simpsons (I have archived almost 2/3s of all episodes), Southpark, West Wing, 24, shows for your kids/infants (ON DEMAND!!!) and both can wait for shows that aren't even in the programming guide yet.

Though Tivo is on better financial ground right now, Replay TV isn't and hasn't historically been as shady about your privacy.

Bottom, line, do the math and find yourself the best deal. Even if one or both went out of business, we'd make a hack to grab the programing information anyway.

You probably should've used a 5400 RPM drive for the DirecTivo space upgrade.

From the TivoHAQ FAQ Section 3.3:

"7200 RPM drives seem to work fine. They usually cost more than 5400 RPM drives, and will not give you any speed improvements by using them. It should be noted that 7200 RPM drives will draw more power and generate more heat than their 5400 counterparts. The long term consequences of using 7200 RPM drives is still being debated. "

1. The latest ReplayTV (4000+) has a Commercial Skip feature. This isn't a 30-second skip button, this is a "hit this button and we will automatically skip every commercial" button.

2. TiVo does have a 30-second skip button, it just isn't enabled by default. See the TiVo FAQ for more info.

3. The 3 major networks (NBC, CBS and ABC/Disney) and TV/Movie content providers such as AOL/Time Warner are investors in TiVo. You don't usually go around suing people you have already given large amounts of money to.

As I posted above, there is a way to turn on 30 second skip on a Tivo. Read about it in the Tivo FAQ.

FYI, there is a way to activate a 30 second skip feature on your Tivo. The details are in the Tivo Faq.

From the TiVo FAQ:" In 2.5, there is a unofficial, undocumented way to turn on 30 second skip. This will turn the "skip to end" (->|) button into 30 second skip. However, this means you will lose the current functionality of that button, including skip to tickmark while in RW/FF. To try it, enter the following sequence of buttons: Select-Play-Select-3-0-Select. The code will toggle 30 second skip off/on so enter it again to switch back if you don't like it. Also, after any reboot, the button will revert to original standard functionality." This seems to work best if you do it when a prerecorded program is being played...

From the TiVo FAQ:"In 2.5, there is a unofficial, undocumented way to turn on 30 second skip. This will turn the "skip to end" (->|) button into 30 second skip. However, this means you will lose the current functionality of that button, including skip to tickmark while in RW/FF. To try it, enter the following sequence of buttons: Select-Play-Select-3-0-Select. The code will toggle 30 second skip off/on so enter it again to switch back if you don't like it. Also, after any reboot, the button will revert to original standard functionality."

From the TiVo FAQ:"In 2.5, there is a unofficial, undocumented way to turn on 30 second skip. This will turn the "skip to end" (->|) button into 30 second skip. However, this means you will lose the current functionality of that button, including skip to tickmark while in RW/FF. To try it, enter the following sequence of buttons: Select-Play-Select-3-0-Select. The code will toggle 30 second skip off/on so enter it again to switch back if you don't like it. Also, after any reboot, the button will revert to original standard functionality."

From the TiVo FAQ:"In 2.5, there is a unofficial, undocumented way to turn on 30 second skip. This will turn the "skip to end" (->|) button into 30 second skip. However, this means you will lose the current functionality of that button, including skip to tickmark while in RW/FF. To try it, enter the following sequence of buttons: Select-Play-Select-3-0-Select. The code will toggle 30 second skip off/on so enter it again to switch back if you don't like it. Also, after any reboot, the button will revert to original standard functionality."

From the TiVo FAQ:" In 2.5, there is a unofficial, undocumented way to turn on 30 second skip. This will turn the "skip to end" (->|) button into 30 second skip. However, this means you will lose the current functionality of that button, including skip to tickmark while in RW/FF. To try it, enter the following sequence of buttons: Select-Play-Select-3-0-Select. The code will toggle 30 second skip off/on so enter it again to switch back if you don't like it. Also, after any reboot, the button will revert to original standard functionality."

• What formats and standards is TiVo compatible with?
  • TiVo is only compatible with a Standard Definition NTSC signal.

D'oh :(

Don't get me wrong here, I would love to get one of these. Too bad they don't have a PAL version available.

Well, I haven't heard of an entirely homemade version of a TiVo. It's a pretty complicated device -- MPEG compression isn't all that easy to do on a chip. Toms recently had an article describing a hard drive hack for it, which explains what a TiVo is pretty well in the introduction. This place also has a pretty good FAQ which answers a bunch of random questions that are likely to come up.

how about a $200 lifetime subscription?

Tivo Lifetime subscription info at tivofaq.com

Personally, what sold me on Tivo when I got it a year and a half ago was the great community at the AVS Tivo Forum. More info than you could ever want and a very supportive bunch for all kinds of questions. The Tivo FAQ is a good place to get answers to the basic questions first, though.

For all the patent wars, at least TIVO is nice about hacked products. In these troubled times, it is hard for me to come down hard on a company that has used such restrait toward hacking their product.

I've just bought a used TiVo for $100. New units go for between $100 (for a unit that's good only with DirecTV) to $500 or so. Hackable and new sub-$300 TiVos might include a 20-hour unit from Best Buy (IIRC) and a 30-hour unit from here.

Before going further, let me say just what a TiVo is. The one-sentence description is that it's a digital video recorder; it records TV shows to a hard disk much like a VCR records TV to a tape. This description doesn't do the device justice, though. To begin with, if you buffer your live TV through the TiVo, you can get VCR-like effects, such as pausing live TV, performing instant replays, rewinding, and running something in slow motion. You can then hit a button to catch up to the live broadcast during a boring stretch (like a commercial). The devices get even more interesting if you subscribe to the TiVo service, which is $10/month or $250 for a lifetime subscription. When you do this, the TiVo device calls in using a built-in modem once a day and downloads TV listings. You can then search them to find programs you want to watch (no more need for TV Guide or the like). You can tell the TiVo to record specific shows, or entire series. In the latter case, the TiVo will do so even if the show changes time slot (but not if it's rescheduled at the last minute, say because a sporting event runs over). You can tell it to search for shows or movies by title, actor name, and so on, so if you like, say, Sandra Bullock, you can feed that name into the unit and it'll record all her films that it finds in the listings. You can tell the TiVo to record "suggestions," which are programs that match your profile of likes and dislikes that it builds up if you give ratings to shows.

Anyhow, TiVos are very hackable. They run on Linux, and use a 50MHz PowerPC CPU. Among other things, you can add or replace a hard drive. You might therefore get a low-end TiVo and expand it to over 100 hours capacity for the cost of an 80GB hard disk. You can also add an Ethernet card to connect the thing permanently to your LAN. (Even without the Ethernet card, you can get a bash prompt or PPP connection over its serial port.) There's a TiVo hacking FAQ available. It's a bit outdated in some important ways, but it's a good way to get a feel for what you can do with the device.

FWIW, I've not yet hacked my TiVo in any way (I've had it for just a few days), but I plan to upgrade the hard disk and get a serial connection going within a week or so.

I have two suggestions (or three depending on how you look at them), based on recent experiences.

One is legal, the other isn't quite (unless you're in Canada)

1) TiVo: As has been discussed quite often on here, the TiVo is a fun little toy that you can get for ~$200 at your local electronics megastore. It's a linux box inside, and you can do lots with it (drop it to shell, add additional hard drives, install Ethernet (TiVoNet) and stream stored MPEG files to your other PCs on a LAN, etc.). Check out these links for more info:

http://www.tivofaq.com/hack/
http://slashdot.org/search.pl?query=TiVo

2) DirecTV. This is slightly shady, but still loads of fun. There's a large community of people out there (mostly in Canada, where they don't sell DirecTV service so they're forced to hack it) who spend inordinate amounts of time learning about the DirecTV datastream and how to do crazy things with it. For ~$400, you can get a complete setup tha includes an 'Emulator' that allows you to unlock all channels. The more interesting part is how emulators work (they involve having a Pentium-class PC emulate some functions of the DirecTV access card).

For $80 (for the dish and IRD) + $300 (for an H-Card, emulator hardware, and a cheap $30 emulator PC from eBay) you can have the whole thing, wires, bare circuit boards and all, sitting in your living room. Check these:

http://www.hackhu.com/
http://slashdot.org/search.pl?query=DirecTV

3) This is the hybrid: There's a box out there called a DirecTiVo that combines a TiVo and a DirecTV box (hence the name). If you wish, you can combine these two hacks into one piece of hardware (DirecTiVo boxes support both TiVo tinkering and DirecTV emulation). Neat-o.

--noah

I hear B.I.O. Bugs are quite hackable, and are based on work by roboticist Mark Tilden.

The SliMP3 is quite hackable, as the code's all in Perl (see the developer's list).

LEGO MindStorms are a perennial favorite, and are extremely hackable.

And let's not forget TiVo, which is a hacker's playground.

Finally, one of the new Compaq iPaqs can be hours of fun once you install Linux on it and begin having wireless fun with it.

Check out the TiVo Hack FAQ for all the info you need. The drive upgrade is so easy, even a Windows user can do it.

This ReplayTV device doesn't stand a chance at the $1999 price, and the TV executives are quoted in the Yahoo article as saying they'll fight the commercial skipping and the ability to share the recordings.

130 hours an incredible amount of TV. You can sit and watch TV for every waking hour (16 hours/day) for over 8 days with a 130 hour TiVo. Switch to the high quality setting and you can still store 10 full length movies permanently on your TiVo and still have enough room left over to watch TV every waking hour for three days. Even on the highest quality setting, a 130 hour TiVo records 40 hours of TV, enough even for the most dedicated of couch potatoes. How much more do you need?

The things TiVo downloads are no secret. They have never been hidden from people who have been curious enough to look for them. Some of the download info is even available from the GUI without even hacking a bash prompt on TiVo, by merely enabling backdoors and using the "view TiVo logs" backdoor.

Regardless, on the initial call, TiVo doesn't download new software. It has been stated several times that the initial call and the software update call are fundamentally different, and it is impossible to get a software update on the initial call. Any other calls you force can lead to software updates, and 2.0.1 has an "unplanned feature" that cripples your PVR beyond what TiVo intended. This will be fixed in a future upgrade that is still a few months off.

Regardless, the inital call sets the internal clock, and does the initial population of the guide data. After that call, you can yank the phone cord and never plug it in again. And if you don't plan to have the service and don't want the software upgrade, yanking the phone cord is highly recommended.

If you want functionality beyond that, people have devised ways to set the internal clock, modify the channel lineup, prevent software updates, and even populate the guide data from public sources. The hacks all exist, but have been created by and for people who have special circumstances that don't allow them to use the service as listed. Don't expect help from places like the AVS TiVo forum if you're merely trying to bypass the service fee... and even if you have good intent, you're going to have to look elsewhere for hacks that bypass the need for the service. People frown heavilly on bypassing TiVo's service fee if service can be obtained by legitimate means. The reasons for this are many, but mainly because TiVo's business model involves selling the units for less than cost, and making up the money in subscription fees. Thus, bypassing the service fee is a major blow to TiVo, and could put them out of business easily.

Also, why not look into buying a TiVoNET ethernet adapter for daily calls? It's a hack that puts an ethernet jack on your TiVo, and scripts to redirect the daily call from the modem to an ethernet connection. Or, if you're stuck with a slow 'net connection, PPP-over-serial hacks are available as well, that make the call use a PPP connection over the DSS port as opposed to dialing. Both of the above hacks still help TiVo out by using their service, just merely using your own 'net connection as opposed to a UUNet phone number.

Do searches in the AVS TiVo Underground Forum, the TiVo Hack FAQ, and 9th Tee for all of the information I've stated above. Take some time to look around, all the info I've talked about and more is out there.

For my money, the combination of my TiVo and their subscription is the best entertainment purchase I've ever made. I find myself using TiVo combined with my premium channels more than I use even my DVD player. But that, of course, is just my opinion.

The PVR (both TiVo and ReplayTV) hacking community is really quite a large and active...

Here are some exceptionally helpful resources:

• TiVo Underground Forum
• TiVoFAQ.com
• ReplayTV FAQ
• ReplayTV Underground Forum

Have fun...

From the Tivo Hacking FAQ:

PureDiva: Software only bundled with complete PC's. http://www.purediva.com

Ligos: Windows based PTV. http://www.ligos.com/news/pr_timeshift.html

PowerVCR: Windows based VCR. http://www.cyberlink.com.tw/english/products/power vcr2/powervcr2.asp

WinVCR: Windows based VCR. http://www.cinax.com/Products/winvcr.html

SnapStream: Windows based PTV (freeware and commercial version). http://www.snapstream.com

ShowShifter: Windows based PTV (freeware). http://www.showshifter.com

Also, the Matrox G450 eTV has some PTV software that comes with it for Tivo like functionality. Not sure how it gets its program guide though.

I want a DirecTiVo! $399

Just shipped the first units to stores a few days ago, it's a TiVo with a DirecTV reciever built in and integrated.

It has dual satellite tuners, all sorts of fun stuff!

For a more expensive item, give it to me with more harddisk space, drop in a 80GB drive to raise the storage from 34 hours to 120 hours.

DirecTiVo FAQ

Steps to the perfect gift. 1) Buy a TiVo ( http://www.tivo.com ) 2) Upgrade it with the instructios at http://www.tivofaq.com/hack/faq.html; 3) Buy the parts for the upgrade at http://www.9thtee.com/TiVoUpgrades.htm

That was my point. The percentage of uncertainty that comes from the hacker camp had better be beneath their threshold for failure. If their business model didn't take into account that some (most?) of their scanners will sit idly next to most computers, then DC is extremely naïve, and their Venture Capitalists were extremely stupid with their money if they didn't see a hole this size.

I predict the hacker contingency will play with them for a few months, then something else will be the sparkly object that distracts them. Then the hacker's scanners will join the majority of idle scanners, forgotten for months at a time until someone needs to go to Radio Shack for something, and the little tickle in their hindbrain reminds them that they have a CueCat that's fallen behind their computer desk. The hackers' 5% of the forgotten scanners are still equally forgotten.

It's just not worth pumping money into lawyers and annoying the hacker community, when the alternative of ignoring the hackers works out so much better (see the TiVo hackers for an excellent counterexample.) Right or wrong, the hackers have a long history and a strong tradition of pushing back against legalistic threats.

The Church of the SubGenius -- because somebody had to put all that slack in there...

Through a few links, found this interesting discussion :

Hacke rs don't upset TiVo--yet

Looks like the discussion started from this site :

The unofficial TiVo Hackers Site

And the fact that the CEO is _okay_ with it is pretty interesting. But what's kinda scary is this quote

"One of the reasons we've created the receiver the way we have is that the disk is sealed into the receiver; you cannot get access to the digital information. So we are somewhat concerned about the ability of people to hack in and get access to the copyrighted material because obviously our partners in the media industry are very concerned about this. "

What! A SEALED disk is what's protecting this information?! Okay, I'm sure this isn't the case (let's hope not!) but still, kind of a funny quote nevertheless ;) Also, I can see the following as a challenge don't you?

Q: So you're afraid that people will save a bunch of movies, then transfer them from TiVo to their computers and eventually the Net. How possible is this?
A: It's an incredibly difficult task. It's one thing to record what you see onto the TiVo drive, but the format on that drive and how you get access to that drive is totally proprietary to us. It would be very difficult for somebody to actually hack into that. And as far as we know, no one is doing that today.

-- .sig --

Why would I want to *pay for* ads and promotions? I don't want them, and yet I already 'get them for free'; I'll pay a company who gets it, to ensure that I *don't* get ads of any sort.

So; show of hands. Who has already ripped video from their Tivo? From the FAQ, it looks like they're working on this...
---
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.

Tivo hacking site

The tivo hackers over at http://www.tivofaq.com/hack/ are working on adding an Ethernet card to the Tivo. I've previously read that they have seen traces of an ethernet driver possibly used to telnet to the Tivo for testing and the like.

According to the FAQ on the unofficial TiVo Hackers Site, adding an ethernet card to replace the modem is something they are working on or at least thinking about. Of course, you'll void your warranty . . .