Posted by
Hemos
on from the electric-bugallo-for-you dept.
Anonymouse writes "I just saw on Linux.com that NewsForge has reviewed the new Linux-based TiVo Series 2 PVR. TiVo now (unofficially) supports broadband via a USB ethernet adapter as well, so it doesn't tie up a phone line." Yes, NF and LC are both owned by OSDN, as is Slashdot.
I love my series one TiVo, I really do. But now it's keeping me from buying an HDTV. Honestly, I go to the local big-chain electronics store and drool over the big widescreen HDTV's like everyone else, but then I think back to the days before TiVo. I would actually have to keep track of when TV shows are on TV again. Forget it.
And I know I could still use the TiVo with the High Def set, but really, why? The only reason then for high def then is DVDs, and that's maybe 10% of my viewing.
So while this new model has some great features, I'm waiting for the High Def model. This will be the killer app.
Just my $.02
When will TiVo get ReplayTV network features?
by
falser
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
One of the main obstacles that is preventing me from getting a TiVo thus far is the inability to save shows externally through a network. With a VCR I can record a show, movie, concert etc. for an unlimited amount of time - why can't TiVo do this? With the much more expensive ReplayTV you can download shows off the machine through a network connection. I find this feature extremely valuable as it would essentially extend the storage capacity to an unlimited amount.
Sure you could buy two 120GB drives for a TiVo, but then a growing amount of that space will be filled with shows stored for the long term. So unfortunately until I can download shows off a TiVo I'm gonna be sitting on the sidelines, or I'll eventually break down and go for the ReplayTV regardless if it's inferior to TiVo in other ways.
I just bought one of these last week.
by
jht
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
And it rocks. I got it figuring my wife could get good use out of it (we have a child coming in a couple of months, and she'll be staying home with him), and so far it's been well worth it. It's already making TV easier for both of us, and grabbing all her favorites. I'll switch it over to use Ethernet as soon as I get 3.0 updated (from what I'm reading, it should update itself within a month or so), and I may add a second hard drive as well so we can do more long-term archiving.
Do I have a few quibbles with it so far? Yes. But not too many. Dual tuners would be ideal, so we could avoid recording conflicts (She wants Friends, I want Smackdown - she wins!), and S-Video out would be cool, too. It's too bad only DirecTiVo offers dual tuners. It's also prone to artifacting in any mode lower-quality than Best, and even then sometimes it'll do it. I also wish I could set Season Pass Manager to automatically grab the episode that's rebroadcast at the odd hour - Food TV shows (like Iron Chef) are the best example of this. When there's an episode being shown at 10 PM and then being rebroadcast at 2 AM, I wish it'd default to grabbing the 2AM show. Things like that would minimize conflicts.
The only other thing that I dislike about it is that I had to give money to Best Buy to get it - between their copy-protection support and the way they've mishandled the GeForce 4 pricing issue I really hate them.
But the ultimate purpose in buying this was to make my wife's life a little easier when she's home with the baby, and it's definitely going to do that. This way, she can watch all the things she wants to, and do it when the baby gives her some free time.
--
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
explaining TiVo...
by
klund
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Many people, when trying to explain TiVo, end up calling it a "digital VCR" or a "VCR on steroids." After using TiVo for a month, it is clear that these methods of explaining TiVo's function are unfair...
TiVo's biggest problem is that there is no good way to explain it... Have you ever tried explaining it to your friends, geek or non-geek? All you get is blank stares. But if you *show* it to them, they seem to understand. And if they acutally get one, they quickly become converts.
When people ask me if I like it, I tell them that I would rather give up color than TiVo. I would rather watch TiVo on a B&W set than to have the nicest color HDTV set available.
And the funny thing is, people think I'm kidding...
--
My word processor was written by Stanford Professor Donald Knuth. Who wrote yours?
Re:Why does Slashdot support Tivo?
by
larryj
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Because it's a great product. Also, I'm just not that paranoid. TiVo collects data at the zip code level. TiVo knows that at least one person in my zip code likes 'Greg the Bunny'? Works for me. Keep the shows I like coming.
-- What if the Hokey-Pokey really is what it's all about?
Because Tivo is made up of people that "get it".
by
Otto
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Slashdot readers, overall smart people who respect the freedom for the individual but also never lose sight of the importance of community efforts (e.g. open source, space exploration), should reject technology that phones home to report on your viewing behavior and just maks it easier for people to grow dumb scumsucking the televion spoonfeed.
It's not like that, or at least it only looks like that from a superficial point of view.
a) Tivo groks privacy. They have a truly comprehensive privacy policy (unlike anything I've ever seen by a company) that details exactly what the unit does/doesn't do. And they really do stick to it (as Tivo hackers like myself have actually discovered by reading the source). So it records my preferences anonymously, only by zip code. That's okay with me. If it wasn't, then they offer an opt-out that really does work (they set a variable on your box so the data doesn't get sent at all). Cool.
b) PVR tech. actually doesn't make you watch more TV, but more in less time. It frees you from the scheduling of TV. I don't have to watch network drivel at night, instead I can enjoy stuff that it recorded during the day that I'd normally miss (okay, mostly anime type cheesy stuff, but that's just me). And since I *know* that my box will grab my shows, I can turn the tube off and read a book without worrying about missing anything I want to see. I no longer am glued to the tube, instead I go out and do other things, and still watch my shows (in half the time too, since I skip the fluff and the ads).
-- - Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
early tivo adopters not adopting HDTV early
by
raygundan
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
I hadn't really thought about it that way, but lack of easy recordability is my biggest reason for not getting digital cable or an HDTV. My series 1 tivo is fantastic. I watch more shows I like but spend less total time doing it (TV is around 1/3 commercials, and I no longer watch "filler" shows between shows I like).
Without a Tivo-like device, I won't move to HDTV.
Since the early-adopter market is the same type folks who have Tivos, I wonder how this is hurting HDTV adoption? I suspect more than a few early tivo purchasers who would otherwise have gone on to become early HDTV purchasers are now too happy with their tivos to give up their power just yet.
Slashdot Mirror
I love my series one TiVo, I really do. But now it's keeping me from buying an HDTV. Honestly, I go to the local big-chain electronics store and drool over the big widescreen HDTV's like everyone else, but then I think back to the days before TiVo. I would actually have to keep track of when TV shows are on TV again. Forget it.
And I know I could still use the TiVo with the High Def set, but really, why? The only reason then for high def then is DVDs, and that's maybe 10% of my viewing.
So while this new model has some great features, I'm waiting for the High Def model. This will be the killer app.
Just my $.02
One of the main obstacles that is preventing me from getting a TiVo thus far is the inability to save shows externally through a network. With a VCR I can record a show, movie, concert etc. for an unlimited amount of time - why can't TiVo do this? With the much more expensive ReplayTV you can download shows off the machine through a network connection. I find this feature extremely valuable as it would essentially extend the storage capacity to an unlimited amount.
Sure you could buy two 120GB drives for a TiVo, but then a growing amount of that space will be filled with shows stored for the long term. So unfortunately until I can download shows off a TiVo I'm gonna be sitting on the sidelines, or I'll eventually break down and go for the ReplayTV regardless if it's inferior to TiVo in other ways.
And it rocks. I got it figuring my wife could get good use out of it (we have a child coming in a couple of months, and she'll be staying home with him), and so far it's been well worth it. It's already making TV easier for both of us, and grabbing all her favorites. I'll switch it over to use Ethernet as soon as I get 3.0 updated (from what I'm reading, it should update itself within a month or so), and I may add a second hard drive as well so we can do more long-term archiving.
Do I have a few quibbles with it so far? Yes. But not too many. Dual tuners would be ideal, so we could avoid recording conflicts (She wants Friends, I want Smackdown - she wins!), and S-Video out would be cool, too. It's too bad only DirecTiVo offers dual tuners. It's also prone to artifacting in any mode lower-quality than Best, and even then sometimes it'll do it. I also wish I could set Season Pass Manager to automatically grab the episode that's rebroadcast at the odd hour - Food TV shows (like Iron Chef) are the best example of this. When there's an episode being shown at 10 PM and then being rebroadcast at 2 AM, I wish it'd default to grabbing the 2AM show. Things like that would minimize conflicts.
The only other thing that I dislike about it is that I had to give money to Best Buy to get it - between their copy-protection support and the way they've mishandled the GeForce 4 pricing issue I really hate them.
But the ultimate purpose in buying this was to make my wife's life a little easier when she's home with the baby, and it's definitely going to do that. This way, she can watch all the things she wants to, and do it when the baby gives her some free time.
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
Many people, when trying to explain TiVo, end up calling it a "digital VCR" or a "VCR on steroids." After using TiVo for a month, it is clear that these methods of explaining TiVo's function are unfair...
TiVo's biggest problem is that there is no good way to explain it... Have you ever tried explaining it to your friends, geek or non-geek? All you get is blank stares. But if you *show* it to them, they seem to understand. And if they acutally get one, they quickly become converts.
When people ask me if I like it, I tell them that I would rather give up color than TiVo. I would rather watch TiVo on a B&W set than to have the nicest color HDTV set available.
And the funny thing is, people think I'm kidding...
My word processor was written by Stanford Professor Donald Knuth. Who wrote yours?
Because it's a great product. Also, I'm just not that paranoid. TiVo collects data at the zip code level. TiVo knows that at least one person in my zip code likes 'Greg the Bunny'? Works for me. Keep the shows I like coming.
What if the Hokey-Pokey really is what it's all about?
Slashdot readers, overall smart people who respect the freedom for the individual but also never lose sight of the importance of community efforts (e.g. open source, space exploration), should reject technology that phones home to report on your viewing behavior and just maks it easier for people to grow dumb scumsucking the televion spoonfeed.
It's not like that, or at least it only looks like that from a superficial point of view.
a) Tivo groks privacy. They have a truly comprehensive privacy policy (unlike anything I've ever seen by a company) that details exactly what the unit does/doesn't do. And they really do stick to it (as Tivo hackers like myself have actually discovered by reading the source). So it records my preferences anonymously, only by zip code. That's okay with me. If it wasn't, then they offer an opt-out that really does work (they set a variable on your box so the data doesn't get sent at all). Cool.
b) PVR tech. actually doesn't make you watch more TV, but more in less time. It frees you from the scheduling of TV. I don't have to watch network drivel at night, instead I can enjoy stuff that it recorded during the day that I'd normally miss (okay, mostly anime type cheesy stuff, but that's just me). And since I *know* that my box will grab my shows, I can turn the tube off and read a book without worrying about missing anything I want to see. I no longer am glued to the tube, instead I go out and do other things, and still watch my shows (in half the time too, since I skip the fluff and the ads).
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
I hadn't really thought about it that way, but lack of easy recordability is my biggest reason for not getting digital cable or an HDTV. My series 1 tivo is fantastic. I watch more shows I like but spend less total time doing it (TV is around 1/3 commercials, and I no longer watch "filler" shows between shows I like).
Without a Tivo-like device, I won't move to HDTV.
Since the early-adopter market is the same type folks who have Tivos, I wonder how this is hurting HDTV adoption? I suspect more than a few early tivo purchasers who would otherwise have gone on to become early HDTV purchasers are now too happy with their tivos to give up their power just yet.