Slashdot Mirror
ReplayTV and TiVo Compared
j0atz writes "The New York Times is running a story today that, while it's a bit redundant in the beginning and a bit short on technical details later, gives a rundown the newest features for ReplayTV (numbered 4000 or above) and TiVO (Series2); basically, you can program your favorite DVR to record a show from a remote computer or from another (same-brand) DVR. Along with that, you can stream MP3's and pictures with TiVo now.
Still...I'd much rather use something like FreeVo or MythTV and actually burn my shows to cd, stream whatever I want, etc, etc."
Still...I'd much rather use something like FreeVo or MythTV and actually burn my shows to cd, stream whatever I want, etc, etc.
I guess you never actually TRIED to use any of these apps, have you?
Features are one thing, but when talking about an appliance, it's all in the UI. And nothing free out there yet remotely compares to TiVI's UI.
your friend is wrong. go to a best buy and see for yourself. Tivo is the greatest device for your tv since the VCR.
Still...I'd much rather use something like FreeVo or MythTV and actually burn my shows to cd, stream whatever I want, etc, etc."
Who says you can't do that with TiVo? Also...Compare the prices of hardware you need to decently do a good job doing it your way. Why bother? At most, hack TiVo, put a few HD's in it and rip right off TiVo...at least then you have a hardware encoder and dont have to worry about everything being all shitty, and spending 1k on hardware
Just my 2cents - Rob
Not sure if MythTV or Freevo work with DirectTV.
Ummm... Getting movies from HBO?? Original series (Mr. Show for example), or even just sharing with friends. Recording and storing concerts, etc...
The fact that none of the TV you watch is worth storing doesn't make it a bad idea.
The operating system that runs the TiVo hardware is Linux...just so you know... It is TiVo's value added UI and program guides that make it the premium service that it is. Just like Apple with OS X...
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
you'd need a VIA EPIA with at least around an 800MHz chip on it
I think you'd be deeply, deeply disappointed in the performance with that chip.
You've also forgotten an IR receiver, keyboard, mouse (both wireless... right?), CD-ROM (unless you somehow planned to boot and install Linux over the network), and probably a few other items. Toss in another $100 or so.
You know you can buy a refurb 80 hour S2 TiVo for $250 right now. Or a brand new one for $350. Or go to eBay and get a S1 box for ~$150. Add $300 for lifetime service and suddenly you have a box with an intuitive user interface that just plain WORKS.
If you find fiddling around with things to make them work is enjoyable, and what you like to do in your spare time, then go for the build your own route. After all, getting there can be half the fun, and no doubt -- you can get more options that way. If you like doing other things in your spare time, want your wife/family/SO/children/random strangers to be able to use it then get a TiVo or Replay. Then you can spend all your free time doing whatever else you want to do (be it watching TV or something else) instead of trying to make something that's "nearly there" there.
Why would you want to burn stuff to CD to keep?
Because then I'll feel no compulsion to watch it when it comes on the air. Those of us who remember the pre-VCR days remember seeing that, say, "The Great Escape" was coming on, and arranging one's schedule to watch it.
Kids watch the same thing numerous times, so they're more likely to want things recorded. A computer PVR is also useful for making CDs/VCDs/DVDs of home videos, which are worth archiving.
I suppose one might also end up trading for shows one hasn't seen.
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
You are not degrading the quality if you have a directivo (DirecTV receiver with TiVo built in). You get a perfect digital copy (with DTS audio if show had it) to backup and enjoy.
On a service where I agreed to sign up. and the data is not correlated by name. It's aggregate. I'll never understand this sort of paranoia.
Look, I liked Firefly. It was the #1 Season Pass on Tivo. If the networks would look at Tivo data as well as the outdated Neilsen system, and a few good shows survive as a reasult, then please record my viewing.
The government/multi-national conglomerate has you cataloged 5 ways to Sunday. The "If you're not doing anything wrong you shouldn't mind" attitude is what is losing us all the fredoms someone (obviously neither you nor I) shed blood for. Even up here in the "Live Free or Die" state the cops are forced to conduct roadblocks and peer into every car under the guise of "seat belt enforcement" Of course it's OK, it's "for the children".
This has nothing to do with Tivo. It's a non sequitur shackled to a strawman.
If that's not enough reason to reject even the concept of considering TiVo, you deserve the compartmentalized, regimented, programmed, bought and sold little life you live. Freedom, privacy, and self-respect are lost in little bits, and that is also how they are taken back.
Do you even realize that *you* are about 5 times scarier than anything you mentioned? You're an ideologue, dude. You lump everything together into one, vast boogeyman. Seat-belt searches and Tivo? Huh? Does that comparison actually make sense in your mind?
I'd offer some suggestions to help, but as far as I have ever been able to observe, ideology is a terminal illness. No one ever recovers. Sorry.
--- Ban humanity.
It is my understanding that the "High" quality setting on my ReplayTV 3000-series unit is exactly identical to DVD video (MPEG2 at same settings), though using this setting will cut your capacity down to 1/3 of listed (so if you normally get 60 hours now you only get 20). I'm assuming that it's the same on later units.
I've noticed that the compression (from compressing analog signals, including high quality Laserdisc) at "Medium" is about the same as what I see on AT&T Broadband Digital Cable and DISH Network, perhaps slightly better than DISH.
The "Low" setting is basically equivalent to VCD (though MPEG2 instead of MPEG1).
As for how it compares to high-quality analong sources (like Laserdisc, or a really clean analog cable feed), I'd say that it's roughly equivalent on the "High" setting. But you also have compression artifacts on PVRs that you don't have with Laserdisc, so it's a tough call.
The simple reality is thae because the signal is being compressed, the quality will ALWAYS be worse than a "clean" signal, so your recorded programs will never look as good as they do straight.
It's my understanding that the DirecTIVO units (and the DISHPlayer and UltimateTV) simply do not have a MPEG encoder, they directly record the already-encoded sattelite signal to HD. They don't have multiple choices for quality because there is no encoding. Presumably then, their video quality is exactly identical to a regual DirectTV/DISH reciever.
It's also worth noting that only ReplayTV 4000-series and 5000-series units support HDTV in any form.