Cox May replace its own DVRs with TiVos

Controlio writes "According to a posting by user BrettStah on the TiVo Community Forums, Cox Cable is currently circulating a survey to gauge customer's interest in TiVo services. From the survey, 'While Cox currently offers its own DVR service, the Cox DVR may soon be powered by TiVo, and include the features that TiVo owners have come to expect. If Cox were to offer digital cable service with a TiVo branded DVR for about the same price as you are currently paying for satellite service each month, how likely would you be to switch from satellite TV to Cox cable that featured this TiVo branded DVR service?'"

Comments

Is it TiVo vs. DVR...or cable vs. satellite?

[MaggieL]

Sounds to me like Cox is more interested in getting folks to switch from satellite to cable than they are in replacing their current DVRs with TiVos. Otherwise they'd be surveying their current customer base.

Re:Is it TiVo vs. DVR...or cable vs. satellite?

[Council]

As anyone who watches TV via Cox Cable knows, the cable vs. satellite thing is what's on their minds.

+1 insightful -- You're right, this has nothing to do with Generic DVR vs. TiVO. This is Cox getting a hold of TiVO, and advertising it to prospective customers by means of what is effectively a push poll. Crafty.

Two questions

[Dark Paladin]

I haven't read the article yet (it's in my other tab) - but two questions:

1. Is this "crippled" in any way, or is it a real Tivo?
2. Does it plug into the Digital cable, or just the regular analog?

I have a Tivo now, but another one would be useful (since my wife likes the American Idol shows, and I - don't). But if Cox is considering this, especially in wake of the recent Tivo/Echostar (if I remember correctly) lawsuit, Cox could save money on development, say "You know, the control isn't worth the hassle" (which would be called "buying a clue"), and Tivo could get more customers. Everybody wins, even the cable customers.

Which is why I'm looking outside the window for those damn flying pigs.

Re:Two questions

[Lumpy]

I'll bet dollars that it's the lame "TiVo Basic" that comes on many DVD recorders now. It's a "free" tivo service that is seriously lacking even in general VCR capabilities and with annoying advertisements on how your live would be better if you simply upgraded to full tivo service.

It bothered me so much I returned the unit and bought a Lite-ON DVD recorder with hard drive instead.

TiVO will not be free without a premium being charged, or COX will simply up your monthly rate by a unnoticable $13.95 a month.

Re:I would switch.

[Tongo]

I haven't used any other PVC device, but I was really disappointed by Tivo. My main beef is that the fricking UI is slow as hell. I love pressing a button and waiting a second or so before it does anything. The screen refresh sucks ass too. The other problem I have is the lack of an autotune feature w/out record. It's not that big of a deal, but I hate to waste the space if I don't need to record it (I know my lazy ass will be there when the show comes on).

Besides those two gripes, the service is great. It didn't "change the way I watch TV", but it's a helluva lot easier than programming the VCR.

Tivo is the reason I chose DirecTV over cable

[tinrobot]

I love my Tivo and it's one of the main reasons I dumped Adelphia (that and Adelphia's abysmal service.)

If I ever went back to cable, the deal would have to include a Tivo that had the same features as DirecTV's implementation (including the ability to record two streams)...and no, I'm not into a standalone Tivo, mostly because of the subscription and the fact that it needs a separate receiver. Too complex. I like the simplicity of having two tuners built into the Tivo itself. DirecTV has a great solution.

Re:Tivo is the reason I chose DirecTV over cable

[Overzeetop]

Yeah, except that TiVo is already walking toward the gas chamber in the DirecTV world. I will probably drop DTV for, well, I have no idea, after they make me switch in a couple of years. I guess my only hope is a TiVo HD standalone / cablecard version and rabbit ears. (Okay, really a pair of Channelmaster 4221s). God, but I don't want to go back to Adelphia (evil...pure evil).

What I want is SA features on DTVs network. Oh, and world peace. Is that too much to ask?

Re:I would switch.

[lucabrasi999]

My experience has been there are few pretenders to the throne that even come close to Tivo's quality of service.

My experience includes both DirecTV's Tivo Box and Dish Network's DVR. And, in the end, it is a tie. Both services are good. Both have nice features (including the ability to skip ahead 30 seconds and the ability to jump ahead in five or ten minute increments). Both record what I want, when I want. The Dish box has a bigger hard drive, but that is probably because it is a new box. And, the Dish box has the ability to add an extra few minutes of recording to a show, if I desire (for those of us that LOVE the ABC show Lost, you know that ABC has a bad habit of extending the show past 10pm ET -- I can't tell you how many times I missed the last two minutes of episodes because my Tivo stopped recording at 10pm).

So, in the end, to me the issue is not whether or not Cox is offering Tivo. The DVR v. Tivo battle is a draw. The issue is do I want to leave Satellite TV heaven and return to cable TV hell? Do I want to pay more for lower levels of customer service? And the answer is a resounding "No!".

Satellite TV is still head and shoulders above cable TV. And, it is cheaper.

Re:All the more reason

[Chicken04GTO]

MythTH - an appropriate name.

MythTV is cheaper! - Well thats a Myth, unless you have a PC tree w/capture cards growing in your backyard
MythTV is easy to use! - Another Myth, unless you define driver hell and audio/video synch issues as easy

Tivo is the definition of reliable and easy...they can take my $5 a month...far superior to the $300-$500 MythTV + dozens of hours of setup and troubleshooting (grief!!)