That works great for analog channels, but what if your cable company has removed all of its analog channels. Comcast here has no analog channels, and the digital channels (HD and SD)are all encrypted. except for local channels. To get those channels with a PC will require a cable card, and perhaps a more expensive video card that supports HDCP, etc. When things get this complicated that is when it makes sense to get a TivoHD.
To be fair, TiVo allows for device/content shifting with the TiVo Desktop software. It isn't as easy and simple as a pc transfer, but it is better than nothing, which is what the cable companies offer.
I agree with you 100% on the cable card issue, but currently that is the only way to go about it. I feel the consumer always gets the short stick when it comes to copyrights, DRM, etc. To be truthful, my tv watching is a mix of Tivo (Cable) and bittorrent downloading.
The TiVo HD and Series 3 are pretty much for HD digital. even without a cable card they support dual tuners covering over the air digital antenna, analog cable, and analog antenna. the TiVo HD has less recording capacity (20hrs HD instead of 30) but on the plus side it supports multi stream cable cards which allow for dual digital tuning with one card. if your cable company still offers analog cable you can get dual tuner series 2 TiVos for under 100 dollars or even free with the rebates they offer. There are currently 3 TiVo models that have dual tuners (Series 2 DT, Series 3 and TiVo HD, and only one model that has one tuner (Series 2). Tivos may only have one analog coax jack but there is an internal splitter which allows for dual tuning. Last June the FCC required most if not all cable providers to discontinue use of cable boxes that had security (what the cable card does) built in. So chances are if you have received a cable box after last June it will be using a cable card. Cable Cards are FCC mandated devices, not a creation of the cable providers. Keep this in mind, cable providers were opposed to it. That should tell you they are good for the consumer.
The Tivo HD can be had for around $250. Cablecards were created so that we wouldn't have to worry about the craptastic 1800's cable box that your cable provider would give you. One MultiStream Cablecard is all you need to have dual tuners on the Tivo HD. With so many TiVo users, i find it hard to believe it doesn't work for the majority of them.
The main reason is because Tivo is a standalone DVR. It is pretty much the only standalone DVR in the USA right now. Cable and Satellite providers want you to rent their DVRs, and they can charge whatever they want. Consumers should have a choice, which the providers do not want.
Time Warner Cable and Comcast have already shut off their analog services in some service areas. And then on the digital front, some companies employ SDV which stands for Switched Digital Video, a scheme where not all TV channels are broadcast out from the cable headend to the homes that it serves all of the time. This is attractive to cable companies, because they can offer more TV channels than their cable plant has the bandwidth to broadcast. For example, you cable company may have 10 different channels in your lineup, but only 5 physical channels to send them from the headend to the houses they service. This requires a cable box that can communicate back upstream to the headend and say "I would like to watch ESPN2HD now" and then headend would take that request, assign it to a frequency and then tell the cable box "ESPN2HD is available on xxx,xxx kHz". Standalone digital receivers like Tivo are not able to communicate upstream to the cable headend, so it cannot send the request for channels that are assigned to SDV.
The upcoming digital transition will only affect those who watch OTA television channels with an antennae. The cable companies have no need to supply a converter box in anticipation of the digital transition. Cable systems are unaffected by the transition, and if the company offers it, cable users are free to connect the cable directly to their television sets, vcrs, dvrs, etc without the need for any converter box. However i don't doubt that somehow the cable companies saw this as an opportunity to raise rates, they always do.
Slashdot Mirror
That works great for analog channels, but what if your cable company has removed all of its analog channels. Comcast here has no analog channels, and the digital channels (HD and SD)are all encrypted. except for local channels. To get those channels with a PC will require a cable card, and perhaps a more expensive video card that supports HDCP, etc. When things get this complicated that is when it makes sense to get a TivoHD.
To be fair, TiVo allows for device/content shifting with the TiVo Desktop software. It isn't as easy and simple as a pc transfer, but it is better than nothing, which is what the cable companies offer. I agree with you 100% on the cable card issue, but currently that is the only way to go about it. I feel the consumer always gets the short stick when it comes to copyrights, DRM, etc. To be truthful, my tv watching is a mix of Tivo (Cable) and bittorrent downloading.
The TiVo HD and Series 3 are pretty much for HD digital. even without a cable card they support dual tuners covering over the air digital antenna, analog cable, and analog antenna. the TiVo HD has less recording capacity (20hrs HD instead of 30) but on the plus side it supports multi stream cable cards which allow for dual digital tuning with one card. if your cable company still offers analog cable you can get dual tuner series 2 TiVos for under 100 dollars or even free with the rebates they offer. There are currently 3 TiVo models that have dual tuners (Series 2 DT, Series 3 and TiVo HD, and only one model that has one tuner (Series 2). Tivos may only have one analog coax jack but there is an internal splitter which allows for dual tuning. Last June the FCC required most if not all cable providers to discontinue use of cable boxes that had security (what the cable card does) built in. So chances are if you have received a cable box after last June it will be using a cable card. Cable Cards are FCC mandated devices, not a creation of the cable providers. Keep this in mind, cable providers were opposed to it. That should tell you they are good for the consumer.
The Tivo HD can be had for around $250. Cablecards were created so that we wouldn't have to worry about the craptastic 1800's cable box that your cable provider would give you. One MultiStream Cablecard is all you need to have dual tuners on the Tivo HD. With so many TiVo users, i find it hard to believe it doesn't work for the majority of them.
The main reason is because Tivo is a standalone DVR. It is pretty much the only standalone DVR in the USA right now. Cable and Satellite providers want you to rent their DVRs, and they can charge whatever they want. Consumers should have a choice, which the providers do not want.
Time Warner Cable and Comcast have already shut off their analog services in some service areas. And then on the digital front, some companies employ SDV which stands for Switched Digital Video, a scheme where not all TV channels are broadcast out from the cable headend to the homes that it serves all of the time. This is attractive to cable companies, because they can offer more TV channels than their cable plant has the bandwidth to broadcast. For example, you cable company may have 10 different channels in your lineup, but only 5 physical channels to send them from the headend to the houses they service. This requires a cable box that can communicate back upstream to the headend and say "I would like to watch ESPN2HD now" and then headend would take that request, assign it to a frequency and then tell the cable box "ESPN2HD is available on xxx,xxx kHz". Standalone digital receivers like Tivo are not able to communicate upstream to the cable headend, so it cannot send the request for channels that are assigned to SDV.
The upcoming digital transition will only affect those who watch OTA television channels with an antennae. The cable companies have no need to supply a converter box in anticipation of the digital transition. Cable systems are unaffected by the transition, and if the company offers it, cable users are free to connect the cable directly to their television sets, vcrs, dvrs, etc without the need for any converter box. However i don't doubt that somehow the cable companies saw this as an opportunity to raise rates, they always do.
is this deal still even alive? steven