You need a card with built in hardware MPEG2 encoding and decoding. Software encoding just will not cut it for this application.
You can pick up a refurbed 14 hour (e.g. the "hardware") TiVo for $135. You can buy them new in the $200 range. I would love to see you try and come up with a PC that can even remotely handle what TiVo does for that price. Speaking of "remotely" what are you going to do for a remote, anyhow? And we haven't even gotten into the software.
Have you seen the existing "PC PVR" solutions? They're cute for something to goof off with while you're working but they're hardly ready for home theater use. I used a PC-based DVD player, and while the progressive output looks beautiful on a HD monitor, you just can't get around the fact that it's a computer.
OK, back in realityland, lets say we've written our holy grail open-sourced SuperWonderfulPowerPVR software. If you've ever used a TiVo you know such software is useless without very specific guide information. It needs much more than just show titles to be useful, it needs to be able to uniquely identify shows that are part of a series or otherwise to duplicate season pass functionality. In short, you're GOING to have to pay someone for guide data, period.
There are some things that are better left to dedicated devices. I used to be in the same mindset as you, until I spent a while thinking about it.
TiVo is much, much, much more than a glorified VCR. You can't watch a show 15 minutes after it's started while it's being recorded. A VCR cannot suggest other shows you might like based on what you've picked to record (this feature sounds lame but is really very cool). A VCR will not find and record all non-repeating episodes of a show for you (Season Pass functionality). A VCR is not smart enough not to record the same episode if it repeats within 30 days. It can even be programmed to only record first-run showings.
With a TiVo you *never* have to watch Live TV. In fact, most TiVo users DON'T. You don't need to rewind or FF. You record anything and everything, because god damnit, there's space that you might as well fill. No tapes to eject or shuffle or accidentally overwrite. You tell TiVo what shows you like and it takes care of EVERYTHING else. Its an astounding amount of power that you just cannot begin to understand if you've never owned one.
Your little "comparison" to a VCR is like comparing a computer to a manual typewriter.
I save $10 a month, BTW too. That goes to more important things, like living, and eating
Give me a fucking break, you can spend $10 on one trip to McDonalds. If you're really that cheap, I feel sorry for your girlfriend. Oh you don't HAVE a girlfriend. What a pity. Oh and for what it's worth, I don't pay $10 a month for anything. I bought lifetime service with the TiVo. You, on the other hand, will either have to deal with degrading quality or having to buy new blank VHS tapes and head cleaners (and, eventually, replacement VCRs.. they wear out quickly if you record even 1/4th as much as I record things with my TiVo)
Enjoy your mac and cheese, dude.
Nobody should use TiVo without the service
on
TiVo Upgrade Isn't
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· Score: 1
If you've never owned a TiVo, this story might come as a shock. But the reality of it is, nobody in their right mind uses a TiVo without the service.
The "$400" he paid for his unit pays for the hardware from Philips (honestly, he paid too much, I got a 30-hour unit for $230). TiVo currently subsidizes each unit sold, they lose money until people subscribe to the service. So it makes sense that they'd want to practically force people to use it. Frankly it was surprising that it EVER worked at all without the service.
This is nothing new. Go to www.tivocommunity.com, you'll find an exhausting amount of posts about this change.
For the rest of the TiVo loving world who actually pays, we continue to enjoy a fantastic life-changing product. If you want to subscribe to this FUD, it's your loss.
Go ahead and kill TiVo, a company who's developed software that runs on Linux, and is open to hacking. We'll always be able to fall back on UltimateTV from Microsoft, or ReplayTV that *cannot be purchased* without service built into the price.
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You need a card with built in hardware MPEG2 encoding and decoding. Software encoding just will not cut it for this application.
You can pick up a refurbed 14 hour (e.g. the "hardware") TiVo for $135. You can buy them new in the $200 range. I would love to see you try and come up with a PC that can even remotely handle what TiVo does for that price. Speaking of "remotely" what are you going to do for a remote, anyhow? And we haven't even gotten into the software.
Have you seen the existing "PC PVR" solutions? They're cute for something to goof off with while you're working but they're hardly ready for home theater use. I used a PC-based DVD player, and while the progressive output looks beautiful on a HD monitor, you just can't get around the fact that it's a computer.
OK, back in realityland, lets say we've written our holy grail open-sourced SuperWonderfulPowerPVR software. If you've ever used a TiVo you know such software is useless without very specific guide information. It needs much more than just show titles to be useful, it needs to be able to uniquely identify shows that are part of a series or otherwise to duplicate season pass functionality. In short, you're GOING to have to pay someone for guide data, period.
There are some things that are better left to dedicated devices. I used to be in the same mindset as you, until I spent a while thinking about it.
Enjoy your mac and cheese, dude.
If you've never owned a TiVo, this story might come as a shock. But the reality of it is, nobody in their right mind uses a TiVo without the service. The "$400" he paid for his unit pays for the hardware from Philips (honestly, he paid too much, I got a 30-hour unit for $230). TiVo currently subsidizes each unit sold, they lose money until people subscribe to the service. So it makes sense that they'd want to practically force people to use it. Frankly it was surprising that it EVER worked at all without the service. This is nothing new. Go to www.tivocommunity.com, you'll find an exhausting amount of posts about this change. For the rest of the TiVo loving world who actually pays, we continue to enjoy a fantastic life-changing product. If you want to subscribe to this FUD, it's your loss. Go ahead and kill TiVo, a company who's developed software that runs on Linux, and is open to hacking. We'll always be able to fall back on UltimateTV from Microsoft, or ReplayTV that *cannot be purchased* without service built into the price.