If you purchased a TiVo which came from the factory with a software version earlier than 2.0, then a service subscription is not required, and you have some limited "dumb VCR" functionality available.
Newer models require the service subscription, and say so on the box. For these, all you can do without a subscription is pause the Live TV buffer.
If your TiVo box came from the factory with a software version of 2.0 or later, it has the new PROM that attempts to prevent you from modifying the software. If it came with an earlier version, EVEN IF YOU SUBSEQUENTLY DOWNLOADED A NEWER VERSION, you have the old PROM which doesn't do this check.
All DirecTiVos, and Series 2 boxes are 2.0 or later. Most Series 1 standalones are pre-2.0.
Before you send it back, walk around your property with a compass and a tube from a paper towel roll, or something similar. Using the azimuth and elevation figures from the TiVo setup screen, hold the tube up at the indicated angle and see if you can find a place with a view of the satellite. It may not necessarily be "southern", depending on where in the US you are. Where I am, the view is definitely southwest. Many installers are lazy and won't spend the time to find a good site.
You can install the dish yourself, it's not hard to do. Try to find a mounting spot on the side of your house, that's much preferable to a pole. You may find that one of these brackets open up possibilities.
As for Series 2 - keep in mind that at the moment, these are available only in "standalone" models, not with DirecTV integration. I'd hold out for getting the DirecTiVo to work. I now have two of these, and they're wonderful. I had a standalone TiVo before, and loved it, but DirecTiVo is "lust"!
There's lots of help for TiVo users on the TiVo Community Forum (sigh - I hope their new server can survive being Slashdotted yet again...)
Re:Dual-tuner TiVOs?
on
Is MOXI Toast?
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Not anytime soon, though the Series 2 TiVo design could accomodate it. Such a beast would need two tuners AND two MPEG encoders, which would drive up the cost quite a bit. Also, only those with antenna or cable-without-box would be able to make real use of dual RF tuners - if you had a cable box, you'd be left out.
I won't say "never", but it doesn't look like something that's on their radar screen right now.
I get about 4-5 of these PER DAY at my work address! They're all from slightly different addresses (though hotmail.com is a popular host) with slightly different texts. Is someone offering these sort of like the old "Make $$$ at home!" ads which, when you pay for the instructions, you get a photocopied sheet telling you to take out "Make $$$ at home" ads? That's the only explanation I can come up with for the increased volume of these things. (And of course getting so many of them makes it clear that they're all a fraud...)
I'd say that VeriSign is the Microsoft of registrars, but that would be an insult to Microsoft. VeriSign has screwed up billing and renewal of various domains of mine four times in the past - after the last fiasco, in which they triple-charged me for a single two-year renewal their web site told me was not processed, and which they had already told me they couldn't do because my domain had (afterwards) been transferred to eNom, it took me three months and a letter to my bank disputing the charges to get my money back. I now use eNom for all my registrations. (Yes, I know there are cheaper choices...)
However, I get the last laugh.. When the domain involved in that triple-renewal came up for renewal this year, eNom told me that VeriSign's database had the domain as having been extended for six years - it didn't a year ago when I had the mess with them - so I was all set through 2008! I wrote them to explain what happened - they thanked me for being honest and said that it was more trouble than it was worth to "correct" the situation...
It took me a while to find this, but here is where you can look up coverage by zip code or city name. The closest dot on the map to me is some 50 miles away, but the lookup said that my city was covered with excellent signal reception.
While TiVo does indeed own many PVR patents, neither Microsoft nor SonicBlue(Replay) had licensed patents from TiVo. There is currently a patent skirmish between SonicBlue and TiVo.
UltimateTV was definitely NOT TiVo. It was a reincarnation of the failed DISHplayer, offered by DISH Network. Some good ideas, but poorly implemented. Typical Microsoft... (I threw that in because this is Slashdot...)
For me the main reason to buy UltimateTV was that it recorded the DirecTV signal digitally (and two channels at a time). I had seen Tivo and Replay and I never liked the quality.
It sounds to me as if you were comparing against the "standalone" version of TiVo. The TiVo-DirecTV combo box, like Ultimate TV, records the satellite signal directly and has two tuners, so you can record two shows at once (and, on TiVo, watch a third prerecorded show).
Replay has only "standalone" models that would require an external DirecTV tuner. TiVo has both kinds (I have one of each kind).
Ultimate TV offered no significant advantage over TiVo (few people care about WebTV), and it was more expensive, buggy, slow and hard to use. No wonder TiVo continued to outsell UltimateTV by significant margins.
Kudos to Microsoft for "knowing when to fold 'em", though I imagine that people who bought UTV boxes are none too pleased. I wonder how long the subscription service will be continued.
No, TiVo does not have the Thomson/RCA-licensed "Commercial Advance" feature that the Replay 4000 does. Commercial Advance attempts to detect ads, flags them after recording, and then on playback, the player skips the ads. This is the same feature as in many RCA (and some other brand) VCRs.
TiVo has an undocumented "skip 30 seconds" feature, which I find rather pointless - using the second or third fast-forward speeds zips me through ads almost instantly. (And if you enable the 30-sec skip, you lose the "skip to end" feature that I use more.)
Here's another nerd who loved this book as a child. I spent many years as an adult searching for a copy, and finally found one (for just a few dollars) at the Brattle Book Store in Boston.
I'm glad to see that SCMG has been reprinted, but worry that it will be lost on today's youth.
You CAN get off-the-shelf power adaptors for many popular laptops, but they tend to be more expensive than you'd think. I have an Armada M700, but neither of the two adapters I have are of the exact series that are being recalled (and the plug is a normal looking round one.)
The reason for the differences are that the voltages and current capacity vary. That said, I'm not sure why there is such a variety as there is. Looking at the two adapters I have handy, the Compaq puts out 16.5V at 2.7A and the IBM (for a T20) puts out 16V at 4A.
Dell and Digital also had power adapter recalls - both companies laptops were, at the time, made by the same Taiwanese OEM.
(This posting is my own opinion, not representing Compaq.)
Re:Dvorak is wrong, but why defend TiVo?
on
Calling Out TiVo
·
· Score: 1
As I understand it, TiVo is not a drop in replacement for a VCR. It only lets you watch what you have recorded once, and it doesn't let you back up to another device for later repeat viewing.
Incorrect on both counts. You may watch a TiVo recorded show as many times as you like, and may transfer a saved program to a VCR. (In fact, the Sony model will automate the process with compatible Sony VCRs.)
TiVo has completely changed the way I view TV. Before TiVo, I hardly ever watched TV, as there was nothing on when I wanted to watch. Now with TiVo, I can turn on the TV and there are dozens of hours of programming that I want to watch, nicely sorted by title. I can start watching a show, pause it, start another, and come back to the first show anytime later.
TiVo also takes care of making sure I see all episodes of my favorite shows, without duplicates, no matter when or how often they're on. TiVo's Suggestions also find shows I might like but didn't know existed - I've picked up some new favorites this way.
As for ads, I fast-forward through most of them, but sometimes I see an ad that catches my eye and I back up to watch it. But the net result is that I actually "see" more ads than I would with "live" TV watching, since I can polish off three half-hour shows in 60 minutes.
I agree that Dvorak is completely off-base here, but then again, as others have pointed out, this seems to be his style.
I have a P4-1400 system (Compaq Deskpro Workstation) in my office and I run SETI@home when I'm not using it for benchmark runs. Looking at the log's list of CPU times per unit, I'd say that the processor is probably running at full speed all the time. (As an independent verification of this, I've run the SPECfp suite and the times I get match Intel's submission pretty closely). So, I think the note about "proper cooling prevents the problem" is accurate.
For what it's worth, my home-built Athlon-1200 (Asus A7V133) system runs SETI@home about 10-15% faster than the P4-1400 (and I have the Athlon loaded with background tasks, unlike the office system), which matches up with other testing I've done (and have seen on the web).
The actual call is 10 minutes or so, and is either a local call (if available), or toll-free. The TiVo unit then takes another couple of hours to "digest" the download. While it's doing this, it still works normally, but response to some menu selections may be a bit slow.
Steve (speaking for myself, a TiVo user, not for Compaq)
(Speaking for myself, a TiVo user, personally, not for Compaq. And I'm in the process of adding a second disk to my TiVo to get 108 hours of recording time.)
Please read my post again. My reference to Compaq Fortran was for the NT (Windows) platform only. You are correct - we do not have a compiler for X86 Linux.
I don't doubt this statement for Mac, I'd be skeptical for Linux, but Absoft is a distant third (behind Compaq and Lahey(Fujitsu)) on the NT platform. Make no mistake, it's a great compiler and does indeed have good support, but other vendors are significantly ahead in sales.
See an old example of "obfuscated Fortran". The task here was to figure out the ONE compile-time error VAX FORTRAN would give for this code. Note that the program is NOT standard F77, but uses many VAX FORTRAN extensions. (Nowadays, it would give more...) The answer is here.
The plastic on the early terminals (VT52, VT100) did yellow with age from exposure to UV from flourescent lights. This was quite common in the industry. Digital devised a formula for plastic that didn't yellow and offered it to other manufacturers at no charge - it was used in VT3xx and later models. Nowadays we take it for granted.
Digital also pioneered the use of water for cleaning circuit boards.
Slashdot Mirror
I am so glad that this was uncovered - I remember it fondly from my college days....
If you purchased a TiVo which came from the factory with a software version earlier than 2.0, then a service subscription is not required, and you have some limited "dumb VCR" functionality available.
Newer models require the service subscription, and say so on the box. For these, all you can do without a subscription is pause the Live TV buffer.
If your TiVo box came from the factory with a software version of 2.0 or later, it has the new PROM that attempts to prevent you from modifying the software. If it came with an earlier version, EVEN IF YOU SUBSEQUENTLY DOWNLOADED A NEWER VERSION, you have the old PROM which doesn't do this check.
All DirecTiVos, and Series 2 boxes are 2.0 or later. Most Series 1 standalones are pre-2.0.
Before you send it back, walk around your property with a compass and a tube from a paper towel roll, or something similar. Using the azimuth and elevation figures from the TiVo setup screen, hold the tube up at the indicated angle and see if you can find a place with a view of the satellite. It may not necessarily be "southern", depending on where in the US you are. Where I am, the view is definitely southwest. Many installers are lazy and won't spend the time to find a good site. You can install the dish yourself, it's not hard to do. Try to find a mounting spot on the side of your house, that's much preferable to a pole. You may find that one of these brackets open up possibilities. As for Series 2 - keep in mind that at the moment, these are available only in "standalone" models, not with DirecTV integration. I'd hold out for getting the DirecTiVo to work. I now have two of these, and they're wonderful. I had a standalone TiVo before, and loved it, but DirecTiVo is "lust"! There's lots of help for TiVo users on the TiVo Community Forum (sigh - I hope their new server can survive being Slashdotted yet again...)
Not anytime soon, though the Series 2 TiVo design could accomodate it. Such a beast would need two tuners AND two MPEG encoders, which would drive up the cost quite a bit. Also, only those with antenna or cable-without-box would be able to make real use of dual RF tuners - if you had a cable box, you'd be left out.
I won't say "never", but it doesn't look like something that's on their radar screen right now.
I get about 4-5 of these PER DAY at my work address! They're all from slightly different addresses (though hotmail.com is a popular host) with slightly different texts. Is someone offering these sort of like the old "Make $$$ at home!" ads which, when you pay for the instructions, you get a photocopied sheet telling you to take out "Make $$$ at home" ads? That's the only explanation I can come up with for the increased volume of these things. (And of course getting so many of them makes it clear that they're all a fraud...)
I'd say that VeriSign is the Microsoft of registrars, but that would be an insult to Microsoft. VeriSign has screwed up billing and renewal of various domains of mine four times in the past - after the last fiasco, in which they triple-charged me for a single two-year renewal their web site told me was not processed, and which they had already told me they couldn't do because my domain had (afterwards) been transferred to eNom, it took me three months and a letter to my bank disputing the charges to get my money back. I now use eNom for all my registrations. (Yes, I know there are cheaper choices...)
However, I get the last laugh.. When the domain involved in that triple-renewal came up for renewal this year, eNom told me that VeriSign's database had the domain as having been extended for six years - it didn't a year ago when I had the mess with them - so I was all set through 2008! I wrote them to explain what happened - they thanked me for being honest and said that it was more trouble than it was worth to "correct" the situation...
It took me a while to find this, but here is where you can look up coverage by zip code or city name. The closest dot on the map to me is some 50 miles away, but the lookup said that my city was covered with excellent signal reception.
Sorry, you're simply wrong. Ultimate TV was TiVo only in Microsoft's dreams.
Sony and Philips sell TiVo boxes, which are actually manufactured by a third company at a factory in Mexico.
While TiVo does indeed own many PVR patents, neither Microsoft nor SonicBlue(Replay) had licensed patents from TiVo. There is currently a patent skirmish between SonicBlue and TiVo.
UltimateTV was definitely NOT TiVo. It was a reincarnation of the failed DISHplayer, offered by DISH Network. Some good ideas, but poorly implemented. Typical Microsoft... (I threw that in because this is Slashdot...)
For me the main reason to buy UltimateTV was that it recorded the DirecTV signal digitally (and two channels at a time). I had seen Tivo and Replay and I never liked the quality.
It sounds to me as if you were comparing against the "standalone" version of TiVo. The TiVo-DirecTV combo box, like Ultimate TV, records the satellite signal directly and has two tuners, so you can record two shows at once (and, on TiVo, watch a third prerecorded show).
Replay has only "standalone" models that would require an external DirecTV tuner. TiVo has both kinds (I have one of each kind).
Ultimate TV offered no significant advantage over TiVo (few people care about WebTV), and it was more expensive, buggy, slow and hard to use. No wonder TiVo continued to outsell UltimateTV by significant margins.
Kudos to Microsoft for "knowing when to fold 'em", though I imagine that people who bought UTV boxes are none too pleased. I wonder how long the subscription service will be continued.No, TiVo does not have the Thomson/RCA-licensed "Commercial Advance" feature that the Replay 4000 does. Commercial Advance attempts to detect ads, flags them after recording, and then on playback, the player skips the ads. This is the same feature as in many RCA (and some other brand) VCRs.
TiVo has an undocumented "skip 30 seconds" feature, which I find rather pointless - using the second or third fast-forward speeds zips me through ads almost instantly. (And if you enable the 30-sec skip, you lose the "skip to end" feature that I use more.)
Steve
Here's another nerd who loved this book as a child. I spent many years as an adult searching for a copy, and finally found one (for just a few dollars) at the Brattle Book Store in Boston.
I'm glad to see that SCMG has been reprinted, but worry that it will be lost on today's youth.
Steve
You CAN get off-the-shelf power adaptors for many popular laptops, but they tend to be more expensive than you'd think. I have an Armada M700, but neither of the two adapters I have are of the exact series that are being recalled (and the plug is a normal looking round one.)
The reason for the differences are that the voltages and current capacity vary. That said, I'm not sure why there is such a variety as there is. Looking at the two adapters I have handy, the Compaq puts out 16.5V at 2.7A and the IBM (for a T20) puts out 16V at 4A.
Dell and Digital also had power adapter recalls - both companies laptops were, at the time, made by the same Taiwanese OEM.
(This posting is my own opinion, not representing Compaq.)
Incorrect on both counts. You may watch a TiVo recorded show as many times as you like, and may transfer a saved program to a VCR. (In fact, the Sony model will automate the process with compatible Sony VCRs.)
TiVo has completely changed the way I view TV. Before TiVo, I hardly ever watched TV, as there was nothing on when I wanted to watch. Now with TiVo, I can turn on the TV and there are dozens of hours of programming that I want to watch, nicely sorted by title. I can start watching a show, pause it, start another, and come back to the first show anytime later.
TiVo also takes care of making sure I see all episodes of my favorite shows, without duplicates, no matter when or how often they're on. TiVo's Suggestions also find shows I might like but didn't know existed - I've picked up some new favorites this way.
As for ads, I fast-forward through most of them, but sometimes I see an ad that catches my eye and I back up to watch it. But the net result is that I actually "see" more ads than I would with "live" TV watching, since I can polish off three half-hour shows in 60 minutes.
I agree that Dvorak is completely off-base here, but then again, as others have pointed out, this seems to be his style.
Steve (speaking for myself)
I have a P4-1400 system (Compaq Deskpro Workstation) in my office and I run SETI@home when I'm not using it for benchmark runs. Looking at the log's list of CPU times per unit, I'd say that the processor is probably running at full speed all the time. (As an independent verification of this, I've run the SPECfp suite and the times I get match Intel's submission pretty closely). So, I think the note about "proper cooling prevents the problem" is accurate.
For what it's worth, my home-built Athlon-1200 (Asus A7V133) system runs SETI@home about 10-15% faster than the P4-1400 (and I have the Athlon loaded with background tasks, unlike the office system), which matches up with other testing I've done (and have seen on the web).
Steve (speaking for myself, a TiVo user, not for Compaq)
Steve Lionel
(Speaking for myself, a TiVo user, personally, not for Compaq. And I'm in the process of adding a second disk to my TiVo to get 108 hours of recording time.)
Steve Lionel
Steve Lionel
Steve Lionel
Steve Lionel
Steve Lionel
> I must be living in a different reality - since when has F77 pointers
Well, F77 doesn't, but most commercial F77 compilers do, as an extension. F90 has pointers (different from the common F77 extension).
Steve Lionel
I certainly agree with you on the benefits of Fortran, but then, I am slightly biased in this regard!
Steve Lionel
Digital also pioneered the use of water for cleaning circuit boards.
Steve Lionel