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Here comes Tivo

Thanks for the link. I bought a Series1 TiVo in 2000 and have had a Series3 (the predecessor to the TiVo HD) for a year and a half. I guess it will come as no surprise, I think the news that Amazon Unbox for TiVo will be adding HD content is exciting, indeed.

Although I bought my Apple TV in order to rent HD movies from Apple it has actually provided most of its utility for me through it’s ability to accept MP4 files. I have been using Handbrake to rip my movie DVDs and convert them to MP4 format, which I then sync to my Apple TV. The Apple TV’s user interface is exponentially superior to that of my old Momitsu upconverting DVD player. I really like it.

I have collected so many MP4 movies and Time Machine backup files on my 250 GB FireWire drive that I’m down to my last 14 gig of space on it. That problem encouraged me to order a 1 TB Time Machine today so that I should have plenty of storage space for the foreseeable future.

By the way, I think it’s unlikely that any cable modem user would have a bandwidth problem where downloading Amazon Unbox HD is concerned. My high speed Internet connection, which I have via Cox OKC, has handled all my HD downloads from Apple flawlessly.
 
But Amazon has the same 24 hour viewing restiction that Apple does. If I only have 24 hours to finish a movie after starting it, then I will pass.
 
It’s well to keep in mind that the horribly limiting 24 hour rule was neither Apple’s nor Amazon’s choice. The rule was imposed on them, and us, by the motion picture industry. The irony of all this is that, although I have stopped renting HD movies, I now use my Apple TV to view MP4 files I have created from my movie DVDs with Handbrake. It’s not a particularly fast process but it is certainly is easy.

I agree that a TiVo S3 or HD is the nearly perfect complement to an Apple TV. HD on an Apple TV is limited and expensive but is widely available via TiVo and a cable subscription. But Apple TV can play DVD movies converted to MP4 with unmatched ease and quality. Do you want to talk about synergy? :)
 
Apple TV doesn't cost me $14 bucks a month in perpetuity. I'll pass on Tivo but if you have a good cable plan it makes more than good sense to consolidate into one device.
 
uva25 said:
I agree but the Tivo could do everything the Apple TV does. You can't say that about the Apple TV.
Click to expand...
Having been a TiVo owner since 2001 (currently with 2 S3's), the awesomeness of what TiVo "could do" is very hampered by the speed at which TiVo gets around to adding new features.

I'd like to think that Amazon.com was the hindrance for TiVo not having streaming HD content yet, but the article reads as if TiVo hasn't even implemented H.264 support in its boxes yet. :confused:
 
uva25 said:
You tube is coming soon and I can already play my music from itunes and photos from iphoto.
Click to expand...

That sounds good, just reaffirms that I need to rebuild my DirecTV Tivo to take advantage of the full Tivo software. It is really too bad that DirecTV does not use all the Tivo functionality.
 
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