Tivo Advice

[Idioteque]

I am thinking about getting a Tivo box. I have a powerbook and 5G ipod. I am still at college and only have standard (coax) TV. When I graduate I will probably upgrade to a digital service.

I know there has been alot of talk with TiVo becoming more apple friendly. My question is is it going to be a hardware or software upgrade.

1. If I get a box now is it eventually going to be able to support ipod syncing or wil I need to get a new box for that.

2. Will all of the Tivo services work with SDTV or my coax tv service.

3. I have Tiger, is it possible possible to get the TiVo to go working.

4. Also with Tiger can I view my photos and listen to music on my TV.

5. Will it connect wirelessly to an Airport Express.

Thanks for all yer help.

John

 

[bootedbear]

1. Estimate date for Mac support for this new feature is mid-2006. Will not require new box.

2. Yes, obviously within the limits of the signal.

3. Supposedly in mid-2006. We'll see...

4. Yes, using Galleon or other work-arounds.

5. Dunno

 

[hcuar]

If you want a DVR... I'd recommend going with your cable providers DVR service... It's cheaper, and frankly Tivo Mac support sucks. They think about Mac users last even though a large portion of their subscriber base are Mac users.

 

[superbovine]

5. Will it connect wirelessly to an Airport Express.

yes... I have a original series 1 tivo that didn't come with any network connectivity what so ever. I have added network connectivity and wireless through a wifi bridge. The newer series tivo's support usb ethernet/802.11b capabilities. Your'll have to research for each model tivo because there is varying difficulty have actually doing it. Not all the tivo will connect to a network out of the box, but some will.

the best resource for tivo question is to search http://www.tivocommunity.com/

 

[bbarnhart]

My 2 year old TiVo stopped working back in October and my wife called to see what we could do. They said we could ship it back and they would send us a replacement. Sounds good. Yet, still as of today, I've not seen the replacement even after calling them every day for the past two weeks. Life without TiVo is very challenging. After getting such poor customer service, we would switch to a Dish Network DVR, but knowing from having a Dish Network DVR, they are trash compared to the TiVo service. And, we are moving in a few months were we will have Time Warning cable so there's no point in switching now.

Sorry for my rant and I know it has nothing to do with your question. If I were you I would get the TiVo. With the TiVo, you can play your iTunes music (not iTunes Music Store Music) through your TV (our sound is hooked up to our stereo). You don't need an Airport Express.

Electronics shouldn't stop working after two years. I'm mad at TiVo and I'm also still holding a grudge against Apple for my original Airport Base Station that had the capacitor issue. They would not replace it with a refurbished model unless I had an any other Apple product under warranty. However, my boss replaced the blown capacitor for $5 and it works again.

 

[grapes911]

If you want a DVR... I'd recommend going with your cable providers DVR service... It's cheaper, and frankly Tivo Mac support sucks. They think about Mac users last even though a large portion of their subscriber base are Mac users.

I have both a TiVo and Comcast DVR. The TiVo is a million times better. The comcast one sucks. It is less obvious how to navigate the menus. Every time you hit a button the response is delayed about 3 seconds (more when recording multiple shows). It doesn't record when off. It is just terrible.

 

[AstrosFan]

I have TiVo, but have tried Comcast DVR as well as Time Warner Digital Cable DVR & I agree that there's no comparison.
TiVo blows them both away.
However, I agree with the posters above who complain about the lack of Mac support by TiVo.

The other thing is, with today's posted rumor of a Mac Mini Digital Hub possibly releasing in January, WITH the capability of DVR built-in, it may be worthwhile to wait a couple of months to see if that is true.

Good luck!

 

[Laser47]

I remember a while back when I herd that comcast will replace their current dvr boxes with ones that use tivo, i dont know when it will happen but trying to get current tivo boxes to work with a digital cable box sucks.

 

[bbarnhart]

TiVo must read MacRumors.com. My replacement TiVo came in the mail today.

 

[blackpeter]

I've owned a stand alone TiVo and a DirecTiVo (DirecTV + TiVo). Without a doubt, the DirecTiVo rules. Because the signal is recorded digitally, the picture quality is noticeably better. Also, features like dual-tuner for recording two shows at the same time are nonexistent on stand alone TiVo models.

I'm interested to see if Apple will release a DVR at MacWorld. But, frankly, I don't know if they'll be able to match the features of cable/sat providers' all-in-one DVRs...