In December we canceled cable and got a Tivo Premiere. We got the lifetime service because in the long run it's the cheapest option, but WOW was it expensive. Still, we are saving about $100/mo with no cable (also had phone service with cable) so it has broken even already. And there really aren't any other good options out there. Years ago I tried to use a PC as a DVR, and I quickly discovered that it's more trouble than it's worth, and it's not reliable enough to do the job. I'm sure there are better ways now, but this was just the easiest way to do it.
I'll talk about my antennas later, but other than that change, I basically put the Tivo in place of the old DVR, and had the same/better functionality. I did have to make two changes:
1) To get it working with the whole house DVR system I described before, I had to add an RF modulator for channel 3. This also required a distribution amplifier because the modulator's output isn't as strong as my old DVR's channel 3 output. Still, once I hooked that up, everything got a nice clean signal on channel 3.
2) The old DVR did a remarkable thing: It output widescreen on HDMI and component, and it output 4:3 on the channel 3 output. Simultaneously. The Tivo will not do this, and what makes it worse is the widescreen/4:3 setting is buried deep within the menus. I currently run the Tivo signal to 3 old 4:3 TV's, one which we actually use more often than our big widescreen projection TV. Rather than go into these menus every time I wanted to use a different TV, I was able to find the service menus on two of the three TVs (both JVC) and manually squeeze the picture to the middle of the screen, making it 16:9. This is actually better than black bars because you're getting the full resolution of the TV this way. I still think the old DVR's way of doing things was better, but try as I might, I couldn't find a piece of hardware that will input a 16:9 signal and convert it to 4:3. The third TV actually has a setting for 16:9, which is great. Except it's not permanent. So every time I turn on that TV I have to switch it over. It's in the basement in front of the treadmill so I just deal with it.
The Tivo is a good DVR. It is a *little* bit smarter about recording things than my old cable company DVR, in that it won't record the same episode twice, even if they're on different channels at different times. That said, do not buy it because of all of its extra internet features such as Netflix and Rhapsody. The Rhapsody app stopped working a while ago and never worked that well to start with, and the Netflix app, while I do use it, is probably the worst Netflix app I've ever seen. The Pandora app works great except the volume level out of the analog ports is so over driven it makes the TV speakers buzz (and you have to turn them way down). They have a 'new' HD user interface. We don't use it because it's painfully slow. There are just so many problems with this box it's easy to forget what it does well.
But the truth is, the reason it doesn't meet my expectations is because I had high ones (and I paid through the nose for it). In reality, it is a very good and reliable DVR, and it's very accessible by 3rd party software. That openness is something you can't find anywhere else that I've looked, and it's the main thing that makes me see the Tivo as an upgrade instead of simply a replacement. I'll discuss the software I use next.
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