Electronics

[Moonchilde]

I live in a household that has Directv, and we do have DVR included, BUT - for various reasons within the household, it's not practical for me to use the DVR. It's nearly always close to full, and other members of the household keep deleting what I record.

So - I think getting a TiVo might solve my problem. It needs to work *with* Directv as my provider. I don't need huge storage and every bell and whistle. I'd like to keep maybe 25-30 one-hour programs on at a time - some HD, most probably not, so a mixture.

TiVo has so many models & capacities - which one do you suggest? The website has TMI without a way to filter it for my needs. I have tried, but thought I'd ask here. Thanks!

[NickNack]

I have a Tivo Bolt 1TB, which records 150 HD hours.  The Tivo 500 GB records 75 HD hours, which might be enough for you, but I would probably get the 1TB to be on the safe side.  I absolutely love mine.  I also have a Tivo Premiere, which they don't sell anymore.  I've had Tivos for a long time.  I think you'll be very happy with it.

I have Comcast, and I had to get a cable card from them to work with it.  I'm not sure what else you'll need with Direct TV.  I'm sure you could Google it and find out, but you can also probably find out from Tivo's website or by calling them.

[chickenbutt]

The problem is going to be that Tivo is incompatible with satellite.   I know that DirecTV used to use Tivo brand, but they went back to their own generic DVRs and at this time, Tivos are only compatible with cable.

[NickNack]

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@chickenbutt wrote:

The problem is going to be that Tivo is incompatible with satellite.   I know that DirecTV used to use Tivo brand, but they went back to their own generic DVRs and at this time, Tivos are only compatible with cable.

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I'm so glad you read this @chickenbutt.  I didn't realize this.

[chickenbutt]

Hey Nick!    Yeah, it's a drag that it is that way, but it is.  

BTW, Moonchilde, should you find yourself subscribing to cable, instead of satelitte, my favorite Tivo so far is the Bolt.    It has cool features that my previous models didn't have.  I've had Tivos for over 12 years and would hate to be without them.

One favorite feature is 'Quick Mode'.  On shows like some of the Tyler Perry dramas I watch it's awesome because everything moves so slow that it drives me nuts.  On quick mode you can't even tell it's 30% faster, but it makes the pace much more palatable.  

I also love 'skip' for just a one-button nano-second move through commercial segments.  

[Moonchilde]

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@chickenbutt wrote:

The problem is going to be that Tivo is incompatible with satellite.   I know that DirecTV used to use Tivo brand, but they went back to their own generic DVRs and at this time, Tivos are only compatible with cable.

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Yeah, I did some more reading and was afraid of that. @chickenbutt :-(

I might just ask someone at BB if they have any suggestions in general.

Not my house, not my box, and not anything I can do about what is kept on the box, or programs "not recognized" being deleted. It's not worth the hassle and ill-feelings.

But dang, I want to be able to record programs! I can't even stream (another possible solution) because we have slow sucky wifi and throttled data amount. Waaah! 😫

And being in the boonies, the only option is satellite. If the household switches to Dish (remote possibility) it wouldnt be for months and might not even make a difference, DVR-wise.

[chickenbutt]

It's a real drag that your choices have to be so limited.     I always kind of whined that we have always only been able to have one cable company here.  There are the two main satellite choices, which I researched a long time ago and decided to stay with cable. 

Our cable is Charter and, over all, it's been pretty good over the decaes we've been with them.

Now, I guess there are the fiber-optic choices (or something like that) but I would pass on that, too.  I guess we have quite a few choices now, just not many that I would actually choose.

Hopefully you can get a larger DVR with DTV.  I hear they have a lot of newer models now.    Can you download some of the clutter to a computer or external hard drive for storage?

I would be going insane if my Tivos got so cluttered that they were near getting full.  Heck, when I get in the 20% plus range I'm already starting to stress.  My Bolt is a lot larger than the Premiere I have in my bedroom so it can just be at 15-17% (99.9% HD shows) and that's like two pages.  I started to stress and have to get it down.  Lame - I know.

[Moonchilde]

Well, CB, none of the choices are mine to make, and the storage and deletions (or not) aren't under my control. "MY remote!" kind of situation. I had hoped that adding a TiVo type device separately would bypass even needing to discuss it or needing anyone else to be involved but me, so nobody would even see my recordings but me. Little did I know that we have the ONE service where that won't work.

We had Dish (before I lived here), then switched to Directv. We might switch back, but then might not :-( We live halfway up a hill in the country so have sucky TV and wi-fi.