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How to pick a brand?
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Posted by: Bizshup

Newbie here. Well, actually, I haven't even bought it yet so maybe I don't even have that status. Here's the question: How do you choose a brand Tivo, Sony, Philips etc.? (Secondarily, I don't know if one is allowed to mention TV Replay in here, but if someone could also sell me on Tivo I'd be very grateful...excuse my ignorance).

Assume I am price neutral, what's the best? Is the Sony worth the extra 50 or 100 dollars aside from aesthetics? I have a Sony Wega, so I've been eyeing the SVR-3000. I just want the best interface, if they're even different.

I want an 80 gig hardrive which can be upgraded. I have Time Warner Digital Cable and a cable modem attached to my Dell, no nearby phone jack. Is there any new technology coming out which would make it smart to wait a couple months? Any and all help would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks so much.
Aaron

Posted by: mikedaly

You'll get some differing opinions over Sony vs TiVo brands, primarily over appearance and remote control. IMHO, neither of these alone would warrant the extra dough for the Sony.

The SVR-3000 has been reported to be quieter than the TiVo 80hr, probably due to a better/quieter fan. I myself have been perfectly happy with the noise level from my TiVo S2 80hr; YMMV.

If you are interested in adding additional storage above and beyond the 80hrs (it's not that hard), then I would recommend the Sony over the TiVo. The TiVo does not have a builtin bay for a second hard drive, while the Sony does. There is/will be a third party solution from weaknees to solve the extra drive space problem, in addition to potential power supply issues when adding a second drive to the TiVo.

The OS and features are the same between the two. I have heard reports that the graphics on the Sony are slightly different, but functionality is the same.

As for if there's anything new coming soon that you should wait for... TiVo announced their HDTiVo efforts at CES in January, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one. We likely won't see any fruit of those labors until the end of the year, and they will probably be pretty pricey.

As for Replay... sure, you're allowed to talk about it here, no problem. Although most of what people have been saying lately is "what's going to happen to it now that SonicBlue is filing for bankruptcy and selling Replay to D&M Holdings?" If I were you, I would not take this opportunity to get a Replay - its future is uncertain. It will very likely have one, but no one knows in what form.

$0.02.

Posted by: mtmra70

Reasons i bought the Sony:

-matches my other silver Sony equipment
-thinner and less bulky then the Phillips
-remote is better IMO then the "peanut"
-its got a bright blue light ;)
-it was the only TiVo in stock in my town

edit:

also, the SVR-3000 remote contrlols the VEGA TVs right out of the box :) volume and power are easily controlled from the remote.

Posted by: Bizshup

Thanks so much for the helpful responses. So the primary differences are the remote and the aesthetics. There's no significant difference between the interfaces? Also, I've heard that when watching normal real-time TV through the Tivo box, you lose a touch of quality. Is there any reason to think one brand deals with that better than another? Also does the Sony have any additional output jacks or other such frills? Thanks again!
Aaron

Posted by: mikedaly

The quality from a Sony will be exactly the same at that of a TiVo. They use the same encoding/decoding hardware.

They also have the same input/output options, with one exception: the Sony has some sort of Sony-specific control port which you can use to connect a Sony VCR and automatically start/stop it when using the "Save to VCR" option. On the TiVo, you have to start/stop the VCR manually.

Posted by: mtmra70

quote:
Originally posted by Bizshup
Thanks so much for the helpful responses. So the primary differences are the remote and the aesthetics. There's no significant difference between the interfaces? Also, I've heard that when watching normal real-time TV through the Tivo box, you lose a touch of quality. Is there any reason to think one brand deals with that better than another? Also does the Sony have any additional output jacks or other such frills? Thanks again!
Aaron

Also, the Sony warranty is better then the Phillips. I think sonys is 90day/1 year and Phillips is 90day for everything

Posted by: Bizshup

You guys are quick! Thank you very much. I'll be back.
A

Posted by: phone1

Not an issue for you, since you have TWC, but just for the record, Sony cannot use serial control for AT&T/Comcast Motorola cable boxes.

Posted by: phone1

quote:
Originally posted by mtmra70
Also, the Sony warranty is better then the Phillips. I think sonys is 90day/1 year and Phillips is 90day for everything

Kind of a moot point, since you'd be hard pressed to find a new Philips, but their warranties are/were the same as Sony: 90 days parts and labor, 1 year parts only.

Posted by: phone1

quote:
Originally posted by Bizshup
Also does the Sony have any additional output jacks or other such frills? Thanks again!
Aaron

FWIW, Sony has two S-video outputs vs TiVo brand having only one.

Posted by: Bizshup

So there is no issue with the Sony, but is there an issue with a Tivo brand box and a Digital Time Warner Cable Box (Scientific), and what is "serial control"? Also, will I just connect Tivo to my Dell through USB since I have a cable modem connection. Is that the same for the Tivo box? Sorry for the newbie questions.
A

Posted by: VHanson

I had the same question of TiVo vs. Sony, and ended up getting the Sony from weaknees with an extra 120gb drive added to the 80gb. That gave me 61 hours at best quality and 225 at basic. Weaknees also offers the Sony with two 120gb drives. I believe the serial control is a way to change channels on the cable box through an output from the TiVo to a serial port on the cable box. I have Cox digital cable with a GI box, no serial port on it, but the IR blasters work fine.

Posted by: mikedaly

Serial control is one of the methods for changing channels when you have a cable box.

If you have a cable box in order to receive additional channels (premium, digital channels, etc.), then TiVo has to change the channels on the cable box in order to record the right channel. Two methods are available: IR Blaster and Serial Control.

IR Blaster essentially operates the cable box the way you would normally - using an IR signal, just like the one sent from your cable box remote control. The TiVo has a connector and cable which allows you to position little IR transmitters directly in front of the cable box IR receiver, to have the best chance of correctly controlling the box. However, as you might have guessed from my wording, this is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. TiVo has no way of knowing if the channel change actually happened, just that it sent the right signals. So sometimes TiVo can end up recording the wrong channel. Bummer.

The second option is serial control, which is only available if you have a Motorola/GI DCT-2XXX series cable box with a serial/data port on the back. In this scenario, you connect a serial cable (supplied with the TiVo) from the serial port on the back of the TiVo to the serial/data port on the cable box. Since this is a two-way mechanism, TiVo will detect if the cable box is tuned to the right channel, and theoretically you should never miss a channel change.

Search for "Serial Control" to find a pretty long thread about this topic, both from people who are having success and those that aren't.

Posted by: phone1

quote:
Originally posted by Bizshup
So there is no issue with the Sony, but is there an issue with a Tivo brand box and a Digital Time Warner Cable Box (Scientific), and what is "serial control"? Also, will I just connect Tivo to my Dell through USB since I have a cable modem connection. Is that the same for the Tivo box? Sorry for the newbie questions.
A

There's no "issue" with the Sony, and TWC, but whichever TiVo you buy, you'll have to control the box using TiVo's infra-red extenders (IR blasters) so it can change your cable box channel to record something you have requested. Some AT&T boxes can be controlled using a serial cable instead. It's a non-issue for you since it's not available for TWC boxes.

You would connect the TiVo USB of either brand to a wired or wireless ethernet LAN, which also is connected to your PC and a router. See the sticky "ethernet how tos" thread in the underground section or visit the HMO section of TiVo's website: http://www.tivo.com/4.9.1.asp

Posted by: mikedaly

quote:
Originally posted by Bizshup
will I just connect Tivo to my Dell through USB since I have a cable modem connection. Is that the same for the Tivo box? Sorry for the newbie questions.
A

You will need to set up some sort of "home network". See TiVo's home network information for details. If you have further questions (or just get confused) after reading through that, by all means post here!

Posted by: kiwiguy

Also, regarding the remotes, if you have a Sony home theatre (HT) Dream System such as the DAV-C900 (or other non-standard system) then only the Sony remote will allow you to control the power/volume/muting on the HT.

Even then you have to use the learning mode on the Sony remote.

Posted by: phone1

Don't worry about the remote issue. You can buy a learning remote for around $50 and "teach it" all the TiVo and Sony commands.

Posted by: mtakahar

quote:
Originally posted by phone1
Don't worry about the remote issue. You can buy a learning remote for around $50 and "teach it" all the TiVo and Sony commands.

This means that it's worth the extra $50 or so unless you are thinking of buying a universal remote anyway.

Hal

Posted by: phone1

quote:
Originally posted by mtakahar
This means that it's worth the extra $50 or so unless you are thinking of buying a universal remote anyway.

Hal

AFAIK, no TiVo remote, including Sony's, has commands for the newer Sony AV equipment. Even my Sony brand universal remote didn't have a built in code for it.

Posted by: mtakahar

quote:
Originally posted by phone1
Kind of a moot point, since you'd be hard pressed to find a new Philips, but their warranties are/were the same as Sony: 90 days parts and labor, 1 year parts only.

I think this used to be true, but now I see their site says 1 year labor, too. You might want to double check, though.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INT...dvd_player.isml
(Try http://www.sonystyle.com/, search TiVo, then click on the Warranty Info if you can't go there from this link.)

Hal

Posted by: mikedaly

quote:
Originally posted by phone1
Not an issue for you, since you have TWC, but just for the record, Sony cannot use serial control for AT&T/Comcast Motorola cable boxes.

Unless I'm missing something, this isn't true. According to TiVoPony, ALL standalone S2s will have serial control available in 4.0, both Sonys and TiVos:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-v...ony#post1077380

Is there something specific about AT&T/Comcast boxes?

Posted by: mtakahar

quote:
Originally posted by phone1
AFAIK, no TiVo remote, including Sony's, has commands for the newer Sony AV equipment. Even my Sony brand universal remote didn't have a built in code for it.

I think your are right, but it doesn't matter to the Sony remote. IIRC, those signals are still based on Sony's common IR protocols (i.e.: not the high frequency or complex DSP protocols), and the Sony TiVo remote should be able to learn them.

Apart from so-called AV1/AV2 difference, a few Sony receivers do use the high frequency protocol. If that's the case, many (I actually think all) inexpensive learning remotes are out of luck. (Some experts in the JP1 group are looking into it. It may become possible in the future with JP1.)

Hal