TiVo Community Forums Archives - what tivo to buy???

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what tivo to buy???
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Posted by: pike513

40 up to 40 hours recording $199
60 hour model available for $299

I was on the tivo website and intersted in finding out which one I should buy from an amaturer. Is 40 hrs plenty or is the 20 extra realy worth 100

Is their any other special features I need to look out for. HELPPPPPPPPPP

Posted by: RavenFan

Ah, decisions, decisions.

The 40 and 60 hour units work out to be $5 per hour of capacity.

An 80 hour unit from TiVo is $350 ---> $4.38 per hour.
A Sony SVR-3000 at $400 ---> $5 per hour

From what I have seen, the 60 hour unit and the Sony SVR-3000 are the most easily upgraded TiVos. It is relatively easy to add a second hard disk to these two units to increase your recording capacity.

The 60 hour unit does not have the USB 2.0 ports like the newer 80 hour TiVo. (I assume that the new 40 hour TiVos and the SVR-3000 also uses USB 2.0).

Since you are a new member, you may not know that TiVos let you record at different quality levels. If you want a higher quality picture you use more disk space. Think of it like EP and SP speeds on your VCR. You get a better picture on SP speed, but you can only record 2 hours at SP instead of 6 at EP. For example, my old 30 Hour Sony SVR-2000 lets you record 30 hours at basic quality, but only about 20 hours at medium quality. I do most of my recording at Medium quality. My 80 hour TiVo lets you record a little over 80 hours at basic, and aroun 50 hours at medium quality.

The amount of space that you will need will also depend on your viewing habits. I am currently working during the day and taking MBA classes at night, so I am never home during the week. I tend to watch large chunks of television on the weekends. Sometimes I can get a few weeks behind on my favorite television shows and my 30 hour Sony (20 hours at medium quality) starts to fill up.

You will see several different opinions of exactly which TiVo to buy, but you will most likely love whatever one you purchase. If you're not the type of person who likes to take things apart or upgrade computers, I would recommend getting the biggest TiVo that you can afford. If you like tinkering with things, get a smaller, cheaper one.

Good luck!

Posted by: Breacagan

First, consider whether you want a standalone TiVo or a DirecTV Receiver with TiVo.

Standalone advantages:

Works with antenna, cable, and satellite (Dish or DirecTV) signals.
Works with a setup that requires both antenna & satellite signals.
Works with a setup that requires both cable & satellite signals.

DirecTV Receiver with TiVo advantages:

TWO tuners--can record two different shows simultaneously.
Everything is recorded at Best Quality (actually, an exact copy of the DirecTV signal!), so a "35 hour" DirecTV Receiver with TiVo has a similar Best Quality program capacity to an "80 hour" standalone. (The 80 hours are at Basic Quality, and the 35 hours of DirecTV are a bit optimistic.)
$5 monthly fee for TiVo service. The standalone models require a $13 monthly fee or a $250 lifetime-of-box subscription.
DirecTV is almost always less expensive than cable, and has better programming selections.

As you can see, this is the first decision to make. Once you know what you want, we can help you select a model.

Posted by: RavenFan

quote:
Originally posted by byronshock
DirecTV is almost always less expensive than cable, and has better programming selections.
[/B]

I really wish that this was the case for me, but it's not.

I currently have three televisions, and will probably have 5 soon after I get my bar and put two televisions above that. DirecTV starts to get a little bit expensive when you start adding televisions.

I also use Comcast for my broadband internet service. (expletive deleted) Comcast would charge me either $10 or $15 more per month for that service if I didn't subscribe to their cable TV service. Don't you just hate monopolies? I can't get DSL where I live, so I'm stuck for now.

But at times, I think that DirecTV would be worth the additional costs.

Posted by: Breacagan

quote:
Originally posted by RavenFan
I really wish that this was the case for me, but it's not.

We cannot even get DirecTV, but I mention it because the overwhelming majority of consumers perceive satellite as very expensive, when in fact it is quite reasonable.

Posted by: RavenFan

I agree. For most people it's extremely reasonable.

Especially for TiVo owners with the $5 monthly fee instead of $13. And there are so many benefits to using DirecTivo over regular TiVo.

Of course, any TiVo is better than no TiVo, and I was quite happy with my single standalone for over 2 years. I just picked up my second TiVo last week. And I might be buying a third TiVo soon if they start allowing you to share programs between your Series 2 TiVos.