Registered: Oct 2002
Location: Bellevue, WA
Posts: 4

Hey everyone. I've been lurking here for a while but finally decided to register and post. I've been considering taking the TiVo plunge for a while now but the cost has been higher than what i wanted to spend. I think i've finally convinced myself to go for it, but had a few questions about which unit i should buy. As i see it, i have four main choices:

The AT&T 40 hour unit for $249*
The Series 2 60 hour unit for $300*
The Series 2 80 hour unit for $350*
An upgrades S1/S2 for ~$350 or so.

There are some pros and cons to each of these choices...

The AT&T unit is obviously the cheapest choice, and would still leave room to upgrade with another drive in the future (which i would probably want to do eventually). This is, i think, my first choice.

The 60 hour Series 2 unit has more hours and is a "real" TiVo for not much more money than the AT&T unit. It also has room for expandability and comes in just under the $300 mark.

The 80 hour Series 2 unit has the "alleged" better picture quality, the latest software revision, and the USB 2.0 ports. However, it is not easily expandable and is the most expensive of the new models.

Buying a used S1/S2 unit would be cheaper for the same amount of space or the same price for much more space as the comparable new units. If i buy a large capacity model i also wouldn't have to worry about upgrading later. However; it would not have a warrantee (would it?), it would not have USB 2.0 ports (or even 1.1 ports if i bought a Series 1), and it would not have the newest firmware revision.

Many of you have had TiVo for a while now and have some 20/20 hindsight on this issue. If you could do it all over again, what would you choose?

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Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 833

Cue-ball -

Time to **** or get off the pot. You have eloquently described the pros and cons of each of the choices, now you just have to decide what you want to spend. Two things I'd add, one minor, one major. Minor - If you have AT&T cable and use a digital cable box, the AT&T tivo is currently the only one with a chance at controlling your cable box using a serial cable rather than the IR blaster. Might not work due to firmware on your cable box, or type of cable box. And in the future, the other tivos might or might not get this capability. Major - if there's any chance at all that you could get DirecTV instead of sticking with cable, forget all about the standalones and shimmy on over to the DirecTV world. Cheaper. Better. Cooler. 2 tuners. Perfect picture quality. Did I mention Cheaper? It looks like DirecTV does offer locals for Bellevue (I used 98004 as a zip, not sure where you are).

But if you stay with cable, any of those standalones would suit you fine.

- Alex

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Registered: Jun 2002
Location:
Posts: 71

quote:

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Originally posted by Cue-Ball
The 60 hour Series 2 unit has more hours and is a "real" TiVo for not much more money than the AT&T unit.

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A "real" TiVo as opposed to what? An imaginary one?

If you have AT&T digital cable with a DCT2000 box, I would think that getting the AT&T unit with its serial-connection functionality would be a no-brainer, especially if you plan to add a second hard drive anyway. In case this matters to you, it might be worth mentioning that my AT&T Tivo has no AT&T branding on it anywhere (nor on the remote). The only difference between the AT&T TiVo and the 60-hr. Series2, as you know, is the original hard disk size and the presence of controls on the front panel.

My only reservation about the 80-hr. Series2 at this point would be that we do not yet have much information about how easy it would be to add an additional hard drive to these machines. I recall reading somewhere in these forums that there didn't seem to be much space inside for an additional drive. The fact that they ship with 3.2 is nice, but all Series2 machines should be getting this upgrade in the not-too-distant future.

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location:
Posts: 1274

I would guess that upgrading an 80 hour TiVo will be possible very shortly....that being said, I don't think I'll ever need more space than what the 80 hour offers, and I'm talking about recording at 2nd best, so only 34 some odd hours of TV - so far that's been plenty for me, but you may be different.
As I see it, the main strength with going with a S2 box is that you will put yourself further away from obsolescence in the sense that if/when TiVo offers new, snazzy features, there's a decent chance that the S1 boxes won't be able to incorporate them, or won't be able to easily.

One thing to note, IF, and this is one speculative IF, but IF TiVo plans to offer show sharing, having USB 2.0 ports with 480Mb of throughput will make this M U C H easier than having USB 1.1 ports offering a measly 12Mb.
Something to think about.

If cost is your #1 concern, the AT&T TiVo is the way to go - you can upgrade it into a bigger, badder TiVo for less than the 80 hour.....but me, I'm going with the 80. Not that much more dough, enough space for me, and I'm *hoping* that if/when show sharing is available, the USB 2.0 ports will make this easier.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location: Bellevue, WA
Posts: 4

Thanks for the input, everyone. I'm going to re-investigate DirecTivo again. I looked at this before i ever considered a stand-alone player but since i live in an apartment i didn't want to deal with the wiring hassles (and possibly putting a big hole in a wall i don't own). I'm also not sure if i'll get a decent signal because of some pretty large trees to the south of my unit. I'd really prefer it anyway because of the picture quality and dual-tuner function. If that still doesn't seem to pan out, i'm just going to get the AT&T unit. It's relatively cheap and will work with AT&T digital cable should i ever decide to upgrade from the analog extended basic that i've got now.

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Near the banks of the River Charles
Posts: 1684

Don't know if I want to rain on Cue-Ball's parade, but I would think long and hard about recommending an AT&T TiVo to anyone who is not going to use it with a cable box, because of the apparent problems with noise on certain channels when using its internal tuner (CH 27 most notably) unless you have a top notch cable system (plenty of signal, better yet that CH 27 is something you don't watch).

The new 80 hour series 2's appear to have a different motherboard and as yet do not appear to suffer from this problem. Whether these new motherboards ever make it into an AT&T TiVo remain to be seen.

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Paul

Don't ask for more than you can handle, you may get it. - The Great Gazoo

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location: Bellevue, WA
Posts: 4

I was under the impression that the channel 27 problem was a software issue that's fixed in the newest 3.2.x software update? Can anyone confirm this?

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Near the banks of the River Charles
Posts: 1684

From this thread, that is not a software problem

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-v...hlight=27+cable

There are 2 issues with series 2 PQ. The new software optimizes the MPEG encoder, improving the PQ, the other issue is the higher noise levels when using the tuner.

The 80 hour has a different motherboard that appears to have solved the noise problem.

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Paul

Don't ask for more than you can handle, you may get it. - The Great Gazoo

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Registered: Jun 2001
Location: N.J.
Posts: 29

My 2 cents.

If you're planing to upgrade: The Series 2 60 hour unit for $300

If not: The Series 2 80 hour unit for $350.

From what I've read on other posts, the 80 hour isn't upgradable at this time.

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location:
Posts: 1274

The Ch. 27 problm is hardware related for sure, and TiVo has shown no interest in fixng it for affected users. That being said, some affected users have reported that using a signal amplifier makes the problem a lot easier to live with - if cost is a major concern, buying an AT&T unit, an amplifier, and another hard drive for extra storage would still be cheaper than buying the 80 huor unit. I exchanged my 60 hour for an 80, but price wasn't the most important thing for me.

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: Columbia, MD
Posts: 0

I think I found the best deal yet. I went to BB to exchange my recently acquired 60 hour unit for an 80. After much reading on this forum I decided that was the best option for me. They had only had the 80's for 2 days when I got there. The TV boys had opened one up and put it on display. The manager gave them heck, because he did not want any 80's displayed until more of the 60's had sold. (If you asked, they would bring one out for you.) I ended up buying the opened unit (never plugged in) for $299. Right time, right place.

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Registered: May 2001
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 3155

mcmoore - that's an excellent deal! Make sure you get the original box on that thing so you can get the $50 rebate.

As far as the 80 hour versus the older model units: there are changes both good and bad. The PQ issues have been resolved and it really still remains to be seen whether they can fix them on the older Series2 units in my book. Although they haven't done it yet, maybe they can pull it off in software.

But the problem that was created in the 80 hour unit is its lack of support for a second hard drive. So the only option now is to swap the 80 out with a 120 or 160 - hardly a really cost-effective option over the older units which are both cheaper, and more cheaply upgradeable. So if you think you'll upgrade (granted 80 hours is a decent amount of space) then you should grab an older unit while they last.

Finally, there is some AT&T branding on that TiVo - not on the remote, but on the unit itself. I don't think it matters, but just to be clear . . . and AT&T may begin selling their 40 hour units with one bay at some point . . .

Michael

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