Comments on: Major Tivo Withdrawals

By: David Stutler

David Stutler — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mike – I got so frustrated with my Moto 6412 that I’ve relegated it to permanent “hooked up to mac” status. It sits here plugged into my Alchemy TV card for normal TV watching and plugged in via Firewire for recording HBO’s HD movie offerings.

It seems I’ve tried every home media option out there and have determined that the best way to go (for me, at least) is the hacked DirecTivo (bought two on eBay cheap) which allows for EASY transfer to my Mac. So easy, in fact, the first time I did it I didn’t believe it. All the details can be found at http://www.tivotool.com/.

With the hacked TiVo, I’ve got the best of all worlds. DirecTV service – great picture, etc., multi-room viewing for the two TiVo’s in our home (better than advertised), and the ability to telnet to the dang thing and add software.

If only I could justify the expense of the HD TiVo. I would pitch this MOTO into the dumpster.

By: Ted Pearlman

Ted Pearlman — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mike,

I have experienced the same thing. Same old box, same new one. And I’m with you, axe at the ready. Let the village revolt begin.

Ted
Denver, CO

By: Mike D.

Mike D. — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

It’s shocking how dramatically the TV-watching experience degrades when all the details surrounding it are poorly executed. A little delay here, an indirect navigation path there and you lose all desire to even operate the remote.

But then again, maybe that’s the point. On a macro level, if all TV owners have DVRs and all DVR owners skip commercials too easily and frequently, there goes the entire economic model of television. I think this is definitely going to be an issue sooner than people are anticipating.

David: That TivoTool looks awesome. I’ve always heard the Series 2 DirecTivos were very hard to hack though. Is that not the case?

By: Faruk Ateş

Faruk Ateş — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

You know, to me you sound a bit spoiled. ;-)
No offense meant by that, but around here (Netherlands) we don’t have either TiVo or HD TV. Or a bazillion channels for that matter (unless you get satellite, of course).

However, I’ve come to notice from living in a place where there’s no standard cable available that I don’t really need TV at all. I’m not watching any TV at all these days, and find myself quite happy about it. Do I miss it? Nope. Movies? I buy dvd’s and go to the cinema a lot. Talk shows? Eh, I can live without them. Cool series? Friends ended and Joey’s way behind here, I download the eps so that I don’t have to wait half a year before knowing what everyone’s talking about, then I buy the DVD’s once they’re out.

All in all, I’m not missing TV at all. I’ve never experienced TiVo mind you, but I have experienced an HD TV with dvd and games, and -that- was awesome. The display quality was wonderful, but I wouldn’t care about it for television purposes…

Oh, and I have more time for my own projects these days, too. Convenient!

By: David Stutler

David Stutler — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mike, I’ve heard the same thing about hacking the Series 2 DirecTivo. In fact, with a little help from DealDatabase, I tried it myself. The carnage included the only remaining PC in my house, several hard drive ribbon cables, and a couple of broken torx drivers. Then again, I’m 90% idiot.

But luckily I found a few sellers on eBay that had successfully streamlined the process and were selling them already hacked. The guy I bought mine from also offered hacked hard drives – just had to drop one in my Series 2 box and I was up and running.

TivoTool is wonderful. I’ve been using it every day since it’s release and have successfully transfered dozens of shows to my Mac. All across a wireless network with no trouble.

BTW, as I’m writing this comment, my 6412 reset itself – something my TiVo has never done. So sad.

By: Sid Upadhyay

Sid Upadhyay — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hey Mike, You can always try this option... http://revision3.com/systm/mythtv/ to qoute, "For under $500 you can build a computer that will record HDTV, schedule your favorite shows anywhere in the world, allow you to back up and archive your standard or high def content, display your favorite RSS news feeds, and play all your old-school MAME roms. All this without any monthly subscription fee, made possible with MythTV." You might want to consider it since if can also work on an Apple computer with this; http://www.mythtv.info/moin.cgi/MythOnMacOsx

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

It’s somewhat interesting that media providers have such shabby equipment. One of my roommates has a PVR from Cox and seriously it’s got issues. On a side note though, it can record HD programming in HD, so that was nice when I was working later than normal and still able to come home and watch 24 in HD. However, I do agree with Mike, the controls are shabby, the reliability, well it’s not there (and it’s supposed to be teamed with the cable company’s tv guide system *sigh*).
Is it possible to use an HD TiVo with your cable company? Or is it only possible to use hardware that has been approved by them?

By: AkaXakA

AkaXakA — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Faruk: In Holland (and the rest of Europe) standard tv picture quality is so much higher than in the US that HD just doesn’t represent a dramatic boost in picture quality. (Indeed, it’s the old NTSC vs PAL debate.)

TiVo is making (some) inroads into Europe however. They’ve launched in the UK, but as the rest of Europe is lagging behind with digital channels, it doesn’t look likely that we’ll be getting the TiVo any time soon.

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Your lucky you’ve got HDTV at all… here in England we are presented with so many “fake” HDTV’s that its almost impossible to find a real one!

By: Stacie

Stacie — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

What is the big deal with HDTV? So what if you can see the picture better? It doesn’t change the fact that most of what is on television is crap that caters to the digust factor.

When the quality of the programming matches the quality of the picture, would HDTV be worth-while. Until then I’ll stick with reading.

By: anon

anon — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Maybe you should have rearched it before you bought it? Duh.

By: Faruk Ateş

Faruk Ateş — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

AkaXaka,
Yeah, our PAL is quite a bit better than NTSC as it is, but despite that I must say I’ve rather loved the picture quality of the HD TV that I checked out a while ago. Mostly, HD is so much better than LCD or Plasma screens, but it’s still flat and therefor convenient. Big difference, there.

By: Summerville

Summerville — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Don't hate on Microsoft too much. Windows Media Center Edition is even better than TiVo in my opinion. It has nominal HD capabilities right now, but the 2006 edition is expected to be much better. I hate watching TV without my Media Center, and that includes watching TV at my parents' house which has TiVo.

By: Guido

Guido — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I still don’t get why companies like Comcast and the guys that make the SA boxes can’t just imitate the TiVo functionality. Having used a TiVo for years, and then having to switch to a SA box to get HD in Canada, I nearly stopped watching TV altogether.

What usually happens in the marketplace is that Company A sets the standard and every other company copies it (and some even improve on it) to try and get a piece of the pie. Yet in the DVR case the competition has actually produced WAY worse products.. just doesn’t make sense to me.

By: Jim Rutherford

Jim Rutherford — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I have the same box in with Shaw in Canada and also could not find the skip key. Fortunately, the remote can be hacked to provide features like 30 second skip (and in fact you can even add other buttons to skip any amount of time). Instructions for the skip are at: http://www.satelliteguys.us/archive/index.php/t-67541.html A google search for hack remote motorola 6412 brings up many other gems (including reverse skip)!