3
Years ago

NH - What's the Point of TiVo?

NH - What's the Point of TiVo?

I caught the last minute or so of the story on Today Tonight last night on TiVo. I'd heard before this about it coming to Australia, and I instantly thought "What's the point of getting it here?".

Sure, it sounds like a pretty cool idea. Pause and rewind live television, and have the option to record to a hard disk in high definition for viewing later, including whole series of shows, etc. But why spend the reported near AUS$700 for what is basically a Digital Video Recorder for free-to-air channels? It seems like a much better value option to get Foxtel HD+/iQ, and then get the same stuff (including the ability to record free-to-air if you have cable, transfer to your PC etc.), as well as get a huge selection of other channels as well. Sure, not all the Foxtel channels are in HD right now, but I'd much rather have the Foxtel selection than just the free-to-air channels in HD. For the price of the TiVo set-up, you can get 6 months of Foxtel HD+, and have the same features with a much better selection of channels.

I don't have any involvement with either TiVo (or anyone who's selling it), or Foxtel. I'm just a potential customer thinking about what is the best value, and IMO unless TiVo is offering the same channel selection as Foxtel (which I don't think they are), it seems like a waste and much worse value compared to Foxtel HD+/iQ.

What do others think?

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Pea
Years ago

I will be getting one if it has a series link option for free to air. I have an IQ, not the HD one, but as my feed is via sat dish I cant record any free to air shows on it.

The series link on the old IQ is fantastic and I use it all the time.

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DICKO
Years ago

LG High Def set top box with 250GB Hard drive and dual tuners.

Pause/rewind live TV, Record up to 2 shows and watch another. Programs TIMES, rather than programs.

Got to be careful, there's plenty of complaints in the US about them messing with programming times to stop people getting their programs on Tivo. Something that Australian channels would NEVER do (yeah right). I just set everything to record 10 minutes prior and 10 minutes after.

Oh, and about $300ish at last look.

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Anonymous
Years ago

There is not yet a single solution to record your HD free to air and foxtel.

The TIVO we will be getting here is a bastardised version of the US box. I have had a TIVO for about 5 years, it records Foxtel and Free to air but only in SD, but the features are great - season pass, pause live tv, watch one program while recording another. So I am happpy to stick with that until a better solution presents itself.

Foxtel HD is just too damn expensive, although it does appear to cover both FTA and Foxtel (Since I get FTA channels through my foxtel cable). The price increase is just not worth it.

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Kent Brockman
Years ago

I dont get why Fox are charging more for the HD channels.

Everything will be broadcast eventually in HD so why do i have to pay extra for it?

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skip
Years ago

Because they can.

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James W
Years ago

To the OP - the reason you heard it on channel 7 is that they're the ones pushing to bring it to market here. They are trying to stop the uptake of Foxtel, especially when the free to air channels are looking at launching HD channels sometime in the future.

At $700, and you can only use it on our free to air channels, it doesn't make sense here yet. In America cable TV is mainstream and Tivo can be used on it, meaning it's much more value for money.

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Big Marty
Years ago

We've all had the ability to record 2 shows simultaneously because most homes have 2 VCR's and 2 TV's; so it isn't like making it possible on the one box is any big whoop.

Isn't really like the majority of people need to record 2 shows at once, considering the amount of people that are seasons ahead of cable and FTA shows; most just download one series and watch the other live.

TiVO is pointless to buy until there is enough range of channels to warrant using it. If you really want to record multiple shows at the same time, spend $400 bucks on 3 Combo drives and 3 Benchtop Tv's and record 3 Channels at the same time. Granted it isn't on a hard-drive.

Want to do it on a HD, get a tuner card for your PC and record directly to your PC. All you need is an aerial jack in the room and your set.

So yes, there are a couple of immediate, cheap alternatives to do that have been around for over 8 years. No need to rush either HD+2 or TiVO.

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3
Years ago

DICKO, where is this LG High Def set top box available? Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I already have the full package for standard definition Foxtel, and record stuff (mainly wrestling) a lot, and tapes as well as clashes with what other people want to watch can get in the way, and this sounds like a very affordable option.

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B Fresh
Years ago

"How does it work? Easy as pie is how it works!"

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Hoops

NH - What's the Point of TiVo?

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