Thoughts on TiVo?

TiVo bolt is on sale for 140 on Amazon and our windows 7 pc windows media PC will stop it’s dvr functionality on January. Plus the computer it is on is starting to have trouble. I can get the TiVo plus lifetime service for about 400 bucks.

Is that a bad idea? It handles streaming of Netflix, Hulu, etc. Not sure if u can put my photos and video on there to view or not .

I’d there a better solution for about the same price?

How do you plan to use it? Connected to cable or antenna?

TiVO is still much better than any cable company’s DVR, but the gap has narrowed, at least compared to the Xfinity X1 box I had a year ago.

But still, if you’re using cable, the path of least resistance is to use their DVR. The cable companies have been very successful in killing off the third-party box market, mainly by making it really cumbersome to get them connected. Even with Cablecard they may insist on sending a tech out to do the setup.

If you’re using an antenna, I’m not sure what other options there are. I think Amazon recently shipped a little DVR box for that, but I haven’t read any reviews.

Sorry, I should have mentioned.

We just use an antenna, stream Netflix, Amazon video, and occasionally other services. We also like to view home photos and video.

I don’t really have good knowledge of the best DVR options for antenna people, sorry. I can say that TiVO is a good DVR, but the company is having problems. They’re not selling many boxes and have been trying to find a new business model for years. No idea how long they’ll last.

That $140 doesn’t include service, TiVo will get you for like $7/month for that. It is the best option if cost is no object, however.

With an antenna, if you have fireTVs or used your windows PC as your streamer, I would use the Amazon FireTV Recast ($175). Just put it on your network then get FireTV cubes or sticks for every TV. No monthly costs at all, so it’s clearly the best deal.

If you’re on roku or appleTV or whatever and don’t want to switch to Amazon, TabloTV is the best option. It costs $5/month or $50/year however.




Thanks! I just posted that question in the fire TV thread as I just learned about the recast.

I was going to do the lifetime service for TiVo for 250 if I went with TiVo. The fire TV may be the better bet though

If you don’t have a strong aversion to the Amazon ecosystem, the Recast is clearly the best deal. It will also work on every TV in your house, just put a $20 FireTV stick on your bedroom TV or whatever and it can watch your DVR and live TV.

No aversion to Amazon. We’re prime members. It looks like it has the ability to view photos. Recording is only in 720p though instead of 1080p.

It records the native MPEG2 stream, which is either 720p or 1080i, then transcodes to MPEG4 h264 at 720p to stream to FireTV devices on your network. MPEG2 is an ancient standard and offers very poor compression so it could overload poor wifi.

ABC and FOX only broadcast at 720p in the first place, with the feeling that a lower resolution progressive scan image looks better than an interlaced 1080i one. There’s no real consensus whether 720p or 1080i looks better, they’re basically comparable.

Thanks for your help today stusser. After waffling I ended up going the Recast / Fire Stick route. Supposedly they are working on a commercial skip feature like Tivo has, instead of relying on skip ahead 30 seconds.

Ahh that’ll be sweet. Enjoy!

I went Tivo a LONG time ago (over 10 years)… I haven’t looked at any other set-top box since. Tivo has allowed members to transfer lifetime subscription from one unit to the next too, which makes it awesome! Also, they updated the hardware so that you don’t have to jump through hoops to swap out a hard drive to install a much larger sized one. Just plug it in and go. Their embedded software also supports Amazon prime, Netflix, Plex, and a bunch of other stuff (I only use those three)

I believe some of the Tivo units support OTA recording too. I believe mine does, but I don’t use that feature (I have a cable card from Verizon for all my network channels — which is cheaper than the cost of a set top box from the provider)

Good luck with your solution, I’d love to hear how it goes - Always like to know about different alternatives!

While true, they also released new hardware this year (Edge) after saying they didn’t intend to release more, so maybe not so terrible?

Anyway, hope the recast works out. For posterity, TiVo is amazing, just pricey.

So far so good with my Fire Recast setup. I have the tv antenna and recast in my bedroom closet since it has an outside wall facing the direction of the local tv broadcasts. Our network is a 3 unit Orbi (not the fastest speed). The TV with the Fire Stick is a couple rooms away. It’s worked perfectly, recording multiple shows at once (got the 4 tuner model). Streaming Netflix and Amazon video works well. Watched some UFC from ESPN+.

So, we are happy with it so far. I have it plugged into our stereo receiver instead of the tv. Through some pictures on the Amazon unlimited picture storage so we get a slideshow of our pics when the screen saver comes on.

Glad you like it!