Question about Tivo and the subscription fee...

[frak]

The installer is coming to finally install my SAT dish for DirecTV tomorrow..
right now I've just got one HDTV receiver.

I was thinking about picking up a tivo, since my old PVR (pc setup) recorder
I used when i had cable isn't going to work anymore.

However, in talking to the guy at circuit city - he said it'd cost me another
$10 a month for Tivo - +$5 for then '2nd receiver" and +$5 for the tivo
service.

Is it possible to use the tivo recorder as just that - a recorder and not
pay the $5 bucks a month to tivo? I only record like 3-4 shows a week tops.
I know what time they are on and how long they are, so I don't see a
benefit to the season pass nonsense, etc.

I couldn't get a straight answer out of this guy.

So can I buy a tivo and use it to record - manually setting the time/date
and not subscribe to "tivo"? Basically use it like a PVR or cable DVR?

thanks

[kwajr]

yes it tivo basic

[mini1]

As far as I know, DirecTivo's can not run on a Tivo basic. I haven't heard of anyone doing this, as DirecTV requires you to pay thru them for any amount of DirecTivos you have on the account.

[gor88]

If you activate a DirecTiVo on your account, the $5 will automatically come out.

The $5 is not a bad deal. Keep in mind that if the show moves time (like America's Most Wanted aired 1 day early on Friday last week instead of Saturday), Season Pass automatically sees it and records it. You don't have to remember to set it manually. The only time this doesn't occur is when a particular episode is on the guide, but is postponed due to sports or other programming and then the same episode is added back within 28 days after it first appeared in the guide. Even then, you can tell the season pass to record duplicates. Also, if you are watching live tv, the receiver will keep a buffer starting from the point that you tune in to a channel and will maintain up to the last 30 minutes from this start point. If you need to go to the bathroom, hit pause. Did you miss what a character said on the show? If so, just rewind and play it again. In some cases, we can't clearly hear what a character says. By rewinding, we can go back and analyze. When we watch NASCAR, we can go back and analyze crashes frame by frame and in slow motion.

Trust me, you will find the TiVo service worth having. Granted, my wife and I have 15 season passes configured. It makes time-shifting your programs very easy and allows you to watch your shows on your schedule. Also, skipping commericals can be activated. It is not an advertised feature, but I can tell you how to activate it if you buy the TiVo.

My wife is not tech-savvy, but she LOVES TiVo. She wouldn't allow me to deactivate it even if I wanted to. :)

[Mark Holtz]

Nope. You have to subscribe to the DVR service to use the TiVo features. However, for DirecTV, it's just $5 per month per account no matter how many receivers you have verses a standalone charge of $12.95 per month for the first receiver plus an additional monthly charge for each standalone.

On the other hand, unlike the standalones, there are two tuners, not one, on the DirecTiVo. That means that you can be watching a program on one channel while recording the movie on the other channel. Or, better yet, you can be recording two programs and watching a third. While there is no MPEG encoding, the DirecTV signal is already compressed, so the recorder just needs to record the datastream from the satellite.

If you were to go with Dish Network, once again, there is that pesky $5 DVR fee. However, both Dish Network and DirecTV will waive the DVR fee if you subscribe to "America's Top Everything" or "Total Choice Premiere". And Dish Network DVRs are less sophisticated than the TiVo.

[frak]

If you activate a DirecTiVo on your account, the $5 will automatically come out.

The $5 is not a bad deal. Keep in mind that if the show moves time (like America's Most Wanted aired 1 day early on Friday last week instead of Saturday), Season Pass automatically sees it and records it. You don't have to remember to set it manually. The only time this doesn't occur is when a particular episode is on the guide, but is postponed due to sports or other programming and then the same episode is added back within 28 days after it first appeared in the guide. Even then, you can tell the season pass to record duplicates. Also, if you are watching live tv, the receiver will keep a buffer starting from the point that you tune in to a channel and will maintain up to the last 30 minutes from this start point. If you need to go to the bathroom, hit pause. Did you miss what a character said on the show? If so, just rewind and play it again. In some cases, we can't clearly hear what a character says. By rewinding, we can go back and analyze. When we watch NASCAR, we can go back and analyze crashes frame by frame and in slow motion.

Trust me, you will find the TiVo service worth having. Granted, my wife and I have 15 season passes configured. It makes time-shifting your programs very easy and allows you to watch your shows on your schedule. Also, skipping commericals can be activated. It is not an advertised feature, but I can tell you how to activate it if you buy the TiVo.

My wife is not tech-savvy, but she LOVES TiVo. She wouldn't allow me to deactivate it even if I wanted to. :)

Well it's actually $10 a month - since they only sell (dtv) tivos with receivers
built in. So you get dinged for both the tivo and the 2nd receiver fee. I've
got a TV in the bedroom, but I can't remember the last time it was on, so
I didn't bother with a receiver in there.

Toshiba has a standalone tivo + dvd player that comes with tivo basic
(3 day look ahead, but no fee for the service). I think this is what I'm gonna
do.

I only record stuff I'm not either awake to watch (IMUS in the morning on
MSNBC) or not home for - you can count the # of shows I record on one hand. Time shifting, season pass, etc, for 'me' aren't of much value. I only personally used the PVR on the cable as digital vcr.

[narnia777]

Once you start using a Tivo as intended it will change the way you watch tv. You will no longer want to watch live, you will let your shows record and watch them after they are recorded or 15 minutes delayed even so u can skip commercials. It's adicting. If the stand alone has serial or ir blaster then you can use it with a Directv receiver, or better yet replace your first receiver with a Directivo thus you only have to $5 more, no 2nd receiver fee and you get 2 tuners.

Jim

[Mark Holtz]

I only record stuff I'm not either awake to watch (IMUS in the morning on MSNBC) or not home for - you can count the # of shows I record on one hand. Time shifting, season pass, etc, for 'me' aren't of much value. I only personally used the PVR on the cable as digital vcr.Well, a VCR can only hold 6-8 hours of program material, and can only hold 4-6 timers. If you use a DVR, you'll end up setting a "season pass" for all the shows you watch... even the ones you expect to be home for. You can watch the program while it is still recording and skip over the commercials.

I practically watch nothing live anymore.

If you get a standalone unit, then your DirecTV receiver has to decompress the picture for viewing, then the DVR has to recompress the picture while recording. With a DirecTiVo, since the data is already compressed, what gets transmitted from DirecTV is what gets recorded. Neat.

To each his own, I guess. I would still ask about the cost of a DirecTiVo and compare the cost to purchasing a standalone "Basic" Tivo.

[djlong]

One other thing - since getting my DIshplayer (which I'll soon abandon for a HD TiVO), I've *never* had the question come from the other room "Honey, where did you put the tape with Six Feet Under on it?"