Author Topic: Tivo/DVR Question (Read 2175 times)

bishmasterb · « **on:** May 19, 2009, 11:09:27 pm »

I've had a DirecTV/TiVo DVR for some time and love it, but we're scrapping DirecTV and going with cable for TV and Internet access.

I can rent a DVR from my cable company for $15/month, but it isn't TiVo, and I'd rather not spend another $15/month. So...

Does anyone know if I can simply use my existing DirecTV/TiVo DVR with the input from the new cable service, and contract directly with TiVo to get the scheduling data?

bishmasterb · « **Reply #1 on:** May 19, 2009, 11:58:20 pm »

Found the answer, no. Apparently the DirecTV units don't come equipped with a MPEG encoder (since the satellite feed is already in MPEG format).

saint · « **Reply #2 on:** May 20, 2009, 12:09:24 am »

Time to roll your own?

http://byopvr.com

drventure · « **Reply #3 on:** May 20, 2009, 12:47:19 am »

Just pick up an old 40gb tivo (they're a dime a dozen) and slap a 320gb drive in it.

It's really easy to do the conversion, docs are online.

It won't be HD, but it will be tivo.

I'm really hesitating on Verizon FIOS simply because from what I've read, they intentionally mapped most of their popular channels to channels that the TIVO can't tune, so you HAVE to use their box.

bishmasterb · « **Reply #4 on:** May 20, 2009, 08:33:55 am »

Quote from: saint on May 20, 2009, 12:09:24 am

Time to roll your own?

http://byopvr.com

Thanks. I vaguely remembered that there was a website like that, but couldn't remember the URL. I will check it out.

Quote from: drventure on May 20, 2009, 12:47:19 am

Just pick up an old 40gb tivo (they're a dime a dozen) and slap a 320gb drive in it.

It's really easy to do the conversion, docs are online.

Wow, good idea. I checked eBay and they seem to be going for $20 or less and I'm sure I've got an extra high capacity drive floating around here somewhere.

Questions:

1) Is there any particular model I should avoid?
2) Is there anyway to get around the monthly TiVo fee?

Thanks guys!

ChadTower · « **Reply #5 on:** May 20, 2009, 09:20:58 am »

You can get around the monthly Tivo fee but I'm not telling you how. My Tivos are all modded for that but I still pay the fees. I want Tivo to live - the mod is only there because it came bundled with larger homebrew apps.

The SD Tivos are practically free now. People are giving them away on Freecycle. I've seen them in recycling bins and at yard sales for $10. The upgrade to a high capacity unit is about the same level difficulty as an Xbox softmod but easier to get the software. Go to DVRUpgrade and buy their drive builder boot disc. It is well worth the money and you'll need it later because Tivos eat hard drives like candy. I have been using DirecTivos for years and the hard drives seem to last about three years if you are good about standby and two years if you aren't. That boot disc will make it a 60 minute operation to put in a newly constructed drive when this one dies.

drventure · « **Reply #6 on:** May 20, 2009, 10:26:24 am »

As long as you stick with a non-branded tivo (like the DirectTV versions, etc, just a plain ol' TIVO) you should have no problems upgrading. The site that was mentioned has a lot more details also.

I've never heard of avoiding the TIVO fee, but now I'll have to look

Still, the value of tivo was never in the hardware, it was the service, and 12$ a month doesn't seem like much for a service that truly is one of the best designs out there.

But I'm edging closer and closer to an HD version anyway <sigh>

ChadTower · « **Reply #7 on:** May 20, 2009, 10:28:53 am »

It took me so long to get content sharing working on the DirecTivos that it will be a while before I upgrade to HD... we like what we have now too much.

javeryh · « **Reply #8 on:** May 21, 2009, 02:30:59 pm »

Anyone know if there is a way to increase the HD on a Verizion FIOS receiver/DVR? I think mine's a 6216 or something...

CCM · « **Reply #9 on:** May 21, 2009, 03:17:15 pm »

Quote from: javeryh on May 21, 2009, 02:30:59 pm

Anyone know if there is a way to increase the HD on a Verizion FIOS receiver/DVR? I think mine's a 6216 or something...

Doesn't sound good...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1102792

Quote

All Motorola cable DVRs have firmware that is "hard coded" to use the maximum capacity of the SKU. If you replace the 160GB drive with a 500GB drive, the DVR will still use just 160GB.

ChadTower · « **Reply #10 on:** May 21, 2009, 03:33:38 pm »

Isn't that a rented unit anyway?

drventure · « **Reply #11 on:** May 21, 2009, 04:02:12 pm »

Good Call, ChadTower, I think you might get into some hot water for even trying to upgrade a cable box, because most of them are rented, you don't own them. Check your bill to be sure. It'll usually have a 5$ or so fee for "Cable box rental" or similar.

BTW, the link to that post was excellent. I'd been considering FIOS, but after reading that, I'd definitely not even bother with their DVR and just go with an HD tivo. Good info.

Thanks!

CCM · « **Reply #12 on:** May 21, 2009, 04:16:07 pm »

You are both correct, they are rented boxes. I switched to FIOS last September and have been extremely happy with it. The DVR suits our needs, so no complaints.

javeryh · « **Reply #13 on:** May 21, 2009, 04:47:25 pm »

yeah... it is a rented box but as long as I could mod it (which it sounds like I can't) and put it back to factory when I turned it in I'd still go ahead with it. It sucks that you can only record 160GB of space. We run out all of the time. Plus, it would be nice to have the space to record an entire season of something and then watch in the summer when there is nothing on.

ChadTower · « **Reply #14 on:** May 22, 2009, 09:35:29 am »

That's a long time ago, yes? They are a lot more protective now that the cable box isn't a simple client box doing tuning only.

ChadTower · « **Reply #15 on:** May 22, 2009, 02:08:53 pm »

Ah... maybe that company is run poorly? Up here they run two way status pings with your boxes on a very regular basis. They send down software updates, can debug boxes remotely, etc. That's one of the reasons I have DirecTV. Satellite is one way only if you can get around the phone line requirement.

Hoopz · « **Reply #16 on:** May 22, 2009, 02:15:58 pm »

Quote from: ChadTower on May 22, 2009, 02:08:53 pm

Ah... maybe that company is run poorly? Up here they run two way status pings with your boxes on a very regular basis. They send down software updates, can debug boxes remotely, etc. That's one of the reasons I have DirecTV. Satellite is one way only if you can get around the phone line requirement.

The phone line requirement is no big deal to deal with. I've been in my house 9 years without my receiver having a phone line attached. Directv has never said a word. We don't have a land line anyway.

ChadTower · « **Reply #17 on:** May 22, 2009, 02:26:39 pm »

Quote from: Hoopz on May 22, 2009, 02:15:58 pm

The phone line requirement is no big deal to deal with. I've been in my house 9 years without my receiver having a phone line attached. Directv has never said a word. We don't have a land line anyway.

There are a few times it matters. It matters if you try to change your package... if you have a billing dispute... if you order PPV... or if you have any subscription sports packages. The first two will be pointed out by the phone rep as a problem, the PPV used to just not work but now you can circumvent this via web orders, and the sports packages will shut themselves off if they can't dial back. Sometimes it's a week and sometimes it is 5 weeks but it does happen.

Hoopz · « **Reply #18 on:** May 22, 2009, 02:43:10 pm »

Quote from: ChadTower on May 22, 2009, 02:26:39 pm

Quote from: Hoopz on May 22, 2009, 02:15:58 pm
The phone line requirement is no big deal to deal with. I've been in my house 9 years without my receiver having a phone line attached. Directv has never said a word. We don't have a land line anyway.

There are a few times it matters. It matters if you try to change your package... if you have a billing dispute... if you order PPV... or if you have any subscription sports packages. The first two will be pointed out by the phone rep as a problem, the PPV used to just not work but now you can circumvent this via web orders, and the sports packages will shut themselves off if they can't dial back. Sometimes it's a week and sometimes it is 5 weeks but it does happen.

I've had the Sunday Ticket for 10 years between two different homes and have never had a problem with my receiver. I think this particular receiver is 3 years old so it's been through 2 seasons without any issues.

ChadTower · « **Reply #19 on:** May 22, 2009, 03:56:52 pm »

Before I modded mine the Sunday Ticket used to shut itself off every 3rd week unless I had a phone connected. Same with two of my friends in the same town. You'd have to call them to get it reactivated and they would give us crap about the phone line.

ChadTower · « **Reply #20 on:** May 24, 2009, 11:02:39 am »

I went the other way - no cell phone. Don't need or want one.


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