Tivo/DVR

[GoSeahawks]

A couple days ago I had the sudden itch to go out and buy a tivo, but was dismayed to find that a home phone was needed to operate the system. I’ve had a cell phone and no home number for several years now and I don’t plan on changing.

So on to my question. Is there anything comparable to tivo? I’ve seen DVR’s for sale, but I’m not sure how they work. I would assume they work similar to VCR’s. Also, I know about satellite, but I’ll wait on that one until I move into a house. Any advice or suggestions would be great.

Thanks

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by GoSeahawks

A couple days ago I had the sudden itch to go out and buy a tivo, but was dismayed to find that a home phone was needed to operate the system. I’ve had a cell phone and no home number for several years now and I don’t plan on changing.

So on to my question. Is there anything comparable to tivo? I’ve seen DVR’s for sale, but I’m not sure how they work. I would assume they work similar to VCR’s. Also, I know about satellite, but I’ll wait until I move into a house. Any advice or suggestions would be great.

Thanks

Certain cable companies (if you have cable) can provide DVR boxes which work just like TIVO. I have my DVR through Cox Cable.

[jeff061]

Tivo also has a new version coming out this year. Hopefully it'll work with a home network out of the box.

[JeeberD]

I'm pretty sure that I've seen people post here and elsewhere that you don't actually need the landline. And now that I think about it, I have a buddy who has a Tivo and he told me that he doesn't have a landline...

[Pyser]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

I'm pretty sure that I've seen people post here and elsewhere that you don't actually need the landline. And now that I think about it, I have a buddy who has a Tivo and he told me that he doesn't have a landline...

you usually need the landline for the initial call, to activate the unit. you can just take it to a friends house, though, hook in, call, and then take it back to your place and set it up on your network and itll work fine forever.

that said, when i switched to HDTV, adelphia's box came with a DVR. which beats TiVo in 2 ways:

1 - dual tuner. i can record 2 things, and watch a 3rd, previously recorded show...

2 - records in HD.

i know TiVo is addressing these 2 issues with their next box, but really, I think DVRs will muscle TiVo out. no equipment to buy, and a cheaper price per month.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Pyser

you usually need the landline for the initial call, to activate the unit. you can just take it to a friends house, though, hook in, call, and then take it back to your place and set it up on your network and itll work fine forever.

This is what we did, and it works just fine.

1 - dual tuner. i can record 2 things, and watch a 3rd, previously recorded show...

We have directTV w/ TiVO and this is how it works for us as well.

[Tekneek]

If you have DirecTV with TiVo you won't need a phone connection. If you're buying a standalone TiVo, it will be pretty useless without being able to download the program schedules over the phone.

EDIT... I sometimes forget just how much more advanced the standalone units are than the DirecTV ones. You can network the standalones into your LAN and do everything you need to over the net.

[jeff061]

Well you only need it for the initial call, after that you can plug it into the network. Taking it to a friends house ought to work fine though.