Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

[MassNole]

I gotta say I love the Adult Swim programming but do they care how badly there schedule, or lack thereof sucks if you want to record anything? It isn't uncommon to lose 2-3 minutes of a show because it was started that early.

The next offender is MTV and their constantly changing schedule, it is impossible to set something to record 2-3 days out because they change their schedule on a dime. Half the time it says it recorded something only for it to be an entirely different show. VH1 is bad as well, but not nearly as bad as MTV.

FX is also annoying as all of their shows run over, but at least they are consistent and give you numerous chanced to catch what you may have missed.

Lets not get started with NBC and their starting shows at 9:59pm EST, making it a pain in the *** to record shows like ER, or worse yet recording shows at 9-10pm on a dual tuner.

So what networks does your DVR/Tivo despise?

[The GIGGAS]

Re: Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

WWE Raw's been getting bad. It stops at 11:05 but last night ran all the way to like 11:12, leaving me 7 minutes of missed DX stuff.

Conan too.

[Silverstring]

Re: Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

I gotta say I love the Adult Swim programming but do they care how badly there schedule, or lack thereof sucks if you want to record anything? It isn't uncommon to lose 2-3 minutes of a show because it was started that early.

The next offender is MTV and their constantly changing schedule, it is impossible to set something to record 2-3 days out because they change their schedule on a dime. Half the time it says it recorded something only for it to be an entirely different show. VH1 is bad as well, but not nearly as bad as MTV.

FX is also annoying as all of their shows run over, but at least they are consistent and give you numerous chanced to catch what you may have missed.

Lets not get started with NBC and their starting shows at 9:59pm EST, making it a pain in the *** to record shows like ER, or worse yet recording shows at 9-10pm on a dual tuner.

So what networks does your DVR/Tivo despise?

Man, so glad someone brought this up. I have two Tivos with dual tuners, and I still have problems with this stuff.

I don't really watch MTV, so I cant really complain, but the one or two times I recorded something on there it was REAL bad.


As far as networks with programs I watch on a consistent basis, NBC is by FAR the worst. I can't tell you how much I hate the "My Name is Earl"--->"The Office" changeover. Yeah, I could pad the recordings a little, but I have other things recording at the same time, so it doesn't work. I'm always forced to watch about 20 seconds of the little Office intro beat on the end of the Earl recording, then the Office recording is cut off as well, with about 3 lost seconds in between. Drives me up the wall, especially since, as a comedy, particularly in a short pre-credit intro, things are so timing and "beat" based. If you miss a glance, a reaction, or the end of a line, the joke is ruined. So it is.

[mjb2124]

Re: Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

NBC is by FAR the worst. I can't tell you how much I hate the "My Name is Earl"--->"The Office" changeover. Yeah, I could pad the recordings a little, but I have other things recording at the same time, so it doesn't work. I'm always forced to watch about 20 seconds of the little Office intro beat on the end of the Earl recording, then the Office recording is cut off as well, with about 3 lost seconds in between. Drives me up the wall, especially since, as a comedy, particularly in a short pre-credit intro, things are so timing and "beat" based. If you miss a glance, a reaction, or the end of a line, the joke is ruined. So it is.

That's odd. I've never had a problem with the "My Name is Earl" >> "The Office" changeover. Earl always ends at the right time and then The Office starts at the right time.

I don't have Tivo though (mine is a dual tuner HD-DVR from the cable company). I think my DVR records based on time while Tivo records based on the show name? If the President speaks and I have a recording setup for a show at that time, it'll still record the President while Tivo is smart enough to know not to record (Tivo part is according to my friend).

[davehughes14]

Re: Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

NBC in my opinion. I missed the end to the Friends series finale a few years ago because the TiVo stopped recording. That being said, I can't imagine not having my TiVo!

[ndeezlo]

Re: Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

NBC in my opinion. I missed the end to the Friends series finale a few years ago because the TiVo stopped recording.

LUCKY...

[pk500]

Re: Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

My TimeWarner DVR automatically starts when a show starts a minute or two early, and it continues when a show goes three or four minutes long, such as most episodes of "Lost."

If the network schedules a show to start or finish at an odd time, my DVR gets it -- all of it. Same with the World Cup matches starting at 8:55, 9:55, 11:55 and 2:55 -- my DVR gets all of it.

No worries here.

Take care,
PK

[BGarrett7]

Re: Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

My TimeWarner DVR automatically starts when a show starts a minute or two early, and it continues when a show goes three or four minutes long, such as most episodes of "Lost."

If the network schedules a show to start or finish at an odd time, my DVR gets it -- all of it. Same with the World Cup matches starting at 8:55, 9:55, 11:55 and 2:55 -- my DVR gets all of it.

No worries here.

Take care,
PK

I'm with pk on this one.

Shouldn't the guide automatically detect the shows as starting at 8:55 or ending at 11:05 anyways? It's not like the networks randomly decide to start a show at 8:45 minutes before it's supposed to go on, it's programmed at least a number of days beforehand. If your guide is setup correctly, it should be connecting and updating the program information at least once every couple days, if not everyday.

The only time that I have to edit my recording times is if it's live, something like RAW for example. It's almost always a guarantee that it is going to run at least a couple minutes long, so I just set it the second hour of RAW to record an extra ten or so minutes past the normal 11:05 it runs to. Kinda along those same lines, is if I'm recording something like Conan or Letterman. Sometimes the live local news runs over to 11:38 or so and it will throw off the musical act by three minutes, most of the time making me miss what I'm recording the show for in the first place. So, again, I always plan ahead just to cover all the bases.

The only time I've ever actually missed something was back during last season when Lost ran about a minute over and I ended up not recording the previews for the following week, and I can't blame ABC for that, because it really isn't part of the show.

[Husker_OS]

Re: Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

Worst networks? How about ESPN? Recorded a baseball game the other day, and in the 3rd inning, ESPN switched games. And don't get me started on missing pitches due to commercials or "30 at 30 update". ESPN needs to die.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

Just curious, as I'm looking into TiVo/DVRs. What is the best route to go with TiVo? Through your existing cable/dish provider or would be getting a TiVo unit be good enough?

[BGarrett7]

Re: Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

Just curious, as I'm looking into TiVo/DVRs. What is the best route to go with TiVo? Through your existing cable/dish provider or would be getting a TiVo unit be good enough?

As someone who has had both a TiVo box and a DVR box through my cable provider, I would definitely suggest going through your provider.

[aukevin]

Re: Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

I would always lose the last minute of Two and a Half Men on CBS last season until I adjusted my recording time to go a couple minutes longer.

[Zer0xray]

Re: Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

from my experience, the basic network channels have been great. its USA or FX that has given me the most grief. sometimes im without the ending of rescue me and its so frustrating. what i usually do is schedule the programs to end 2-3 min later

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

As someone who has had both a TiVo box and a DVR box through my cable provider, I would definitely suggest going through your provider.

What is the major difference? A friend of mine told me his mom picked up a TiVo unit with a lifetime subscription off of eBay.

[p_rushing]

Re: Worst Networks for DVR/Tivo

With a tivo unit, you can do lot of things to upgrade it, connect to the internet, etc. You can't do that with dvrs from your providers and there are some features that are disables.