Buy TIVO or Rent DVR from Time Warner Cable?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by john lennonist, Aug 21, 2011.

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  1. john lennonist

    john lennonist There ONCE was a NOTE, PURE and EASY... Thread Starter

    I'm switching my TV reception from over-the-air :yikes: to cable (Time Warner) and I'm trying to figure out if it makes more sense to buy a TIVO (or some other brand/model of DVR) or to rent a DVR from Time Warner.

    The Time Warner guy says they rent their DVR for $18.00 a month with no up-front cost, whereas he said a TIVO costs about $300.00 plus has a monthy fee of $11.00.


    Not being the believer of what most salesmen tell me, I'm wondering if what he said above is true, and, in any event, given that I plan to live in my new place for many, many years, what your opinions are about the way-to-go.

    Thnx. :wave:
     
  2. ridernyc

    ridernyc Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida, USA
    Just get the built in DVR from the cable company.
     
  3. roboss38

    roboss38 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Clovis, CA U.S.A.
    I've had Tivo Premier XL for about a year now, and really like the unit. My Comcast DVR was a piece, so the Tivo is a step up. Setup with the Comcast cable card wasn't a problem. The Tivo interface is great. See if you can buy the lifetime Tivo service, which will save money in the long run.
     
  4. lv70smusic

    lv70smusic Senior Member

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    I don't think TiVo has a monthly plan that costs that little, but they do offer lifetime service (that's lifetime of the box you're buying, not your lifetime) that can be cost effective if you use your box for at least a few years. I think their least expensive box right now would cost $99 and lifetime would be $499 since you're a new customer, so that's a total outlay of about $600. At $18/month for Time Warner's box, it would become break-even with the Time Warner box at just under 3 years' time. After that, the TiVo wouldn't cost you a thing; if you go with Time Warner's box, you'll keep paying $18/month or more if they raise their prices.

    Benefits of the TiVo: better interface, some features not found in cable company dvrs, reputation of being more reliable.

    Drawbacks of TiVo: will need cable company to install cable card if you have anything beyond the basic tier of channels, and in my experience it can get a hassle to get the cable company to figure out how to get the device to work properly; no "on demand" from your cable company; if your cable company uses switched digital video, you'll probably need a dongle from them so your TiVo can properly switch channels unless you only watch channels that are so popular that someone in your neighborhood is always tuned to those channels.
     
  5. Chip Z

    Chip Z Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH, USA
    Tivo premiere is $99.

    Agree with most of posts above re cable card.

    After using a tivo for many years, I HATED the Time Warner dvr. I suspect that if you haven't had a tivo, you wouldn't have the same reaction. If it's your first DVR, you are going to think it's amazing.

    Another cool thing about tivo is that it is pretty easy to transfer your recordings to a portable device. laptop, ipod, etc.
     
  6. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    I really like my MOXI DVR. It holds 300 hours of standard (or 75 of HD), has 3 tuners in it, and best of all...if I ever get sick of my cable company, I OWN IT, and so I don't have to return it and lose all the programs on it that I haven't watched yet.




    Now playing on Ariel Stream: Zero 7 - The Space Between
     
  7. Craig

    Craig (unspecified) Staff

    Location:
    North of Seattle
    I have Comcast with TiVo(s) and can do transfers on most programs. From reading messages on the TiVo Community forum there are a lot of complaints about most channels (except locals) being copy protected on Time Warner cable systems preventing transfers.

    The OP could probably find a thread there specific to Time Warner and their particular city regarding CableCARDs, tuning adapters and transfers. It's very active and a good resource for TiVo or potential TiVo owners.
     
  8. Rachael Bee

    Rachael Bee Miembra muy loca

    I really like the Tivo. It integrates my OTA and Crumcast cable. I wouldn't especially want Crumcast if I had to use their equipment.
     
  9. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    I have had Tivo (and Replay) for years and love it.

    My parents just got a Tivo Premier on my recommendation. They live in the LA area, and have Time Warner. Unfortunately for them, Time Warner requires that you use a tuning adapter along with the cablecard. And they have had nothing but problems with the tuning adapter. Tivo points at Time Warner, and Time Warner points at Tivo.

    Reading on the Web, it appears problems with Time Warner and their tuning adapters are very common.
     
  10. dmt

    dmt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cypress, CA
    Tivo Premier.

    Way better than Time Warner dvr. Just add cable card and you're good to go!
     
  11. Chip Z

    Chip Z Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH, USA
    I eventually gave up on the tuning adapter. Maybe I'll give it another shot, but I'm generally not all that concerned about the channels I'm "missing." I get the ones that matter to me, even without the tuning adapter. Time Warner customer btw.
     
  12. csblue

    csblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eugene, OR
    I would just get Time Warner's DVR. You'll have less problems and what I do is anything I want to keep I just burn to my own stand alone DVD recorder and keep the disc.
     
  13. JA Fant

    JA Fant Well-Known Member

    Buy the TIVO.
     
  14. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    How many/what channels did you lose by tossing the tuning adapter?
     
  15. shokhead

    shokhead Head shok and you still don't what it is. HA!

    Location:
    SoCal, Long Beach
    I hate Directv DVR and menu. TiVo is so much better.
     
  16. lv70smusic

    lv70smusic Senior Member

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    I've only found one channel that I cannot tune into due to not having a tuning adapter. It was a foreign language channel that was airing a show called "Indian Idol," and I thought it would be a hoot to check it out. Despite it being listed as part of my cable package, however, I couldn't get a signal.

    I have no idea how many channels Comcast has on Switched Digital Video in my area, though. For all I know, all of the channels I normally watch (and there are only a handful of them) are "on" all the time anyway. Or maybe I'm just lucky and there always happens to be someone else in my neighborhood tuned into those channels when my TiVo tunes in those channels.


     
  17. billdcat

    billdcat Well-Known Member

    I have the Dish network, and they only charge $6. a month for the DVR service.
    Its worth every penny to me.
     
  18. hutlock

    hutlock Forever Breathing

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH, USA
    Yeah, this is what I use. No complaints at all.
     
  19. Timlh

    Timlh New Member

    Seriously considering TiVO I have time warner cable. There DVR boxes are horrible SA, Samung and the third escapes my mind right now. I have had a technician to my house 3 times and am on my 7th DVR box in ~2.5 yrs. The current one needs to be replaced as I'm rebooting it once at day at a minimum. I have it up on spacers to increase air flow but they still always run very Hot. Tivo has a cooling fan, which is a big plus to me right from the start. I know TW DVR box issues aren't only an issue I have as everytime I go to there store to return/ swap boxes there is a long line of others doing the same thing. I hate possibly paying even more a month and yet another seperate bill. But I need to change something soon, the frustation level is at its limit. Maybe Disk or Direct TV maybe TiVo but Hudson Valley Time Warner DVR Boxes have to go. If Only they would get better boxes with cooling fans that where more reliable. No one else posting has mentioned this which surprises me.
     
  20. Rachael Bee

    Rachael Bee Miembra muy loca

    I don't think I'd be able to tolerate Crumcast if I had to use their crap equipment. I can quit Crumcast anytime I please and still have OTA. If OTA is important to you don't get the nicest model that records 4 things at once. It lacks OTA tuners. I don't have to have PPV thrown at me every time I use the grid the way Crumcast equipment does. I can program out the channels I don't pay for. The locals, other than Fox, look better OTA. I like owning reliable, very ergonomic equipment, like Tivo. If I quit Crumcast I still have any recordings I saved.
     
  21. Pinknik

    Pinknik Senior Member

    I like my TIVO, though the DirectTV Genie is easy on the eyes. *



    *As portrayed by Hannah Davis
     
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  22. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    Get the Tivo. I had the Comcast Motorola DVR alongside it for a while and the user experience is like Lexus vs Yugo. Plus recent models let you stream from Netflix if you subscribe and don't have another way to do so.
     
  23. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I'm used to DirecTV's DVR, and it's better than it used to be. We have four of them going in the house, and it's a necessary evil for what we need. No question, though, Tivo's user interface is far better, and their scanning is effortless and faster compared to DirecTV. I'm baffled as to why DirecTV and Tivo couldn't work out their differences and have one box with the best of both.
     
  24. shokhead

    shokhead Head shok and you still don't what it is. HA!

    Location:
    SoCal, Long Beach
    I think DirecTV's DVR has more hard drive then Tivo as shown on direct's site.
     
  25. RoyalScam

    RoyalScam Luckless Pedestrian

    18 bucks a month...Time Warner Cable must die. (And I am a customer, BTW...)
     
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