Questions: TiVo / PC Hard Disk Recording/Viewing

A friend of mine asked me two questions that I do not have the answer to:

1. Do you need the TiVo subscription service if all you want to do is record manually? I've heard that TiVo Series2 requires subscrition for the box simply to function.

2. Anyone here use a PC as a controller to record and playback broadcast material on TV? If so, what are the big "gotchas"?

Thanks!!!

 

1) If we have any TIVO experts, when will HD Tivo be available?

2) Can we record HD on our PC now?

 

1) Nope, don't need the service to do manual recordings. But.....well worth the $5/month IMO.

2) ???

1) I'm no expert, but I believe you can get HD hard drive disc recording in a Dish Network box. But for some reason I think it only records OTA HD. Wait, maybe the box out now is not Dish, but records OTA only, yeah that's it.

2) YES! Requires lotsa horsepower and a big hard drive, but there's places on the web dedicated to just that.

 

Let me start by saying: TiVo ROCKS. I've had it for about a year now and can't imagine going without now. I actually watch LESS TV now, but it's at a much higher quality, and I watch it when I want to, not when the broadcasters want me to. I also NEVER watch live TV, because then I'd have to suffer through the commercials.

You can record manually without a subscription, but that makes TiVo nothing more than a VCR with a different storage medium. Most of the benefits and flexibility from TiVo come from its ability to parse upcoming programs, record Seasons Passes, search for any number of terms and record them automatically, etc. etc.

There's a computer being sold by Gateway that's supposed to be a total entertainment center with built in Digital Video Recorder (I believe it uses the Microsoft Ultimate TV software).

High Definition TiVos are out already, at least for the Satellite broadcasters. I saw an ad in my local fishwrap for an HD DirecTiVo last week for only $100 (if purchased with a new installation...)

Lastly, the BEST resource for TiVo related questions is in the forum here:

www.tivocommunity.com

 

the state of the art for tivo/HD is due in stores "1st quarter"--any day now. Word (from relatively marginal sources) is that they will trickle into retail.

It's got Tivo & multiple HD receiver built into one box, w/very large hard drive--enough for something like 30 hrs HD and 100 standard. Can capture 2 shows in HD and another 2 OTA, simultaneously.

(There's a news release from Dec., '03 at the DirectTV site.)

Retail: $1K.

doug

 

I've never done this myself, but I've read a couple of articles describing how to get a PC to act TIVO-like. Here's ONE. Google will probably get you more.