TIVO w/cards vs FiOS DVR
Montegoe
Newbie

I am considering dumping the $19.99/month Home Media DVR and replacing it with a standard HD STB. To supplement our DVR needs, I'd get a new TIVO box and try that on for size.

Any comments or suggestions from people who have done this? I already know about the $80 truck roll fee and the monthly one 2 cards when you only need one for newer TIVO STB's, but how well does it work? Any issues with shows getting missed because of the interaction between the TIVO and the STB? Do I even need a STB from Verizon anymore if the TIVO is installed properly?

The 160GB size of the Verizon box is an issue leading me towards TIVO as well.

Thanks in advance!

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Re: TIVO w/cards vs FiOS DVR
VZ_Frank
Contributor - Level 2

Hello Montegoe,

There shouldn't be any issues with you changing from a DVR to a Tivo.  All you need is one Mcard with the newer Tivo's.  When you call to change your service all you need order is 1 Mcard, no matter what the agent on the line says.   There is no need to pay for something that you don't need.  As far as the install goes, the Verizon Tech should be able to install and activate the Mcard in about 20 mins.  Hope this was helpful.

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Re: TIVO w/cards vs FiOS DVR
prisaz
Legend

No truck roll fee... Can't mail them, and can't pick them up. No charge to bring them out. Yes this had been covered in great detail here.

You may wish to get the previously enjoyed like new TIVO HD for $199 with 160gig drive, and then add an external drive. Yes Tivo does support an external drive. Or bite the bullet and get the big one. There are kits where you can upgrade the internal drive but opening the box you void any warrenty.

$12.95 Tivo Subscription

$3.99 Cable card.

Costs about a dollar more than the Verizon DVR without the home media option. Loose Widgets and VOD.

Gain ability for:

Steam media to and copy from the TIVO.

Netflix

Amazon

Now Blockbuster

Plus Plus Plus.

Yes I like mine,

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Re: TIVO w/cards vs FiOS DVR
spacedebris
Master - Level 2

Tivo with Verizon

When installed you should have no issues. the cable cards seem to work well and Tivo service is great.

There is basically only a single drawback to going the Tivo route..

You loose the Verizon interactive featurs. So no VOD or widgets.

IMHO loosing VOD and gaining Tivo is win. But if you like VOD then this is something to consider. But other than that, you should have no issues with using Tivo and Verizon together.

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Re: TIVO w/cards vs FiOS DVR
Rebalol
Contributor - Level 1

Costs about a dollar more than the Verizon DVR without the home media option. Loose Widgets and VOD.

 

Gain ability for:

Steam media to and copy from the TIVO.

Netflix

Amazon

Now Blockbuster

Plus Plus Plus

Okay, I'm confused so can someone please clarify for me.  I lose widgets and VOD on my tivo replacement only, right? Do I still have those features on my other boxes (1 hd, 2 std). Also, what about the multi room viewing feature?  Do I lose that, too?

Thanks!

Reba 

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Re: TIVO w/cards vs FiOS DVR
KenAF
Specialist - Level 2

@Rebalol wrote:

Okay, I'm confused so can someone please clarify for me.  I lose widgets and VOD on my tivo replacement only, right? Do I still have those features on my other boxes (1 hd, 2 std). Also, what about the multi room viewing feature?  Do I lose that, too?


Yes, you still retain VOD and widgets on your other boxes.  Some people buy a TivoHD and then keep one Verizon STB around for their VOD.   Each can be connected to a different input on your TV so you can switch between them.


TiVo supports multi-room viewing, but only with other TiVos.   TiVo does not support multi-room viewing with Verizon STBs.


As of this posting, Best Buy now has the TivoHD for $239.99 and the TivoHD XL for $479.99.  If you want to avoid taxes at the time of sale, then you can get both for about the same price from Amazon.com.  The primary difference between the two models is the built-in storage capacity; the TivoHD has 21 HD hours and the TivoHD XL has 157 HD hours.  Other features are the same.

Both TiVo models officially support expanded capacity with certain external drives (1TB adds 144 HD hours for $129), and both allow internal drive upgrades if you are willing to void the warranty.  I bought the standard TivoHD and upgraded the internal drive to 1.26TB (198 HD hours) using this drive and these instructions; the upgrade took about 35 minutes.  If you'll settle for 157 HD hours, you can do a 1TB internal upgrade for $75.  I prefer to have a single box in my cabinet, rather than one box hanging off another.

If you own a high-definition TiVo, be sure to see the AVS "Using TiVo" FAQ.

Re: TIVO w/cards vs FiOS DVR
DCGTLS
Enthusiast - Level 3

I have thought of going the Tivo route many times but I use the FIOS Media Manager all the time to watch movies I have on my computer and my GF hates watching TV in the living room so she watches her recordings in the bedroom. I think my concern trumps hers.

Does the Tivo have the ability to play my movies (mostly .avi) from my computer that is in another room?

Is the guide with the Tivo sub better than FIOS and more reliable?

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Re: TIVO w/cards vs FiOS DVR
Rebalol
Contributor - Level 1

if you click on the link that is in the post above yours (that was a reply to me) you will find out all you need to know.  Tivo has something similar to FIOS"s media manager PLUS you can transfer recorded programs from your tivo to your computer!

The guide is so much better.  I had direct previously and it was tivo's system and it was a huge improvement -- you can do so much more with your dvr than you can with the fios.  One example: set up a wishlist of an actor or a title or whatever you choose and it will record it for you automatically if you want.  Also there is no going from the dvr listing of season passes to the guide to the search feature to find out info about shows...you can do it all in one place. 

I hate the FIOS system -- I have thought many times of going back to direct but going straight with tivo is an option I am considering...right now it's a $$$ thing.

Reba

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Re: TIVO w/cards vs FiOS DVR
SpottyMike
Newbie

Note that the TiVo (HD at least - that's what I have) suffers from pixelization on some channels.  I've dabbled with the attenuator route; unfortunately that doesn't solve the problem and I lose signal on some channels (I've had to go up to 19dB - any more and I totally lose all channels).  Other forums note that this has been fixed, but not for me.  :-(!! Yes - I have SW version 11.0d...

OTOH I have a friend who just got a new HD with FiOS and multichannel cards and he has no issues (I have single channel cards).  Others on the forums have MC cards and issues so I guess YMMV.

That said we STILL won't give up our TiVo.  As noted above TiVo has better menus, wishlists, and there are many applications you can get (most for free) that allow you to watch your TiVo content on PCs, watch content on PCs (including DVDs) on the TiVo, copy (unprotected) TiVo videos to your PC (where you can edit them and/or convert them to iPod, Droid, whatever form :-), remote control the TiVo for scheduling, etc.  It's also easy to expand the TiVo storage using an external firewire drive (drive selection requires carre).  Plus you can stream videos from Blockbuster, NetFlix, Amazon, YouTube, and some other services using PC-based shims.

We don't get Verizon VoD.  But given the multiple sources for TiVo content we haven't missed it.

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