Thinking about getting my TiVo on so any advice/guidance is appreciated.
Brighthouse Tampa customer here. Never had their DVR but I did get to use it at a friend’s house and was not impressed. It was alright but it just didn’t seem very intuitive. In the past, I have used WMC, ReplayTV, and TiVo (back in 2002) and know that the user experience could be better. Plus BH is not cheap, 2 tuner DVR for $20+taxes/m or 6 tuner DVR for $25+/m gets pricey pretty quick. $25+/m for multi-room view 2-tuner DVR plus $8+/m per HD box to watch from other room makes it even worse. Since WMC/HTPC with Xbox extender does not meet WAF, I am looking into TIVO for our DVR needs/desires. Any advice on what model(s) to get and setup would be appreciated.
There are two primary viewing locations – one in den used mostly by wife and me and one in bonus room used by kids. My wife would also like to view recordings from the bedroom so that’s a desired third location.
For comparison’s sake, I was considering getting two 2-tuner DVR’s (4 total) on BH and not bother with viewing with third room due to cost of multi room fee. This was going to run me at least $40 more per month. Adding multi room and a remote access box adds another $13/m. Whole house and two remote access boxes doesn’t work since that DVR only has two tuners and that won’t cut it for us and the kids. The BH 6-tuner DVR does not do multi-room yet, but I expect that would run me $50 more per month when it does come out. So I am looking at ‘saving’ at least $40/m before taxes and fees with TiVo.
I figure we need at least 5 tuners with 3 viewing locations that could be live simultaneously while recording two shows at the same time (one each for me/wife and the kids). I realize this may be an unrealistic minimum if wife and kids start setting up a bunch of shows to record at the same time. But I am thinking that 6 tuners is enough for all of us.
Based on the TIVO product offerings, I know a mini is perfect for the bedroom viewing location, but I can’t decide what it best for the two other places. It seems the two options are:
• roamio plus/pro with 2 minis (1 bonus room, 1 bedroom)
• 2 roamio basics (1 den, 1 bonus room) with 1 mini (bedroom)
But the choice is not clear from there for me as there are other considerations. Here is some more info about our situation as it relates to making the right choice:
Recorded shows: Ideally we would like to separate our recordings from the kids so that we don’t have to sort through all their shows to find ours. My wife would say the same about mine. The kids are old enough that I am not worried about them seeing what we record (we don’t get Cinemax after dark). Is there a way with one roamio to organize recordings into folders or categories so that you can quickly view the ones that are for you? This is not a deal breaker either way but it would be great to know how to manage this in either scenario.
Recording capacity: I think 150 HD hours (what I get from two basics or one pro) is enough for us since to start. Since all the boxes are upgradable this is probably a moot point. Although I’ve read that the plus is easier to upgrade than the basic due to the configuration inside the box.
Cost: More of a deal breaker but I don’t want to make a choice that I will regret and spend more to rectify down the road. Under normal pricing (special sale pricing aside), the two roamio basic with lifetime are running $200-400 more depending on plus or pro with lifetime for the other choice. The roamio basics are cheaper of course with the summer sale going on. I could always wait for the right special as we are not in a rush. So let’s pretend these options are close in price for now. Of course, BH charges for the cable card. I’ve read it is $3 per card, but they told me it was $7 over the phone. Will have to sort that out with them, but obviously I am paying for two of these if I get two roamios.
Networking: For setup purposes, I have coax and Ethernet available at all viewing locations but there is one issue. The Ethernet port in bonus room for the kids seems to have a wiring issue (length?) and can only maintain a connection if I set my router to 10m for that port. So streaming to/from there is not an option without MOCA. The den and bedroom have 10/100 available. So MOCA is not needed is I get a roamio basic for the bonus room as the other roamio and mini can talk over Ethernet. But MOCA is needed if I get the roamio plus/pro. Seems like a wash as the plus/pro has MOCA built in. I’ve seen a few posts about lag issues with mini’s so if that’s not reliable for regular viewing then two roamios might be better.
OTA capability: Right now we have no plans to cut the cord – besides the broadcast networks, we watch a lot of ESPN, Disney, Nick (regular and teen), AMC, Bravo, TLC, CNN, Fox News (when parents are here), etc. Not sure I’d want to pay more for just having OTA capability down the road.
Stream: I don’t think I would buy the separate stream box but if I got the pro/plus it might be a cool feature. While the kids like the idea of it, it may just be a novelty for us. Never done it so too hard to know.
Resale value: I would think that two roamio basics with lifetime would have a higher resale than a pro/plus and a mini. That’s not based on any research other than assuming that lifetime kicks up the resale value substantially. Am I wrong about that? Not sure this is a factor to consider beyond how it helps recover the upfront cost in either scenario down the road if needed.
I typed all this out trying to anticipate questions after reading other posts on here. Of course, I probably missed some things so please ask any questions. Pros and cons are welcome.
Brighthouse Tampa customer here. Never had their DVR but I did get to use it at a friend’s house and was not impressed. It was alright but it just didn’t seem very intuitive. In the past, I have used WMC, ReplayTV, and TiVo (back in 2002) and know that the user experience could be better. Plus BH is not cheap, 2 tuner DVR for $20+taxes/m or 6 tuner DVR for $25+/m gets pricey pretty quick. $25+/m for multi-room view 2-tuner DVR plus $8+/m per HD box to watch from other room makes it even worse. Since WMC/HTPC with Xbox extender does not meet WAF, I am looking into TIVO for our DVR needs/desires. Any advice on what model(s) to get and setup would be appreciated.
There are two primary viewing locations – one in den used mostly by wife and me and one in bonus room used by kids. My wife would also like to view recordings from the bedroom so that’s a desired third location.
For comparison’s sake, I was considering getting two 2-tuner DVR’s (4 total) on BH and not bother with viewing with third room due to cost of multi room fee. This was going to run me at least $40 more per month. Adding multi room and a remote access box adds another $13/m. Whole house and two remote access boxes doesn’t work since that DVR only has two tuners and that won’t cut it for us and the kids. The BH 6-tuner DVR does not do multi-room yet, but I expect that would run me $50 more per month when it does come out. So I am looking at ‘saving’ at least $40/m before taxes and fees with TiVo.
I figure we need at least 5 tuners with 3 viewing locations that could be live simultaneously while recording two shows at the same time (one each for me/wife and the kids). I realize this may be an unrealistic minimum if wife and kids start setting up a bunch of shows to record at the same time. But I am thinking that 6 tuners is enough for all of us.
Based on the TIVO product offerings, I know a mini is perfect for the bedroom viewing location, but I can’t decide what it best for the two other places. It seems the two options are:
• roamio plus/pro with 2 minis (1 bonus room, 1 bedroom)
• 2 roamio basics (1 den, 1 bonus room) with 1 mini (bedroom)
But the choice is not clear from there for me as there are other considerations. Here is some more info about our situation as it relates to making the right choice:
Recorded shows: Ideally we would like to separate our recordings from the kids so that we don’t have to sort through all their shows to find ours. My wife would say the same about mine. The kids are old enough that I am not worried about them seeing what we record (we don’t get Cinemax after dark). Is there a way with one roamio to organize recordings into folders or categories so that you can quickly view the ones that are for you? This is not a deal breaker either way but it would be great to know how to manage this in either scenario.
Recording capacity: I think 150 HD hours (what I get from two basics or one pro) is enough for us since to start. Since all the boxes are upgradable this is probably a moot point. Although I’ve read that the plus is easier to upgrade than the basic due to the configuration inside the box.
Cost: More of a deal breaker but I don’t want to make a choice that I will regret and spend more to rectify down the road. Under normal pricing (special sale pricing aside), the two roamio basic with lifetime are running $200-400 more depending on plus or pro with lifetime for the other choice. The roamio basics are cheaper of course with the summer sale going on. I could always wait for the right special as we are not in a rush. So let’s pretend these options are close in price for now. Of course, BH charges for the cable card. I’ve read it is $3 per card, but they told me it was $7 over the phone. Will have to sort that out with them, but obviously I am paying for two of these if I get two roamios.
Networking: For setup purposes, I have coax and Ethernet available at all viewing locations but there is one issue. The Ethernet port in bonus room for the kids seems to have a wiring issue (length?) and can only maintain a connection if I set my router to 10m for that port. So streaming to/from there is not an option without MOCA. The den and bedroom have 10/100 available. So MOCA is not needed is I get a roamio basic for the bonus room as the other roamio and mini can talk over Ethernet. But MOCA is needed if I get the roamio plus/pro. Seems like a wash as the plus/pro has MOCA built in. I’ve seen a few posts about lag issues with mini’s so if that’s not reliable for regular viewing then two roamios might be better.
OTA capability: Right now we have no plans to cut the cord – besides the broadcast networks, we watch a lot of ESPN, Disney, Nick (regular and teen), AMC, Bravo, TLC, CNN, Fox News (when parents are here), etc. Not sure I’d want to pay more for just having OTA capability down the road.
Stream: I don’t think I would buy the separate stream box but if I got the pro/plus it might be a cool feature. While the kids like the idea of it, it may just be a novelty for us. Never done it so too hard to know.
Resale value: I would think that two roamio basics with lifetime would have a higher resale than a pro/plus and a mini. That’s not based on any research other than assuming that lifetime kicks up the resale value substantially. Am I wrong about that? Not sure this is a factor to consider beyond how it helps recover the upfront cost in either scenario down the road if needed.
I typed all this out trying to anticipate questions after reading other posts on here. Of course, I probably missed some things so please ask any questions. Pros and cons are welcome.
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