Questions From A Potential TiVo Customer
Late last week I received the following questions from a TiVoBlog reader. Instead of just replying to the email directly, I thought it would be a good idea for me to post my reply here since others may have the same questions.
Hello Alex. Just discovered your site. Nice work. Alex I have a chance to get a Tivo Series 2 80 hour dual tuner DVR as a gift. I receive Comcast digital cable in Howard County Maryland. My questions to you are,
1).Can I record all if any of my digital channels?.
2).What do I need to do or buy to be able to burn movies or programs from my Tivo to a DVD, or transfer to my PC, or directly to an external DVD burner via USB or Firewire connection. My ultimate goal is to be able to turn my Tivo’ed programs into DVD’s. Thanks for any and all help.
Steve M.
Before I get into the response, you might want to check to see if you can get the TiVo software on your Comcast DVR. I know that you don’t live it the Northeast but, it’s worth a try…
1.) A dual tuner TiVo will allow you to record digital cable however, you are still going to need a set-top box in order for it to work. TiVo’s website has a great tutorial and video on how to setup a dual-tuner TiVo with a set-top box. If you don’t want to keep the set-top box, you might want to look into a TiVo HD or a Series 3 since both of these DVRs take advantage of the CableCARD technology. A CableCARD will eliminate the need for a set-top box.
2.) Burning TiVo recordings to a DVD is really simple. The easiest way is to do it is to go the “official” route and use Roxio Creator 9 on the PC or Roxio Toast on the Mac. Transferring shows to your PC is pretty straight forward. All you need to have is TiVoDesktop (free) from TiVo.com. On the Mac, you can either use Roxio Toast, Roxio Popcorn or TiVoDecode Manager.
I hope that answers your questions. Let me know if you need help with anything else…
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As a side note, I would like to thank both Richard, Jeffrey & Jonathan for putting me down as their TiVo rewards referrer. If you’d like to put me down as your referrer, all you need to do is enter my email address (raianoat AT gmail DOT com) when you activate your TiVo. Thanks Charles. It really is appreciated!
November 13th, 2007 at 9:37 am |
You might want to add that you need a home network and a way to get the TiVo connected to it (either wired or wirelessly).
Even if a TiVo/Comcast option is available in your area, it’s never been stated whether it would have TiVo To Go (or any other home network applications). If you’re looking to burn DVDs of recorded programs, a cable company DVR is probably not an option.
All that being said, I have a difficult time recommending buying any TV tech that’s only SD. As a broadcast format, SD will be retired in a little less than 15 months. Cable Boxes will still be able to convert to SD (plus there will be SD/HD down conversion boxes for broadcast). But SD is going the way of VHS. If your’re planning to be a TiVo subscriber for the long run (more than a year or two), i think it’s worth the investment to go HD.
November 13th, 2007 at 2:15 pm |
If your only interest is basic cable (non-digital, what you can get without a set-top box) a TiVo Series 2 will be fine. But, I believe you stated you wanted digital cable. If that is the case, you really do need to go the route of TiVo HD (or Series 3) plus cable cards. If I were you, I would just bite the bullet and get a TiVo HD from Amazon, the price has gotten quite reasonable and if you can pony up for the 3 year pre-paid, the monthly rate is incredibly reasonable.