Free Tivo

Newegg has the Tivo series 2 80 hour recorder for sale for $170. There is a $170 MIR so all said and done it is free.

This is the same unit I have. You will need an ethernet adapter to hook it up to your broadband if you want to take advantage of those features, otherwise just need a telephone line to get the programming guides. Also, don't forget you will need a subscription. But, if you are itching to get a tivo but don't want to spend an arm and a leg for the newer ones, can't argue with free.

Note also this is strictly analog so the picture quality isn't that great on it, but everything it does makes up for it imho.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882610004

Tivo, like the game WoW, has a monthly subscription fee and therefore sucks donkey balls.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BuddhaMan

Tivo, like the game WoW, has a monthly subscription fee and therefore sucks donkey balls.

---

As true as this statement is, doesn't every other cable provider charge a monthly fee for their service too? AKA a bill. :laugh:

oh god. talk about completely missing the point mega

I dont know the rates cable comps charge for their DVR's, but I presume it can't be much less (if at all less, maybe more) than TiVo. Point is TiVo is far better than what you get through cable, so if you are going to pay for such a service, you may as well do it with a better product.

And, I dont think you absoloutely have to pay Tivo to use the box. You just won't get any updates or programming guides, but you can still manually setup recordings and such. I've always had a subscription so I am not sure if that actually works or not...I am sure a bit of googling may find the answer.

I am in the process of building my 2nd PVR currently. F paying subscription fees or having to deal with this POS iGuide from Comcast. I decided to do it on my own. My first effort has been a huge success as the wife enjoys it while working out. My newest challenge is to build one for HD purposes which is proving quite costly!

Have you decided on a HD card yet? If so, which one, if not, any on the drawing board?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by =DBA=Ronin

Have you decided on a HD card yet? If so, which one, if not, any on the drawing board?

---

I will be going with this package:

http://store.snapstream.com/btv-hvr1600.html

It's the Hauppauge HVR-1600. I will still be having cable from Comcast as I will need their Box Top Set cable box in order to get any channels higher than 125. The way that channels over that are transmitted is that you need what's called an IR Blaster (infrared usb to computer that will transfer data via infrared from the cable box to the IR receiver on the computer).

The joy of it is that it's going to drop my cable bill by $40/month at least and we might be switching to DSL which will further drop our bill. Currently for Digital Cable and Broadband our bill is about $120+ per month. Now that they changed their guide for On Demand the wife isn't willing to pay that anymore and I get to geek out and have some fun :)

I already built a system with Beyond TV and the Hauppauge PVR-500 for our workout room and it's been a joy. Hauppague really makes good tuners and they do the encoding all on the hardware so there is no CPU usage and thus no lag in your programming.

MythTV is another good free PVR software. If you are considering doing this, please remember to be patient. It takes time to tweak and get things right but can be very fun in the process and save a lot of time and money in the longrun! If questions, please ask.

Directv is where it's at now. Free HD DVR for new subscribers and a total of 100 new MPEG-4 HD channels coming online, many of those going live in the next week or two:

Current HD Channels (Mpeg 2)

1. Discovery HD Theater
2. ESPN
3. ESPN 2
4. HDNet
5. HDNet Movies
6. TNT
7. Universal HD
8. HBO-E
9. SHO-E
10. CD USA

Announced HD Additions
* = not a simulcast of the SD channel (if available), programming will vary.
Channel names in RED are currently in test mode on the D*10 satellite
Source: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=899457 Thanks to Bschneider

September 2007

1. A&E
2. Animal Planet
3. Big Ten Network
4. CNN
5. Discovery
6. Food Network*
7. HGTV*
8. History Channel
9. MHD (MTV brand channel)
10. National Geographic
11. NFL Network
12. The Science Channel
13. TBS
14. TLC
15. Versus
16. Weather Channel
17. Cinemax-E
18. Cinemax-W
19. MoreMax
20. HBO-W
21. HBO2-E
22. HBO2-W
23. HBO Family-E
24. HBO Family-W
25. HBO Signature
26. The Movie Channel
27. SHO-W
28. STARZ-E
29. STARZ-W
30. STARZ-Edge
31. STARZ-Comedy
32. STARZ-Kids

Fall 2007

33. Bravo
34. Cartoon Network
35. Chiller
36. CNBC
37. FX
38. SciFi Channel
39. Sleuth
40. Speed
41. USA Network
December 2007
42. The Tennis Channel
Spring 2008
43. ABC Family
44. Disney Channel
45. ESPN News
46. MGM
47. Toon Disney

Channels in Test Mode with no official carriage announcement

48. MTV
49. NHL Network
50. Outdoor
51. Fuel
52. Spike
53. SHO TOO
54. Comedy Central
55. Nickelodeon East
56. VH1
57. NBA TV
58. CSTV

Regional Sports Networks
Available nationally, but local blackout rules still apply.
Fall 2007

1. Altitude
2. Comcast SportsNet Chicago
3. Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
4. FSN Arizona
5. FSN Bay Area
6. FSN Detroit
7. FSN Florida
8. FSN New England
9. FSN North
10. FSN Northwest
11. FSN Ohio
12. FSN Prime Ticket
13. FSN Rocky Mountain
14. FSN South
15. FSN Southwest
16. FSN West
17. New England Sports Network
18. SportsNet New York
19. SportsSouth
20. Sun Sports
21. YES

Channels in Test Mode with no official carriage announcement

22. FSN Midwest
23. FSN Houston
24. FSN New York
25. FSN Pittsburgh
26. MSG
27. FSN Cincinnati
28. Comcast SportsNet West
29. MASN/SportsTime Ohio

From what I've heard DirecTV has shitty HD quality as in it only goes up to 720i or something like that...not 720p or 1080i so your football viewing on Fox or ESPN is degraded (meaning you don't get it at the higher resolution it's originally broadcast in).

I'm with ya Rat on the Linux tip...mythos or freevo all the way baby! (as long as the hardware you want to use is supported)

The HD that Directv has been transmitting has been coined "HD Lite" by the video nerds. All channels were MPEG2 and had been compressed to 720p and then distributed. Dish Network does the same thing. This is because they have a quadrillion channels and only a couple satellites. Compressing the feed allowed them to keep on adding more channels.

Now Directv has a boatload of bandwidth and all new channels are in MPEG4. With yet another satellite to be launched in December, they won't have to start compressing signals again for a few years. By then my contract will be up :D

I need to rig my Tivo to be able to record a program while allowing me to watch another one.

Uhhhhh...isn't that one of the main points of having a Tivo? They should have 2 tuners so there shouldn't be any "rigging" involved.

Depends on the model you get. The series 2 that i have doesnt' have dual tuners. The HD DirectTv one that my folks have has 2, and I think they now have one that can do 4.

I had a friend that got a sweet deal when he bought his HD LCD TV in regards to the subscription TV Service, plus also got a $100 gift card. Anybody still shopping for an HD TV could probably get a decent package deal through cable or satellite TV. It may not be the best equipment, but the deal may make it good enough.