TiVoing the Cards Preseason Game

[abomb]

Sorry if this is OT. I finally decided to breakdown and get TiVo as I will be out of town this weekend and really want to watch the Cards game, as well as a few others for FFL reasons. Best Buy has the 40 hour one for $99 after rebate. I figure another $40 for a usb/ethernet card (I dont have a lan line, but will take it to a friend's house for initial setup).

My question is, is there anything I am missing here? Any words of advice? Any problems using this thing with a digital cable box (Qwest)?

I really cant believe it took me this long to get TiVo and have a feeling I will be chanting this for weeks.

A-Bomb

 

[jf-08]

if you have COX, you can rent theirs for next to nothing

it has a dual recorder - must have.

record 2 shows @ once and watch another recorded show all at the same time.

 

[JeffGollin]

I'm not sure why you need to mess around with LAN, an Ethernet or USB card. Aren't they all for PC's.

It was my impression that TIVO was a service utilized by hooking up a video hard drive recorder that can access the TIVO program grid via a set-top cable box or DirecTV receiver and TV set.

I have DirecTV, with the recorder built into the set-top receiver. Everything is connected via coaxial (pin jack) cable.

All I have to do is locate the Cardinal game (Sunday at 10am, right?) either by (a) calling up the program grid, navigating to it, clicking on it and following the prompts to record it or (b) going into the menu's "Record a Program" list, selecting "Channel and Time, navigating to the Channel (you can save time by typing in its number), navigating to the day and time and selecting "Record" as prompted.

Two other tips:

1. Using "Recording Options", tack on an additional 30 minutes to an hour at the end of the game so you don't miss recording long games or overtimes.

2. To doublecheck whether you've set up your advance-recording properly, go to your TIVO menu and call up your "To Do" List. You'll see a list of programs scheduled to be recorded. The Cardinal game should appear on that list.

Final misc. tip:

3. TIVO lets you arbitrarily select time, channel and duration of recording regardless of what the program grid says. The baseball Cardinals vs. Marlins game originally scheduled for tonite was suddenly moved to this afternoon due to the hurricane, so I set my recording up for Channel 647 at 1pm ET today - for 4 hours (even though the game is still listed on the grid for tonite and the time period I'm recording is still listed on the grid as "Paid Programming").

 

[BleedingPurple]

if you have COX, you can rent theirs for next to nothing

it has a dual recorder - must have.

record 2 shows @ once and watch another recorded show all at the same time.

TiVo does that, too. I have had both and TiVO is, by far, the better choice.

Trying to determine how $15 per month is 'next to nothing'. TiVo is $12.95 per month (or $299 for life), or a little bit closer to 'next to nothing' than the Cox offering. In 20 months of the Cox service, you'd pay $300, so from there on out, the TiVo service is free, if you go lifetime subscription.

With a network connection, it isn't too hard to expand the hard drive capacity of the TiVo, then feed it to other sets in the house. TiVo also offers online scheduling, which means a network connection to the Internet is required. This allows you to program recording of your TiVo while at work or elsewhere, too.

TiVo offers true networking between boxes, too. You can access programs, recorded on one box, to watch on the other.

And, with TiVo, you can transfer your recorded programs to your computer, even a laptop, to watch on the go.

Another cool thing about TiVo is it allows me to easily send photos and other images directly to any television in the house - I can either send them from the computer network or call them up from the TiVo remote. Perfect for showing off digital images without having everyone crowd around a computer monitor.

Hey family! Want to see pictures of our Hawaii vacation? We can see them on a 21" monitor or on the big screen!

Guess which option they invariably choose?

And, once you use the TiVo menu and scheduling, you quickly realize that the Cox offering is a royal pain in the neck; at best, a poor attempt at copying TiVo.

I had TiVo first, but wanted a higher capacity unit. Cox came out with their offering, so I jumped on it - used it for 3 months, to give it a good tryout. No way was I keeping it - it was junk in comparison. I now have two TiVo 140 hour boxes, all connected to my network and can schedule programming from any computer or directly through the TiVo box.

As for the original question, no, there shouldn't be any problems using it on a digi-cable converter.

 

[SECTION 11]

I am so out of the loop on this stuff.

 

[40yearfan]

TiVo does that, too. I have had both and TiVO is, by far, the better choice.

Trying to determine how $15 per month is 'next to nothing'. TiVo is $12.95 per month (or $299 for life), or a little bit closer to 'next to nothing' than the Cox offering. In 20 months of the Cox service, you'd pay $300, so from there on out, the TiVo service is free, if you go lifetime subscription.

With a network connection, it isn't too hard to expand the hard drive capacity of the TiVo, then feed it to other sets in the house. TiVo also offers online scheduling, which means a network connection to the Internet is required. This allows you to program recording of your TiVo while at work or elsewhere, too.

TiVo offers true networking between boxes, too. You can access programs, recorded on one box, to watch on the other.

And, with TiVo, you can transfer your recorded programs to your computer, even a laptop, to watch on the go.

Another cool thing about TiVo is it allows me to easily send photos and other images directly to any television in the house - I can either send them from the computer network or call them up from the TiVo remote. Perfect for showing off digital images without having everyone crowd around a computer monitor.

Hey family! Want to see pictures of our Hawaii vacation? We can see them on a 21" monitor or on the big screen!

Guess which option they invariably choose?

And, once you use the TiVo menu and scheduling, you quickly realize that the Cox offering is a royal pain in the neck; at best, a poor attempt at copying TiVo.

I had TiVo first, but wanted a higher capacity unit. Cox came out with their offering, so I jumped on it - used it for 3 months, to give it a good tryout. No way was I keeping it - it was junk in comparison. I now have two TiVo 140 hour boxes, all connected to my network and can schedule programming from any computer or directly through the TiVo box.

As for the original question, no, there shouldn't be any problems using it on a digi-cable converter.

BleedingPurple, I have two DirecTV Tivo units. Can I connect one of these to one of my computers? Special fittings, cards, etc?

 

[football karma]

Mine is still blinking "12:00",

although my 6 year old somehow filled the harddrive with every Spongebob broadcast in a 10 day period

 

[Duckjake]

The number one reason I tape games is to be able to watch the plays in slow motion and single frame advance.

Can you do that with recordings made on Tivo or DVD's?

 

[abomb]

I'm not sure why you need to mess around with LAN, an Ethernet or USB card. Aren't they all for PC's.

Thanks for the tips. The reason for the ethernet card is that I dont have a lan phone line (just cell). After initial setup, I can connect TiVo to the web to receive listings and such without a lan line.

A-Bomb

 

[BleedingPurple]

BleedingPurple, I have two DirecTV Tivo units. Can I connect one of these to one of my computers? Special fittings, cards, etc?

It depends on the particular unit. The newer ones have USB ports & ethernet ports.

The number one reason I tape games is to be able to watch the plays in slow motion and single frame advance.

Can you do that with recordings made on Tivo or DVD's?

Multiple speed slo-mo & more finely tuned single frame viewing, with higher resolution.

although my 6 year old somehow filled the harddrive with every Spongebob broadcast in a 10 day period

Oh come on! Get the kid up to speed! It only took me 7 days to get every Spongebob episode!

 

[BleedingPurple]

I forgot to mention that, with either TiVo or Cox, you have the ability to pause live broadcasts and back up to catch things you missed or want to see again.

Back up to do your own 'instant replay'.

Its what we do here, during commercials!

 

[SweetD]

Here is a better deal....

TiVo R24004A 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder $70 after $100MIR

 

[BleedingPurple]

And, here's a direct link to it on Amazon:

TiVo TCD540040 Series2 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder

 

[abomb]

And, here's a direct link to it on Amazon:

TiVo TCD540040 Series2 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder

Might be better than I thought. Best Buy had last year's model (TiVo R240040) for $49.99 after a $50 instant and $100 mail-in rebate. I can't wait to hook it up.

Also picked up Madden 2005 SE for PS2. Let's see if it can get ESPN out of my PS2.

Thanks again guys.

A-Bomb

 

[SeattleCard]

You can always buy a Windows Media Center PC and hook it up to your TV. It can record live TV, and also has pictures, music, and more. Plus no TIVO fees. I use MCE and love it.

 

[Capital Card]

It depends on the particular unit. The newer ones have USB ports & ethernet ports.

I just upgraded to the DTV/TIVO unit in March, and I don't recall seeing a USB/Ethernet port. I'll double check when I get home, but if there isn't one, is there another method to connect it to my computer? I'd like to record the games to DVD, and with DVD recorders for the computer now under $100.00, it seems like a great investment.

I'm just not sure how to connect it to my computer to record.

Any suggestions?

 

[abomb]

I just upgraded to the DTV/TIVO unit in March, and I don't recall seeing a USB/Ethernet port. I'll double check when I get home, but if there isn't one, is there another method to connect it to my computer? I'd like to record the games to DVD, and with DVD recorders for the computer now under $100.00, it seems like a great investment.

I'm just not sure how to connect it to my computer to record.

Any suggestions?

Well, I picked up a USB to ethernet adapter today too, so looks like that works. As for getting it to DVD, that is exactly what I would like to do. They have a $1000 Pioneer (I think) TiVo/DVDR unit marked down to $499 at Best Buy. Otherwise, I think you have to hack your TiVo unit to get it into a PC-readible format. Check this link out.

http://themurrays.homeip.net/downloads/tivo/extraction_articles/tivo_dvd.html

A-Bomb

 

[jf-08]

TiVo does that, too. I have had both and TiVO is, by far, the better choice.

Trying to determine how $15 per month is 'next to nothing'.

we pay like $0.45 extra per month for the Cox DVR. However, it is limited in user options.

No doubt that TiVO has alot more awesome functions.

 

[BleedingPurple]

we pay like $0.45 extra per month for the Cox DVR. However, it is limited in user options.

No doubt that TiVO has alot more awesome functions.

You might want to recheck your bill.

Cox DVR is just $15.00 per month (DVR converter rental is $10 and the DVR service is $5) and requires Cox Digital Cable.

This info matches what used to be on my bill. It is kind of silly, splitting it up, like that, since to get Cox DVR service, you need the Cox DVR. With TiVo, you can have analog or digi-cable and it will work just fine.

I don't recall seeing a USB/Ethernet port.

Find out which model you have, if you can't find any port. If no port, you're probably out of luck, since any USB to Ethernet adapter would need a USB port to plug into.

The PC alternative is a very good one, especially if you have Cox Internet. Get the correct card (Hauppauge is a very good one) and split your cable connection. One goes to the RF input on the card, the other goes into your cable Internet connection (modem, router, etc.) The scheduling service options vary, as do the costs (free to about $7 per month). The service from Hauppauge is free and decent, but the software stinks. You can get the USB model for under $150.

Hauppauge Win-TV-PVR USB2.0 ($149.97)

Snap Stream's Beyond TV3 makes for a much nicer software option (about $65), but I'd wait a few weeks for the new version which allows you to record multiple shows simultaneously. For more info on that, see the SnapStream Media Site.

Or, you could do as SeattleCardsFan suggests, but the addition of the Hauppauge card makes your current PC into a Media Center PC - if you want full MC capabilities, add a Dazzle converter.