Comments on: Review of my Tivo HD DVR

By: Brandon Horn

Brandon Horn — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:21:21 +0000

Verizon FiOS carries all of my local stations in both SD and HD. They do the same with most of the cable channels I watch. I can generally make certain ranges of channels record without major issues by adjusting the amount by which I attenuate the incoming signal. I don’t want to record everything in HD though and even if I did, I can’t get a wide enough range of channels to work well.

By: DanInPhilly

DanInPhilly — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 02:50:11 +0000

I have Comcast and TivoHD, and I recently got the multistream cable card for the Tivo. I too have pixelation problems, mainly with channels 2-13. But those channels have hi-def equivalents (channel numbers above 200), and those don’t have problems, so now I record there.
Hmm. Maybe Comcast allows these problems on their main channels to “encourage” us to get their hi-def set-top boxes which cost more.
Q: does FIOS have a similar setup, good HD channels that can take the place of crummy pixy channels? Because FIOS will be coming to my neighborhood soon…

By: Brandon Horn

Brandon Horn — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:16:01 +0000

When I first experienced the problem, I looked online and found the posts recommending signal attenuation. I tried attenuating the signal by various levels. Unfortunately, I was only able to resolve the issue on certain ranges of channels (frequencies). For example, I can attenuate the signal such that the SD channels work nearly perfectly, but the HD channels are awful. Although I haven’t tried, I bet I could do the opposite as well.

When I spoke with Tivo, I was told that Verizon is responsible for providing a clean signal. Unfortunately, Tivo can’t provide me with any way to prove that the signal is bad independently of the Tivo box. My guess is that the Verizon signal is fine, but as you’ve mentioned it’s too strong for the Tivo. In my opinion, that’s Tivo’s problem, not Verizon’s. I’m just waiting for Ceton’s CableCARD tuner to come out so I can use a regular computer with Windows Media Center.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:07:00 +0000

Hey Brandon, I just ran into your review through a random google search and noticed your disclaimer in red at the top. I had the same problem (as do many). With some research and no help from Verzion or Tivo, I found the problem to be that the FIOS signal is too STRONG for the sensitive Tivo HD tuner. This was easily solved with some Attenuator’s to regulate the signal strength and I haven’t had a problem since I first got FIOS over a year ago. I’m not sure why this isn’t more of known problem by either Tivo or Verzion as it’s easily solved.

Just thought I’d help.

Jeff

By: Brandon Horn

Brandon Horn — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:40:44 +0000

Hi Jolene,

The unit worked reasonably well with Comcast, although it always had some of the issues described when I watched HD channels. Based on that experience, I wouldn’t recommend a Tivo for use with HD channels on any provider. I doubt that you’ll save any significant amount of money by going with a Tivo over a rented box. The monthly rate for Tivo isn’t cheap and the break even point on the lifetime service is pretty far into the future.

That said, the Comcast DVRs are horrible. They have an awful interface. They get very hot and waste a significant amount of power. Mine occasionally turned off and on at random. If the Ceton CableCARD tuner for PCs actually becomes available, I may buy a computer with it to use as my DVR.

Sorry that I couldn’t be of more help.

Brandon

By: Jolene

Jolene — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:57:08 +0000

Brandon,

I am trying to decide between upgrading out Tivo to an HD unit or going through Comcast and came across this blog. I saw your update at the top and was wondering if you would still reccommend Tivo HD over Comcast. FIOS isn’t avaible in our area yet so that isn’t even an option. I originally chose the Tivo over Comcast because Tivo didn’t require me to get a fancy cable package to use it and am thinking it may still be the more economical solution.

Thanks,

Jolene

By: Brandon Horn

Brandon Horn — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:12:26 +0000

Through the (local only) web interface on a Tivo HD, you can download unprotected shows in encrypted MPEG format. They can be decrypted using a code specific to the Tivo that you can get by logging into your account on Tivo's website. You can decrypt them temporarily with Tivo's provided software, which I've tried and hated. I've had issues ranging from files that would only play until a certain point to files that mysteriously had no sound. Alternatively, you can decrypt the Tivo files permanently using freely available programs. The only ones I've seen still require the media access key. They aren't actually breaking the encryption. They're just decrypting the files and storing the result. The files that result play well with VideoLAN but have issues when played through Windows Media Player.

By: Andre

Andre — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:08:05 +0000

I know a lot of video cameras for example will let you save files to your computer, but the file will be some obscure format that only the software that came with the camera can read. This makes it really difficult to edit movies, convert file formats and other similar tasks. How “easy to work with” are the files exported by tivo?

By: Jack

Jack — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 01:32:44 +0000

Brandon

Thank you for the info.

Jack
Lexington, KY

By: Brandon Horn

Brandon Horn — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:32:45 +0000

Whenever you watch live TV, the Tivo HD records the last 30 minutes or so of the channel you’re watching. You can press the “Record” button to save the last 30 minutes and the rest of the program. The program will be listed with all of your other recorded programs. If you stop watching a previously recorded program part way through, the Tivo HD will resume playing from that position the next time you play that program.