Yes, setup a subscription, monthly. When I saw that the lifetime subscription was for the life of the box, that was out. I just may try the switch box first. Just get a cheap $20 one and go from there.

I always turn these things into a big hassle for myself. You'd think I'd learn. I always second guess myself.

My series 1 has a lifetime and it's already paid off in terms of months.

Success. Well I finally go everything set up as I had originally hoped. I ended up just going to Radio Shack and getting a 4 way A/V switch. It is suiting my purposes nicely. I was going to return the Tivo and get a combo unit but at this point it would have been a hassle. I'm very happy.

Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions. I can see how the Tivo has changed a lot of peoples' TV viewing habits.

See man... just listen to the future brother-in-law-in-law and you'll be aaaaaalllll right. =]

future brother-in-law-in-law

Is this your way of telling us something? It's not like we didn't already assume, but is this an official annoucement?

No no no no... i knew you were going to do that. hahaha. Don't go spreadin' rumors. It's a foregone conclusion some day but i'm in no way making a public announcement. wait a few years. =]

OK. I said Fsck it and went out and bought one Friday. Everything is all set up and running smooth. Very cool piece of equipment. Just a couple of quick questions. Why does the guide draw so slooooooow. I mean, that's just painful. OK, that was more of a statement rather than a question. My real question is: Is there any way to turn that god-awful beep off or at least down? I mean the beep that happens EVERY time you press ANY button on the remote. It's just that it's so LOUD, I mean, it's louder than any commercial on TV, much less the actual program.

Do you have a DirecTiVo? Apparently the DirecTV Grid draws so slowly because each block is rendered individually when needed. Stand alone models (at least in the past) don't even have this grid. They use the "Tivo Live Guide." You can also use it (assuming you have DirecTiVo) buy pressing the display button on the remote while the grid is on the screen. Then, change the style. The Tivo Live Guide draws MUCH faster, but I still prefer the grid view.

Dig through the menu's for an option to set the volume for that beep (or off). I think I had to turn mine down too.

One thing that I HIGHLY recommend is switching from the "DirecTV style" guide to the Tivo one. I had DirecTV for over a year prior, but I fell in love with the Tivo Guide in minutes AND it draws WAY faster. To change, hit GUIDE then INFO and select "Tivo style".... this is from memory, so I may be off a bit... it might take a day for you to get a full guide too...

Nah, I have a standalone unit. I finally found the option and am honestly embarassed that I missed it. It seems obvios to me now. As to the guide thing. With 4.* There is an option to use the plain old grid style interface. I just don't understand why it can't keep even that little bit of data cached. Perhaps I could get used to the Tivo guide, but I doubt I ever will as the wife flat refuses to give it a shot. Besides, hopefully soon we'll be watching less and less live TV. Now to just get a USB ethernet adapter and upgrade the drive in it.

*brings up the Replay TV Gride guide and cycles through every page of it in 10 seconds just to torment Rob about it again*

Bite me.

Well, part of the reason I got the Tivo rather than the replay is that the Tivo cost me $155 as opposed to over $400.

The best deal on ReplayTV was when they started liquidating the older 4500/5000 units about two months back. They sold for around $350 including a lifetime subscription. Plus you got a unit that supported Commercial Advance, and Internet Show Sharing, something the newer 55xx units don't do.

Refurb and new 5040 units are still available at Replaytvoutlet.com. They now come with the 3 year activation, instead of the lifetime they offered recently. Still a good deal.

Newer units could be as cheep as TiVo as well, if they did monthly fees. Right now, the $500 for a 40 hour includes a 3 year subscription. After that, it's $12 a year.

TiVo $12.95 * 3 years = $466.20

All depends on how long you keep a unit I suppose.

LOL, Now thats funny. I can almost see you backing up with your hands waving in denial and a horrified look on your face, "No, no, no, not me." Don't worry, I'm not spreading rumors. Just busting ya.

http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2003/11/hdtvrecording_t.html

Interesting photos, but their "photo of the rear hookups" appears to be just a photo of the standard DirecTivo model HDVR2 that I've got. Making me suspect that the thing on the show floor that they photographed was just a shell on an HDVR2 chassis.

Still, the 7-800 dollar price point sounds good. Too bad I have to wait for Q1 2004.

Too bad I have to wait for Q1 2004.

There is little doubt that I will be buying at least one.

Yeah -- no DVI out is sort of a giveaway there ... why would you have an HD device with no DVI output on it ...

Looking at the photo more closely, it's the printed vinyl sheet from the back panel of an HDVR2, it's on an HDVR2 chassis, but they've taken the spots for some of the audio outputs and replaced them with component video outputs, and added an additional RF plug whose purpose is unclear.

Interestingly, the spot for that extra RF plug happens to be the same spot I put the speed control knob for my fan. It's a convenient place to put things on the HDVR2 chassis because there's already a hole in the aluminum there and only the printed vinyl sheet covers that spot. Makes it easy to cut a hole.

Do you have to have the Tivo subscription to record programs or can I just manually set up a record time

I know this thread has concluded and everything, but I found something I read on TechTV.com interesting. Check out the info on "Tivo Basic" that only comes with DVD/Tivo units out of the box. Interesting...

You heard it here first.

If I didn't aready know about the HDTV TiVo's and already have a turbonet in each of my TiVo's I would get the TiVo with the built in DVD-R or the DVD player depending on how much I could find them for online.

Oh, If anyone needs a Turbonet I might have 2 for sale soon because I just ordered 2 of these

Crapnuts!!

Well still, there's the official site. I searched the thread for the name, but it wasn't used in your post, so I didn't see it

Damn damn damn.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Yes, I saw that too. At this point NOT having the subscription would drive me nuts. I love the features.

Attack, that card kicks ass! I hope it comes out for the Series2 DirecTivos soon!

Wow! That is incredible! I didn't even hear anything about that one. I knew about the cache card, which sounds like a good card to have (my Tivo is getting a bit slow), but not the combo.

Oh, this kills me. I'm stuck in the perpetual "improve what I've got or wait until the next new thing comes around" conundrum. I'd love to upgrade or otherwise dork with my Series 1 DirecTiVo, but I'm frozen in the headlights of the upcoming HD DirecTiVo. *Sigh*

Actually, what I think I'll do in the short term is to install a decent OTA antenna on the roof. That will let me get OTA standard-def signals to the spare TV in the bedroom (currently unplugged), and should have me set and ready to go right the minute the HD TiVo is available.

Or, is there a sufficiently cheap OTA HD tuner that I can do it as an impulse buy without feeling too bad about taking it out of service mere months after buying it?

And, finally, what's the best OTA antenna to buy? They come in all different shapes and sizes. Google hasn't been too helpful in finding useful advice.

http://www.cesweb.org/shared_files/innovations/innovations_2004/2787/mainphoto2787.jpg

Hey there. In my searches I found this post by you a while ago:
"One thing that I HIGHLY recommend is switching from the "DirecTV style" guide to the Tivo one. I had DirecTV for over a year prior, but I fell in love with the Tivo Guide in minutes AND it draws WAY faster"

I'm trying to change this on my dad's DirecTivo, but can't for the life of me find the option. Where is it?

Also, do you happen to know what changing the option in the menu system to 16:9 instead of 4:3 does? It didn't appear to change anything...