The time has come to switch to Tivo

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mark1234

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The time has come to switch to Tivo

#1

Post by mark1234 » Mon Jan 19, 2015 1:49 pm

It's been on the cards for a long time (years, TBH) but Virgin's latest round of price rises have tipped me over the edge. Instead of maintaining my current infrastructure and paying more than new customers, but getting less, I've just asked them to post me a Tivo.

Due to the amount of archived recordings, ripped DVDs, music etc, my 7MC machine won't be getting decommissioned anytime soon, but the journey that started 9.5 years ago with MCE2005 is definitely coming to an end. This is what thegreenbutton.*com* looked like two days before I placed my order: https://web.archive.org/web/20051016033 ... utton.com/

Plus points of switching to Tivo: HD (at last!); three channel recording; integrated iPlayer and other streaming apps (and the Tivo box has it's own 10Mb broadband connection to avoid impacting my now 150Mb main connection); six months free Netflix; dealing with a company that has to care about getting guide data right.

Downsides of switching to Tivo: the unknowns; loss of integration with non-recorded TV media; loss of control over recorded TV; my bill still goes up, but by less than it would had I not switched.

It's been a rollercoaster ride from the sheer wonder and marvel of MCE2005, the frustration of VMC TV Pack, the excitement of seeing the beta dll get hacked into RTM allowing h.264 decoding, the good times on tgb.com, the horror that was Windows Experts, the birth of tgb.tv, the high of 7MC's release (surely Media Centre's zenith) and the crushing feeling immediately afterwards as the Media Centre team was disbanded. Add in a few freebies from MS along the way (I'm still using an old ATI graphics card that they sent me) and I wouldn't have missed MCE for the world, but its time has passed. A real shame as Microsoft had a stunning product 10 years ago, even 6 years ago with 7MC, but it's been overtaken completely since then (unless you're a US cablecard user).

If anyone cares, it's Virgin's Big Kahuna package I've gone for: http://store.virginmedia.com/big-bundle ... ahuna.html
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#2

Post by LuckyDay » Mon Jan 19, 2015 7:33 pm

Sounds like a good deal.

Not sure I could live with the loss of being able to manage my entire media library in one place, but if there were deals like that where I lived I might be tempted.

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mark1234

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#3

Post by mark1234 » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:30 pm

A couple of years ago that would have been a pain as well. But once the BBC killed the iPlayer plugin we've already had to get used to switching between Media Centre and NowTV/Xbox for streaming content.

Being a built on a full-fat PC, Media Centre could have been awesome at streaming content, but instead it has, literally, nothing.
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#4

Post by newfiend » Tue Jan 20, 2015 1:39 am

Hey Mark1234.. I joined TGB and The WMC game late. I came into WMC with Vista and really liked what it had to offer and when CableCARD really started taking off. You have been on TGB.com and .tv for as long as I can remember and have helped out a lot of people. Thanks for being a part of the community here and helping out. I am sad to see WMC go down the tubes as well.
I think what made it so great was the community that surrounded it. We all helped each other out and with all the great minds that congregated here we had a good (and occasionally frustrating) time working through all our WMC related issues.
I understand why your leaving for Tivo. It's hard to stay with old software that isn't supported anymore and offers no updates and with the recent increase in our own cable bill I can totally relate to the cost issue.
I wish you the best and hope you continue to post here and help out from time to time. I'm still not sure what upgrade path I will eventually take when the time comes to get rid of WMC. Time will tell. But I will miss this and the old TGB community when I do. Lots of great people here.
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#5

Post by makryger » Tue Jan 20, 2015 2:32 am

The media landscape is a different animal than it was 10 years ago-- TV streaming has become the norm, and WMC simply couldn't keep up. I still haven't quite gotten to the point where I can give up WMC, as I still do all of my recording through cable using cablecard and HDHomerun prime, but I stil can't fathom paying cable company DVR and HD rental fees at utterly ridiculous prices. My system works great and is very reliable right now, so as long as Comcast keeps giving me a customer retention discount, I'll probably keep my current setup. When it's time to move to a new home in a year or two, I'll have to reevaluate the situation and the current landscape of TV consumption. Things like the new Dish Sling TV offering may shake things up...

All in all, it has been a system ahead of its time with regard to local media playback, and has saved me probably thousands of dollars on cable fees. (And that's aside from MCL earnings). Nice to have you here, Mark. Please come back and visit us!
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mark1234

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#6

Post by mark1234 » Tue Jan 20, 2015 9:47 am

Cheers guys.

Just one additional comment:
makryger wrote:WMC simply couldn't keep up
That's the thing: it could have kept up, it was just abandoned.
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#7

Post by adam1991 » Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:49 am

I dunno. It still does everything for me that it did 4 years ago.

I'm apparently an oddity in the software consumer world: if it continues to do what it's supposed to do, then I'll use it. I don't demand that it constantly be updated in order for me to declare it to be useful. "They're not updating it, therefore it's useless" is silly.

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#8

Post by mark1234 » Tue Jan 20, 2015 11:55 am

True, and is why I still have Media Centre now. But, as I said right at the top, that's not actually why I'm switching. It's now become more expensive to run Media Centre instead of Tivo, and as Tivo has some capabilities that I can't get out of Media Centre, there's no reason not to switch.
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#9

Post by milli260876 » Tue Jan 20, 2015 2:51 pm

I don't understand how mediacenter is more expensive?
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#10

Post by spanner » Tue Jan 20, 2015 4:30 pm

Mark1234 will miss your WMC knowledge, you have been helpful to me more than once. I think your right it is the cablecard that is keeping it alive for those that can get it. It will be interesting how WMC evolves or dies. Check back occasionally and see.

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#11

Post by mark1234 » Tue Jan 20, 2015 5:11 pm

milli260876 wrote:I don't understand how mediacenter is more expensive?
As I don't have a Tivo currently I'm on legacy pricing. They've been jacking the price up for a while now, but this time around they've finally made it more expensive than switching over. The new toy is due to arrive tomorrow.
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#12

Post by ianfcohen » Sun Mar 01, 2015 2:35 pm

That sounds illegal.. Are you in the UK or something? All you need is a cable card in the states. What's this legacy pricing??


This is from the fcc:

Your right to use your own set-top box without extra charge is protected by FCC Rule 76.1205(b)(5)(C). (Your cable operator may charge you to lease a CableCARD or tuning adapter, but may not charge you an additional service fee for using your own digital-cable-ready television or set-top box);

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#13

Post by STC » Sun Mar 01, 2015 4:28 pm

He is in Blighty.
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#14

Post by mark1234 » Sun Mar 01, 2015 10:30 pm

Yep, on the right side of the pond here.

I've been meaning to give a quick write up of how I'm finding the Tivo, a month in. Guess I'll do it now...

Pros:
  • Excellent picture quality - really just a feature of finally being able to get HD. Nick HD (is it sad to admit I like iCary, Victorious & Sam and Cat?) has been on a lot for the girls
  • The three tuners are getting a good workout
  • Working (and supported) web access for setting recordings
  • Set up basically consisted of unwiring the old cable box, wiring in the Tivo and switching it on - awesome!
  • I quite like the Partially Watched filter in My Shows
Cons:
  • The UI is nowhere near as nice as 7MC. It's fine, just nowhere near as nice - so, so much wasted space. And adverts
  • It recorded Keeping Up With The Kardiashians as a suggestion. This confirms my initial thought that the feature would be junk
  • Not a fan of the remote. The commonly used buttons are too far spread apart
  • Virgin's on demand offerings are somewhat poor, and all too often in SD (I've not signed up for the 6 months of Netflix yet - been watching other stuff)
  • No ability for placeshifting at all. I knew this up front, but it's still disappointing.
  • It doesn't like sitting there doing nothing. MC is happy to pause forever (except on live TV, but who watches live?) but Tivo will start showing live TV if you leave it paused too long
All in all, I'm happy. I knew it wouldn't be a slam-dunk improvement over 7MC, because 7MC has so many good points, but it's also lagging in areas that will never be improved. If I could make one suggestion for the Tivo, it would be for more streaming options (hey, like I'd wish for 7MC!) that could take advantage of the built in broadband connection. I've not signed up for Netflix yet (which is built in) as we've been watching shows on Amazon Video and NowTV. Neither of those are available on the Tivo so both have been used on the Xbox 360 via wifi.
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#15

Post by adam1991 » Sun Mar 01, 2015 11:51 pm

(is it sad to admit I like iCary, Victorious & Sam and Cat?)
Not at all. It occurred to me some time ago that these shows, while being shown today on Disney and being aimed at tweenage girls, are nothing more than the modern equivalent to the primetime shows of 35-40 years ago. Put these shows on in the mid-70s, and they'd be major hits.

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#16

Post by STC » Mon Mar 02, 2015 1:05 am

Mark, suggestions take bit of time to get good. Bare with it. Thumb up and down as much as possible.
I have my account picking excellent things. You just got some auto random factor craptor pick and will do for a while.
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#17

Post by adam1991 » Mon Mar 02, 2015 1:49 am


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#18

Post by STC » Mon Mar 02, 2015 1:55 am

^ What's with you and that damn video lol
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#19

Post by adam1991 » Mon Mar 02, 2015 2:28 am

'cuz it's FUNNY!

My WMC never makes any assumptions about me or my tastes...

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#20

Post by STC » Mon Mar 02, 2015 2:39 am

The assumptions you describe are preferential. You can certainly turn off the feature if it keeps picking a particular 'genre' for you like your video.

That or just thumb down the recording and it will learn pretty quickly.
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