zatznotfunny.com — TiVo is beefing up their HME offerings by centrally hosting applications and partnering with Yahoo! Yahoo! weather, traffic, and photos are avalable - as is Internet radio (Live365) and a few new games. Also being tested is the podcaster application I previewed at Digital Life, Fandango movie tickets, and a few various games.
Nov 29, 2005 View in Crawl 4
warsteinerNov 29, 2005
www.mythtv.orgThey just ripped off mythtv big time.
cpuangelNov 29, 2005
Under NDA but I'll say, It's not fake.
murph2481Nov 29, 2005
Galleon has these features
paradox183Nov 29, 2005
> "I have seen many different HTPC's and honestly none have the ease of use that the TiVo has in both features and price."In June I bought an HP computer with XP Media Center 2005 on it for about $500 after rebates from Office Depot. That is pretty comparable to buying a Tivo with a lifetime subscription. After just a week of using it, I cancelled my Tivo subscription and haven't looked back.The benefit to having a Windows- or Linux-based PVR is that you can customize it without jumping through all the ridiculous Tivo hoops (having to hack the box, etc). I added a dual-tuner card to this computer, and after the reboot it became IMMEDIATELY better than any standalone Tivo I ever owned. Game, set, match. Other feature breakdowns are as follows:ADVANTAGE MCE:- Expandability, both hardware- and software-wise. Software add-ons are easy to install. The number of tuners you can install is only limited by the number of PCI slots and USB ports you have.- Networking. Since MCE is a superset of XP Pro, it not only comes with all of XP's networking capabilities but also with the ability to Remote Desktop to the machine. I also connected the HP with my normal desktop using a crossover Ethernet cable, and without any special software (e.g. Tivo Desktop, TivoToGo) I can transfer shows to my desktop at 100mbps.- Power management. The computer will stay on while recording, while you are watching live/recorded TV or a DVD, and while listening to music. But it will go into standby when it is not doing any of these things.- Monthly cost. MCE is free.ADVANTAGE TIVO:- Auto-rewind while fast-forwarding. One of only two Tivo features I miss. However, 30-second skip works just as well.- Suggestions. Personally, I never used these because I never bothered with the thumb ratings, but I know plenty of other people like it.- Grouping recorded shows in the show list. The other feature I miss.- Initial cost. MCE computers aren't cheap, but you get what you pay for, and save money on monthly fees.PUSH:- Interface. Both have the "trick play" bar while watching shows, and MCE has it for DVDs as well. I actually like MCE's interface better because it looks cleaner and doesn't do all that cutesy sliding animated crap.- Recording quality, although that probably has a lot to do with the capture card itself. I'm using a Hauppauge.- Program guide and online scheduling. Setting up online scheduling capabilities is not obvious (I had to hit Google for instructions), but when ready, it actually responds faster than Tivo Central Online.- DVD recording. I never owned a Tivo that had a DVD burner, but I imagine this computer works just as well. Couldn't be easier.- Other Tivo features. The MCE equivalent of Season Pass (the most important feature of any DVR, IMO) works just as well.Ever since I sold my Tivo on eBay and cancelled my service, I haven't been keeping up with Tivo news. But if they still haven't announced a dual-tuner standalone unit, they are sorely falling behind. At this point, MCE and other platforms are only getting better.
tfratzkeNov 29, 2005
^^ IMO you're missing one major advantage of TiVo. The actual size of the box is a lot easier to put in an entertainment center than a MCE PC.
apotropaicNov 29, 2005
yea i'm with paradox... its such a major deal that tivo is upgrading the software... but us open-source HTPC users can do that whenever we want! And if there aren't any upgrades available we can write our own. I used a tivo for about 6 months... then used a spare computer and spent $90 on a turner and that was it for me. Tivo was outta here. I'm glad I didn't pay for the lifetime subscription. And I don't know if Tivo has this yet, but most HTPC software comes with commercial skipping. And for the guy who thinks tivo has ease of use... htpc can be configured EXACTLY the way you want them to be. How much easier does it get? Sure you have to take the time to do it... but it better then submitting to the way Tivo says you have to do things.
apotropaicNov 29, 2005
@tfratzke - not necessarily, check out this site...<a class="user" href="http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling/showdoc.aspx?i=2309">http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling/showdoc.aspx?i=2309</a>sure you have to pay a litle extra for them. I just put mine in the next room or basement.
monolithNov 29, 2005
I have a tivo. And I love it. And i HATE it. My family is spoiled by the damn thing and don't understand about the missing features.... No HD... No DRM... others missing wanted features... ugh. Help me!
skwhirlDec 1, 2005
A hardware MPEG card (or more) and some good PVR software (like the mythtv) and a good hearty file server on the network beats out TiVo any day in my book
sandraprinsloo1Apr 20, 2009
It amazes me what you can do and find on the internet, I love it!<a class="user" href="http://ftpredators.com">http://ftpredators.com</a>