Comments on: TiVo versus MCE versus my cable company

By: TomT

TomT — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 23:31:21 +0000

My wife wanted a DVR so I figured it was time to try and build a media center. With the Vista free download I bought a HDTV tuner card from ATI w/ remote and HD antenna, dual core processor, and now have a great entertainment machine. Cost about $800 total to build buit I have both an entertaiment center and a kick-but machine.

So I figured it is better to invest in hardware that I could upgrade and have total control over not to mention the 15 free HD channels I receive now. I am cancelling that damn cable and moving to no monthly fees.

Using Windows Movie Maker I can recompress the recorded shows for archiving. Cuts them to 1/10 the size. Can’t wait for the SuperBowl, darn Seahawks… (

TomT

By: Gary Davis

Gary Davis — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 02:54:56 +0000

For what it’s worth, the HD TiVo is now down to $300 (I got it for this flat price from a no-rebate deal on Ebay), BUT, it seems to have perfectly awful ATSC tuners – lots of dropouts! Also, it runs a 2003 (or so) version of TiVo software that’s really really slow and lacks some of the new features.
–Gary

By: Vlad

Vlad — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 11:16:38 +0000

Michael with the skip problem: wondering if you have a multi-core PC.

I have the same problem, more or less – skipping gets progressively more out of whack.

Seems to only be since going dual core. Also wondering if Intervideo codec (windvd) might be related/part of the problem.

Any commonalities are possibly important!

By: Raul

Raul — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 22:00:09 +0000

Thank you to all the ReplayTV posters. We can’t forget one of the earliest – and still one of the best – PVRs out there. Certainly, they’re no longer being manufactured but you can still buy them and they provide features comparible to Tivo (years before Tivo had them).

Networking: Allows you to use multiple PVRs (expanding your disk space)

Commercial Advance: Avoids the need for 30 second skip. How many times to I hit the 30 second skip button? It doesn’t matter on the ReplayTV. I just immediately jumps to the end of the commercial block seamlessly!

Incremental Jumps: This is one of my favorite features I have yet to see on another PVR (although my experience with Tivo is limited). Essentially, hit a number and the back button (or forward button) and it’ll jump that many minutes forward (or backwards). Did you start watching a 90 minute program, stop in the middle, and then accidently start watching at the beginning again? Just hit 45 and forward and you instantly jump 45 minutes forward. Too far? Hit 1 and backward and you jump back one minute. (just as an example)

Smart Recording: It means that, sure, you can set a “season pass”, or you can just tell your ReplayTV to record episodes only at 7pm or every Tuesday at 9pm. And it’s even smart enough to catch if the show starts early or late.

Sadly, I’ve upgraded to HDTV and my ReplayTVs are going bye-bye. I’m traded functionality for features (I’m using a Comcast Motorola PVR). But I suspect this will only be a temporary trade-off until Windows Vista. Frankly, I got used to not having to hit a button when commercials came on the air and I want to go back to that functionality. Hey, networks, do you want to advertise on my TV? Then pay the PVR company to splash ads on the screen whenever I hit pause. ReplayTV did that one, too. Tivo copied everything else, why not copy this?

By: Preston

Preston — Tue, 02 May 2006 21:09:05 +0000

In reply to Arthur: Go to Radio Shack to get a Remote Control Extender. I use one with my SA8300. All the unit does is wirelessly transmit the IR signal from your remote to a receiver in the other room. You must attach an emitter from the receiver to the front of the SA8300. They can explain further at Radio Shack. The extender I purchased also feeds audo and video back from the receiver to the transmitter (so the audio output of the SA8300 can be connected to a stereo located near the transmitter if desired)

By: Arthur

Arthur — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 16:39:10 +0000

I’ve been reading several sites now for a couple of days trying to find out some information on remote control of a SA8300 from another room. With all the esoteric complexities that solved on these forums, I guess this must fall under the category of “too elementary to mention”. My cable company (Time Warner) knows less than than I do about this subject if that’s possible, and that is scary. I tried a Remote Control Extender by Jensen (JDSC-IR100A) must not speak its language. I’m almost ready to break down and pay another monthly fee for a second 8300. Any help will be appreciated.

By: Marla

Marla — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 20:56:31 +0000

I’m with Deborah: the added cost of a telephone land line just so I can install TiVo makes it a no-go for me. Why wasn’t this mentioned earlier? A lot of people I know are going with mobile-only phone service and TiVo is going to need to provide a way around requiring it at all. ReplayTV is too unreliable, both in terms of hardware and company, to consider. This leaves cable company boxes (a no-go for me due to the inability to record On Demand content), MCE, DIY, or unreliable 3rd-party solutions. Guess what looks more and more appealing? I don’t want to wrestle with linux installs and drivers just to get a DVR/PVR set up, so M$ looks like the only option still standing.

By: Ed Bott’s Media Central » Any Time-Warner experts out there?

Ed Bott’s Media Central » Any Time-Warner experts out there? — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 22:25:25 +0000

[...] In a comment to last year’s comparison of Tivo, Media Center, and the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD, Matt Daughtry asks: I have a MCE 2005 and just got Time Warner DTV. I have ran into a problem and haven’t found a solution. I got MCE configured to change channels on the Digital Set-top box. That works great, my MCE remote changes the channels on the TW set-top box. Now the PROBLEM is when I switch to say, channel 300 (HBO-East, I can watch it for about1 minute. Then I get a screen saying, “The orginator or provider does not allow playback of this content”. Now that not the exact words, but close. I called my provider and they had no clue, but I am wondering if you have to have there DVR to watch those channels. I would almost bet it would happen using a Tivo. Is there a MCE Tweak to fix that? [...]

By: Matt Daughtry

Matt Daughtry — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 22:10:20 +0000

I have a MCE 2005 and just got Time Warner DTV. I have ran into a problem and haven’t found a solution. I got MCE configured to change channels on the Digital Set-top box. That works great, my MCE remote chnages the channels on the TW set-top box. Now the PROBLEM is when I switch to say, channel 300 (HBO-East, I can watch it for about1 minute. Then I get a screen saying, “The orginator or provider does not allow playback of this content”. Now that not the exact words, but close. I called my provider and they had no clue, but I am wondering if you have to have there DVR to watch those channels. I would almost bet it would happen using a Tivo. Is there a MCE Tweak to fix that?
Great article by the way.

Regards,
MD

By: Dan Bendell

Dan Bendell — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 15:37:41 +0000

Interesting thread and I think the competition between the two systems is forcing them both to improve. One really great feature recently added to the Tivo is the ability to “Clip” the start or end of a program when the network (mostly ABC) purposely schedules a program to start at 9:59 or end at 10:01. This very annoying tactic creates conflicts between shows that would not normally exist. Does anyone know if or when MCE will offer this feature?

By: Starr79

Starr79 — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 03:41:10 +0000

Deborah Miller – MCE allows you to reduce the time prestart and lag. I have my set for 2 min before and after. For specific shows I have to manually change it to ensure I get the whole thing (like football games and other live shows).

Ed Bott – I just ran across your review and forwarded the links to some friends at work. I have the MCE and it is fantastic! Absolutely love the device and it sits in my living room. I was able to swap out all the other devices I had cluttering up my wall unit (FM receiver, CD player, DVD player, etc). All these are gone and a single HP MCE is sitting there. Looks great and never crashes (of course I update my windows automatically and have advanced firewalls installed).

MCE is the way to go!

By: Deborah Miller

Deborah Miller — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 15:24:16 +0000

I’ve had a MCE for about 6 months now, but due to the fact I was moving I only just recently got it hooked up to my cable and I LOVE it! My family has had TiVo since it was introduced and I’ve always thought it was a great tool, but I never got it myself b/c it requires a phone line and I’ve used nothing but a cell phone for the past 4 years and certainly wasn’t going to get a phone line JUST so I could record TV shows. I understand that there were some issues (or rather, lack of functionality) with MCE 2004, but MCE 2005 is just amazing. FAR superior overall to the TiVo I’ve been used to, and thanks to external hard drives (as well as the enormous hard drive my PC came with) I’ve in virtually no danger of running out of space anytime soon (at last count I think I have about 150 hours of recording time left on the “best” quality setting). I also have a 2-tuner TV card so I can watch and record multiples as well as HDTV support. I’ve switched back and forth between the TV and the cable box and have noticed virtually no difference in the quality of the picture as well. I also haven’t had any issues with my skip or fast forward – right now the only “glitch” I’ve come across seems to be that if I press the “DVD Menu” button or the “1″ button on my MCE remote, it turns the TV off which must have something to do with the IR frequency the TV works off of, but I haven’t called Microsoft yet to ask about it. Another enhancement I’d like to see is the ability to delete extra time at the beginning and end of shows that MCE might record that I don’t necessarily want to have to keep. My brother-in-law works on the Geek Squad at BestBuy and also praises MCE computer functionality. Personally I think if anyone is looking to purchase a new computer, go with a MCE – ultimately it’s worth it.

By: Michael Baldwin

Michael Baldwin — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 17:05:40 +0000

I am have a problem with skip and fast forward. They jump back 15 minutes the first time you hit the button and then they go forward. I have 2 Hauppauge dual-tuner cards, pvr-500s. Hauppauge says that it is an application issue and Microsoft 1st level tech support was no help.

By: Brett Ferrell

Brett Ferrell — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 18:12:42 +0000

Tivo series 2 has other cool features not mentioned. Now, being a networked appliance, it has slick add-ons. You can view recordings from one Tivo on any other Tivo on the network, and if one Tivo can’t record a show because of a conflict, it can request another Tivo on the network to record it. Also, you can play your songs or music from a networked computer on the Tivo, download original content from the web (CNet tips and Rocketboom), as well as several new java-based tools from Galleon like Yahoo Traffic, webcams. Finally, Tivo remembers that you’ve watched and deleted a show (for two weeks) and won’t re-record it if it comes back on again. Really nice when SciFi channel does a “Chain-Reaction” or “Marathon”.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 00:27:00 +0000

Does anyone have problems with the MCE not recording/playing sound? It’s very idiosynchratic but annoying. Microsoft link http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907566/en-us says there is no fix – just hoping for a suggestion