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-   -   TiVo : Can TiVo work without mains power?! (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/showthread.php?t=33687614)

RichardCoulter 12-05-2012 10:22
Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
I was talking to someone earlier today who said that, if she unplugs her TiVo from the mains, it still records!!!

I said that I thought that this wasn't possible.

Does it have an internal battery to cover for power outages, or does it perhaps remember programmes that it was prevented from recording due to no power being present and then looks for a further airing of the programme to successfully complete the requested task?

Sirius 12-05-2012 10:36
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35426697)
I was talking to someone earlier today who said that, if she unplugs her TiVo from the mains, it still records!!!

I said that I thought that this wasn't possible.

Does it have an internal battery to cover for power outages, or does it perhaps remember programmes that it was prevented from recording due to no power being present and then looks for a further airing of the programme to successfully complete the requested task?
It will not work whilst there is no power to it and i think you answered your own question and is probably what is happening.

RichardCoulter 12-05-2012 10:49
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
I thought so too. Does anyone know if TiVo has an internal battery and/or makes further attempts to record failed recordings due to a lack of power?

spiderplant 12-05-2012 11:24
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35426701)
Does anyone know if TiVo has an internal battery
It doesn't

Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35426701)
makes further attempts to record failed recordings due to a lack of power?
It can do, depending on the recording type. Recording Hiccups will tell you if it wasn't able to record something.

nicko 12-05-2012 12:13
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
When you have a power outage TiVo resumes recording once power is restored and importantly saves the bit that's already recorded in a folder, so after you will find 2 parts (before/after outage) of the recording My shows.

BTW. On Sky Plus you will lose the whole recording upto power outage down a big black hole ( never to be seen again), all you get is what came after the outage.( Beats Sky plus hands down)

v0id 12-05-2012 15:48
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
If you want it to work without mains power you will will have to pay extra for the magical pixies that live inside the box

devilincarnate 12-05-2012 16:15
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by v0id (Post 35426782)
If you want it to work without mains power you will will have to pay extra for the magical pixies that live inside the box
Or a back up generator :D

gadge 12-05-2012 16:25
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
I know the very old pace boxes from the ntl days didnt use electric they were that slow there was a little mouse inside that run around on a wheel.:D

Stephen 12-05-2012 17:09
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Seriously?? You actually posted that on here? Hahaha.

Am sorry but that has to be the daftest question I have ever seen. A bit like asking if my phone would still makes calls if I took the battery out.

devilincarnate 12-05-2012 17:32
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen (Post 35426810)
A bit like asking if my phone would still makes calls if I took the battery out.
Mine does:D

RichardCoulter 13-05-2012 15:12
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen (Post 35426810)
Seriously?? You actually posted that on here? Hahaha.

Am sorry but that has to be the daftest question I have ever seen. A bit like asking if my phone would still makes calls if I took the battery out.
Nonsense, some appliances work when the power is disconnected. I have a clock radio that has a back up battery.

---------- Post added at 15:12 ---------- Previous post was at 15:10 ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by devilincarnate (Post 35426815)
Mine does:D
There we go ;)

Stuart 13-05-2012 17:07
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35427201)
Nonsense, some appliances work when the power is disconnected. I have a clock radio that has a back up battery.
Some do. Most don't. The problem is that our battery technology is just not up to creating a battery powerful enough to run a Tivo for any length of time and stay small enough for people to have it in their living room.

A clock or clock radio doesn't use an awful lot of power. You can get ones that run for weeks on a couple of AA batteries. The battery required to run a Tivo for any length of time would be considerably larger than the Tivo itself.

Sirius 13-05-2012 17:33
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35427201)
Nonsense, some appliances work when the power is disconnected. I have a clock radio that has a back up battery.
Must admit i did have a good laugh at this when i saw it.

devilincarnate 13-05-2012 18:30
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart (Post 35427331)
You can get ones that run for weeks on a couple of AA batteries.
That is why they out sell the others:erm::D:D

Whoops wrong thread and forum:(

v0id 13-05-2012 19:13
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen (Post 35426810)
Seriously?? You actually posted that on here? Hahaha.

Am sorry but that has to be the daftest question I have ever seen. A bit like asking if my phone would still makes calls if I took the battery out.
I nominate it for post of the month :D

Sirius 13-05-2012 21:45
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by v0id (Post 35427441)
I nominate it for post of the month :D
Seconded :clap:

NIco V 14-05-2012 00:24
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart (Post 35427331)
Some do. Most don't. The problem is that our battery technology is just not up to creating a battery powerful enough to run a Tivo for any length of time and stay small enough for people to have it in their living room.

Laptops ? ;)

Stuart 14-05-2012 00:27
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by NIco V (Post 35427606)
Laptops ? ;)
Laptops will only run for a few hours on battery, and are not continually downloading and decoding multiple HD streams.

jempalmer 14-05-2012 00:28
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Are we not getting slightly off topic. The title of the thread is "Can Tivo work without mains power?!" The answer is NO! :D
Although nominating it for thread of the month definitely gets my vote!

NIco V 14-05-2012 02:26
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart (Post 35427608)
Laptops will only run for a few hours on battery, and are not continually downloading and decoding multiple HD streams.

The OP said " if she unplugs her TiVo from the mains, it still records!!!"


Tivo ain't different from a laptop.... the OP never talked about downloading and decoding multiple HD streams

Telly_ 14-05-2012 07:13
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart (Post 35427331)
Some do. Most don't. The problem is that our battery technology is just not up to creating a battery powerful enough to run a Tivo for any length of time and stay small enough for people to have it in their living room.

A clock or clock radio doesn't use an awful lot of power. You can get ones that run for weeks on a couple of AA batteries. The battery required to run a Tivo for any length of time would be considerably larger than the Tivo itself.

My laptop is pretty powerful and runs just fine on its battery for a couple of hours. I don't see TiVo pulling much more power than a good laptop and TiVo doesn't have an LCD screen to power as well.

---------- Post added at 07:13 ---------- Previous post was at 07:07 ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen (Post 35426810)
Seriously?? You actually posted that on here? Hahaha.

Am sorry but that has to be the daftest question I have ever seen. A bit like asking if my phone would still makes calls if I took the battery out.
Usually people only ask the questions to which they don't know the answer and this is the forum for answering the OP's question. Being made fun of by a moderator on forum that's purpose is to answer these kind of questions is a bit silly really.

Technically a TiVo being able to record whilst in standby via a battery pack is theoretically possible but I think you'll find the cost of adding the battery means it will never happen.

It maybe obvious to some TiVo doesn't have a back up but not everyone is so technically minded(although on this kind of forum you would expect users to be a bit more clued up)

TheDon 14-05-2012 08:10
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by NIco V (Post 35427622)
The OP said " if she unplugs her TiVo from the mains, it still records!!!"


Tivo ain't different from a laptop.... the OP never talked about downloading and decoding multiple HD streams
Tivo is different from a laptop.

Whilst they both might have a processor and a hard drive, the tivos is worked far harder.

Your laptop will spin up and read from the hard drive occasionally, in normal use everything is loaded into Ram.
The tivo is spinning the hard drive constantly to enable buffering for timeshifting.

The OP talked about recording, which guess what, requires decoding at least one stream, and seeing as the Tivo has 3 tuners that are always active, it means decoding 3 streams. So yes, the OP did talk about that, because that's what Tivo does by virtue of being on. If your Tivo is turned on it's decoding multiple streams, some of which may well be HD.

andy_m 14-05-2012 08:34
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Telly Bear (Post 35427628)
Usually people only ask the questions to which they don't know the answer and this is the forum for answering the OP's question. Being made fun of by a moderator on forum that's purpose is to answer these kind of questions is a bit silly really.
This is the post of the month.

Stephen 14-05-2012 08:41
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Telly Bear (Post 35427628)
My laptop is pretty powerful and runs just fine on its battery for a couple of hours. I don't see TiVo pulling much more power than a good laptop and TiVo doesn't have an LCD screen to power as well.

---------- Post added at 07:13 ---------- Previous post was at 07:07 ----------



Usually people only ask the questions to which they don't know the answer and this is the forum for answering the OP's question. Being made fun of by a moderator on forum that's purpose is to answer these kind of questions is a bit silly really.

Technically a TiVo being able to record whilst in standby via a battery pack is theoretically possible but I think you'll find the cost of adding the battery means it will never happen.

It maybe obvious to some TiVo doesn't have a back up but not everyone is so technically minded(although on this kind of forum you would expect users to be a bit more clued up)
My post was made as a user of this forum, not as a mod. See my sig for how to spot a mod post.

parky 14-05-2012 08:47
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen (Post 35427650)
My post was made as a user of this forum, not as a mod. See my sig for how to spot a mod post.
I does not change who you are though.

Stephen 14-05-2012 10:42
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by parky (Post 35427651)
I does not change who you are though.
Good because I like who I am :monkey::D

But seriously. I am perfectly entitled to post as an individual as are all mods and admin. After all we aren't in that role 24x7!

andy_m 14-05-2012 10:51
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Telly Bear (Post 35427628)
Usually people only ask the questions to which they don't know the answer and this is the forum for answering the OP's question. Being made fun of by anybody on forum that's purpose is to answer these kind of questions is worthy of moderation.
EFA.

Kymmy 14-05-2012 10:55
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35427201)
Nonsense, some appliances work when the power is disconnected. I have a clock radio that has a back up battery.
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

How oxymoronic can you get.... You've removed the power yet left another power source in place.....

Telly_ 14-05-2012 11:35
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kymmy (Post 35427687)
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

How oxymoronic can you get.... You've removed the power yet left another power source in place.....
He has removed MAINS power and replaced it with a back-uppower source, how is that "oxymoronic"?

Kymmy 14-05-2012 12:16
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
You can;t say that you removed the power when it's got power.. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

bamav 14-05-2012 13:55
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
If losing recordings through a powercut is a concern, you could fit a UPS (uninterupted power supply), that would get you through any short term power failure, depending on the UPS model. They're also getting cheaper these days. It's a personal choice thing.

spiderplant 14-05-2012 14:08
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bamav (Post 35427761)
If losing recordings through a powercut is a concern, you could fit a UPS (uninterupted power supply), that would get you through any short term power failure, depending on the UPS model.
It's unlikely to help though, as the chances are your street cabinet will be dead too.

Derekb108 14-05-2012 14:15
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by spiderplant (Post 35427768)
It's unlikely to help though, as the chances are your street cabinet will be dead too.
what happens when it floods, camakaze rats eat the cable we would blame virgin for the power loss... ;)

RichardCoulter 01-08-2012 21:16
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Thank you to all those who took the time to answer my question in a polite, mature and professional manner.

carlwaring 01-08-2012 21:27
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
I haven't seen this thread before but can understand why you may had some less-than-helpful responses to what, IMO, was a silly question to start with.

Can any solely mains-powered product work without power?! :rolleyes:

jempalmer 01-08-2012 21:54
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by carlwaring (Post 35458696)
I haven't seen this thread before but can understand why you may had some less-than-helpful responses to what, IMO, was a silly question to start with.

Can any solely mains-powered product work without power?! :rolleyes:
Only for a teeny fraction of a second. The capacitors then discharge and it doesn't work. No it will not function without external power.

RichardCoulter 02-08-2012 00:53
Re: Can TiVo work without mains power?!
 
I didn't think it was possible myself, but was told (in all seriousness) by somebody that hers worked without power!

I was wondering if i'd missed something, but obviously not.

What I think is happening is that the box is recording the programmes that she has set to record on the next showing by the channels and she thinks it actually did it overnight :D


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