VM & Tivo

Waldo Pepper · 10-11-2009, 04:58

A friend of mine is considering moving to VM with TV,Phone and Internet.
She uses a Tivo connected to the phone line currently to control her Sky box.
Would the Tivo be able to do the same to a VM set top box?
TIA
W

ShadowTD · 11-11-2009, 10:04

Yes, it will. Depending on how old the VM box she gets is, she might need to get a doohicky as old VM boxes use iRDA as opposed to the standard remote control protocols. If she gets a new Samsung V box she should be fine.

spiderplant · 11-11-2009, 12:37

Or more specifically "she might need to get a RedEye as some old VM boxes use..."

If she's in an ex-NTL area, she definitely won't need a RedEye. The ex-Telewest SA4200 is the only currently-installed box that would need one.

Waldo Pepper · 11-11-2009, 17:12

Thanks, but prying the Tivo off her is out of the question. She has played with other type of HDD recorders and still thinks nothing comes close. Apparently she is not alone in Tivo world.

No idea how old it is. It has a 40Gig drive and not sure whether it's IRDA, but the remote is impossible to clone with those universal ones that sample then play back.

Also it would not work with those IR resender things that allow you to control the device in a separate room.

She is adamant that she won't move until sure her baby will work with VM kit.

spiderplant · 11-11-2009, 18:48

The TiVo remote itself isn't a factor here. What matters is the commands that the TiVo sends to the VM box to change the channel. A TiVo can only generate the standard RC5 commands, but that's usually ok because the vast majority of VM boxes understand RC5. The RedEye unit is only required with the IrDA VM boxes. (The RedEye converts RC5 to IrDA)

What town does she live in?

ShadowTD · 12-11-2009, 08:47

Cheers Spiderplant! I've only got a vague knowledge of this as it was all before I moved to VM.

And Waldo, I'd be inclined to agree with your friend - there's not a lot on the market that can come anywhere near how user friendly TiVO is. Damn Sky for screwing them over!

Joedm45 · 12-11-2009, 11:47

Didn't realise TiVO's still existed in this country! I remember trying to sell these when I worked at an electrical store years ago when I was a student. It's the future I told them... No one listened lol

Graham M · 12-11-2009, 12:01

I beleive that's because the Sky+ boxes use TIVO's technology and Sky bought them out of the UK market?

Waldo Pepper · 12-11-2009, 17:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by spiderplant

The TiVo remote itself isn't a factor here. What matters is the commands that the TiVo sends to the VM box to change the channel. A TiVo can only generate the standard RC5 commands, but that's usually ok because the vast majority of VM boxes understand RC5. The RedEye unit is only required with the IrDA VM boxes. (The RedEye converts RC5 to IrDA)

What town does she live in?

She's down in Fleet in Hampshire. I will get more info about the Tivo this weekend and post.

Am I correct in assuming that a new VM box will understand RC5 and all will be well. My life would be grief if I got it wrong.

Ta for all replies.

spiderplant · 12-11-2009, 18:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waldo Pepper

She's down in Fleet in Hampshire

In that case it will definitely work. IrDA boxes have never been used in Fleet.

On the TiVo I believe she should use code "20045 Medium", and turn off the miniguide in the V-box settings. More help at http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=14 if she needs it.

ShadowTD · 13-11-2009, 08:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham M

I beleive that's because the Sky+ boxes use TIVO's technology and Sky bought them out of the UK market?

Not quite. Sky + would be a lot better if it uses TiVO technology.

TiVO had a lot of balls in the air in the US but they wanted to launch in the UK. So they chose a launch partner to help offset the costs. They picked Sky.

Sky paid for quite a lot of good training but marketed the system very half heartedly. Also, it was Â£400 for the hardware *plus* the subscription (which could be paid upfront if required). Also, the system had no internal tuner bar analogue terrestrial and so required two extra boxes if you wanted multichannel, not just one.

All this time (presumably unbeknownst to TiVO) Sky was developing their own DVR. When it came out, it was cheaper, had twin tuners and Dolby Digital on the movie channels. The picture quality was also superior as it wasn't being decoded and then re-encoded. Nobody seemed to care that to use it was a very poor second to the amazingly user friendly TiVO. TiVO simply decided to give up on the UK and concentrate on the states.

Massive shame.

HSp8 · 13-11-2009, 09:59

I've been using Tivo with my VM box for last two years, and it works fine 'most' of the time - recently it hasn't been changing channels properly, but I think that's down to VM box playing up, not the Tivo

it's been difficult decision, but will be saying goodbye to Tivo as getting V+ installed next week - I'm really going to miss the Tivo's interface, but having HD and recording two channels at once has proved too tempting

hope I'm not going to regret it (but think I might)

trickytree · 13-11-2009, 10:38

I still can't bring myself to bin my Tivo even though I have not used it for the past 18 months since having V+. I upgraded it to hold more programmes aswell as having the lifetime subscription. The big downside is the single tuner however after that the software and season pass and searching for programmes beats Virgin and Sky hands down.