TiVo : Is Tivo actually ready for VMs market?

[ShadowTD]

I spent last year using 7MCE with 2 Xbox extenders and Sky HD as my primary TV source. The guide was brilliant, the UI was goregous (and is still missed) but the reliability was 'complete arse'. If VM had gone to the new MCE embedded I think we would have had a 'better fit' than TiVO. Lets face it, the majority of customers will be somewhat nonplussed with the recommendations system. Embedded MCE would have given them a red-button framwork, a streaming framework, Silverlight & Flash compatibility and a sexy sexy guide. But probably not the help with the integration that TiVO have given, so greater cost to VM. Plus, MCE embedded was only announced this Jan. Tivo was already in the homes of triallists by then.

[clinteastman]

Originally Posted by ShadowTD

I spent last year using 7MCE with 2 Xbox extenders and Sky HD as my primary TV source. The guide was brilliant, the UI was goregous (and is still missed) but the reliability was 'complete arse'. If VM had gone to the new MCE embedded I think we would have had a 'better fit' than TiVO. Lets face it, the majority of customers will be somewhat nonplussed with the recommendations system. Embedded MCE would have given them a red-button framwork, a streaming framework, Silverlight & Flash compatibility and a sexy sexy guide. But probably not the help with the integration that TiVO have given, so greater cost to VM. Plus, MCE embedded was only announced this Jan. Tivo was already in the homes of triallists by then.

Yep all true but like you say "xbox extender" and "gorgeous UI". Also I'm guessing embedded would bring the reliability. TiVo is a better fit but I do wish it had the MCE UI.

[Pbryanw]

Originally Posted by clinteastman

You do realise the MCE XP is 10 years old right?

Come to think of it, it must have been 6-7 years ago when I tried XP MCE - just before Vista came out - has it been that long One of the problems I had was the slow boot time, compared to other AV devices. Maybe with an SSD boot drive, in a special media PC enclosure, with the latest MCE... no, not again - I'll wait for MCE embedded

[ShadowTD]

TBH, with modern powersaving and sleep, you just have the machine resume on demand. I'd quite happily go back to MCE but only for free TV. In my opinion, the problems I experienced were caused by the software kuldges I had to use to get pay TV in there, and load in 3rd party guide data.

[zantarous]

No thank you to WMC. I am a windows man through and through but WMC on Win7 is still slow, buggy and horrid to navigate. WMC on the 360 is even worse, far too slow compared to browsing files natively.

Tivo is as complicated as you want to make it. V+ really is a dumb box, it could record and you could set a series link. And that is it! It was just a glorified video recorder. You can still record with relative ease and set series links on Tivo. So it is still very consumer friendly.

But if you want to use the more advanced features then they are there. Plus the interface just looks beautiful and my Mrs seems to have no problem using it, in fact i have a hard time getting her off her dramas on youtube.

[toady]

Originally Posted by zantarous

You can still record with relative ease and set series links on Tivo. So it is still very consumer friendly.

Not if you want the start and end of your programme to be recorded correctly especially on the BBC channels at the moment with no default padding available

Originally Posted by zantarous

Plus the interface just looks beautiful

I just love the look switching between hi res and low res screens as you go through the options, plus losing the video window as you manually add padding to a planned recording

[zantarous]

How is the BBC not running as advertised Tivos fault? Asking a few questions after you set a recording is a good thing so you can set up everything in one go.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by zantarous

How is the BBC not running as advertised Tivos fault? Asking a few questions after you set a recording is a good thing so you can set up everything in one go.

But the Sky box which is older tech does this for you , without setting any padding. Setting padding isn't a biggie however you'd have thought this could be automated like Sky and many freeview boxes with a dynamic epg.

[toady]

Originally Posted by zantarous

How is the BBC not running as advertised Tivos fault? Asking a few questions after you set a recording is a good thing so you can set up everything in one go.

BBC is running spot on time yet TIVO appears to miss the first 30 - 60 seconds because there is no default padding on the start as it appears that TIVO is expecting ads on the front of every programme.

[carlwaring]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

But the Sky box which is older tech does this for you , without setting any padding. Setting padding isn't a biggie however you'd have thought this could be automated like Sky and many freeview boxes with a dynamic epg.

The difference being that each broadcaster is responsible for it's own EPG listings and, as I understand it, can be heavily fined if it is wrong.

It's not directly to do with Sky themselves.

Whereas the Tivo EPG is not under VM's direct control and is not dynamic.

[devilincarnate]

Originally Posted by carlwaring

The difference being that each broadcaster is responsible for it's own EPG listings and, as I understand it, can be heavily fined if it is wrong.

It's not directly to do with Sky themselves.

Whereas the Tivo EPG is not under VM's direct control and is not dynamic.

Very Very true

Glad you are back Carl and i said that you would be OK

[denphone]

Originally Posted by devilincarnate

Very Very true

Glad you are back Carl and i said that you would be OK

Nice to hear from good old Carl again.

[carlwaring]

Less of the "old" please. I'm only 40-something On second thoughts....

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by toady

Not if you want the start and end of your programme to be recorded correctly especially on the BBC channels at the moment with no default padding available

Just because there is no default padding doean you can't add it.

With a series link you only have to add it once. On single shows, you have to add it each time, but it takes seconds.

I'm not saying there shouldn't be the option of default padding, there should, but to say you're having problems with missing the begining and end of shows because you can't be bothered to add padding seems a little OTT.

Personally, I think the way Tivo handles padding is flawed and I don't use it. Hopefully, they'll make it act like the V+ and then I'll go back to using it, but there still needs to be a default padding option for those that do.

[toady]

I'd hope that with default padding that anything you record remotely from the website would be padded as at the moment there is no option to set padding while remote recording from the pub