Tivo vs Cable HD-DVR

[Tin Ears]

Did I miss something? Time Warner wants $10/mo for an HD-DVR with no additional fees. An HD Tivo box will cost about $250 at Best Buy plus $12/mo to Tivo. Is there a difference significant enough between the two that should cause me to even consider getting a Tivo HD-DVR? Thanks.

 

[moggi1964]

I can only say that my Tivo HD is superb; never lets me down and the menu system is excellent. I can also view Netflix and Amazon Unbox through it and by paying a one time fee for software I can save stuff to my network that I want to keep.

Oh, and Youtube too

 

[Midcow2]

Neither - go with satellite DVR

Did I miss something? Time Warner wants $10/mo for an HD-DVR with no additional fees. An HD Tivo box will cost about $250 at Best Buy plus $12/mo to Tivo. Is there a difference significant enough between the two that should cause me to even consider getting a Tivo HD-DVR? Thanks.

I would change from cable to satellite if at all possible. The PQ is better on all channels.


Go with DirectTV or DishNetwork. I currently have DishNetwork with both 622 and 7ss DVRs and both are great . I alos recently added external 750 GB USB2.0 hardrives to both fro even greater storage capacity.

The thing about DVR, at least DisNetwork's DVRs, is that any show you are watching can be paused resumed even if you are not permanently recording.

Once you go from cable to satellite, you will never go back. Fiber optics, example AT&T's uVerse, is another very good option.

Good Luck,

MidCow2

 

[sgtpepper9]

I would change from cable to satellite if at all possible. The PQ is better on all channels.
MidCow2

Now I wouldn't say that as an absolute fact. Maybe in some cases it is true but in my experience I have found cable PQ to be on average better than satellite. Theres a hard line sending the video/audio information as opposed to satellite signals. As a result, I have found there to be far less interference in cable than satellite. That said however, some cable companies are good, some are not. Here at school, we have Cox cable which I find to be excellent. We have a lot of HD channels and the overall quality is good. However, at home at my parents house (about an hour away), they have Charter cable which is horrible. They are missing HD channels such as CBS and FOX which I think is inexcusable (especially if you like to watch football). So in conclusion, I suggest that if you have a good cable company to go with cable, if the service is poor from your local cable company, satellite would definitely be a better bet.

Now as for HD Tivo, from my personal experience with both Tivo (non-HD for me) and cable company provided HD-DVR, I would definitely go for the cable company DVR. Now I am not bashing Tivo in the slightest, it is by far more functional and has a sleeker interface but the added costs is not worth it to me. Also, Tivo tends to degrade the picture quality since the signal is first going to the Tivo box and then to the TV. Maybe this has been fixed or improved but I have not seen it recently. The cable provided DVR may not be as sleek or have as elegant of an interface, but it still does all the same basic recording and searching functions that Tivo does for considerably less money.

 

[Tin Ears]

Thanks everyone.

I’m currently happy with Time Warner’s picture quality and I also use their internet service for my business at home. I find it’s incredibly reliable and their cable modem service is unbelievably fast (approx. 10 mips), so I don’t want to switch or use another provider for HDTV if I can help it.

I guess I was suspicious. The price difference between a Tivo and cable HD-DVR seems so dramatic that I wondered what Tivo additionally offers and what I’d be missing. It sounds like not much, at least for my meager needs. This makes me wonder how Tivo competes long term, but that’s a question for another topic.

It appears there’s little risk to me in trying the Time Warner box because I can return it anytime and buy a Tivo if I’m truly dissatisfied, so that’s the direction I think I’m going to go. Thanks again.

Jeff

 

[cantabridge]

Fios

I have used satellite in the past and recently moved from Time Warner cable to Verizon Fios TV and Internet. The PQ is superior measured over 100% of the time. I heard there is no compression during the fibre optic transmissions. My gripe with Verizon has been with the channel guide and the DVR - we have had the Motorola QIP 6416 for over 18 months and liked it not. I just ordered two TIVO HD DVR's and will lease cablecards from Verizon. The cost won't be much different over 3 years although I had to stump up all the cash upfront including a 3 year subscription. I'm very happy with the Verizon FIOS signal and the fast Internet - just hope the TIVO's do a better job than the QIP 6416 DVR.

 

[bandphan]

I love tivo, but the only problem is the current lack of 2 way support so you lose Ppv and on demand with cable cards.

 

[shaunhood]

I have to say Time Warner dude. I've had it for years. Although I cannot say much about the other Tivo except that the added cost is not even close to worth it.

 

[Wildgift]

FWIW, the DCH-3416 TWC gave me is awful. Laggy and slow. PQ is ok, but the menus look like DOS all over again!

 

[bandphan]

I have to say Time Warner dude. I've had it for years. Although I cannot say much about the other Tivo except that the added cost is not even close to worth it.

Make the comment, explain.