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TiVos for HD OTA in Canada

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359K views 1K replies 137 participants last post by  Jase88 
#1 ·
all of these DVD recorders seem to record in either EDTV or SDTV but not HDTV
To record HDTV you're not going to get much on a single layer DVD (cheapest media). If you're going to use DL you might as well get a BDU subscription, because at current prices if you record a few one hour shows per week, you could almost get a HD PVR from a BDU.

I'm hoping (fingers crossed behind back) that someone will come out with a HDTV PVR with an ATSC tuner - other than the Tivo 3 (which stampeder I think you forgot to mention in the list above). At least one DHCer (Dajad) is using a Tivo 3 as his ATSC tuner/PVR. Unfortunately, and I'm really not trying to troll here, the Tivo 3 IMHO is overpriced for Canadians as we cannot (legally) take advantage of all the functionality the Tivo3 offers. Still a great STB /PVR for those who can afford it.

cheers,
99gecko
 
#1,021 ·
It is easy enough to leave a HTPC on 24/7 and have it automatically power up after a power outage so that it is always available. Alternately you can save power by having it shutdown when it isn't needed and start up automatically to record or turn it on via remote control when you want to watch TV (boot times are very fast with an SSD boot drive).

The other advantage of an HTPC is capacity. My HTPC case can house 4 hard drives (plus I could probably find a separate spot for an SSD boot drive if I needed to). I currently have a 3TB data drive and plan on adding a 6TB drive in time for the winter Olympics (I am already running low on space). If I do run out of drive bays, it is easy to consolidate the recordings from older, smaller drives to newer larger ones, or I could add USB or NAS drives, or I could setup a second backend in the basement for additional storage. I am not sure how easy it is to do all these things with a TiVo.
 
#1,022 ·
Tivo doesn't appear to consume that much power. It is on 24/7 though. I just upgraded my TiVo's hard drive from a 320 GB drive to a 2 TB drive. It sure gives me a lot of space for shows. I will save shows I want to keep to my NAS drive. Using a program for my iMac called TiVo Transfer, I can select one or a bunch of shows and archive them to any drive on the LAN network.
 
#1,024 ·
Four tuner OTA Tivo Series 5 model mentioned in The Verge

Let's hope that they've eliminated the Premiere's multipath problems...

"Beyond supporting digital cable via CableCARD, TiVo intends some of these new products to also tune digital over-the-air (OTA) broadcasts via antenna. Whereas only the existing two-tuner Premiere currently offers this feature, sources tell The Verge that OTA tuning will be supported by an upcoming four-tuner "Series 5" DVR."
 
#1,026 ·
Just got notified by Tivo that channel 23-2 Buffalo is now on the air. The guide calls it a CBS station but it will probably take about two weeks to update the guide. I have seen a movie and the newlywed game
I could not tell what format in was broadcasting (480 720 or 1080)as it was not listed in the guide. If you presently receive 23-1 you should receive 23-2
 
#1,028 ·
23-2 Bounce

Pleasantly surprised my guide was working July 6th. The format is 480 too bad it would be a nice addition if true HD
Very similar programming content at NBC 2-2. Many old movies which I have not seen from the 70/80 will keep the pvr working on a regular basis.
 
#1,029 ·
Sharing some recent experience...

I recently had a Tivo Premiere shipped to me, and activated it in west end Toronto. Works very well. Activation was simple, understood my postal code with no issues. Channel lineup fairly accurate, had to mask out some channels that my antenna doesn't get.

Same reception results as the HD Homerun & MythTV combo I've been experimenting with. Nearly identical usage experience to the Tivo Series 2 that my family is accustomed to - menus are now in HD and there's extra material on the screen.

Netflix works through the Tivo. I wasn't sure from the research i did before buying whether this would be true.

Whisper quiet, even quieter than the Zotac HTPC box I have.

Overall, two thumbs up, great device and experience for OTA.
 
#1,030 ·
TiVo Tuner Dying?

Been loving my Premiere using OTA since February 2013.

One problem that has snuck up on me is that I have Season Passes set for virtual channels 5.1 and 9.1 to catch the news at 11:00 PM daily and channel 9.1 has begun to pixelate and break up during the first 15 minutes or so and then appears to clear up. (This 15 minutes also appears to be getting longer, I first noticed it being around 3 minutes)

This happens whether watching "live" or the recording.

Both channels are local, coming from the CN Tower and channel 5.1 has no problem whatsoever.

While this is happening, if I change the channel 9.1 tuner to channel 19.1 and then change the channel 5.1 tuner to 9.1 it is OK.

To me this sounds as if one of the tuners is malfunctioning or dying except it only happens on certain channels (57.1 is another). Does anyone have any other thoughts or ideas?
 
#1,031 ·
This sounds like your Tivo is fine. It may be an antenna aim issue and/or related to summer reception.
 
#1,033 ·
Maybe there is a slight difference between the tuners, but still, try tweaking your antenna a little bit back toward Toronto and see if the problem resolves itself.

I'm not sure how a tuner could fail. I'm not sure I've ever heard of it. Certainly I've never had a TV (NTSC) in my life where one of the channels became "out of tune."
 
#1,034 ·
HWP:
I agree, I've never heard of a tuner failing either, but I'd also never heard of a man walking on the moon prior to it happening either so it seems anything may be possible.

I would prefer a common problem to a first time event. In any case Something in my TiVo is not functioning as expected.
 
#1,036 ·
My guess is the two tuners have their own personalities. I think your best chance of satisfaction will be a tweak of the antenna's aim back toward Toronto. Good luck!
 
#1,037 ·
Is the TiVo Premiere smart enough to only use one tuner when recording two programmes on different sub channels of the same physical channel (thus potentially allowing you to record more than 2 programmes at once)? Not a big deal here in Canada where sub-channels are rarely used, but still a nice feature when it can be used (it can also allow back to back recordings on the same channel to allow the first recording to end late and the second to start early without tying up both tuners).
 
#1,040 ·
It's really odd how TiVo always supported antenna until we got HD OTA. Since then they came out with a TiVo Premiere 4 XL which did not allow antenna, and now these 2 that don't support antenna.

Maybe I'm missing something but that does not seem like a smart business move. You would think they would be embracing this new age of HD digital signal over the air instead of turning their back on it. Maybe they feel customers are subscribing to cable more? In Canada we are out of luck with that. Even if most people are subscribers to cable TV service, that could change at any time with more and more electronic devices allowing streaming from various sources. Many may drop cable TV in favour of watching TV over the air in conjunction with an Apple TV or some similar device. Their new devices don't seem to be future proof, which is disappointing. I won't be rushing out to get their basic new PVR. There's not much that it does that my current Premieres don't do already!
 
#1,041 ·
This new model looks interesting. I like the addition of Hulu Plus, the reported processor boost to speed things up, and the announced "outside-the-home" remote viewing on tablets when combined with a Stream box.

I couldn't find any information on external disk drives - The box only comes with a 500Gb drive, and the site links to the old 1Tb WD external drive. I wonder if they will be offering larger external drives.

I'm looking forward to seeing a review of the OTA tuner capabilities, and hoping for a fix to the multipath issue on the current Premiere models!
 
#1,042 ·
The box only comes with a 500Gb drive, and the site links to the old 1Tb WD external drive.
I don't understand why they still use such small drives, especially for a new product. With 4 tuners, you are going to fill a 500GB drive in no time and a 1TB extender is hardly much of a boost. 2TB is the norm these days and drives are only getting larger and larger (we are starting to see 4TB drives and 5TB drives are coming soon). TiVo really seems to be well behind the curve.
 
#1,043 ·
The new boxes look good. Only real interesting one is the basic roamio for canadian use. My only small drawback is no analog. Officially, not an issue as I no longer have cable. If the tuner works good, i will replace one of my premiere with it. Able to record 4 ota at the same time has some appeals. As for drive space, I have a terabyte extender and it is more than sufficient for my need as it can be easily transferred to computer and ipad as needed.

Seems like Tivo is going more for cable users that don't care about OTA and using the mini as multiroom viewing.

If I would be starting anew, basic roamio, stream and a mini would be the way to go.

As i have the stream, i am looking forward to srtreaming away from home (coming soon).
 
#1,045 ·
I've been searching for reviews of the Roamio OTA tuner. Here's a quote that I found in the Tivo community discussion pages:

"Hey Guys, I'm happy to report the tuner is a million times better than the premier. No more issues with high signal channels interfering with low signal channels. I was able to remove a splitter I was using to downgrade my signal. The tuner is just as good as my Samsung TV...enjoy!!"
 
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