Does anyone have a TIVO & a Starchoice satellite system? Does the combination have the full TIVO functionality, or is it quite limited (i.e. SeasonPass doesn't work, etc.)? Any experience on this would be greatly appreciated.
You can record the HD programming using the SD outputs of the receiver, of course it's just not in HD.
There are some very good threads here on the subject of recording HD to external SD class boxes that offer great insight into preserving the wide format and other useful tricks.
Recently got a Tivo and was wondering if there is a way to turn off the channel banner that appears on the DSR505 when you change the channels, or will I have to live with the Tivo banner and the SC banner both appearing when the channel is changed.
Thanks in advance.
1. I have older TiVos with older Starchoice receivers. I have a new 505, but haven't yet attempted to mate it with my TiVo.
2. That is correct for any digital only service, Starchoice being one of them. Dual tuners require analog cable.
3. It is transferred in an encrypted MPEG2 file format. It is easy to pull the file, and to remove the encryption, but it is a funny MPEG2 that needs processed to play on some things.
4. Yes, US purchased Series 2 TiVos will work fine in Canada.
Unless you want to hack the box a bit (newer boxes have security protection preventing system hacks), there is no reason to get an older Series 2 box. Series 1 boxes don't have the Canadian postal code entry screen, and the HD models are next to useless in Canada, as they have no digital OTA guide data for Canada, don't digitally work on Canadian cable (no Cablecards here), nor work with satellite or cable boxes.
I am running my TiVo with a DSR505 and it works great. Also the guide data for the TiVo is for like 3 weeks, alot better than the SC IPG last I checked.
tivo says that you can transfer content to your computer with ease and onto ipod or psp etc. Are you saying that's not the case? You have to hack it first?
HEALEY, you can watch something that is recorded on the TiVo and record something else at the same time. As for transferring stuff to a PC I do it all the time. If you want to put it on DVD or on a ipod, etc. you need the TiVo desktop plus software which costs $25. The basic TiVo Desktop software is free and lets you transfer recordings to a PC, but you need a TiVo USB network adapter to do this.
The TiVo has around 2 weeks of guide data, I find about the nearest week reasonably accurate, the week out a bit sparse.
You don't need to hack the TiVo itself.
You don't need the TiVo adapter, but if you want to go wireless, it is the recommended choice. If you have a Series 2 DT, it has a built in Ethernet adapter. Older Series 2s need a separate ethernet adapter, or can use the TiVo wireless adapter. Series 2s can use some other wireless adapters, but it isn't worth the hassle looking for them, and having to use WEP..
Not sure of the actual format. When you highlight a file in the My Tivo Recordings in your documents folder on your PC, it says Tivo Recording. Must be some type of avi because it uses Windows Media Player.
It plays in WMP becasue it its decryption engine is a DirectShowFilter, not becasue it is some sort of AVI. A program called DirectShowDump takes advantage of that fact, and makes out it is a video player, outputting an unencrypted almost MPEG 2 file.
TiVo Desktop Plus (you pay $US25 or so) has built in conversion for iPod, and loads it into iTunes for you. iTunes cannot import an .tivo file directly, since it doesn't use Directshow (I believe iTunes uses some media system based around Quicktime).
So if I was to purchase a Tivo Series two on ebay (lifetime sub included) it should work with my starchoice 505 without any issues? i.e., the subscription should work in canada?
It should work just fine and as for single or dual tuner, you can only use one tuner with star choice so single would work fine. If you wanted to change to cable down the road you may want a dual tuner model.
Great info here in this thread.
I too have a DSR505. I was considering a TiVo but really need to know if when they say "Dual Tuner" it will let you watch say live TV, and record a show in the background? Or just watch recorded material and record at the same time?
For some reason I can't seem to find the answer to this, and sorry if it has been asked before...
A dual tuner Series 2 TIVO will let you watch live TV and record on another channel at the same time, as well as watch another recorded show while you record another. Problem is it will read only one digital signal and the other must be analog - cable. To get around this, I purchased an older SC receiver and hooked it up separately to my TIVO and record with this receiver in the background while I watch TV on my HD 505 receiver. Not sure how the TIVO HD dual tuners work.
I do have multiple receivers, and could use one for this. But from what you are saying, it is necessary to have 2 StarChoice receivers hooked up to the TiVo to watch live tv and record at the same time?
The Series 2 DT supports only one box at all. Dual tuners on it needs cable. That said, you can manually use a second box on the cable input, should you choose to do that.
I have always (since I got a TiVo) had a second receiver I watched direct if I had to. I still do, but being an HD receiver, I watch it a bit more.
The Series 3/TiVo HDs only record from antenna or cable directly. They do not work from a box at all.
Thanks for the replies, very much appreciated.
Makes it easier to figure out which way I should go.
Steve
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