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TIVO & Starchoice

26K views 74 replies 28 participants last post by  saint912 
#1 ·
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.
 
#2 ·
If you're looking for TIVO-like functionality but full compatability with Star Choice, consider building your own PVR using a Hauppage PVR-150 capture card and BeyondTV 3 software. You get an IR blaster to control the Star Choice receiver and BeyondTV provides their own guide where you can "record all episodes", "record new episodes", etc, along with searchable Guide and the usual play/pause features.
 
#4 ·
dks said:
I love the Guide features of that device, but is the Hauppage PVR-150 high def?
No.

Another thing to consider if you do choose this route.......

You better be comfortable setting up and tweaking computer hardware and software. ( in other words, a geek or at least a geek wannabe).

BTV works great, once you fine tune and iron out any bugs. Few people have been able to build one of these and have it run flawlessly from the get go. It took me a while to fine tune my system. Power supply issues, cheap memory issues, poor planning (I assumed a mobo with an S-Video out would be good enough, NOT!).

Most of the problems I had were related to hardware issues. You have to plan the system well and do plenty of research.

Apparently the MCE 2005 systems run pretty well right out of the box, from what I've read in different forums. I have no experience with them myself. The systems come pre-built but are a little on the expensive side, when compared to a DIY system.

The other options are......doesn't Starchoice have a PVR unit now?

TIVO is coming to Canada(apparently) and if so I'm sure they will carry all the major cable/satellite guide information. The guide information is already out there is cyberland so it would be a given that TIVO would be able to include it in there configurations.
 
#7 ·
Tivo, nah!

So how many Canadians are willing to pay the monthly service fee?
A stand alone Tivo, or Replay for that matter still takes your pure MPEG-2 digital signal, drops it to analog in the STB, re-encodes it in the Tivo for the hard drive, then plays it out again analog for your TV.

Then having to use an external guide system.
The integration of the recording technology in the STB with the guide and storage of raw MPEG-2 is far superior.

But, with the price of DSR505's and a Cheap Tivo, maybe it's worth it.
 
#10 ·
cellarboy said:
It wouldn't make any difference. Even a HD Tivo wouldn't be able to record HD from SC, Bell or the local cable company for that matter. The Tivo would have to have the broadcaster's receiver integrated into it to do that.
If you have satellite or digital cable you don't use Tivo all by itself. You still need the set top box from your provider.

The Tivo controls your existing box by changing it to the appropriate channel/time (using it's own guide data) and records the output from the box onto it own hard drive for playback .

Why wouldn't an HD Tivo be able to record HD output from your set top box the same as it does all the other digital channels?
 
#12 ·
TIVO like

I have the PVR set up as indicated Hauppauge pvr150 with BTV and it works pretty well. Definitely the closest thing, if not better than TIVO. Only problem is viewing on an LCD Monitor. I would prefer watching it on TV thus where TIVO comes in. How much are these things? 99??
 
#13 ·
dks said:
TIVO just needs to upgrade their units to HD and we'll be all set! Bye Bye Motorola.
They are working on an HD digital cable unit, which will hopefully work with OTA digital as well, which has built in digital tuner(s) that work with a Cablecard for pay cable.
Robobob said:
Why wouldn't an HD Tivo be able to record HD output from your set top box the same as it does all the other digital channels?
There will very likely no HD video input standalone DVR, only ones that tune an already digital signal from a provider, like satellite and cable DVRs already do.

There are discusions elsewhere on this board as to why there won't be DVRs with HD video input (check the HD section)
 
#15 ·
But if someone just has standard definition TV, not HDTV, Tivo would work well.

Now just how to figure out how to keep the surround sound from the satellite box going to the amp while still having the ability to use the Tivo for stored programs, albeit with standard audio....
 
#16 ·
cellarboy said:
It wouldn't make any difference. Even a HD Tivo wouldn't be able to record HD from SC, Bell or the local cable company for that matter. The Tivo would have to have the broadcaster's receiver integrated into it to do that.
I dunno. Just like everything else changes, I'm sure TIVO would have to change the way they are doing things now should they happen to offer an HD version of their box. They would have to start thinking outside of the box (excuse the pun). The TIVO HD box would need to accept an HDMI or DVI feed and then it would record from that, not from S-Video or Composite. It would not be an HD TIVO if it could not accept an HD feed from the receiver.
 
#17 ·
Ecklund said:
Only problem is viewing on an LCD Monitor. I would prefer watching it on TV thus where TIVO comes in. How much are these things? 99??
Do you have a graphics card with TV out? (comp. S-Video) I use the RADEON 9600XT and I can switch back and forth between my monitor and my TVs. I actually have an "in-house" cable system where I split the signal to a coax out and run a coax to all the TV's in the house. I can watch my recorded shows on any TV in the house. Only problem with that setup is every tv shows the same thing. I use other technologies to diversify the content on the other tv's. (xbox, sat. etc).
 
#18 ·
Ecklund said:
I have the PVR set up as indicated Hauppauge pvr150 with BTV and it works pretty well. Definitely the closest thing, if not better than TIVO. Only problem is viewing on an LCD Monitor. I would prefer watching it on TV thus where TIVO comes in. How much are these things? 99??
I use the RCA-output on the cheapy graphics card (Radeon 9250?) to output it to my 27" TV. Looks good on there!
 
#20 ·
Ouput

revsiriusiakin said:
Do you have a graphics card with TV out? (comp. S-Video) I use the RADEON 9600XT and I can switch back and forth between my monitor and my TVs. I actually have an "in-house" cable system where I split the signal to a coax out and run a coax to all the TV's in the house. I can watch my recorded shows on any TV in the house. Only problem with that setup is every tv shows the same thing. I use other technologies to diversify the content on the other tv's. (xbox, sat. etc).

Hmmm I think I have an output yes but a pain in the ass to add the cable. :) My graphics card is a GeoForce 5200 I believe.
 
#21 ·
Ecklund said:
Hmmm I think I have an output yes but a pain in the ass to add the cable. :) My graphics card is a GeoForce 5200 I believe.
I'm fairly sure the Geforce 5200 has a TV-OUT.

Why? Is the TV in another room? A lot of people with BTV setups have their computers in another room and run lines to the TVs. I've read of some setups where the s-video is fairly long (30 feet). Remember, you will need to get the sound there as well. Most HTPC'ers have the computer in the same room as the TV but these are usually dedicated BTV servers. There are as many solutions as their are setups for resolving this. Even wireless options to get the signal to your TV. The most limiting factor is money, as usual.
 
#22 ·
Money makes the world go round

Yah if there is a will there is a way most times but yes my computer is in one room and TV in another. And yes, audio cables are the reall problem. I could boar holes through my wall though but I really don't wanna put holes in them LOL brand new condo here.

I guess I will have to think about things and perhaps in due time I will accomplish this. And yes money too is a factor as always. :D If you have enough money you can do anything and buy anything.
 
#23 ·
dks said:
I dunno. Just like everything else changes, I'm sure TIVO would have to change the way they are doing things now should they happen to offer an HD version of their box. They would have to start thinking outside of the box (excuse the pun). The TIVO HD box would need to accept an HDMI or DVI feed and then it would record from that, not from S-Video or Composite. It would not be an HD TIVO if it could not accept an HD feed from the receiver.
The lawyers wouldn't let them though, and it will be costly. The best they can do to make a publically acceptable HD DVR is cablecard direct cable/antenna digital recorder.
 
#24 ·
classicsat said:
The lawyers wouldn't let them though, and it will be costly. The best they can do to make a publically acceptable HD DVR is cablecard direct cable/antenna digital recorder.
How about this to really make the legal folks' heads spin... a satellite tuner pci card (HD compatible of course). I'd far prefer this to a set-top PVR, or a TiVo device. You can get such cards for free to air, though I think they are still only SD. I'd pay some fairly substantial coin for this if *C were ever to come out with one, as all my HTPC can do right now, given my particular setup, is record from the "coax out" signal, which is really not exceptional quality.

It's about time TV providers got in-step with what is happening in the digital living room (a la HTPC's) and found a way to satisfy the copyright holders' issues.
 
#25 ·
dks said:
I dunno. Just like everything else changes, I'm sure TIVO would have to change the way they are doing things now should they happen to offer an HD version of their box. They would have to start thinking outside of the box (excuse the pun). The TIVO HD box would need to accept an HDMI or DVI feed and then it would record from that, not from S-Video or Composite. It would not be an HD TIVO if it could not accept an HD feed from the receiver.

Component is also capable of HD just in Analogue format vs. HDMI and DVI digital. So it would be possible to record HD on an HD TIVO through Component but it would require some serious horsepower which would make the box very expensive.
 
#26 ·
dmryglod said:
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.
I have had my Tivo hooked to my Starchoice for over a year now with some fancy hacking to get the guide data. I now paid a lifetime subcription and "went legit". All functions of the TiVo work with Starchoice as long as you have the IR channel changing thinging set up to change the SC Box. Of course the SD channels record fine and HD records fine and plays back fine if you have an upconverting HD TV. (My Toshiba does this). When watching HD through the Tivo on Live TV you get a smaller screen centered in the middle.

One thing not mentioned often is that the Tivo plus Tivo desktop allow some fancy stuff like listening to MP3s and veiwing photos from your computer if you have your TiVo networked. Also scheduling shows from work over the internet is cool and multi room viewing and transfering shows from TiVo to your desktop and burning a DVD for that roadtrip to keep the kids entertained is nice. I can live without recording true HD until some of these perks are available from Starchoice recorders.

Third party desktop software allows me to stream Internet radio stations as well. Hope that helps
 
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