So you finally made the plunge to a TiVo Premiere (or two). If you haven’t yet, maybe you are just looking for that last bit of information that will push you over the edge and cause you to break out the credit card and order one up. For the last article in our Hello TiVo series (see Related Articles below for previous posts), I bring to you a list of “Accessories” that can make your TiVo ownership a truly rewarding experience (not that it was lacking to begin with). These accessories aren’t what you’re thinking. I’m not trying to sell you expensive gadgets here, but educate you on some low-cost tools that will help you get the most out of your DVR.
Posts Tagged ‘HD’
Buh-Bye DirecTV, Hello TiVo – How I Ditched Cable – Part II
Monday, June 21st, 2010
The TiVo welcome screen finally lit up our HDTV, signaling the dawn of a new era and this experiment that I like to call Hello TiVo.
We’re back for the second segment in a series of articles on ditching cable and moving to a TiVo solution. So far, I’ve authored two articles on the subject and brought you my reasoning, preparation and installation (links below). Now, we pick up with The Reality of switching from the high-cost cable bill to a mix-n-match approach of keeping up with our favorite TV shows, cable series, movies and more.
- Cancel Your Cable/Satellite and Save Money While Adding Functionality
- Buh-Bye DirecTV, Hello TiVo – How I Ditched Cable
Our last article ended with the photo story of our TiVo units arriving, getting hooked up and powering on. After 3 weeks with the new TiVo Premiere units, I have some insight for others who might want to take the same plunge.
Buh-Bye DirecTV, Hello TiVo – How I Ditched Cable
Thursday, June 17th, 2010I love technology and gadgets. I also love saving money wherever I can. Unfortunately, these two passions rarely meet in the middle. That was, until the TiVo Premiere was released at the end of March 2010.
I had been a customer of DirecTV for almost 10 years, but the rising costs, pitiful DVR hardware, lack of room-to-room sharing and inability to download TV shows or movies on my schedule was getting old. We held on to the last DirecTV/TiVo box released by the company (HR10-250) as long as we could, but it was showing signs of failure. By the middle of May, I had read a number of reviews on the new TiVo hardware (the Premiere and Premiere XL) and heard way too many “no official release date or hardware specifications” announcements from DirecTV on their upcoming release of a new DirecTV/TiVo box. The time had come to take the plunge, so I put on my research hat and looked closely at my options as a TV fanatic.
Our HR10-250 Was Struggling to Hang On
After some serious research, I posted my findings in the article Cancel Your Cable/Satellite and Save Money While Adding Functionality. In short, it seemed that completely canceling DirecTV and going with two Tivo Premiere units, along with OTA (over the air) HD antennas, would provide us with what we needed. The upfront cost would be significant, but the savings would begin in just over a year and $56.42 a month would start going back into my bank account.
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Cancel Your Cable/Satellite and Save Money While Adding Functionality
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, I am a TV junkie. The problem is not that I spend too much time watching television or that I ignore other parts of life because of it. The problem is much worse. I am also a gadget junkie and an HD snob. Yes, I am willing to admit it. If a program is available in HD, I must have it over the standard definition option. If there is a new DVR or device that allows me to watch TV and/or movies on the go, I want it. These three problems mixed together have caused my cable bill to inflate steadily over the last decade and I have grown sick and tired of the bottom line. There has to be a better way and I think I have found it.
Where Can I Find That TV Show Online? – Personal Experience
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
Back in September, I wrote an article titled Where to turn when your DVR can’t keep up. At the time, I was truly excited about the opportunities presented to all of us that might want to use the web as a supplemental resource for our digital video recorders (DVR). Seven months have now flown by and we find ourselves nearing the end of the “traditional” TV season. Lost only has 5 episodes left and the discussions on which shows will be returning next season are already underway or completed. These last few weeks will be a bitter-sweet time for fans of any program as we approach the inevitable cliffhangers and finales. Unfortunately, some of our recommendations in the September article were simply bitter.
We are a 2-DVR family and both of our units were put through some serious stress-testing this season. Every so often, bad weather or a power outage caused one or both of our DVR units to miss a show, or at least a portion of it. Being the true television fans that we are, we didn’t want to miss out on important plot-lines and details, so we headed out to the world wide web, in search of the episode in question. In almost every situation, we found the solution on the web site of the television station itself. There were however a few situations that required additional searching. That’s where the fun really started.
