Replacement for Fios dvr

[Tiamat]

Is tivo a good replacement for the verizon fios dvr? I don't need anything fancy, just easy to use. A channel guide and easy to use digital recording and playback. Netflix is already on the tv as an app. And that is the only software used for watching on demand. Just looking for what alternatives exist today. A htpc would not be desirable as most of its benefits would be under utilized.

Thanks!

 

[MrChad]

We have a TiVo HD unit that we use with FiOS. It works well enough. A couple of notes:

1. You won't be able to access On Demand content or PPV.
2. TiVo costs $12.95 / month for the channel guide info (cheaper if you prepay for a few years or get a lifetime subscription). You also need to rent a CableCard from Verizon for $3.99 / month. So you won't save much money versus the cost of renting a DVR from Verizon.

 

[JimmiiJ]

I have both. Note with the TiVo you can add storage, also off-load your recordings to watch elsewhere (or back at the tivo).
Tivo will record suggestions if you want it too, you can also use keyword(s) to create a 'channel'
I think overall Tivo is a more full-featured dvr appliance, but it will take a while to recoup the cost. (about 3 years for me)

 

[Tiamat]

Awe man, i didn't think to realize that Tivo might have a subscription fee...

I take it there are no simple boxes out there that have channel guide and DVR without any recurring fees associated?

 

[bobdole369]

Tivo...

Nope - Guide data has to come from "somewhere". EPG isn't reliable enough OTA to trust (often its only 24 hours or just plain wrong). Microsoft subsidizes Media Center stuff with its own listings free of charge, but everyone else relies on a paid service. MythTV for instance works very well with SchedulesDirect, but that is even $20 a year.

 

[Tiamat]

Ah ha! Im starting to understand why this costs a subscription, thanks for your reply! I guess the last time I watched TV (10 years ago) there was a channel specifically for acting like a guide (TV Guide channel?). I couldn't find that within the 180+ channels I have now which is quite overwhelming compared to the 30 I was used to getting 10 years ago...

I tried plugging in the coax from the feed directly into the TV, and boy was that annoying. Took like 5 minutes to scan and then there was no easy way to select a channel that might interest me. I guess I could try to write down the channel number of the appropriate channels on a piece of paper, but that is assuming the DVR box doesn't reassign channel numbers...

Thanks guys, looks like i might just have to stick with this verizon box. The Tivo has so many features I wouldn't use so the move to Tivo might not be worth it...

Tivo...

Nope - Guide data has to come from "somewhere". EPG isn't reliable enough OTA to trust (often its only 24 hours or just plain wrong). Microsoft subsidizes Media Center stuff with its own listings free of charge, but everyone else relies on a paid service. MythTV for instance works very well with SchedulesDirect, but that is even $20 a year.

 

[thedarkwolf]

I know you said no HTPC but Win7 channel guide is free. I went that way to stop paying comcast $18 a month for their DVR. Comcast gives you 1 free cable card. I use an older xbox in the living room as an extender so I don't have to have the computer in there.

 

[Tiamat]

Yeah, def. the htpc would sidestep monthly fees. Although, it is just one layer too deep for guests and parents to turn on the htpc, wait for it to boot up, and then watch TV or DVR programs (at least with my 8-10 year old htpc all-in-wonder ATI radeon knowledge). I'll keep it on the back of my mind as something to consider, seeing as there are ways to make it boot up faster (standby/solid state drives) and there are low-power chips available so that it isn't a terrible drain on the electricity bill if it were to be on all the time. I'll have to check with verizon to see if they can offer a free fios/cable card or whatever it might be called. Is this a PCI type card or is it just an external box usually?

I know you said no HTPC but Win7 channel guide is free. I went that way to stop paying comcast $18 a month for their DVR. Comcast gives you 1 free cable card. I use an older xbox in the living room as an extender so I don't have to have the computer in there.

 

[nsafreak]

You don't necessarily have to keep the htpc in the same room as the TV. You could use a WMC client and have it act as the front-end for the HTPC. I have my XBox 360 setup in this manner for DVD/Blu Rays that I have ripped to my HTPC and it's quite easy to navigate through the guide. Essentially the steps you'd be looking at (provided you used a Windows Media Center remote with the 360 or a Logitech or other programmed to work as one) would be to turn on the 360 & TV then hit the Windows Media Center button then scroll through the menu and selct Watch Live TV. Admittedly it still isn't cheap as you'd have to pay for the CableCARD tuner for your HTPC along with the 360 but it is an alternative.

 

[bobdole369]

Yeah, def. the htpc would sidestep monthly fees. Although, it is just one layer too deep for guests and parents to turn on the htpc, wait for it to boot up, and then watch TV or DVR programs (at least with my 8-10 year old htpc all-in-wonder ATI radeon knowledge). I'll keep it on the back of my mind as something to consider, seeing as there are ways to make it boot up faster (standby/solid state drives) and there are low-power chips available so that it isn't a terrible drain on the electricity bill if it were to be on all the time. I'll have to check with verizon to see if they can offer a free fios/cable card or whatever it might be called. Is this a PCI type card or is it just an external box usually?

You wouldn't turn it off. The DVR records programs as it sits during the day and while you watch other things.

Every cable provider using cablecard is required to provide at least one cablecard in installation areas where it is required to receive service. Uverse (and other video over IP) solutions often do NOT use cablecard. They aren't subject to the same laws. I'm not sure how Verizon works, but I understood FIOS was fiber right? (Maybe not fiber to the home) TiVO and every other cablecard device only work with coax.

A cablecard is the size of a credit card and is inserted into a TV, DVR, cable box, etc. It contains an ID and encryption stuff that permits whatever device its plugged into - to decrypt the stream coming over the cable.

Recently Robert Heron builtup a 4 tuner box using the first widely available cablecard tuner . (in that case its a pcie card with a cablecard slot, and 4 coax inputs).

One thing to note - you do not get "on-demand" or the inbuilt program guide or any pay per view events with anything but a cable company box.

Also if the software running on the HTPC is DLNA, you can fairly easily get an xbox or PS3 to act as the front-end. So you have the HTPC running in a back room, and view programs on the game console.

 

[Tiamat]

FIOS is fiber to the house, then coax internal of the house as far as I could see.

Thanks for the comments!