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Cynthetiq · 09-16-2004, 12:52 PM

When I decided to get a home theater system I wanted to do more time shifting than I had previously ever done. Supposedly there were technologies out there that would help me discover shows and programs that I enjoyed to watch but never seemed to find in the sea of cable channels.

If you already have seen a SmartFile VCR you know this ability to find shows is amazing. The SLV-M20HF is unique even among SmartFile VCRs because it has built-in TV Guide Plus+ (yep, two pluses) on-screen guide, VCRplus which was also an option. The system was visually based which made it really easy to figure out what to record and it also handled some basic conflict alerting.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/cynthetiq/VCR5.jpg" width=320 height=240>
When you want to record something, you just find it in the guide and select record. No need to specify start time, end time, day of week, channel, etc. Just point to the show and the VCR gets all the necessary information from the guide. Even better, since it has the show names, this is what is written to the SmartFile label when the show is recorded.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/cynthetiq/VCR6.jpg" width=320 height=240>
This shows the total amount of things that are queued up for regular recording.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/cynthetiq/VCR4.jpg" width=320 height=240>
To watch one of the shows, simply insert the tape into the VCR, highlight the name of the show, and press select on the remote. The VCR will locate the show on the tape, go to the start, and begin playing. If you have a number of tapes, you don't have to put them each into the VCR, you just wave them in front of the unit and voila it comes up on screen. There are even readers for those people who happened to have created vast libraries of SmartFile tapes.

Once we had setup the recordings and got enough tapes and smartfile labels, we were in time shifting business. We watched seasons of Buffy, X-files, Angel, Sopranos and other series. We didn't just watch one episode at a time, since we didn't have to watch it immediately sometimes a week or three would lapse between episodes so instead of watching a movie we'd have a mini-marathon. We watched almost 1/2 of Firefly that way until we heard that it was cancelled then we just erased the rest of the series we had recorded.

I remembered TiVo but was always so hesitant to move to the new technology, mostly due to the price considerations. It was costly to start up and the initial units were like 14 and 28 hour units. I had at least 60 hours worth of (10) VHS tapes that we cycled through. Series one had it's limitations and the talk about Series 2 and it's abilities to do remote scheduling via internet (something sorely missed on the VCR system), ability to play MP3, photos, and also pass items from one unit to another via a home network all conspired against me.

One day when I was in the hospital I found a good deal for TiVo on ebay. I won the bid for an 80 hour unit.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/cynthetiq/TivoWishlistCreate.jpg" width=320 height=240>
The most powerful thing that TiVo can do is wishlist. I can tell it any keyword, actor, director, etc, and it will find those programs and record them. It solves conflicts and records second or even third instances if there are conflicts in the recording schedule.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/cynthetiq/DTivoIPreview.jpg" width=320 height=240>
After the wishlist the thumbs up feature is supposed to be a great thing. As you watch programs you rate them thumbs up and thumbs down. This example is a commercial that is TiVo enabled and if you press thumbs up it records it automatically. No need to hunt down any VCR+ codes, TV Guide, etc.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/cynthetiq/TivoSuggestions.jpg" width=320 height=240>
It takes your ratings of thumbs up and thumbs down and then populates a suggestion list. I don't like the suggestions to record automatically myself, but I do peruse through the listings.

It has truly revolutionized the way that I watch TV, even more that the VCR did. (We even have two VCRs because it was hard not use smartfile, a reason that we now have 2 TiVos as it's hard to not have the pah-kuk-pah-kuk ability) The VCR for the most part is collecting dust. I'm thinking that I'm going to start laying some things off to tape and sending them off to friends in far away lands. Of course TiVo has this in mind for the future with TiVo2Go where you'll be able to record them to DVD and I'll then be able to ship shows to friends for the cost of a first class stamp.

When we first got Time Warner digital service we opted for the DVR service. I wanted to compare the abilities and while it does have dual tuner capabilities, I found it clunky and kludgy to use. The interface was difficult, the lack of simple things like group sorting made it maddening to find shows sometimes. The remote control buttons were the most frustrating, as they put the LIVE button next to the DVR controls so one finds themselves accidentally pressing the wrong button and thus interrupting their show because it now needs to be restarted.

I recently found a good sale at Circuit City of all places and got another TiVo for $50 and that's now in the bedroom. The best thing we can do now is transfer shows from one unit to another facilitating the ability for one person to be in one room and then when needing to go to bed can continue watching that show in the other room.

Initially I saw people putting huge drives into their TiVos and my own thought to it always has been that the TV doesn't own me. I own it. I would always wig out when I knew we had too many hours of programming to catch up with, from TiVo or from VHS tapes. Yet now, I'm thinking that I'm going to upgrade the original TiVo with a secondary drive. I'm going to wait to see just what the service upgrades happen over the next 6 months. Supposedly the new kernel supports hard drives > 137Gb so we'll see.

I've been reading more and more about TiVo's underground hacking community. They are extreme fans and aren't interested in pushing the legal envelope of the product. All topics on how to get "free" monthly service, extract video, or other items that border on the illegal side are frowned upon. Yes, there are some sites out there that do exist but to me they aren't all that interesting.

It's not all that interesting to "steal" the service, or even extract the video. If you really need encoded video there's better ways than TiVo.

I am amazed that people are interested in doing things like listening to <a href="http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=194869">Live Air Traffic Control through Tivo</a> or <a href="http://www.zirakzigil.net/tivo/TCSscreenshots.html">looking at weather radar, interest rates, and stock quotes.</a>

09-16-2004, 12:52 PM	#167 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	TV my way, from VCR to TiVo When I decided to get a home theater system I wanted to do more time shifting than I had previously ever done. Supposedly there were technologies out there that would help me discover shows and programs that I enjoyed to watch but never seemed to find in the sea of cable channels. If you already have seen a SmartFile VCR you know this ability to find shows is amazing. The SLV-M20HF is unique even among SmartFile VCRs because it has built-in TV Guide Plus+ (yep, two pluses) on-screen guide, VCRplus which was also an option. The system was visually based which made it really easy to figure out what to record and it also handled some basic conflict alerting. <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/cynthetiq/VCR5.jpg" width=320 height=240> When you want to record something, you just find it in the guide and select record. No need to specify start time, end time, day of week, channel, etc. Just point to the show and the VCR gets all the necessary information from the guide. Even better, since it has the show names, this is what is written to the SmartFile label when the show is recorded. <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/cynthetiq/VCR6.jpg" width=320 height=240> This shows the total amount of things that are queued up for regular recording. <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/cynthetiq/VCR4.jpg" width=320 height=240> To watch one of the shows, simply insert the tape into the VCR, highlight the name of the show, and press select on the remote. The VCR will locate the show on the tape, go to the start, and begin playing. If you have a number of tapes, you don't have to put them each into the VCR, you just wave them in front of the unit and voila it comes up on screen. There are even readers for those people who happened to have created vast libraries of SmartFile tapes. Once we had setup the recordings and got enough tapes and smartfile labels, we were in time shifting business. We watched seasons of Buffy, X-files, Angel, Sopranos and other series. We didn't just watch one episode at a time, since we didn't have to watch it immediately sometimes a week or three would lapse between episodes so instead of watching a movie we'd have a mini-marathon. We watched almost 1/2 of Firefly that way until we heard that it was cancelled then we just erased the rest of the series we had recorded. I remembered TiVo but was always so hesitant to move to the new technology, mostly due to the price considerations. It was costly to start up and the initial units were like 14 and 28 hour units. I had at least 60 hours worth of (10) VHS tapes that we cycled through. Series one had it's limitations and the talk about Series 2 and it's abilities to do remote scheduling via internet (something sorely missed on the VCR system), ability to play MP3, photos, and also pass items from one unit to another via a home network all conspired against me. One day when I was in the hospital I found a good deal for TiVo on ebay. I won the bid for an 80 hour unit. <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/cynthetiq/TivoWishlistCreate.jpg" width=320 height=240> The most powerful thing that TiVo can do is wishlist. I can tell it any keyword, actor, director, etc, and it will find those programs and record them. It solves conflicts and records second or even third instances if there are conflicts in the recording schedule. <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/cynthetiq/DTivoIPreview.jpg" width=320 height=240> After the wishlist the thumbs up feature is supposed to be a great thing. As you watch programs you rate them thumbs up and thumbs down. This example is a commercial that is TiVo enabled and if you press thumbs up it records it automatically. No need to hunt down any VCR+ codes, TV Guide, etc. <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/cynthetiq/TivoSuggestions.jpg" width=320 height=240> It takes your ratings of thumbs up and thumbs down and then populates a suggestion list. I don't like the suggestions to record automatically myself, but I do peruse through the listings. It has truly revolutionized the way that I watch TV, even more that the VCR did. (We even have two VCRs because it was hard not use smartfile, a reason that we now have 2 TiVos as it's hard to not have the pah-kuk-pah-kuk ability) The VCR for the most part is collecting dust. I'm thinking that I'm going to start laying some things off to tape and sending them off to friends in far away lands. Of course TiVo has this in mind for the future with TiVo2Go where you'll be able to record them to DVD and I'll then be able to ship shows to friends for the cost of a first class stamp. When we first got Time Warner digital service we opted for the DVR service. I wanted to compare the abilities and while it does have dual tuner capabilities, I found it clunky and kludgy to use. The interface was difficult, the lack of simple things like group sorting made it maddening to find shows sometimes. The remote control buttons were the most frustrating, as they put the LIVE button next to the DVR controls so one finds themselves accidentally pressing the wrong button and thus interrupting their show because it now needs to be restarted. I recently found a good sale at Circuit City of all places and got another TiVo for $50 and that's now in the bedroom. The best thing we can do now is transfer shows from one unit to another facilitating the ability for one person to be in one room and then when needing to go to bed can continue watching that show in the other room. Initially I saw people putting huge drives into their TiVos and my own thought to it always has been that the TV doesn't own me. I own it. I would always wig out when I knew we had too many hours of programming to catch up with, from TiVo or from VHS tapes. Yet now, I'm thinking that I'm going to upgrade the original TiVo with a secondary drive. I'm going to wait to see just what the service upgrades happen over the next 6 months. Supposedly the new kernel supports hard drives > 137Gb so we'll see. I've been reading more and more about TiVo's underground hacking community. They are extreme fans and aren't interested in pushing the legal envelope of the product. All topics on how to get "free" monthly service, extract video, or other items that border on the illegal side are frowned upon. Yes, there are some sites out there that do exist but to me they aren't all that interesting. It's not all that interesting to "steal" the service, or even extract the video. If you really need encoded video there's better ways than TiVo. I am amazed that people are interested in doing things like listening to <a href="http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=194869">Live Air Traffic Control through Tivo</a> or <a href="http://www.zirakzigil.net/tivo/TCSscreenshots.html">looking at weather radar, interest rates, and stock quotes.</a> __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!