Directv Tivo questions

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

>>I don't have a Directivo w/ dual tuners, but
>
>
> But Randy is going to spew some gibberrish anyway.
>
> Thanks a lot Randy, you're a big help.
>
> Sean

Amazing, the information I provided turned out to be exactly right!?
What do you know, it seems to be possible to learn information and pass
it on without actually having to personally experience it! Sure makes
history teachers' jobs easier, does't it?

I said that at the top of my post because I realize (unlike you) that
I'm not infallible and since I couldn't test the answer I had no way of
confirming it. I was 99% sure of the answer, but I had the humility and
the honesty to post a caveat. I was also trying to convey that others
who *do* own a Directivo should correct and expand on my response.
Which they did (expand that is) very nicely.

Randy S.

 

[seth]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

"Sean" <none> wrote in message
news:54rc61peje6ffsg33d6mbm7ehh67095u94@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 22:15:39 -0400, "Randy S."
> <rswittNO@SPAMgmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>I don't have a Directivo w/ dual tuners, but
>
> But Randy is going to spew some gibberrish anyway.
>
> Thanks a lot Randy, you're a big help.

Actually he was a help. The info he gave was correct.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

Randy S. <rswittNO@spamgmail.com> wrote:
> I don't have a Directivo w/ dual tuners, but I'd imagine what's
> happening is that it has a 30 minute buffer for each tuner. In the
> first instance you describe (flipping to another channel and the buffer
> is gone), you are probably changing the channel on the tuner you are
> watching which will empty the buffer when you choose a new channel. In
> the second instance (viewing a different channel, but the original
> buffer is *retained*) you are probably flipping between the two
> *tuners*, thus you are not changing channels on either tuner and neither
> buffer is being reset.

The missing piece is that you _think_ you have two separate controls on a
DirecTivo.
1- LiveTV or Down Arrow to switch tuners
2- Channel up/down or number pad to change channels on a tuner.

The problem is that while "1" always swaps tuners, "2" will also swap
tuners if the other tuner is already on the channel you are requesting.

If you don't remain aware of that, your buffer can be lost for a
channel that you wanted to buffer.


--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5

 

[sinner]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

* Sean Wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:

> On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 22:15:39 -0400, "Randy S."
> <rswittNO@SPAMgmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>I don't have a Directivo w/ dual tuners, but
>
> But Randy is going to spew some gibberrish anyway.
>
> Thanks a lot Randy, you're a big help.
>
> Sean

Yet he was on the money, unlike you who has never owned a Tivo and yet
you seem to be intimately knowledgeable of the whole product line. Yeah
you're right, oust Ramsey and get shawnie boi in ther right quick now
ya hear?

--
David

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

In article <Xns963EA0ECCE322Louiscypherhellorg@140.99.99.130>, SINNER
<arcade.master@googlemail.net> wrote:

> * Sean Wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
>
> > On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 22:15:39 -0400, "Randy S."
> > <rswittNO@SPAMgmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >>I don't have a Directivo w/ dual tuners, but
> >
> > But Randy is going to spew some gibberrish anyway.
> >
> > Thanks a lot Randy, you're a big help.
> >
> > Sean
>
> Yet he was on the money, unlike you who has never owned a Tivo and yet
> you seem to be intimately knowledgeable of the whole product line. Yeah
> you're right, oust Ramsey and get shawnie boi in ther right quick now
> ya hear?


No, he said he has a TiVo. He keeps it in the closet, where all his
friends live. Don't you remember?

What we don't know is how long Sean has been out of the closet.

 

[sinner]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

* Sean Wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:

> READ: Upgraded for FREE.

Read: Not necessary for Tivo because I own the box and can repair it
without their help or thier restrictions.

--
David

 

[danr]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

Thanks to all of you for your help. I'm getting the hang of this contraption.
After getting the 2nd cable hooked up after owning the box for a few days I
wanted ALL the features to work. I couldn't figure out the buffering and the
manual isn't very clear about this. I expect that the "live TV" button will work
best for me as I can bounce back and forth quickly. Using the down arrow
requires me to wait for the station info super to timeout. After living with the
Directivo for a while the buffer issue may not be that important but it is odd
that it can be lost if one is not careful. (setting both tuners to the same
channel) Everything else is very slick and pausing live TV is a hoot for someone
who never had that capability before.

DanR wrote:
> What is the logic behind the buffered ½ hour that is saved for two channels
> with the Directivo dual tuners? I would expect it to buffer the two most
> recently viewed channels. It doesn't seem to do that. Example: I'm flipping
> through channels and stop on one and watch it for a minute for two. Then I
> directly switch to another channel and watch it for a minute or two. When I
> return to the previous channel the buffer is completely empty. If I return to
> a channel that I had been watching earlier the buffered program is still
> there. I would like to be able to switch back and forth between two channels
> and have both of them buffered.
> I suppose I'll learn about this after playing around with the box for a few
> days... but I hate to wait.
>
> DanR wrote:
>> I am an existing Direct TV customer who until today had the old RCA receiver.
>> Just bought the Direct TV tivo at Best Buy today. Model R10 80GB drive. I
>> have a few questions for you folks.
>> Is there just one quality setting? I seem to recall people talking about
>> various quality settings in the past.
>> I could have sworn, reading the manual that somewhere it mentioned max
>> recording time as "up to X minutes". Now that I'm dazed from reading the
>> entire book I can't find that paragraph. So I'm wondering... if there is only
>> one quality setting and the hard drive is 80GB why would the recording time
>> vary. Does it use variably bit rate?
>> And... I signed up for the TIVO service... but did I really have to? What
>> functions would I not have had I not signed up for TIVO? Could I still pause
>> live TV? Could I still record selected shows? Would I not have the "guide"?
>> At this time I only have a single LNB dish. Next week installation person
>> will fix me up so I can use the dual tuners. Silly question but here goes.
>> With the dual tuners I can record a show and watch a show at the same time.
>> I can record two shows at the same time but can not watch a different
>> channel while recording 2 shows. Is this correct?
>> The RCA receiver had settings for multiple people. I could choose NOT to show
>> channels in the guide that I don't ever watch for me and other family member
>> could do likewise for them. Is that feature gone from the DTV Tivo boxes>
>> I will re-read the manual tomorrow and experiment but would appreciate any
>> help.

 

[danr]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

DanR wrote:
> Thanks to all of you for your help. I'm getting the hang of this contraption.
> After getting the 2nd cable hooked up after owning the box for a few days I
> wanted ALL the features to work. I couldn't figure out the buffering and the
> manual isn't very clear about this. I expect that the "live TV" button will
> work best for me as I can bounce back and forth quickly. Using the down arrow
> requires me to wait for the station info super to timeout. After living with
> the Directivo for a while the buffer issue may not be that important but it
> is odd that it can be lost if one is not careful. (setting both tuners to the
> same channel) Everything else is very slick and pausing live TV is a hoot for
> someone who never had that capability before.
>

But wait... My buffer is NOT being destroyed. Say I watch channel 2 for a while
and build up a buffer. Then I switch tuners using the "live TV" button. Now I'm
on some other channel with some leftover buffer. Then without switching tuners I
manually (or channel up/down) select channel 2 and happily my buffer is still
there.
For what it's worth my software version is 6.1-01-2-521

> DanR wrote:
>> What is the logic behind the buffered ½ hour that is saved for two channels
>> with the Directivo dual tuners? I would expect it to buffer the two most
>> recently viewed channels. It doesn't seem to do that. Example: I'm flipping
>> through channels and stop on one and watch it for a minute for two. Then I
>> directly switch to another channel and watch it for a minute or two. When I
>> return to the previous channel the buffer is completely empty. If I return to
>> a channel that I had been watching earlier the buffered program is still
>> there. I would like to be able to switch back and forth between two channels
>> and have both of them buffered.
>> I suppose I'll learn about this after playing around with the box for a few
>> days... but I hate to wait.
>>
>> DanR wrote:
>>> I am an existing Direct TV customer who until today had the old RCA
>>> receiver. Just bought the Direct TV tivo at Best Buy today. Model R10 80GB
>>> drive. I have a few questions for you folks.
>>> Is there just one quality setting? I seem to recall people talking about
>>> various quality settings in the past.
>>> I could have sworn, reading the manual that somewhere it mentioned max
>>> recording time as "up to X minutes". Now that I'm dazed from reading the
>>> entire book I can't find that paragraph. So I'm wondering... if there is
>>> only one quality setting and the hard drive is 80GB why would the recording
>>> time vary. Does it use variably bit rate?
>>> And... I signed up for the TIVO service... but did I really have to? What
>>> functions would I not have had I not signed up for TIVO? Could I still pause
>>> live TV? Could I still record selected shows? Would I not have the "guide"?
>>> At this time I only have a single LNB dish. Next week installation person
>>> will fix me up so I can use the dual tuners. Silly question but here goes.
>>> With the dual tuners I can record a show and watch a show at the same time.
>>> I can record two shows at the same time but can not watch a different
>>> channel while recording 2 shows. Is this correct?
>>> The RCA receiver had settings for multiple people. I could choose NOT to
>>> show channels in the guide that I don't ever watch for me and other family
>>> member could do likewise for them. Is that feature gone from the DTV Tivo
>>> boxes>
>>> I will re-read the manual tomorrow and experiment but would appreciate any
>>> help.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

DanR <dhr22@sorrynospm.com> wrote:

> But wait... My buffer is NOT being destroyed. Say I watch channel 2 for a
> while and build up a buffer. Then I switch tuners using the "live TV"
> button. Now I'm on some other channel with some leftover buffer. Then
> without switching tuners I manually (or channel up/down) select channel 2
> and happily my buffer is still there.

You're watching channel 2, and it goes to commercial. You switch to the
other tuner and start surfing, and stumble onto channel 2 which causes a
tuner swap. Channel 2 is on commercial, so you continue surfing. You lost
the buffer on channel 2. The other tuner has the buffer for the last
channel you were on before 2.

---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

dold@XReXXDirec.usenet.us.com wrote:
> DanR <dhr22@sorrynospm.com> wrote:
>
>
>>But wait... My buffer is NOT being destroyed. Say I watch channel 2 for a
>>while and build up a buffer. Then I switch tuners using the "live TV"
>>button. Now I'm on some other channel with some leftover buffer. Then
>>without switching tuners I manually (or channel up/down) select channel 2
>>and happily my buffer is still there.
>
>
> You're watching channel 2, and it goes to commercial. You switch to the
> other tuner and start surfing, and stumble onto channel 2 which causes a
> tuner swap. Channel 2 is on commercial, so you continue surfing. You lost
> the buffer on channel 2. The other tuner has the buffer for the last
> channel you were on before 2.

You know, I can see why they designed it like that (figuring that nobody
would want to buffer the same station twice), but I think they should
change it, it's just not as intuitive in actual practice. Better to let
a non-optimal situation occur once in a while (i.e. buffering the same
station twice) rather than risk the user blowing away a buffer they
might have wanted.

Randy S.

 

[danr]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

True. Buffer gone.

dold@XReXXDirec.usenet.us.com wrote:
> DanR <dhr22@sorrynospm.com> wrote:
>
>> But wait... My buffer is NOT being destroyed. Say I watch channel 2 for a
>> while and build up a buffer. Then I switch tuners using the "live TV"
>> button. Now I'm on some other channel with some leftover buffer. Then
>> without switching tuners I manually (or channel up/down) select channel 2
>> and happily my buffer is still there.
>
> You're watching channel 2, and it goes to commercial. You switch to the
> other tuner and start surfing, and stumble onto channel 2 which causes a
> tuner swap. Channel 2 is on commercial, so you continue surfing. You lost
> the buffer on channel 2. The other tuner has the buffer for the last
> channel you were on before 2.
>
> ---
> Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

Sean wrote:
> On 19 Apr 2005 15:46:15 -0700, relaxification@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> >
>
> >>
> >> My, my. It's "Mr. I'm not going to post anymore because I'm tired
of
> >> getting bitch slapped."
> >>
> >> Welcome back, dillweed.
> >>
> >> Sean
> >
> >You just keep telling yourself that, Sean. Everybody loves you.
>
>
> Are you sure you're not an abused wife?
>
> I keep slapping you and you promise to be better and not cause any
> more problems but yet you still come back for more abuse.
>
> I think you need to find yourself a shelter to take you in.
>
> So sad.
>
> Sean


I find it odd you berate me for my ass-cancer comments re: Comcast
(which I stand by), but then choose to make fun of abused wives.

Also, dillweed isn't really a very good insult.

Feel free to believe you're somehow winning this silly flame war. The
fact that you continue to post inanities despite many other people
calling you far worse than dillweed indicates clearly that you do not
understand when you're losing.

What kind of education do you have, Sean?

 

[Sean]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 20:46:52 GMT, SINNER
<arcade.master@googlemail.net> wrote:

>* Sean Wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
>
>> READ: Upgraded for FREE.
>
>Read: Not necessary for Tivo because I own the box and can repair it
>without their help or thier restrictions.

You own it all right.

I get free service/repair/upgrades on mine.

Which is the better deal?

Sean

 

[Sean]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 20:46:23 GMT, SINNER
<arcade.master@googlemail.net> wrote:

>* Sean Wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
>
>> On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 22:15:39 -0400, "Randy S."
>> <rswittNO@SPAMgmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I don't have a Directivo w/ dual tuners, but
>>
>> But Randy is going to spew some gibberrish anyway.
>>
>> Thanks a lot Randy, you're a big help.
>>
>> Sean
>
>Yet he was on the money, unlike you who has never owned a Tivo and yet
>you seem to be intimately knowledgeable of the whole product line. Yeah
>you're right, oust Ramsey and get shawnie boi in ther right quick now
>ya hear?

Just another ignorant post of many.

Sean

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

"Sean" <none> wrote in message
news:0bef61pj1kdbr31n129d4vchg960aqaq01@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 20:46:52 GMT, SINNER
> <arcade.master@googlemail.net> wrote:
>
> >* Sean Wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
> >
> >> READ: Upgraded for FREE.
> >
> >Read: Not necessary for Tivo because I own the box and can repair it
> >without their help or thier restrictions.
>
> You own it all right.
>
> I get free service/repair/upgrades on mine.
>
> Which is the better deal?

Ownership, clearly. I'm not a "hacker" kind of guy, but I networked my
Series 1 DirecTivo and put in a bigger hard drive with no problems. I can
pull programming off of my DirecTivo and burn DVDs or, as I did when I was
in China last month, transfer them over the internet to my laptop so I could
keep up with a couple of shows that I like (Lost and Amazing Race -- I
didn't want to wait to see what happened). I can set my DirecTivo to record
shows via a direct connection over the internet.

Even if DirecTV offered a rental Tivo box, I wouldn't have it -- no benefit
whatsoever.

>
> Sean

 

[sinner]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

* Sean Wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:

> Just another ignorant post of many.

Point out the problem or STFU.

--
David

 

[sinner]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

* Sean Wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:

> On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 20:46:52 GMT, SINNER
> <arcade.master@googlemail.net> wrote:
>
>>* Sean Wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
>>
>>> READ: Upgraded for FREE.
>>
>>Read: Not necessary for Tivo because I own the box and can repair
>>it without their help or thier restrictions.
>
> You own it all right.
>
> I get free service/repair/upgrades on mine.
>
> Which is the better deal?
>

Mine, as I control what upgrades I get and when I want them. Its
worth a buck or 2 to be in control but then, a shill like you would
not understand the concept.

I have had both mine for over 2 years, never a problem. While you may
have gotten free repair/upgrades, the simple fact is, you NEEDED
them. Anything I have done to my machines is because I WANTED to,
they worked GREAT out of the box.

--
David

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

In article <Xns963F71F39119ALouiscypherhellorg@140.99.99.130>,
SINNER <arcade.master@googlemail.net> wrote:

> * Sean Wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
>
> > On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 20:46:52 GMT, SINNER
> > <arcade.master@googlemail.net> wrote:
> >
> >>* Sean Wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
> >>
> >>> READ: Upgraded for FREE.
> >>
> >>Read: Not necessary for Tivo because I own the box and can repair
> >>it without their help or thier restrictions.
> >
> > You own it all right.
> >
> > I get free service/repair/upgrades on mine.
> >
> > Which is the better deal?
> >
>
> Mine, as I control what upgrades I get and when I want them. Its
> worth a buck or 2 to be in control but then, a shill like you would
> not understand the concept.
>
> I have had both mine for over 2 years, never a problem. While you may
> have gotten free repair/upgrades, the simple fact is, you NEEDED
> them. Anything I have done to my machines is because I WANTED to,
> they worked GREAT out of the box.

And the SA8000 works so poorly STILL, that Comcast is paying good money
to TiVo to switch over the software.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

"Randy S." <rswittNO@SPAMgmail.com> wrote in message news:d4719u$18du$1@spnode25.nerdc.ufl.edu...
> dold@XReXXDirec.usenet.us.com wrote:
> > DanR <dhr22@sorrynospm.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >>But wait... My buffer is NOT being destroyed. Say I watch channel 2 for a
> >>while and build up a buffer. Then I switch tuners using the "live TV"
> >>button. Now I'm on some other channel with some leftover buffer. Then
> >>without switching tuners I manually (or channel up/down) select channel 2
> >>and happily my buffer is still there.
> >
> >
> > You're watching channel 2, and it goes to commercial. You switch to the
> > other tuner and start surfing, and stumble onto channel 2 which causes a
> > tuner swap. Channel 2 is on commercial, so you continue surfing. You lost
> > the buffer on channel 2. The other tuner has the buffer for the last
> > channel you were on before 2.
>
> You know, I can see why they designed it like that (figuring that nobody
> would want to buffer the same station twice), but I think they should
> change it, it's just not as intuitive in actual practice. Better to let
> a non-optimal situation occur once in a while (i.e. buffering the same
> station twice) rather than risk the user blowing away a buffer they
> might have wanted.
>

Many TiVo users watch programs from Now Playing and rarely use LiveTV.

Logical consistency and intuitiveness are not necessarily congruent.

The same channel does occasionally get buffered on both tuners.
You are left to figure out how this can happen without a power reset,
a menu item restart, or the satellite signal test.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

> Many TiVo users watch programs from Now Playing and rarely use LiveTV.

Absolutely true. I rarely watch anything Live anymore myself.

>
> Logical consistency and intuitiveness are not necessarily congruent.

No argument there.

> The same channel does occasionally get buffered on both tuners.
> You are left to figure out how this can happen without a power reset,
> a menu item restart, or the satellite signal test.

Sure, I'm just saying that I see why they designed the behavior the way
they did, but it's probably marginally better the other way.

Randy S.