external LED indicator for Now Playing list?

[Howard]

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

"Jack Tyler" <jctyler_67@yahoo.com> wrote in news:1110770378.934599.209520
@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com:

> the buffer vs. just spinning (in Standby mode). It seems logical that
> the less the head moves, the longer the hard drive will last. Unless
> someone runs a server, that's the same reason you should turn off or
> hibernate a computer when not in use. Would you deny that?

As a matter of fact, I would. Conservation of energy I might buy as an
excuse, but not to save the components, especially not the hard drive.

Here's a human analogy. Go into the nearest sauna. Turn it up REALLY hot.
As hot as you can tolerate, then another 5 degrees. Stay in at least half
an hour. Now, very quickly now, go jump into a lake that is below
freezing.

You now know how the components of your computer feel when you turn it on.

> And I don't share the throw-away mentality of just get another one if
> it breaks, which guides a lot of "leave it on" dogma. Many claims that

Strawman to the discussion at hand.

> devices are "shocked" by power cycles (which doesn't really apply to
> this TiVo issue) are based on old technology that did require specific
> warm up times, like tube amps.

Keep believing that. It IS lessened in the case of the TiVo, since it is
not turned off entirely, but it DOES exist, and no, not limited to 'old
technology'.

--
Minister of All Things Digital & Electronic, and Holder of Past Knowledge
stile99@email.com. Cabal# 24601-fnord | Sleep is irrelevant.
I speak for no one but myself, and |Caffeine will be assimilated.
no one else speaks for me. O- | Decaf is futile.

 

[Guest]

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

> It saves energy and significant wear because the HD isn't constantly
> recording a 30 minute buffer.

This is not magentic tape. It does not 'wear'. Reading, writing or just
spinning the platters make no difference to the lifespan of a hard drive.

> I rarely watch live TV so the buffer
> isn't critical. Also, I bought the Lifetime service contract, which
> means the life of the machine,

It means the life of that machine's serial number, not it's internal
components. If the drive dies just replace it, the unit will remain under
'lifetime' contract.

> I also don't want the white front panel light on all the time, though I
> know it can be disabled. I have it on minimum brightness when it's off
> standby.

Electrical tape works wonders.

 

[Guest]

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

> With any TiVo that's a lot more than a theory. The hard drive is still
> on but it's only spinning, not constantly writing, which has to save
> wear on it.

Yeah and only making left turns in your car might may your suspension last
longer. What sort of bunk wives tales are you spouting? The write activity
on a drive is /extremely/ unlikely to make one damn bit of difference in a
drive's overall lifespan. Magnetic coercivity of media is certainly not an
issue compared to spindle reliability.

> There ought to be a way to turn it fully off to save even
> more energy.

Um, a wall switch?

 

[Guest]

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

> ... and the internal temperature will drop several degrees overnight while
in Standby.
> High temperatures can reduce the estimated life of electronic components.

Oh please, not enough to matter. It's more likely a consistent temperature
is better than a fluctuating one anyway.

 

[Guest]

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

> In this case, though, it might be a good thing. Now that TiVo supports
> LBA48 in current software versions, it's actually cost-effective to
> replace the drive with a bigger one. Although I'm not advocating
hastening
> the drive failure just to have an excuse to upgrade, unless you are
> shortening the life by a *lot*, there's no reason not to just use the TiVo
> however you want and replace the drive if it breaks.

So take the 'peace of mind' angle. Newer drives hold more so it saves on
worry about the amount of free space for recording new programs. That and
the newer drives generally consume less power than their smaller
counterparts. Why wait until it fails? Yank the current drive, dd it onto
a fresh one and expand it to use the larger amount of space. End worries
about having enough space AND save energy!

 

[Guest]

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

"GMAN" <glenzabr@nospam.xmission.com> wrote in message
news:d12u05$9jf$1@news.xmission.com...
> I'm probably just being anal about it.

Ding, Ding! Give than man a prize for the right answer!

Life's short, worry about something worthwhile instead.

 

[Guest]

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

Howard wrote:
> "Jack Tyler" <jctyler_67@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:1110770378.934599.209520
> @o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com:
>
> > the buffer vs. just spinning (in Standby mode). It seems logical
that
> > the less the head moves, the longer the hard drive will last.
Unless
> > someone runs a server, that's the same reason you should turn off
or
> > hibernate a computer when not in use. Would you deny that?
>
> As a matter of fact, I would. Conservation of energy I might buy as
an
> excuse, but not to save the components, especially not the hard
drive.

I have to admit that I jumped the gun on this by assuming a few
opinions I read on the Net was legit. Looking at the TiVo paper manual
(RTFM!) it says the 30 min. buffer is still being recorded in Standby
mode, so the only real power savings would be the front panel LEDs
and/or the white light, which could be disabled.

> > devices are "shocked" by power cycles (which doesn't really apply
to
> > this TiVo issue) are based on old technology that did require
specific
> > warm up times, like tube amps.
>
> Keep believing that. It IS lessened in the case of the TiVo, since
it is
> not turned off entirely, but it DOES exist, and no, not limited to
'old
> technology'.

In this case I typed opinions without the full story, but I'll still
use Standby because I'd rather not have those LEDs glaring all the time
when I'm watching other stuff. I wish there was a way to turn the 30
min. buffer completely off since I rarely need it. It would quiet the
unit considerably also. There must be a hack out there...

JT

 

[sinner]

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

* wkearney99 Wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:

>
> "GMAN" <glenzabr@nospam.xmission.com> wrote in message
> news:d12u05$9jf$1@news.xmission.com...
>> I'm probably just being anal about it.
>
> Ding, Ding! Give than man a prize for the right answer!
>
> Life's short, worry about something worthwhile instead.
>
>

Who worries about it? It happens at the push of a button on the remote
as does the Receiver and TV turning off.

--
David

 

[sinner]

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

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

> Do you wash and reuse "sandwich bags"?

If they are the ziplock type, occasionaly, yes.

--
David

 

[Guest]

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

Kenny wrote:

> "Jack Tyler" <jctyler_67@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1110766223.016055.23930@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> > Megan wrote:
> >
> >> Not to mention, why would you put your Tivo in Standby everyday?
> >
> > It saves energy and significant wear because the HD isn't
constantly
> > recording a 30 minute buffer. I rarely watch live TV so the buffer
> > isn't critical. Also, I bought the Lifetime service contract, which
> > means the life of the machine, not the user and I'd rather not push
it!
> > The very thought of conserving things (vs. dumping them and buying
new
> > ones) seems to shock a lot of Americans, but I was raised
differently.
> >
> > I also don't want the white front panel light on all the time,
though I
> > know it can be disabled. I have it on minimum brightness when it's
off
> > standby.

Correct about the buffering - my fault for taking others' words for it
before reading myself. I've had the panel light at minimum since day
one, and I may just leave the thing "on" all the time and turn off the
panel light. It's too bad you can't enable just the red record LED in
constant "on" mode. My standalone Series 2 forces you to have both LEDs
enabled or disabled.

JT

 

[Guest]

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

On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 19:30:41 -0800, Jack Tyler wrote:

> I wish there was a way to turn the 30 min. buffer completely off since I
> rarely need it. It would quiet the unit considerably also. There must be
> a hack out there...

The hack of the magic power switch.... mysterious, and oh-so-elusive 😉

--
Lenroc