VV Please stop banging your head on the desk. That’ll leave a mark. I didn’t know about TiVo’s exclusive programming. That’s a bonus. Also, when the above posters mentioned DTiVo, I looked into it and that could be pretty sweet. $4.99 a month, plus your DTV charges, that’s not so bad. Then if you can access your files and burn them to a DVD, that would be even sweeter.
Of course, it would be another cool thing that costs $500 bucks to setup, and then I would never actually use it. (File writing thing, not so much TiVo. That I would use, but I watch too much tv as it is.)
Cite? I do not believe building an analogue library is ultimately distinguishable from time-shifting. It might be distinguishable if you’re transfering your library to a digital medium, but I’m not sure.
It has been several years since I’ve shipped for PVR’s (I was an early TiVo adopter) but unless Replay TV has changed considerably, it is lacking in the most important and useful TiVo features. When last I looked, Replay TV had no season pass option. More importantly, Replay TV does not suggest programs nor does it record programs it thinks you will enjoy. This is the outstanding feature of the TiVo system, and is what makes it worth the scratch. As I’ve mentioned upthread, there are several programs (including most of the Alfred Hitchcock ouvre and the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer) which I never would have paid much attention to had I not found them sitting in my TiVo buffer one evening.
Couple of points that others have touched on. Yes you can have Tivo set up to record while watching another channel. That picture from the Tivo web site pretty much shows how to do it. You get a splitter for the cable wire. Run one wire straight into the TV. Run the other one into the cable box. From the cable box to the Tivo. Then from Tivo to the TV using AV cables.(The stand alone Tivos only accept an analog signal so you could swap places with one of the Tivo’s with a VCR.) Also Tivo can change the channel on your cable box as long as it can be changed with a remote control.(Tivo in effect has it’s own remote for changing the channel on the cable box. The Tivo remote you use tells tivo what programs to play, what to record, etc however Tivo itself actually changes the channel.) Finally there is utilities out there to actually get data off a Tivo but you need to set up your tivo to use ethernet.(Just search for “tivo” and “capture” on google if anyone cares.)
To be blunt PVR like Tivo are MUCH better at time shifting than any VCR could hope to be.(Both from a functional and utility point of view.) If you want me to go on about that just let me know. (I’m guessing Replay TV has much the same functionality as Tivo with some differences so anybody wants me to go on it will be about Tivo.)
It frees up so much time for me. I don’t have to schedule anything around the time some show is on… I never have a time when “nothing is on” etc.
For the most part, I sit down at the tv, and look for something to watch in a nifty menu. Everything is stuff I like. I pick sometyhing and watch it. Click click.