# New TiVo Community Unbox



## Mike Lang (Nov 17, 1999)

We now have our own Amazon Unbox at TCF!
You can browse and watch the hundreds of hours of programming made available to TiVo owners right here. When you see something you like, just click on the links provided and download the shows or movies right to your TiVo!

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/view.php?pg=unbox


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## bobrt6676 (Dec 31, 2007)

The Unbox cost on your link says free for the Lipstick Jungle Pilot. When you click on the link Amazon charges 1.89.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

I got a receipt from Amazon in my e-mail saying they had charged me $0.00


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Looks strangely like iTunes....


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## hawkinsb (Nov 14, 2007)

I've tried Unbox about 4 or 5 times now. In every case, it's been a situation where people were over, and we decided to rent something at the last minute. The latest time was this past Friday night, and we rented "Waitress." The download started around 4:30pm (EST) and did not finish until after 9:00pm (EST). This is simply too slow to be useful in this situation.

Perhaps it's that we pick unusually busy times to use the service, but it seems that generally the service is too slow to be usable. (And I know my cable modem speeds are very good. I'll gladly post them if curious.)

What are other people's feelings on this?


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## acvthree (Jan 17, 2004)

I've responded to this type of statement in other threads, so sorry for the repeat.

I feel that there is something about unbox downloads that are not well understood by the users that have responded on this forum and that includes me. 

My download typically takes less than 30 minutes from the time of the order until it is completed. I've had one take as much as 40 minutes. I'm on Fios with 15/2 which is great, but not many times difference that people are getting from cable modems. 

Some have suggested that the cable was shared and busy, but the 4-5 hours you discuss is not unusual and shared cable CAN'T be that busy all the time.

Some have suggested that some cable operators are slowing down unbox as it competes with PPV. We seeing stories on the news about some cable companies doing this very thing for PtP downloading so it makes it plausable, but Amazon is a very sophisticated company. I would think they would track this down and get it changed.

I'm not sure what we could do to track this down and try to understand the differences we are seeing.

It might be interesting to run a download speed test to during a time when you would normally download a movie and see what you are getting. Beyond that, I'd love to see some of the more internet knowledgeable people take an interesting in this. It is a good service and I would like to see it expand. Users are the only way that is going to happen.

Al


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

I have never had a problem with it but I don't have many cable modem users in my neighborhood.


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## rightmacatcha (Mar 8, 2008)

:down:  I have never been more disappointed in the end product of TiVo. There is no reason for the ghosting in the movie we first rented last night. I was very excited about being able to rent on the TiVo. However, the content of the movie we chose (The Bourne Ultimatum) turned out to show the worst in ghosting or doubled imaging that I have ever seen. I also noticed that only about 1/2 the size of my 60" screen was used for display. *Any* movement in the film causes a "doubling" effect in the video. I have a TiVo HD player. It is the best thing since sliced bread. This video should have help me feel like TiVo is the best video delivery mechanism for HD content. It didn't.
Consider me disappointed.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

Interesting. I have downloaded TV episodes off of Unbox and never had a problem. They were beautiful. I have a TIVO HD and a standard TV.


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## unicorngoddess (Nov 20, 2005)

I absolutely love Unbox to Tivo. I just queue things up from work so its there when I get home so I don't have problems with it being too slow. I would never try to use it as a last-minute thing though.


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## h00ligan (Nov 29, 2007)

I just ran the speedtest while i am downloading a rental from Unbox. I had an available 5200kbps on a test that usually yields 7000 - so no, it's not fast enough. Furthermore I doubt the cable companies would be capping it - as I can max out on the AppleTV. I think simply it's Amazon not providing enough bandwidth for the service and or throttling by ip... either way - too slow.


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## dtivouser (Feb 10, 2004)

Rented Michael Clayton tonight on Unbox. It worked wonderfully. I love this service; I have cancelled Netflix in favor of this!


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## RMBittner (Aug 19, 2003)

I think it's wrong to think of Unbox as some kind of TiVo-on-Demand service. To my mind, that's not what the service is about; it's not meant to be a faster route to movie-watching than driving to your local Blockbuster. In my experience, it's a way to tap into a library of rental movies that might not be readily available at your local video store, and it saves you a trip out the door.

I think it's better to compare Unbox to Netflix -- although it absolutely can't match Netflix's range of titles. But you don't order a Netflix movie when you're having a dinner party and want something fun to watch on the spur of the moment; neither should you plan to use Unbox that way. It's just another way to get a movie to your house, with less hassle than most other methods.

Bob


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

It's also really great if you are renting a TV series on DVD and get to a cliffhanger that you just NEED to see right away 
I had slow downloads before I got an additional hard drive, but now everything is pretty quick to show up on my TiVo. I find it very convenient.


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## JLucPicard (Jul 8, 2004)

I've still got to get me a wired Ethernet to USB adapter, but I checked out the link in post #1 last night. Is there any benefit to going through there than through Amazon directly? In the window that came up when I clicked that link, there was an area where five or so options at a time showed up. Is there any way to do a search for a program versus having to arrow through that area and hope to find what you want?

And the prices that show up there, are those the prices we will pay (again, going through the link in the OP)? Just trying to get an idea of what to expect before I jump in.

Thanks for any help!


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

Hard to believe this is still around considering it only averages about 13 visits/day


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