# New Set Up



## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this set up..

After a successful OTA test with a new antenna.. I am getting ready to order equipment. We either stream or 90% of what we record is on the locals.

I plan to get Two Bolts and 3-4 Minis.

Reason for the two bolts is I want a 4K at one TV as it is a 4K TV and want that option. I want the second one to have 4 more tuners. I dont want a Roamio OTA box because if I ever decide to drop a cable card in.. it becomes useless.

Just tossed right now on the IR or RF mini as there is about a 30 buck difference.

any crazy thoughts?


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

compnurd said:


> Just tossed right now on the IR or RF mini as there is about a 30 buck difference.


I'd definitely go with the RF Minis so that your remote experience will be the same across Minis and Bolts. The IR Minis use the old Premiere-style remotes which are not as nice as the new Roamio/Bolt-style remotes. I have a couple of the old Minis and I hate using their remotes. I dislike them so much that I'll probably eventually replace their remotes with Roamio remotes, which cost $30 each.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

If you want 4K you need to wait. There are no 4K OTA tuners on the market yet. Bolt is only going to give you 4K on a few streaming apps, if that. Otherwise your TV will upconvert anyway.

Tarheel makes a good point. But I find IR sensitivity on the Mini to be excellent, so no real need for RF. And the layout is only slightly different. With the $60 IR Minis on Woot fairly regularly, it was a no-brainer for me to get 4 IR ones for the price of 2 RF ones.

Realize that 2 Bolts are going to cost you $30/month, while Roamios with lifetime would cost nothing.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

compnurd said:


> Just tossed right now on the IR or RF mini as there is about a 30 buck difference.
> 
> any crazy thoughts?


Get the RF Mini/remote. Besides the great ability to hide the Mini, you can avoid muscle cramps in your hand from having to switch button locations. I have two Roamio boxes, three Mini boxes and two Premiere boxes. One remote type for everything, even the v1 IR Mini. Both my Roamio boxes are hidden since I dislike lights.

On the other hand (joke), the RF remote can be crappy and need a reset sometimes. It likes to repeat and/or jump back to IR mode for a few seconds.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

mdavej said:


> If you want 4K you need to wait. There are no 4K OTA tuners on the market yet. Bolt is only going to give you 4K on a few streaming apps, if that. Otherwise your TV will upconvert anyway.
> 
> Tarheel makes a good point. But I find IR sensitivity on the Mini to be excellent, so no real need for RF. And the layout is only slightly different. With the $60 IR Minis on Woot fairly regularly, it was a no-brainer for me to get 4 IR ones for the price of 2 RF ones.
> 
> Realize that 2 Bolts are going to cost you $30/month, while Roamios with lifetime would cost nothing.


yeh i know nothing is in 4K right now except for streaming. Use the TV apps now for all of that but would be nice to have it built into the box/apps. I know cable/OTA 4K is forever away and will need a new box anyway.

I may save some cash and get a mini IR for my one kids bedroom she will would never notice the difference


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

mdavej said:


> Tarheel makes a good point. But I find IR sensitivity on the Mini to be excellent, so no real need for RF. And the layout is only slightly different.


It's not just the different layout on the IR remote I have a problem with. The IR TiVo remotes are very inferior to the RF TiVo remotes in other ways. The old-style IR remotes are way too big and the button presses feel mushy (compared to the tactile feedback of the RF remotes) and are much less precise than on the new-style RF remotes. When I'm using the old IR remotes, they will often register 2 button presses instead of 1, causing unwanted behavior. It's actually very annoying to me every time it happens (which it happens very often). I never have that problem with the buttons on the new RF remotes.


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## drooplug (Dec 6, 2015)

mdavej said:


> Realize that 2 Bolts are going to cost you $30/month, while Roamios with lifetime would cost nothing.


You can get lifetime with the Bolts.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

drooplug said:


> You can get lifetime with the Bolts.


Yup. The problem is there is no easy combo of the roamio OTA and the pro that work for what I plan to do. If I go OTA then I can't ever get a cable card for that box and I need another If I go pro it won't work now with OTA


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

tarheelblue32 said:


> It's not just the different layout on the IR remote I have a problem with. The IR TiVo remotes are very inferior to the RF TiVo remotes in other ways.


No doubt. The difference just isn't worth $60 to me, especially since I very rarely ever use a Tivo remote of any kind. All my Tivo remotes remain in a drawer except one Slide which I use on occasion.



drooplug said:


> You can get lifetime with the Bolts.


You can also encrust your Bolt with diamonds. But nobody in their right mind would actually do that. A used Roamio or Premiere is the only way to get lifetime for a reasonable cost.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

mdavej said:


> No doubt. The difference just isn't worth $60 to me, especially since I very rarely ever use a Tivo remote of any kind. All my Tivo remotes remain in a drawer except one Slide which I use on occasion.
> 
> You can also encrust your Bolt with diamonds. But nobody in their right mind would actually do that. A used Roamio or Premiere is the only way to get lifetime for a reasonable cost.


Yeh I am not worried about that right now... with the service included for the first year.. i am looking at right now almost 1800 saved over a year dropping directv.. I will gladly pay 360 a year for the two tivos next year


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

To start with I have ordered my two bolts because i dont want to lose the pricing.. Question though. I dont plan to do the switch until hockey season is over.. can i view the OTA Signal strength on the bolt without activating it yet?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

compnurd said:


> To start with I have ordered my two bolts because i dont want to lose the pricing.. Question though. I dont plan to do the switch until hockey season is over.. can i view the OTA Signal strength on the bolt without activating it yet?


Probably. Activation gets you the guide, recording ability and updates. The TiVo box Diagnostics (in System Info) and the Signal Diagnostics (in Channels) should be ok.

A channel scan should work.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

JoeKustra said:


> Probably. Activation gets you the guide, recording ability and updates. The TiVo box Diagnostics (in System Info) and the Signal Diagnostics (in Channels) should be ok.
> 
> A channel scan should work.


Thanks Would like to see what they show compared to the TV's


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

Ok I got the two bolts installed today.. Not activated yet.. One thing i found strange is.. almost all of the OTA channels that had excellent signal on all my tv's seem capped/locked at 72 on the signal meter.

Could this be a potential problem down the road??


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

compnurd said:


> Ok I got the two bolts installed today.. Not activated yet.. One thing i found strange is.. almost all of the OTA channels that had excellent signal on all my tv's seem capped/locked at 72 on the signal meter.
> 
> Could this be a potential problem down the road??


Search for 72 and you will find that is the normal value for OTA. It's showing that in the TiVo box Diagnostics after the AGC has taken affect. You can also look at the signal in Channels, Signal Strength which is more real time.

It's not a problem. Just checked. 72 is in 482 threads.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

JoeKustra said:


> Search for 72 and you will find that is the normal value for OTA. It's showing that in the TiVo box Diagnostics after the AGC has taken affect. You can also look at the signal in Channels, Signal Strength which is more real time.
> 
> It's not a problem. Just checked. 72 is in 482 threads.


Will do and thanks. I figured it was not an issue when the one box right off the antenna split was reading the same as the one another way


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

So after getting everything set up. it looks like on one of the bolts the power LED does not work. the Record and HD light do and everything is fine with it... Worth going through the hassle of exchanging it or deal?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

compnurd said:


> So after getting everything set up. it looks like on one of the bolts the power LED does not work. the Record and HD light do and everything is fine with it... Worth going through the hassle of exchanging it or deal?


It's your choice. I disable the LEDs. I have enough distractions.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

compnurd said:


> So after getting everything set up. it looks like on one of the bolts the power LED does not work. the Record and HD light do and everything is fine with it... Worth going through the hassle of exchanging it or deal?


As long as everything else works fine, it's probably not worth it. But I would definitely make sure you test it well during the 30-day return period to make sure that is the only thing wrong with it.


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## SomeRandomIdiot (Jan 7, 2016)

compnurd said:


> yeh i know nothing is in 4K right now except for streaming. Use the TV apps now for all of that but would be nice to have it built into the box/apps. I know cable/OTA 4K is forever away and will need a new box anyway.


lol...closer than you think. On air testing now.


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## SomeRandomIdiot (Jan 7, 2016)

compnurd said:


> So after getting everything set up. it looks like on one of the bolts the power LED does not work. the Record and HD light do and everything is fine with it... Worth going through the hassle of exchanging it or deal?


Another new v refurb failure.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

SomeRandomIdiot said:


> lol...closer than you think. On air testing now.


I don't count directv streaming the amen corner of the masters testing. I have directv now and have been testing the 4K. Nice. But along way off. Until an actual channel starts filming and broadcasting 4K. It is mute right now


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

SomeRandomIdiot said:


> Another new v refurb failure.


Eh. It is more of calling TiVo to deactivate and activate another. I can get another from Amazon in 2 days. But then have to re setup the channels. I may still do it. Not sure yet


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

compnurd said:


> I don't count directv streaming the amen corner of the masters testing. I have directv now and have been testing the 4K. Nice. But along way off. Until an actual channel starts filming and broadcasting 4K. It is mute right now


Your not getting audio?

Sorry.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

TonyD79 said:


> Your not getting audio?
> 
> Sorry.


Sorry mute point. Not actually mute


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

compnurd said:


> Sorry mute point. Not actually mute


Should be "moot" rather than mute.



TonyD79 said:


> Your not getting audio?
> 
> Sorry.


Sarcasm fail. Should be "You're".


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

lpwcomp said:


> should be "moot" rather than mute.
> 
> Sarcasm fail. Should be "you're".


😇


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