# Considering weaknees 8tb bolt $900



## zerdian1 (Apr 19, 2015)

I wanted to try a Bolt in place of my Raomio Basic that is on $10 month to month.
Trying to decide if I want to get a small one 500Gb to 1000GB or go for 4 tuner Bolt with 8TB for $900.
That would give me 16 tuners and 24TB with 5 TiVos.


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## Brolan (Apr 4, 2002)

Personally I would wait for the Pro Bolt next year.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

zerdian1 said:


> I wanted to try a Bolt in place of my Raomio Basic that is on $10 month to month. Trying to decide if I want to get a small one 500Gb to 1000GB or go for 4 tuner Bolt with 8TB for $900. That would give me 16 tuners and 24TB with 5 TiVos.


Replacing a monthly base Roamio w/ a BOLT on an annual subscription would seem to be a reasonable move, at just $2.50/month add'l expense.

And your extra $100 (diff b/w 500GB & 1TB BOLT) might be best put towards a DIY 500GB-to-2TB drive upgrade for your BOLT, which may give you enough space for recordings of whatever OnePasses you may have for which SkipMode is enabled.

Dabble w/ BOLT, now, saving $400-500 to put towards the BOLT Pro next Fall.

edit: p.s. ... or double your storage, again, to 4TB, for as little as $60 more ($160 total). (link)


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## zerdian1 (Apr 19, 2015)

I will most likely do that, i.e., wait for Bolt Pro.
TiVo is either waiting for a 3TB laptop drive to fit in the Bolt smaller form factor.
Or they will make the Pro a larger model to hold the larger form factor desktop drives.
Hopefully, TiVo will have both number of tuners and storage greater than the Roamio Pro's 6 tuners & 3 TB disk, something like 8 tuners and 6 to 8TB storage.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I can't see them having eight tuners when it would only work with six tuners with most cable systems.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

aaronwt said:


> I can't see them having eight tuners when it would only work with six tuners with most cable systems.


Good point. The BOLT Pro will be capable of 12 TUNERS!!! 

(Truthfully, I'm already pretty much OK w/ the number of tuners TiVo provides in their various DVRs -- and I'd be totally OK if they did a better job of integrating multiple DVRs from a scheduling and presentation perspective. What would I care *where* the tuners are, as long as my TiVo can schedule and present the content as though it's all one system?)


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## TazExprez (May 31, 2014)

krkaufman said:


> Good point. The BOLT Pro will be capable of 12 TUNERS!!!
> 
> (Truthfully, I'm already pretty much OK w/ the number of tuners TiVo provides in their various DVRs -- and I'd be totally OK if they did a better job of integrating multiple DVRs from a scheduling and presentation perspective. What would I care *where* the tuners are, as long as my TiVo can schedule and present the content as though it's all one system?)


They should also let the Mini boxes grab tuners from any DVR that has tuners available.


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## Raydel (Dec 6, 2015)

zerdian1 said:


> I wanted to try a Bolt in place of my Raomio Basic that is on $10 month to month.
> Trying to decide if I want to get a small one 500Gb to 1000GB or go for 4 tuner Bolt with 8TB for $900.
> That would give me 16 tuners and 24TB with 5 TiVos.


I would love to get the 8TB tivo bolt but the $900.oo price tag wow,it would be more expensive than my HDTV,i am very undecided?Ray.


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## sluciani (Apr 21, 2003)

8TB is a ton of a storage! 

I've got a 2 TB Bolt, installed the last week in November. With 58 One Passes, I'm only using 19% of my storage capacity.

My deleted items folder has 482 recoverable shows, dating back to 11/26. Seems like everything we've recorded from day one is still available for viewing!


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I've got 8TB between two Bolts with a 4TB drive in each of them. They quickly get to around 75% and seem to hover around there.


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## PSU_Sudzi (Jun 4, 2015)

zerdian1 said:


> I wanted to try a Bolt in place of my Raomio Basic that is on $10 month to month.
> Trying to decide if I want to get a small one 500Gb to 1000GB or go for 4 tuner Bolt with 8TB for $900.
> That would give me 16 tuners and 24TB with 5 TiVos.


Wouldn't you be better off spending the extra money on lifetime rather than the HD space since you already have 16TB on other TiVos?


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## sluciani (Apr 21, 2003)

aaronwt said:


> I've got 8TB between two Bolts with a 4TB drive in each of them. They quickly get to around 75% and seem to hover around there.


Curious how many one passes and how many of each show do you keep? I changed the default from 25 to 5. Old habit, I guess, based on the DVRs I've used dating back to my first TiVo. Had 30GB, IIRC.


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## borabora (Aug 30, 2007)

The world is moving towards streaming. Currently there is no need anymore to record premium channels such as HBO or Showtime because as soon as they air a new episode of one of their shows it immediately becomes available (for free to subscribers) via streaming at the same quality. Even some sports is covered very well via streaming by ESPN (unfortunately not always at broadcast quality). This trend will continue. While I am not advocating cord cutting, I think factoring in how much streaming versus recorded viewing you will likely do in the future is something you might want to do before planning Tivo purchases and commitments. YMMV.


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## zerdian1 (Apr 19, 2015)

I see no way that I would buy a Lifetime at $600 for my 3 year old 4 tuner 1.5TB Roamio Basic. 
It is on $9.95/month service now. 
I do not envision it will last the 5 more years to make it cost effective.
The Bolt brand new I do not think will last 6 years to make the $600 lifetime cost effective, as 1 year is included.

If we actually get SkipMode later this month on my 5 Roamios, the only reason to get the BOLT is the 4K UHDTV. 
I do not have a 4K at the moment.

I do have a 5K ultra high resolution 27" iMac that i just watched a 4K video and it was very nice and very high resolution and could see detail that would be impossible on my Plasma HDTV. But still not enough to buy one now. 
But 4K UHDTV will probably be my replacement in a few years.



PSU_Sudzi said:


> Wouldn't you be better off spending the extra money on lifetime rather than the HD space since you already have 16TB on other TiVos?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

sluciani said:


> Curious how many one passes and how many of each show do you keep? I changed the default from 25 to 5. Old habit, I guess, based on the DVRs I've used dating back to my first TiVo. Had 30GB, IIRC.


I had to change most of my One Passes for news to only keep two episodes. Since then it stays lower. Regular TV shows I keep five or ten episodes for most. Currently I have around 220 One Passes between both Bolts.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

borabora said:


> The world is moving towards streaming. Currently there is no need anymore to record premium channels such as HBO or Showtime because as soon as they air a new episode of one of their shows it immediately becomes available (for free to subscribers) via streaming at the same quality. ...................


That's just it. It's not usually at the same quality. It's usually at lower quality. Especially if I use the cable company VOD. But Even the HBO, Starz, Showtime Etc, app quality is usually lower. WHich is why I prefer to record it.


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## borabora (Aug 30, 2007)

aaronwt said:


> That's just it. It's not usually at the same quality. It's usually at lower quality. Especially if I use the cable company VOD. But Even the HBO, Starz, Showtime Etc, app quality is usually lower. WHich is why I prefer to record it.


1. When I put my nose to the screen it becomes obvious that you are right. But, I think that the difference is irrelevant to most people who are watching from a conventional distance.
2. Comcast just managed to upgrade my download connection speed from 30 mbps to 180 mbps. As this becomes more common, streaming services will up their quality to match that of broadcasts.

Recording cable TV will remain relevant for quite some time. But playing streamed content will take over more and more time for most viewers. Unless one plans to move to a desert island I can't see a real need for making thousands of hours of recordings.


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## zerdian1 (Apr 19, 2015)

I do watch streaming on HULU PLUS.
I previously only watched NETFLIX when I was out of the country, 
Just to be able to watch some American Shows.

But the Hulu Plus TV is not as good quality as shows on my TiVo. 
The old SD shows stay in SD that my TiVo nor my Smart TV can upgrade them to HDTV quality.

But I watch much more normal TiVo and Dish Hopper DVR recorded shows. I rarely watch live shows and even then delayed at least enough time so I can FF3 past commercials.

My Internet speed recently jumped form 25 Mbps to 86Mbps on WiFi AC. 
I assume my Roamio Direct MoCA is at least as fast, but have not verified it.



borabora said:


> 1. When I put my nose to the screen it becomes obvious that you are right. But, I think that the difference is irrelevant to most people who are watching from a conventional distance.
> 2. Comcast just managed to upgrade my download connection speed from 30 mbps to 180 mbps. As this becomes more common, streaming services will up their quality to match that of broadcasts.
> 
> Recording cable TV will remain relevant for quite some time. But playing streamed content will take over more and more time for most viewers. Unless one plans to move to a desert island I can't see a real need for making thousands of hours of recordings.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

borabora said:


> 1. When I put my nose to the screen it becomes obvious that you are right. But, I think that the difference is irrelevant to most people who are watching from a conventional distance.
> 2. Comcast just managed to upgrade my download connection speed from 30 mbps to 180 mbps. As this becomes more common, streaming services will up their quality to match that of broadcasts.
> 
> Recording cable TV will remain relevant for quite some time. But playing streamed content will take over more and more time for most viewers. Unless one plans to move to a desert island I can't see a real need for making thousands of hours of recordings.


If I had to put my nose to the screen to see the difference then I wouldn't care. But from nine feet back I can see the difference on my 82" DLP set. Or six feet back from my 65" UHD set.

With streaming services the trend is to use less bandwidth, not more.


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## zerdian1 (Apr 19, 2015)

For all the Morning Shows, Daytime News, Evening News, Late Night Talk shows and all the shows that are on daily, I keep only one copy. I record all of those on one TiVo Roamio Basic which I call the Daily News.

I have about 280 One Passes on my TiVos.

I average about 1/3rd capacity on each of my TiVos.

Most of my shows are looked at and then deleted.
I archive certain shows that I want to retain on my TiVos.
On my Dish Network Hoppers I can move them to External Storage and when that is filled up I can attach a new external storage. 
I can connect up to 3 external 2TB Storage devices on each of my Dish Hoppers.
I can remove and reconnect older Archives without any problem or reinitializing my Storage Devices.

Shows I retain:
James Bond, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Get Smart, Hogans Heroes, F Troop, Man from UNCLE, The Saint, most SciFi TV Shows and SciFy Movies and some Movies.
I am currently running about 30% Capacity on my TiVos.
My Dish Hoppers run about 90% Capacity, with 12 years of use.
While I have been a TiVo customer with Lifetime Service for 16 years, I only have had the Roamios for 3 years.



aaronwt said:


> I had to change most of my One Passes for news to only keep two episodes. Since then it stays lower. Regular TV shows I keep five or ten episodes for most. Currently I have around 220 One Passes between both Bolts.


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## jmerr74 (Nov 3, 2015)

...quick question. How can you possibly have that much time to watch that much T.V.??? I'm a true believer in excess, however you have me bested tenfold!! My piddly Roamio with 3TB, four turners and three minis is more than enough for my family and I. My wife possibly could fill it... me not so much. To each their own I say!


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## Mikeyis4dcats (Oct 2, 2003)

zerdian1 said:


> I see no way that I would buy a Lifetime at $600 for my 3 year old 4 tuner 1.5TB Roamio Basic.
> It is on $9.95/month service now.
> I do not envision it will last the 5 more years to make it cost effective.
> The Bolt brand new I do not think will last 6 years to make the $600 lifetime cost effective, as 1 year is included.
> ...


How long have you had the Roamio? I'd call and indicate you're considering cancelling the Roamio and see if they offer you $99 lifetime.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

jmerr74 said:


> ...quick question. How can you possibly have that much time to watch that much T.V.??? I'm a true believer in excess, however you have me bested tenfold!! My piddly Roamio with 3TB, four turners and three minis is more than enough for my family and I. My wife possibly could fill it... me not so much. To each their own I say!


You don't. Personally I've always recorded a lot of content. I've been time shifting my TV watching since 1984. But I have never watched everything that I recorded. Even with video tapes. But I want a wide variety of content to choose from when I sit down to watch TV. So I have most channels from FiOS. As well as subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu , and more.

I probably only watch 15%(at most) of what I record right now. But it's a DVR. The TiVo will automatically delete things as needed. And if I don't want it deleted I can easily keep it.


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## zerdian1 (Apr 19, 2015)

I record a lot of programming and have for 40 years on VCRs and DVRs.
I discarded a library of VHS Video Tapes during our last move,
When I also discarded my last VCR DVD machine.

I do not get to watch all of of what I have recorded.
I record and watch different types on programming at different times.

I am at 40% across 17.5TB of online storage.
When I get to 50% I usually go thru and delete as much as possible with a goal of getting to 33%.
If I see something that I think I am never really going to watch, I delete it.


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## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

aaronwt said:


> You don't. Personally I've always recorded a lot of content. I've been time shifting my TV watching since 1984. But I have never watched everything that I recorded. Even with video tapes. But I want a wide variety of content to choose from when I sit down to watch TV. So I have most channels from FiOS. As well as subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu , and more.
> 
> I probably only watch 15%(at most) of what I record right now. But it's a DVR. The TiVo will automatically delete things as needed. And if I don't want it deleted I can easily keep it.





zerdian1 said:


> I record a lot of programming and have for 40 years on VCRs and DVRs.
> I discarded a library of VHS Video Tapes during our last move,
> When I also discarded my last VCR DVD machine.
> 
> ...


I think we need to start a support group. TiVahloics anonymous or something


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## zerdian1 (Apr 19, 2015)

I tried to get better deal for Roamio Basic or Bolt Lifetime. 
TiVo said $600.
Maybe next year before any discounts are offered.

I have Lifetime on my two Roamio PROs.

When my contract was up on my Roamio Basic.
I told TiVo I was removing the Basic, as I no longer really needed it.
They offered me a 33% discount for $10/month, month to month with no contract on my Roamio Basic.



Mikeyis4dcats said:


> How long have you had the Roamio? I'd call and indicate you're considering cancelling the Roamio and see if they offer you $99 lifetime.


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## GoodSpike (Dec 17, 2001)

jmerr74 said:


> ...quick question. How can you possibly have that much time to watch that much T.V.??? I'm a true believer in excess, however you have me bested tenfold!! My piddly Roamio with 3TB, four turners and three minis is more than enough for my family and I. My wife possibly could fill it... me not so much. To each their own I say!


For my wife and I, 500GB is more than enough, and we watch way too much TV. I can only assume people have HBO/Showtime/Etc. and are recording a lot of movies just in case, most of which they never watch.


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## zerdian1 (Apr 19, 2015)

You must be in the majority of Bolt's and Roamio's Customers, TiVo and Comcast, since they sell the most of the 500GB & 1TB sized DVRs.

Fewer of the TiVo's 3TB Pro DVRs are sold.

There are few of us that want to spend even more money on much Larger Storage Volumes such as those from WeaKnees.

If the MAJORITY of DVR customers wanted and would pay for much larger storages than TiVo would build them.

But those customers, like me, are in a very small niche market that WeaKnees serves.

If 50% of TiVo's market went to WeaKnees, than TiVo would be building much larger DVRs.


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## GoodSpike (Dec 17, 2001)

zerdian1 said:


> If the MAJORITY of DVR customers wanted and would pay for much larger storages than TiVo would build them.


You're forgetting how Apple-like Tivo is. 



> But those customers, like me, are in a very small niche market that WeaKnees serves.


Kidding aside, I agree with your points. I mainly raise this issue in threads where someone is either new to Tivo or returning to Tivo from something like the DTivo. IMHO they would be better off buying a 500GB or 1000GB Tivo and then upgrading the drive if they find that is insufficient. The only hassle there is having to open the case (which isn't insignificant) and having to re-pair the cablecard if equiped (which also isn't insignificant unless you rewarded the person at Comcast who finally paired your card with dinner and are now dating them).


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## jmerr74 (Nov 3, 2015)

zerdian1 said:


> I record a lot of programming and have for 40 years on VCRs and DVRs.
> I discarded a library of VHS Video Tapes during our last move,
> When I also discarded my last VCR DVD machine.
> 
> ...


Gotcha. Just curious. I thought about a 6TB drive for mine...then I realized I had to fiddle with it too much. 3TB was an easy fix. I remember my Series 2 had maybe 80 hours of SD content...max?? LOL...it's come a long way since I was last with TiVo.


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