# Absolutely the most needed improvement



## lillevig

Ok, so maybe the title of this post is a bit of hyperbole but the one thing that really drives me crazy is that there is no button on the remote for putting the Tivo into Standby mode. We watch a lot of TV without turning on the Tivo so it's a pain to have to step through the Tivo menus to get it into Standby before switching back to the TV tuner. I'm still relatively new to Tivo but have accumulated two Series 1's and an HD (all with lifetime sub) so I don't know if this is a feature on the Premiere.


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## Playloud

I thought I read one time that standby mode didn't save hardly a lick of power. If that is the case, there is really no point.


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## wmcbrine

Although there's no "Standby" button on TiVo Inc.'s own remotes, there _is_ a discrete Standby code which you can program into a universal remote. I used to do this with my URC-6131. I also included a Standby button in my network remote program, if you're interested in that. (It only works with Series 3 or later.) But now that I have a Slide, I mostly just use the menus... it's not that big a deal.

Playloud, first of all, it does save power. Second, even if it didn't, there are other reasons to use Standby mode: On Series 1/2, it allows RF passthrough. On Series 3+, it keeps the Emergency Alert System from interrupting recordings.


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## Playloud

wmcbrine said:


> ...there are other reasons to use Standby mode: On Series 1/2, it allows RF passthrough. On Series 3+, it keeps the Emergency Alert System from interrupting recordings.


Ah! I didn't know that. That actually does sound pretty useful. Nothing more frustrating than an emergency alert interruption.


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## ct1

Playloud said:


> Nothing more frustrating than an emergency alert interruption.


Well, perhaps a real emergency would be somewhat more frustrating...


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## jakerock

lillevig said:


> Ok, so maybe the title of this post is a bit of hyperbole but the one thing that really drives me crazy is that there is no button on the remote for putting the Tivo into Standby mode. We watch a lot of TV without turning on the Tivo so it's a pain to have to step through the Tivo menus to get it into Standby before switching back to the TV tuner. I'm still relatively new to Tivo but have accumulated two Series 1's and an HD (all with lifetime sub) so I don't know if this is a feature on the Premiere.


I don't understand why you watch TV with out using the TiVo. I haven't watched TV with out the TiVO in years. On the rare occasion when I am watching something that is actually on at the moment, I still like that I can pause it. Frankly if something is 'live' I'll wait before starting to watch it just so I can skip past commercials. I think you're sort of missing much of what makes using the TiVo a great thing.


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## jrtroo

Yikes- you don't turn on the TiVo? Why do you have it then?

Anytime I just happen to like a live program, yes even sports, I'll go ahead and record it while I pick something else to watch (or do). With 20 minutes of commercials per hour, at least, it is an investment in my own time.

If you look around, I seem to remember that power savings is nearly non-existent on the Premiere, but that on older units there is a bit more of a difference, though still minimal.


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## Wislander

I can't imagine watching TV without using my TiVo; that being said, if it truly went into a stand-by/sleep mode, it would have to still be running in part to come back on-line to record your programs. So it would never really ever go into a full power saving mode. I think it would also require a heavy redesign of the system itself.


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## gcristof

I's be happy if they just stopped the Tivo Main Menu from timing out and suddenly going to Live TV. Sucks when you have to run from the dinner table to quickly lower the volume as it starts blasting through your surround sound system!


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## shwru980r

External e-sata disk array with RAID 1 and tivo able to warn when a disk fails.


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## lillevig

jakerock said:


> I don't understand why you watch TV with out using the TiVo. I haven't watched TV with out the TiVO in years. On the rare occasion when I am watching something that is actually on at the moment, I still like that I can pause it. Frankly if something is 'live' I'll wait before starting to watch it just so I can skip past commercials. I think you're sort of missing much of what makes using the TiVo a great thing.





jrtroo said:


> Yikes- you don't turn on the TiVo? Why do you have it then?
> 
> Anytime I just happen to like a live program, yes even sports, I'll go ahead and record it while I pick something else to watch (or do). With 20 minutes of commercials per hour, at least, it is an investment in my own time.
> 
> If you look around, I seem to remember that power savings is nearly non-existent on the Premiere, but that on older units there is a bit more of a difference, though still minimal.


I should have responded to these earlier but forgot about this post. Here's the deal: I do not really care much about being able to pause live TV so I use my Tivos mostly for recording stuff. One of the Tivos is a Series2 DT so when watching live TV I need to turn on the cable box if I want to get the HD channels. On the main Tivo (living room) I have a cablecard installed but I can still get all of the local channels in HD on my TV without turning on the Tivo. Most of the shows we watch live are on the local channels so why turn on one more piece of equipment?


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## ZeoTiVo

threads like these are why I do not come around the forum much anymore


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## lpwcomp

On the older TiVos, standby mode turned off the RF modulator so that the RF out acted as a pass-through, thus enabling you to record something on the TiVo and use the TV's tuner to watch something else w/o splitting the cable. The newer TiVos have no RF out. On any standalone TiVo, you get some minimal power savings by not producing any output. I believe DirecTiVos, at least the older ones, actually spin down the drive and stop recording.

I did not know about the non-recording of Emergency Alert System notices. Good to know. Of course now I have to get into the habit of putting it in standby mode.


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## lpwcomp

ZeoTiVo said:


> threads like these are why I do not come around the forum much anymore


And yet you still felt it necessary to post something.


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## TiVo Mel

idessesmila said:


> A guy I know already has a IR sauna and I know that Canadian far infrared saunas are excellent for arthritis and illnesses recovery and even stress relief
> 
> Ive actually done a lot research on the web and there are many infrared saunas out there I learned some things about far infrared therapies on the farnorthsaunas com/health-benefits/]Far North Infrared site
> 
> But, I am trying to figure out if there is any use for an infrared sauna for losing weight and does anyone have real world experience with this  I would be happy with any advice  thank you


WTF?


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## lpwcomp

TiVo Mel said:


> WTF?


"Can I have the Spam, eggs, bacon, and Spam without the Spam?"
"EEEWW!"


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## magnus

Seriously? If there were only one thing Tivo would work on ever.... this would not be it. Suspend has no value at all. It just shuts off the display to the screen. 

Let's ask Tivo for something that really has meaning: DLNA or Whole Home DVR Support (Single NPL for all Tivos on your Network).


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## smbaker

magnus said:


> Seriously? If there were only one thing Tivo would work on ever.... this would not be it. Suspend has no value at all. It just shuts off the display to the screen.


Add a button to the remote, call it "green mode", and have it suspend. Rebrand as the "Premiere Green" with a big "green mode" sticker on the box. Add an asterisk about micrograms of CO2 saved by using green mode. Profit.


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## lillevig

smbaker said:


> Add a button to the remote, call it "green mode", and have it suspend. Rebrand as the "Premiere Green" with a big "green mode" sticker on the box. Add an asterisk about micrograms of CO2 saved by using green mode. Profit.


Now that's the spirit!


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## magnus

smbaker said:


> Add a button to the remote, call it "green mode", and have it suspend. Rebrand as the "Premiere Green" with a big "green mode" sticker on the box. Add an asterisk about micrograms of CO2 saved by using green mode. Profit.


I guess you really don't see the point of your Tivo, do you? The suspend button would do nothing more than not display to the screen. If it went into a true suspend mode then it would not record anything and it would not buffer anything. Just shutting off the display to the TV would not be enough to call it "green".


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## lillevig

magnus said:


> I guess you really don't see the point of your Tivo, do you? The suspend button would do nothing more than not display to the screen. If it went into a true suspend mode then it would not record anything and it would not buffer anything. Just shutting off the display to the TV would not be enough to call it "green".


Lighten up.


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## 9dollor

I did not know about the non-recording of Emergency Alert System notices. Good to know. Of course now I have to get into the habit of putting it in standby mode.


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## lpwcomp

No one has mentioned something. See the button labeled "Zoom" or "Window" on you remote? At one time it was labeled "Stdby" (or something close) and did indeed put your TiVo into standby. Based on the lack of much in the way of complaints when it was changed, I don't think this is a very high priority item for many people. I used to use it to put my TiVo into RF passthru mode.


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## smbaker

magnus said:


> I guess you really don't see the point of your Tivo, do you? The suspend button would do nothing more than not display to the screen. If it went into a true suspend mode then it would not record anything and it would not buffer anything.


*Oh I see, the welfare of the planet takes a back seat to your television viewing!* How many tons of CO2 shall be emitted while your Tivo records a couple of old MASH reruns and an episode of Three's Company at 3am in the morning from TV Land as part of some misguided suggestion?

I call for a ban on all nonessential recording, and government requirements for DVR standby modes! Also, an excise tax on all consumer products with dual-core CPUs (functional or not), and a sin tax for any devices that run Adobe Flash.

P.S. It was a joke.


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## lpwcomp

BTW, the remote pictured above is available from weaKnees. It's the Dark Gray Series 2 standalone remote. The standby button may still work as originally intended.


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## wjb_tx

1. Add DLNA support. I have the Tivo NAS service for MP3 files, but DLNA is the way to go. DLNA content selection can be controlled by an independent device on the the network (think Ipod/Android remote from any room, to control song selection). This would eliminate my need for a network-aware stereo and would work with the TV turned off.

2. Add a true Standby feature that disables continuous live TV buffering, turns off the display output and stops the hard drive when not otherwise needed. The system could easily be programmed to bring systems back on line when needed to record a program or connect to the Tivo service. I don't need a 30 minute buffer to be waiting for me all day and night.

3. Eliminate the timeout feature that takes the unit "back" to live TV from any other state. This is really annoying when listening to music. If I don't pick a new album within a few minutes, live TV starts blaring - blecchh.

WJB


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## magnus

lillevig said:


> Lighten up.


Ok, if you ask for a worthwhile feature then sure.


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## magnus

smbaker said:


> *Oh I see, the welfare of the planet takes a back seat to your television viewing!* How many tons of CO2 shall be emitted while your Tivo records a couple of old MASH reruns and an episode of Three's Company at 3am in the morning from TV Land as part of some misguided suggestion?
> 
> I call for a ban on all nonessential recording, and government requirements for DVR standby modes! Also, an excise tax on all consumer products with dual-core CPUs (functional or not), and a sin tax for any devices that run Adobe Flash.
> 
> P.S. It was a joke.


Ok, then ask Tivo for a real standby mode. The one that they currently have does not really do anything. I suppose you could forget about live buffer but it's going to need to wake up at some point to record your shows. Hopefully it does not miss something that you wanted.


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## smbaker

magnus said:


> Ok, then ask Tivo for a real standby mode. The one that they currently have does not really do anything.


I don't know about you, but I'm going to attach my Tivo to a switch. I'll turn it off when it's not recording, and then turn it back on when a show is about to come on. The planet is just too important, and I can't have all that CO2 emitted by the Tivo's lack-of-a-green-button on my conscience.

Now, if I could just convince Tivo to speed up the boot-up delay of the Premiere, I could probably cut CO2 emissions even more. A polar bear inches closer to death every time a Tivo Premiere reboots.


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## lpwcomp

Hey, according to the commercial _*I*_ saw, Polar Bears need to work on their tans anyway.


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## Chris Gerhard

lpwcomp said:


> Hey, according to the commercial _*I*_ saw, Polar Bears need to work on their tans anyway.


The Polar Bear joke must have attracted an automated spam creater of some kind and resulted in the Antartica car rental nonsense post that followed yours, I won't copy it and it will soon disappear since it is worthless spam.

This most needed improvement discussed here isn't even in the top 100 needed improvements and I hope TiVo doesn't bother considering it.


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## magnus

smbaker said:


> I don't know about you, but I'm going to attach my Tivo to a switch. I'll turn it off when it's not recording, and then turn it back on when a show is about to come on. The planet is just too important, and I can't have all that CO2 emitted by the Tivo's lack-of-a-green-button on my conscience.
> 
> Now, if I could just convince Tivo to speed up the boot-up delay of the Premiere, I could probably cut CO2 emissions even more. A polar bear inches closer to death every time a Tivo Premiere reboots.


Yep, I actually turn mine off during the summer and use Roku instead. So, I guess I'm helping out a bit every now and again.


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## lillevig

Ok, time to let this thread die a natural death. This is one thread in a whole forum about suggested improvements. If you want to suggest "real" improvements then start your own thread instead of venting your anger about how stupid this idea is and how I'm not even qualified to own a Tivo, blah, blah, blah. The whole thread was started as only half serious and I truly appreciated the humor added by some of the posters (love the "Premiere Green" concept). Now everyone please just let it go.


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## Joe01880

ZeoTiVo said:


> threads like these are why I do not come around the forum much anymore


Respectfully, if the thread is not worthy of your attention then why give it? Why not spend your valuable time and resource helping those who might need it rathen then commenting in areas that only serve to frustrate you.


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## joanzen

The transfer feature is great, but I would love to be able to push transfer to another TiVo in my network rather than just the current pull transfer.


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## MichaelK

wjb_tx said:


> 1. Add DLNA support. I have the Tivo NAS service for MP3 files, but DLNA is the way to go. DLNA content selection can be controlled by an independent device on the the network (think Ipod/Android remote from any room, to control song selection). This would eliminate my need for a network-aware stereo and would work with the TV turned off.
> 
> 2. Add a true Standby feature that disables continuous live TV buffering, turns off the display output and stops the hard drive when not otherwise needed. The system could easily be programmed to bring systems back on line when needed to record a program or connect to the Tivo service. I don't need a 30 minute buffer to be waiting for me all day and night.
> 
> 3. Eliminate the timeout feature that takes the unit "back" to live TV from any other state. This is really annoying when listening to music. If I don't pick a new album within a few minutes, live TV starts blaring - blecchh.
> 
> WJB


#1 I'd also love.
#2- tough call- but i'd probably keep it as is- it probably only happens a few times a year but there are times I turn the tv on and the buffer stumbled on something that isn't recording but i like so i can hit record and life is good.
#3 I think was put in years ago when there were CRT's and then plasma's as the main types of tv's and burn in was a concern. Kidzone added a screen saver though- so no reason the "normal" mode couldn't have one.


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## shwru980r

I would like for the Tivo software to recognize back to back programs that are on the same channel where the first program has the recording time extended so that it overlaps the second program, and keep recording on the same tuner instead of using the other tuner to record the second program.


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## videobruce

I see the OP received similar narrow minded responses here also.


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## csm10495

lpwcomp said:


> Hey, according to the commercial _*I*_ saw, Polar Bears need to work on their tans anyway.


They also enjoy Coca-Cola.


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