# With the Mini, why have multiple DVRs?



## adamwsh (Oct 22, 2002)

I have a TivoHD on my bedroom TV that is sounding like the hard drive is about to fail. 
I also have an XL4 on my main TV which is doing just fine.

So, this morning I set out to replace the TivoHD. I decided on a Tivo Mini. It's only $149 and includes lifetime service. I can't figure out why anyone would own multiple DVRs now that the Mini is an option for 2nd, 3rd, etc TVs.

Besides the fact that it is insanely cheaper than a new Romio with lifetime ($598), it has no moving parts (ie. Hard Drive) and will probably outlive me. Right?

Why would anyone opt for a 2nd DVR?


----------



## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Lots of reasons: If they only have a two tuner box, like to record from both OTA and cable, want tons and tons of capacity, or have boxes from before streaming was enabled.


----------



## adamwsh (Oct 22, 2002)

jrtroo said:


> Lots of reasons: If they only have a two tuner box, like to record from both OTA and cable, want tons and tons of capacity, or have boxes from before streaming was enabled.


Sorry, I should have been more specific. If the person already has a DVR that is compatible with Mini... why would they want/need to have a 2nd DVR instead of the cheaper Mini option?


----------



## eric102 (Oct 31, 2012)

adamwsh said:


> Sorry, I should have been more specific. If the person already has a DVR that is compatible with Mini... why would they want/need to have a 2nd DVR instead of the cheaper Mini option?


More tuners, sometimes 6 isn't enough if you pad recordings a few minutes.


----------



## joewom (Dec 10, 2013)

eric102 said:


> More tuners, sometimes 6 isn't enough if you pad recordings a few minutes.


I have 3 kids a wife and me that all love shows. So I first got a plus for me and the master bedroom to share and a basic for the kids to all share. 6 tuners say in September is cutting it close at night with me. And my wife complained when she couldn't get a tuner when times all would be used. So I got a XL4 with lifetime for the Master Bedroom and haven't had any issues so far. Kids record stuff on theirs I on the living room and she on the XL4. And you can see all the DVR and stream from them on any device.


----------



## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

I have an XL4, Roamio Plus and 3 Minis.

I don't need 10 tuners or 3 TB of storage, but I keep the XL4 around to keep a lot of family stuff separate from mine. If Tivo ever comes up with a good user profile solution, going to one DVR might be more likely.

But in the meantime, the XL4 works fine (enough) and the cablecard fee is minimal, so I'm not overly anxious to get rid of it. It cost $740-ish less than 3 years ago so I might as well get my money's worth until I'm given a good reason to replace it.


----------



## LeonC (Nov 6, 2014)

I have two Roamio basic units with lifetime and four Mini's. I am OTA only. My broadcast networks are in two different directions. Multi directional antennas have not worked, so I now use two directional antennas. Each is connected to it's own Roamio. Mini's can easily connect with either Roamio as needed.

I tried to combine the antennas first to one Roamio, but that was not reliable. One direction is blocked by a hill and the towers are around 50 miles away. Signal is 100% reliable now with my current setup.


----------



## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

I have 2 MInis, but the Tivo experience is superior when you are directly using the Roamio itself. IT is just much snappier and responsive. The video preview window doesn't disappear when going back to Tivo central. There is one 1 less step when recording a show from the guide. And who knows what else.

That's why I could see someone, with cash to burn, buying Roamios instead of Minis. And you obviously get more tuners.

But otherwise the Mini is too good a value to pass up. It's far cheaper and no monthly cablecard fee. Plus it's much smaller than a Roamio and there is no hard drive/fan noise.


----------



## adamwsh (Oct 22, 2002)

trip1eX said:


> ...It's far cheaper and no monthly cablecard fee. Plus it's much smaller than a Roamio and there is no hard drive/fan noise.


Yup! I like the fact that replacing my TivoHD with a Mini will allow me to return a cable card and also not pay a monthly fee to Tivo. Spending $180 (I had to buy the composite cable, too), will allow me to save $10/month in Fios & Tivo fees. I'll be making money in 18 months.


----------



## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

adamwsh said:


> Yup! I like the fact that replacing my TivoHD with a Mini will allow me to return a cable card and also not pay a monthly fee to Tivo. Spending $180 (I had to buy the composite cable, too), will allow me to save $10/month in Fios & Tivo fees. I'll be making money in 18 months.


$30 for a composite cable? 

And btw you can get a Mini for $115 at Samsclub.com.


----------



## adamwsh (Oct 22, 2002)

trip1eX said:


> $30 for a composite cable?
> 
> And btw you can get a Mini for $115 at Samsclub.com.


Including tax.

I don't belong to Sam's. I'm too lazy to hunt for a deal anyway. Just bought straight from Tivo.


----------



## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

adamwsh said:


> Including tax.
> 
> I don't belong to Sam's. I'm too lazy to hunt for a deal anyway. Just bought straight from Tivo.


tax makes it a bit better. 

You can order from Sams without membership I think. Might be 10% extra.


----------



## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Amazon has them for $130. Just buy them for the cheapest price you can, as any Mini gets free lifetime activation no matter where you buy it or how much you pay.


----------



## DawnW (Nov 28, 2008)

TUNERS!

We just go the Roamio basic and two minis. So far we have only hooked up one mini.

Last night I had to stop recording two shows so that my son could record one on the mini and watch what he wanted on the mini.

I can see that once we get the 2nd mini hooked up, this is going to be an issue.

My husband still has his HD in the basement and I told him we should get a mini for down there, but now I am thinking he should keep the HD to allow us to have more tuners going at once.

I think we will have to restrict prime time.......

1. Watch a taped show only, no live TV
2. Record only ONE show between the hours of 8-10pm


----------



## uw69 (Jan 25, 2001)

I keep a series 3 along with my roamio and mini's just for OTA.


----------



## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

Even with six tuners in the Roamio Pro, we still max them out during prime time some days of the week. With a guest in the house this week, I pointed the guest room Mini at the "extra" Premiere Elite/XL4 so that any use in that room wouldn't impact the Roamio's tuners.


----------



## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

I have a friend with a big home and only two people living there unless the kids come in from out of town or other company, we put in one Roamio Plus and 5 Minis, he then turned in 5 cable cards and is saving about $48/month, if you can use this type of system it is a great. Total cost after selling the 5 now extra TiVos on E-Bay was about $500 and he had to pay the $150 Mini Lifetime cost. (5 Mini + 1 Roamio plus + 3Tb hard drive cost about $2100, Net from E-Bay on the 5 older TiVos was a little over $1600)


----------

