# Hopefully easy question - cancel directv, keep Tivo?



## KBecks (Mar 28, 2006)

We have a Hughes Series 1 DirecTV unit with Tivo. We have a lifetime subscription.

We are looking at possibly reducing our spending, and might like to cancel DirecTV, but keep the TIVO to record and keep and view our local channels.

Can this be done, and does anyone know what the savings would be going from DirecTV (basic+local) to just the TIVO subscription?

Our unit is at least 3 years old, and we like the service, but we are considering making a change to save money every month. I don't think we can give up TIVO, but we could probably survive w/o directv.

Thanks.


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## Boston Fan (Feb 8, 2006)

KBecks said:


> We have a Hughes Series 1 DirecTV unit with Tivo. We have a lifetime subscription.
> 
> We are looking at possibly reducing our spending, and might like to cancel DirecTV, but keep the TIVO to record and keep and view our local channels.
> 
> ...


No luck - the combination units are forever entwined. You will be able to view stored programs, but once you cancel D*, your Tivo service goes with it.

Different story with a SA Tivo, but if money is the issue, I find their rate structure prohibitive (not to mention the absence of dual tuners).


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## Guindalf (Jun 13, 2001)

I've lost count of the number of times I've said this in response to other posts, but you do NOT have a TiVo!

You have a DirecTV receiver with TiVo service. This is where the confusion lies. There is no connection to TiVo with the box you have other than the fact that the DVR part is powered (?) by TiVo software. Everything about this box other than that is DirecTV. Therefore there is nothing to subscribe to TiVo WITH! If you give up the D* service, then just like if it was a plain jane receiver, it's next to useless.



The only TiVos out there are the standalone boxes.


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

Guindalf said:


> I've lost count of the number of times I've said this in response to other posts, but you do NOT have a TiVo!


Then stop saying it. If it has TiVo software it is a TiVo. Just because it also has a built in DirecTV receiver does not make it a non-TiVo.


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## Guindalf (Jun 13, 2001)

Kablemodem said:


> Then stop saying it. If it has TiVo software it is a TiVo. Just because *it also has a built in DirecTV receiver* does not make it a non-TiVo.


Does that make a PC a "Windows" or a "Linux"? No, it's a PC that runs Windows or Linux.

It is not a TiVo with a built in DirecTV receiver, it's primarily a D* receiver with a DVR that has TiVo software. The software is the only connection to TiVo. They have nothing to do with billing or even upgrading the software - that's all controlled by the makers of the box - DirecTV. Therefore, under no stretch of the imagination is a D* receiver with TiVo service a TiVo!

My response was to a newbie who has one post and is intended to point out why he can't use his D* receiver for anything other than D* satellite reception. It was not intended to start an argument over semantics with someone who has over 4000 posts and, with respect, should know better!


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## Billy Bob Boy (Jul 25, 2004)

Guindalf said:


> I've lost count of the number of times I've said this in response to other posts, but you do NOT have a TiVo!
> 
> You have a DirecTV receiver with TiVo service. This is where the confusion lies. There is no connection to TiVo with the box you have other than the fact that the DVR part is powered (?) by TiVo software. Everything about this box other than that is DirecTV. Therefore there is nothing to subscribe to TiVo WITH! If you give up the D* service, then just like if it was a plain jane receiver, it's next to useless.
> 
> The only TiVos out there are the standalone boxes.


Not really next to useless. It can be a space filler for your entertainment center. You can use it to impress your freinds and guests( when they see all the tech gadgets in your system( jus don try and show them how it works)( just tell them its way to complicated for them to understand). You can rip out all the guts and make the worlds biggest roach motel  . Do the same and make it a hamster habitat( just dont forget to unplug it  ! Seal it up and make a cool remote control boat! Its jus perfect for those experiments to see which object falls faster A directivo with no directv service or a bowling ball! Feel free to respond to this with your own ideas of what to do with a Directivo with no Directv service.


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## Dkerr24 (Oct 29, 2004)

Well you could hack the software on the box and use it for MRV viewing and program storage if fed by a standalone Tivo.


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

Guindalf said:


> Does that make a PC a "Windows" or a "Linux"? No, it's a PC that runs Windows or Linux.


Then there is no such thing as a TiVo. There are only DVRs running TiVo software.


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## Guindalf (Jun 13, 2001)

Kablemodem said:


> Then there is no such thing as a TiVo. There are only DVRs running TiVo software.


Wrong. The model is more like Apple than the PC. An iMac runs an Apple OS and is therefore an Apple. A clone would not be an Apple, even if it ran OSX.

A TiVo is a TiVo box running TiVo software. A D* box is not a TiVo, but it runs TiVo software.


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## tigersfanjj (Oct 23, 2005)

Kablemodem said:


> Then stop saying it. If it has TiVo software it is a TiVo. Just because it also has a built in DirecTV receiver does not make it a non-TiVo.


Is it a TiVo?

Is it a DirecTV receiver?

If it were indeed a TiVo unit that "also has a built in DirecTV receiver", then you should be able to pay for the TiVo service and it would perform all of the TiVo functions whether or not you have the DirecTV service. It will not do this. However, you can use it with the DirecTV service as a receiver without activating the TiVo service.

So I would have to agree with Guindalf and say that it is a DirecTV receiver with TiVo software loaded onto it.


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

TiVo designed the box to work specifically with DirecTV. It shares a majority of the same hardware as a standalone TiVo. Before DirecTV took it over it was call a TiVo. I will continue to call it a TiVo.



> then you should be able to pay for the TiVo service and it would perform all of the TiVo functions whether or not you have the DirecTV service.


Because it does not have the mpeg encoders the standalone boxes do.


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## dishrich (Jan 16, 2002)

KBecks said:


> We have a Hughes Series 1 DirecTV unit with Tivo. We have a lifetime subscription.


Oh & since nobody mentioned this & just in case you were wondering - the lifetime sub is tied to YOUR D* ACCOUNT & NOT the actual D* Tivo box. When you disco your D* service, you also disco the lifetime service along with it. You can't x-fer the lifetime service to a standalone Tivo, nor to another D* customer. (although some people have said they have in the past, but I don't think D* will do it anymore)

Since you (in essense) are getting a bargin with the lifetime service, you might want to give some thought to this before you completely pull the plug on D*...  
Also, since you said you are trying to save $$$, D* does have some "unadvertised" cheaper packages than Total Choice - maybe you might want to call them & discuss this as well, as you'd still be able to keep your lifetime sub intact. (I'd hope anyway)

Matter of fact, someone just posted one here:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=293528


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

tigersfanjj said:


> If it were indeed a TiVo unit that "also has a built in DirecTV receiver", then you should be able to pay for the TiVo service and it would perform all of the TiVo functions whether or not you have the DirecTV service.


My DirecTiVo performed all the functions that a SA TiVo did when I bought it, actually more. But now that it doesn't do everything that a SA TiVo does it is no longer a TiVo? Do I have to pry the TiVo logo off the cover and send it back?


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## bidger (Mar 30, 2001)

Kablemodem said:


> My DirecTiVo performed all the functions that a SA TiVo did when I bought it, actually more.


My GXCEBOT, DSR-6000, SD-DVR-80, and HR10-250 are all incapable of recording analog over-the-air signals and cable inputs, but my HDR-112s and TCD540040 can.

Face it, a D-TiVos primary function is to receive DirecTV programming. I'm fine with that and looking forward to my local ABC affiliate doing HD broadcasting hopefully this Fall so I can pick it up on my HR10-250. I'm also one who prefers the D-TiVo over the SA, but just like the SA, the D-TiVo does have some limitations.

When I picked up my first D-TiVo five years ago, I understood it was different from a SA and that was part of the reason I wanted it. It seems that when DirecTV took it over and dropped the price for service, that clouded the issue because money confuses everything.


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## tigersfanjj (Oct 23, 2005)

Kablemodem said:


> Do I have to pry the TiVo logo off the cover and send it back?


Of course you do. You didn't get the memo?


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

bidger said:


> My GXCEBOT, DSR-6000, SD-DVR-80, and HR10-250 are all incapable of recording analog over-the-air signals and cable inputs, but my HDR-112s and TCD540040 can.


Oh, now I think I get it. Whether a DVR is a TiVo or not is determined by the signal source. So when an SA TiVo is recording cable or OTA it is a TiVo, but if it is recording DirecTV it is no longer a TiVo.

By the way, the logo on my DirecTV receiver that is not a TiVo was actually a button that gave me access to the not-TiVo menu, but I pried it out anyway. I also gouged the button off the remote and I am buying a replacement remote for an R10 so I can cut the DirecTV button off of it and glue it onto my SAT-T60 remote. It wasn't that hard, but my DirecTV receiver that is not a TiVo cried a little.


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## tigersfanjj (Oct 23, 2005)

No, I think I am starting to get it. 

In fact, I just saw a new '05 Viper in ebay for $39000. That's a steal at that price, but I'd probably never get it. After all, the ad says it is a Dodge Ram but it has a Viper engine in it, so it must be a Viper. Not to mention that it can carry a few 2X4's in the bed, so it can do more than the car version.

Not trying to sound like an @$$, but it's just not the same thing as a SA TiVo and that is what the OP was wanting to know.


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

I wasn't commenting on the OP's question. In fact I agree with his plan to ditch DirecTV and go to cable, which is what I plan to do when the Series 3 comes out. I was responding to a statement that a DirecTiVo is not a TiVo.


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## DesignDawg (Aug 10, 2005)

Oh, sad little children.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

Kablemodem said:


> Oh, now I think I get it. Whether a DVR is a TiVo or not is determined by the signal source. So when an SA TiVo is recording cable or OTA it is a TiVo, but if it is recording DirecTV it is no longer a TiVo.


Close. It is who you purchase the DVR service, if any, from.


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## Sirshagg (Dec 27, 2001)

It doesn't really matter what you call it. The DirecTivo units do not have encoders. This means that they can't record anything but the raw direcTv signal. Without Directv you can watch whatever has already been recorded on the unit but nothing new can ever be recorded, played, or otherwise viewed on it.


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

classicsat said:


> Close. It is who you purchase the DVR service, if any, from.


So I purchased lifetime from TiVo for my DirecTiVo before DirecTV took it over. Hurray!!! Mine is a TiVo and yours is not!!!


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

rminsk said:


> So I purchased lifetime from TiVo for my DirecTiVo before DirecTV took it over. Hurray!!! Mine is a TiVo and yours is not!!!


No, it was never a TiVo since you were receiving service from DirecTV. You will receive a refund on your lifetime sub shortly.


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## Beantownbeanie (Apr 23, 2004)

Kablemodem said:


> No, it was never a TiVo since you were receiving service from DirecTV. You will receive a refund on your lifetime sub shortly.


Ok I will bite....so if I have a lifetime sub with Directv they are cancelling it and sending me a check??


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

No, I was being sarcastic.


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

Guindalf said:


> An iMac runs an Apple OS and is therefore an Apple.


What is the iMac if I load Windows XP on it? Does it cease being a Mac? (or Apple? wtf?)

Your analogies need some work.


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## Billy Bob Boy (Jul 25, 2004)

I have a CAT! I put a sweater on him made for a DOG! He now barks and chases the mailman and drinks out of the toilet.   

You are asking what this has to do with the thread? Absolutely nothing but i thought it was funny. I am laughing as i write it


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

rminsk said:


> So I purchased lifetime from TiVo for my DirecTiVo before DirecTV took it over. Hurray!!! Mine is a TiVo and yours is not!!!


Except that when DirecTV took over control of the DVR service, they took over the Lifetime account also.


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

classicsat said:


> Except that when DirecTV took over control of the DVR service, they took over the Lifetime account also.


But that is irrelevent. The other posted said "It is who you purchase the DVR service, if any, from." I purchased mine from TiVo so it is a TiVo. I purchased my television from my best friend so I guess it makes my television my best friend!!


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

rminsk said:


> But that is irrelevent. The other posted said "It is who you purchase the DVR service, if any, from." I purchased mine from TiVo so it is a TiVo. I purchased my television from my best friend so I guess it makes my television my best friend!!


TiVo is my best friend. Athough he is a bit upset at me right now since I gouged his logos out.


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## Tivo_60 (Jun 13, 2003)

Yikes....I'm exhausted !!


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## dtremain (Jan 5, 2004)

How about we just call it a Herbie?


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## Billy Bob Boy (Jul 25, 2004)

dtremain said:


> How about we just call it a Herbie?


I call mine charleen  I love charleen! It makes my wife jealous!   She says i spend more time with charleen than her


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