# Repeated TiVo Suggestions during long shows



## JeffInNashville (Nov 22, 2006)

Let me preface this message by saying that I enjoy the TiVo suggestions feature, and don't want to disable it fully. However, when I am watching a sporting event for 2 or 3 hours, I get annoyed that every 30 minutes, my TiVo tries to change the channel to record a show it suggests. Often, I'll walk away from the TV and come back to a new show because I wasn't there to say, "No, stay on this channel," and I don't have the chance to get to rewind to see what I missed of my show since the channel changed.

I'm suggesting that the box understand that if I say, "No, stay on this channel," one time while a program is on, take that as, "I want to watch this whole show, so please don't change the channel until it is scheduled to be over."

I don't know anything about the internal TiVo programming, but I can't imagine that this is a totally unreasonable request.


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## nvaughan3 (May 11, 2006)

of course, this also ties in with the suggestion that you should be able to keep the buffer from the previous show when you change the channel.


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## wscannell (Dec 7, 2003)

You can work around this problem by recording the show you are watching. Then just delete it when you are finished. This will prevent any suggestions from trying to record.


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## petew (Jul 31, 2003)

wscannell said:


> You can work around this problem by recording the show you are watching. Then just delete it when you are finished. This will prevent any suggestions from trying to record.


True. As long as you have the disk space available. I like to watch sports in BEST quality so 3hrs of recording is a good chunk of space. So I'd vote for the OP's suggestion.


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## satmaster (Sep 11, 2004)

nvaughan3 said:


> of course, this also ties in with the suggestion that you should be able to keep the buffer from the previous show when you change the channel.


Yes we really need that because we have lost the buffer several times when someone bumped the remote and it changes channels. :down:

You would think that if you were watching tv in a delayed mode that it would not let you change channels without giving a warning like it does when you are recording and try to change channels.

Or just stop flushing the buffer when changing channels.

As is is you are taking a risk of missing large parts of a program if you watch it in delayed mode. A Verry bad bug that needs to be fixed.


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## megazone (Mar 3, 2002)

Hmm, if you use the remote it should not try to record a suggestion for 30 minutes. Each time you use the remote it should reset the counter. But if you just sit and watch passively, it will timeout in 30 minutes and think you are no longer watching.


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## doni49 (Nov 6, 2004)

satmaster said:


> Yes we really need that because we have lost the buffer several times when someone bumped the remote and it changes channels. :down:
> 
> You would think that if you were watching tv in a delayed mode that it would not let you change channels without giving a warning like it does when you are recording and try to change channels.
> 
> ...


I'm with you on this! SOOO many times, I've bumped the channel buttons and lost my buffer. Recently, I was watching a show that I had paused (it was about delayed by about 20 minutes. I bumped the channel button and lost the end of the show I have no clue what happened because when I changed back to my channel, the show had already gone off.

Other times, I've gone to the restroom and paused Tivo. Upon my return, I found that Tivo wanted to record a suggestion and had changed the channel when I didn't respond by telling it NOT to change the channel! Grrrrr!


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## LightMike (Mar 10, 2006)

I am definitely with you guys on this topic. I think this should be one of TiVo's Top Suggestions to fix rather than alot of the other suggestions ussers are posting on this site. It would be a feature we would use every day!

*Another idea would be to hit a button (or series of buttons...i.e. hit "play" quickly 3 times) and then the channel would be locked*...after this a confirmation screen would come up like this:









*- Scenario 1)* One of your family members come and try to change the channel while you are gone. When they try to change the channel a prompt like the one below comes up:









*- Scenario 2)* The same happens if you accidently "bump" the remote.


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## SpiritualPoet (Jan 14, 2007)

Bear in mind that if TiVo were to change this and allow one decline of changing a channel during watching a program that is not being recorded, it also will override any scheduled event to be recorded that may overlap the remainder of the program being watched. This is even if one has a dual tuner model, because suppose you're watching an event that started at 1 pm ending at 4 pm and Tivo is programmed for two other programs, one starting at 3:00 (via the "other" tuner), and the second starting at 3:30 (presumably to use the tuner in which you have indicated you want to see the end of the program. - A definite conflict.) Logically, the user, if on a channel with commercials, should watch all what's in the buffer to "catch up" with real time, and then switch to watching the remainder of the non-recording program via one's television tuner or a signal from a splitter from one's cable jack, such that there is nothing lost that is desired. Such would solve the problem and TiVo would not have to try to implement a "fix" for everyone that is more of a burden than a cure.


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## LightMike (Mar 10, 2006)

*The problem that we are talking about is not about the conflicts with recordings times...and then trying to "catch up". * We are talking about: 
1) Accidently changing the channel = everything before the "current time" is erased - OR -

2) If you (i.e. go to the restroom) while you're in the bathroom a prompt may come on the screen saying: "The TiVo DVR is about to record a TiVo Suggestion" 
- Options: Change Channel?...Stay on this channel?" 
(If you are not there to select "Stay on this channel" ...the TiVo will change to that channel, begin recording the NEW channel, then when you come back...you can't go back.) 

If you add a "Lock Feature", as I explained in my last post above, you wouldn't have to worry about mistakes like accidently changing a channel. Once you "Lock" the channel ANY numbers or channel up/down buttons you change after that would make a screen pop up First, asking if you would like to change the channel or not- before any channel is actually changed.

Note: This would NOT prevent any "Season Pass" or "Scheduled Recording" to cancel. The channel would simply change and start recording your next schedule recording.

This is a very simple concept and I know it can be done. They could possibly add a "lock" button on future remotes as well.


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

LightMike said:


> Note: This would NOT prevent any "Season Pass" or "Scheduled Recording" to cancel. The channel would simply change and start recording your next schedule recording.


Alternatively, rather than doing this automatically, when you attempted to Lock the show the TiVo could warn you that this conflicts with a scheduled recording.

Although TiVo seems to prefer simple yes/no type choices, they could offer three choices on that screen.
1) Do not lock this show
2) Lock this show until <Scheduled Recording>
3) Cancel <Scheduled Recording>

Where option 2 is equivalent to the automatic behavior you were suggesting.


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## LightMike (Mar 10, 2006)

Well, I don't see how your option for #2 would be useful because, as I said in the last post, the "lock channel" feature would not interfere with any "Scheduled Recording" or "Season Pass". But, Options 1 & 3 seem great. I forgot to put the "Option #1" you have on my screen. I really like the "option #3 you have.

Also, I would like to say that the "Lock picture" that I put on the top-right hand side of the screen might more useful, for some users, on the "Info Screen". This way you won't have a lock show up if you decide to transfer the recording to a DVD or VHS tape.


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

LightMike said:


> Well, I don't see how your option for #2 would be useful because, as I said in the last post, the "lock channel" feature would not interfere with any "Scheduled Recording" or "Season Pass". But, Options 1 & 3 seem great. I forgot to put the "Option #1" you have on my screen. I really like the "option #3 you have.
> 
> Also, I would like to say that the "Lock picture" that I put on the top-right hand side of the screen might more useful, for some users, on the "Info Screen". This way you won't have a lock show up if you decide to transfer the recording to a DVD or VHS tape.


Option 2 is really more there as an explanation of what will happen if you choose to lock. (And if you are giving an option screen you don't want the only two options to be "don't lock" or "cancel scheduled recording")

Option 2 reassures any user that locking the current show won't interfere with scheduled recordings. 
Or conversely warns them that the lock won't protect their whole show from scheduled recordings.
(Depending on what behavior they might have assumed.)

Better to make it clear up front than scheduled recordings override locks so they can make an decision on whether or not to cancel the scheduled recording.

In effect the options are:
Don't Lock
Lock normally (i.e. don't interfere with scheduled shows)
Cancel and conflicting scheduled shows and Lock all of this show.

But you wouldn't want to word it quite like that in the interface, and you can't expect people to have read the update info to understand what the normal behavior of locks are.


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## walueg (Sep 9, 2002)

Jeff in Nashville had it right. We need to Keep It Simple Stupid. All of these other safeguards just make the Tivo experience too complicated. Just have the Tivo stop suggestions during a long TV show if you've said "no" once or if it's obvious that I'm interested in it by pausing, changing volume, etc. I don't want to record a long movie and use up valuable disk space. Just have the machine shut up until the show's over. 

What's really bugging me, however, is that after TiVo records a suggestion is that it goes back to the original channel. As a TV viewer, I'm not loyal to any particular channel. It didn't used to do this, but somebody changed the feature and I can't change it back. Am I missing something?


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## lrhorer (Aug 31, 2003)

walueg said:


> Jeff in Nashville had it right. We need to Keep It Simple Stupid.


True. Here's the simplest and best solution of all: Don't watch live TV. Even if you happen to want to watch something right there and then, if it's commercial TV start recording it and go get a cup of coffee, take a restroom break, or make yourself a sandwich. If nothing else, browse through the already recorded programs or check to be double-sure the To Do list looks correct. Whatever it is, take the opportunity to carry out a brief task or two you would be doing at some point anyway. Then when you come back, there will be enough of a buffer to guarantee you can zip through every commercial without hitting the end of the buffer. Whatever you're watching, allow at least 12 minutes per hour of recorded material to pass by before you start watching the new program and you'll wind up finishing the program and the chores altogether in less time than otherwise and you won't have to slog through a ton of commercials.



bcwaller said:


> All of these other safeguards just make the Tivo experience too complicated. Just have the Tivo stop suggestions during a long TV show if you've said "no" once or if it's obvious that I'm interested in it by pausing, changing volume, etc. I don't want to record a long movie and use up valuable disk space.


It's not that valuable. If you are that cramped for disk space, then you need to upgrade your hard drive. Hard drive space costs only around $1.50 per hour of additional HD programming space and less than $0.30 per hour of SD programming space. Once you are done watching, delete the show immediately and the space is instantly recovered. The buffer is 30 minutes in the first place, so a 1 hour HD TV drama will ony eat up an additional 30 minutes of storage, or about 2.6 - 4.0G of drive space. That's perhaps 2% of a stock TiVo HD or 2% of a stock Series III. If the prgram is SD, then it's such a minuscule amount even on a Series II it isn't worth mentioning. Even a 3 hour program only uses an additional 2.5 hours of programming, which is far less than horrifying even on a TiVo HD.

Nothing is "obvious" based upon remote key presses or a lack of them, other than the fact if the user presses <Rec>, then he wants to record the program, which solves the problem entirely on every Tivo out there without Tivo having to come up with some other work-around which attempts to please everyone and invariably fails.


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## lrhorer (Aug 31, 2003)

LightMike said:


> I am definitely with you guys on this topic. I think this should be one of TiVo's Top Suggestions to fix rather than alot of the other suggestions ussers are posting on this site. It would be a feature we would use every day!


You've got to be kidding me. I would rank this as not only completely unnecessary, but also one of the wort suggestions I've seen. Right now, sitting on your very Tivo in your very house at this very moment there is a completely elegant and foolproof method to prevent any of this from happening: Press <Rec> on your Tivo remote. Problem solved.

As to using it every day, I've owned Tivos for nearly 8 years, and I would never once in that entire time have made use of any of the things you are suggesting.


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