# What is better the Roamio or Bolt assuming same number of tuners?



## Johnny Danger (Dec 27, 2016)

What is better the Roamio or Bolt assuming same number of tuners?

I'm looking to maybe buy one of these but I'm not sure which one is best.

I think the bolt is 4K whereas the Roamio is 1080, however I don't have a 4K TV or content.

Can both do the streaming to the mini device and allow for hard drive upgrades the same? 

Thanks.


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## ajwees41 (May 7, 2006)

Stream and download recordings to your mobile device


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Look around TCF and you will find a number of similar threads.


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## Johnny Danger (Dec 27, 2016)

krkaufman said:


> Look around TCF and you will find a number of similar threads.


Can you give away the ending on that story( Bolt vs Roamio) ?

Are they both pretty much the same except for some small details ? I already have ROKU for streaming. Right now I need a DVR.

Am I making a major mistake by getting a Roamio vs a Bolt or vise versa?


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## delgadobb (Mar 6, 2004)

Translation: "I don't want to use the search function so can you do the work for me?" 

My suggestion would be to look through the existing threads, see if you think of questions that remain unanswered & ask them here. You'll find folks here very helpful IF you do a little legwork yourself ... put another way, help us to help you. 

For some people Roamio is the best fit, for some people Bolt; depending on someone's needs & perspective you may get very different answers. Both devices are very good; the Bolt will cost you more but you may have to look into used with Roamio.


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## Johnny Danger (Dec 27, 2016)

delgadobb said:


> Translation: "I don't want to use the search function so can you do the work for me?"
> 
> My suggestion would be to look through the existing threads, see if you think of questions that remain unanswered & ask them here. You'll find folks here very helpful IF you do a little legwork yourself ... put another way, help us to help you.
> 
> For some people Roamio is the best fit, for some people Bolt; depending on someone's needs & perspective you may get very different answers. Both devices are very good; the Bolt will cost you more but you may have to look into used with Roamio.


I have read comparison and they both seem like they do the same thing except the Bolt has 4K and some apps that make it like a Roku with 3rd party streaming services. That is my take on it. Is there more to add?

Does the same picture look better on one vs the other? Many TV have 1080P however some are better than others.

By the way, I did do a search and the only thing that comes up is my own question. 
If you know the answer, can't you just tell me? What is with the tease man?


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Johnny Danger said:


> Can you give away the ending on that story( Bolt vs Roamio) ?
> 
> Are they both pretty much the same except for some small details ? I already have ROKU for streaming. Right now I need a DVR.
> 
> Am I making a major mistake by getting a Roamio vs a Bolt or vise versa?


There are detailed threads outlining the differences, I have written several. It also depends on what Roamio (there are 4-5 different ones) you are talking about and if you want to use it for cable or OTA.

The simple answer are that the Bolts are the current generation and several years newer hardware than the Roamios, but the Roamios maybe a better value depending on ones needs. Of course the only Roamio still being sold new is the Roamio OTA, so if one is considering the base Roamio or the Roamio Plus/Pro then they will be used.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

See, e.g.: Roamio Plus to a Bolt is it worth it?


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## sfhub (Jan 6, 2007)

Johnny Danger said:


> I have read comparison and they both seem like they do the same thing except the Bolt has 4K and some apps that make it like a Roku with 3rd party streaming services. That is my take on it. Is there more to add?
> 
> Does the same picture look better on one vs the other? Many TV have 1080P however some are better than others.
> 
> ...


Roamio is more solid hardware (but older CPU) and design. For DVR only where you don't care about the apps get Roamio. The OTA tuner is slightly better at pulling in signal. Roamio is slow with the apps.

Bolt does 4k and the apps run fast, but you might not care if you have Roku or fancy TV with own apps. Other than 4k or faster apps, it doesn't really do anything better than Roamio and some things (like OTA tuner might be slightly worse)

If you are doing your own drive expansion, 3.5" drive gives you more flexbility than 2.5" in Bolt.


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## chicagobrownblue (May 29, 2008)

I have a Roamio Basic. I upgraded to a 3TB drive which was easy and I love the extra capacity. I don't have a 4K TV and my internet is probably not fast enough/high quality enough for 4K streaming anyway. I don't see any great prices on Roamios on Amazon right now. Buying a base Bolt from Tivo for $199 is cheaper. Deals from Tivo probably won't happen until February.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

chicagobrownblue said:


> I don't see any great prices on Roamios on Amazon right now. Buying a base Bolt from Tivo for $199 is cheaper. Deals from Tivo probably won't happen until February.


Apart from the Roamio OTA with included subscription, which is a nice deal even at the retail price. Having said that, I was shocked to see that Amazon's price has skyrocketed from the recent $315 low to a now $392.


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## scottchez (Dec 2, 2003)

I want the fast box there is for loading apps and on demand. Bolt is x times fast. I think they said 3 times fast? Please it has that new App Instant load feature . Right now I think just Netflix is enabled, this means once Netflix is loaded in memory it stays in memory so it instantly loads. It stays in memory until the next reboot. The box I think has 3 times more memory.
Price wise all worth it to me.
I did find the Bolt Plus has a more sensitive tuner so If you cable signal is too weak or too strong you have issues (may need to add or remove slitters or add an amp). The Amazon reviews for the Bolt Plus have a good write up on the issue in the reviews. Took me a day of tweaking to get the signal and SNR levels right on the Plus to avoid Pixellation.


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## TeamPace (Oct 23, 2013)

Better is a subjective term. It depends on your needs and what's important to you. I'm OTA only and have tried both Roamio and Bolt. Reception on the Bolt simply wasn't good enough for my particular reception needs so I continue use my Roamio. Also if you're OTA only the Roamio with built-in "All-In" service is likely the better value. Then there are considerations such as the speed of apps, built-in ability to stream, etc. etc. etc. you'll have to research and continue. If you post what your needs and desires are you more likely to get some help.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Johnny, unless money is no object, Bolt with lifetime is not a good value. That's going to run you $850. A similar Roamio OTA with lifetime runs about $300. You can add a cable card bracket to it for about $20. Bottom line, you're paying a $500 premium for 4k, built in Moca, built in stream server and marginally faster navigation. Since nobody broadcasts in 4k and you can stream 4k from some other cheap streaming device, such a feature is currently worthless.


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## Johnny Danger (Dec 27, 2016)

mdavej said:


> Johnny, unless money is no object, Bolt with lifetime is not a good value. That's going to run you $850. A similar Roamio OTA with lifetime runs about $300. You can add a cable card bracket to it for about $20. Bottom line, you're paying a $500 premium for 4k, built in Moca, built in stream server and marginally faster navigation. Since nobody broadcasts in 4k and you can stream 4k from some other cheap streaming device, such a feature is currently worthless.


I really like the way you sum it up like that. It has made this whole thing look a lot more clear. 
Thank you for telling it like it is.


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## Johnny Danger (Dec 27, 2016)

TeamPace said:


> Better is a subjective term. It depends on your needs and what's important to you. I'm OTA only and have tried both Roamio and Bolt. Reception on the Bolt simply wasn't good enough for my particular reception needs so I continue use my Roamio. Also if you're OTA only the Roamio with built-in "All-In" service is likely the better value. Then there are considerations such as the speed of apps, built-in ability to stream, etc. etc. etc. you'll have to research and continue. If you post what your needs and desires are you more likely to get some help.


I want to record my favorite shows and stream to rooms in my house. I would like to upgrade the HD to something that can record a lot. I don't have anything in 4K so I think 1080 is good enough.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

I will say the plex implementation on the Bolt is much better and more capable than on the Roamio or Mini. Still hard to justify the cost of the Bolt.


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## mschnebly (Feb 21, 2011)

If you know the answer said:


> It must be easier for some to write out a speech on doing a search than to just say "The Bolt is better" LOL


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

Is the Bolt better? Sure, no doubt, assuming you can get past the hideous design. Is it $500+ better than a lifetime OTA?

Um, no. And that's always been the problem with the Bolt - the Roamio is good enough and way cheaper.


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## alexb (Jan 4, 2003)

For me it's the bolt as it has some longevity in terms of what they might support down the road.

That said I was planning to return my bolt+ in its 30 day trial window because they did roamio pro offer on cyber Monday with all-in. Which they ran out of so they offered me bolt+ with all in service for $99. I got that a returned the first bolt+

I guess I am saying that the bolt+ might give you more longevity but that the all-in roamio you can find (I am assuming you are only interested in cable) is better value for money depending on what you value, if not the OTA roamio is great and a cable card be added if you void the warranty.


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## mike-d (Dec 12, 2013)

atmuscarella said:


> There are detailed threads outlining the differences, I have written several. It also depends on what Roamio (there are 4-5 different ones) you are talking about and if you want to use it for cable or OTA.
> 
> The simple answer are that the Bolts are the current generation and several years newer hardware than the Roamios, but the Roamios maybe a better value depending on ones needs. Of course the only Roamio still being sold new is the Roamio OTA, so if one is considering the base Roamio or the Roamio Plus/Pro then they will be used.


I just took a look at the tivo site. You can click the Roamio Pro icon at the top, and the site offers you nothing to buy. Seems the Roamio Pro is gone? Kinda dumb to offer it so prominently at the top of the home page?


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## sfhub (Jan 6, 2007)

mike-d said:


> I just took a look at the tivo site. You can click the Roamio Pro icon at the top, and the site offers you nothing to buy. Seems the Roamio Pro is gone? Kinda dumb to offer it so prominently at the top of the home page?


I haven't seen the Roamio available since the cyber monday sale in november.


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## comandercody33 (Nov 9, 2017)

[QUOTE="You can add a cable card bracket to it for about $20.[/QUOTE]

Can you tell me more about the cable card bracket?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Roamio OTA cable card slot?

I used the $30 version.


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## comandercody33 (Nov 9, 2017)

JoeKustra said:


> Roamio OTA cable card slot?
> 
> I used the $30 version.


Thank you, just confirming this works with the TiVo, Roamio OTA(box says will not work with cable cards)? I am only asking because i called weak knees and the guy said, those cable brackets do not work with Roamio OTA boxes.....


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

comandercody33 said:


> Thank you, just confirming this works with the TiVo, Roamio OTA(box says will not work with cable cards)? I am only asking because i called weak knees and the guy said, those cable brackets do not work with Roamio OTA boxes.....


I bought a BF OTA Roamio. I installed the bracket with the supplied screws and installed a cable card I picked up on eBay. The TiVo found the card. I did not try to pair it since my cable company won't do that. I had to remove the card, since with a card installed you can't run a channel scan. Bracket is still installed, and I am using the box for storage.


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## comandercody33 (Nov 9, 2017)

JoeKustra said:


> I bought a BF OTA Roamio. I installed the bracket with the supplied screws and installed a cable card I picked up on eBay. The TiVo found the card. I did not try to pair it since my cable company won't do that. I had to remove the card, since with a card installed you can't run a channel scan. Bracket is still installed, and I am using the box for storage.


Thank you.


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## fredi (Apr 1, 2017)

Can an OTA Roamio receive ClearQAM channels ?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

fredi said:


> Can an OTA Roamio receive ClearQAM channels ?


If configured for cable and no cable card installed, you can scan for channels. However, the Roamio will not enable any and you will not have the use of the guide to schedule recordings. I have one clear QAM channel (and five analog), so I know the channel number since I can scan with my TV, which enables clear channels.

Every quarter my feed also sends HBO and Cinemax in the clear and not copy protected. I can record them and watch them on my TV if I do a rescan.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

fredi said:


> Can an OTA Roamio receive ClearQAM channels ?


An update: Just put Hydra back on my Roamio OTA. A clear QAM channel has its CCI Byte as N/A. Hydra decides this means no recording of the channel. So don't install Hydra.


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## fredi (Apr 1, 2017)

JoeKustra said:


> If configured for cable and no cable card installed, you can scan for channels...


So how do you configured it for cable? Add the cable card bracket?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

fredi said:


> So how do you configured it for cable? Add the cable card bracket?


During Guided Setup you are asked to choose between OTA and cable. When you choose cable, then tell it you will install the card later. The bracket is just a fancy connector with less brains than a splitter.


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## sailprog (Sep 11, 2018)

I have no idea what were the guys at Tivo smoking when they came up with the BOLT but it was clearly bad quality stuff.
The Bolt is such a piece of crap! It is slooooowwwwwwwwww slooooooowwwwww, much slower than my previous Roamio. Try to delete something - be prepared to wait a very looooooooooong time.
The new API is clearly intended as the worst UX possible. There is so much that is lost! The navigation is now very unfriendly: there is now one and only way to back out of anything: the tiny little "back" button. In previous versions of the software, you could also use the left arrow that is a much bigger target to hit.
The new software also has removed extremely useful features like the search by channel or time. Often, the name of events are not predictable how they tivo will show them so searching for them is essentially impossible. The now removed feature of searching by channel/time allowed me to find the correct shows without having to guess the spelling used by tivo.
And to make it worse, the Bolt has an external power supply which are well known for failures. Most of the programs transferred from my old Roamio are unwatchable: they stop about 10 minutes into them. And before you blame some wifi setup, the two boxes are on the *same* gig-ethernet switch so bandwidth is not a problem - the crappy Bolt is.
Such a disppointing experience - I wasted several hundred bucks on something that I thought was going to be better but it turned out to be really, really bad. What a ripoff!
If you are considering a Bolt, my advice: *DON'T*. Look for Roamios which are a much better and faster platform with a much better software.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Half of your lost confuses hardware with software. Bolt can run the old software. 

As for speed. Huh? Both of my Bolts are very fast.


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

I wonder if those comnments were made as the Bolt was upgrading itself to Hydra.


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## sailprog (Sep 11, 2018)

TonyD79 said:


> Half of your lost confuses hardware with software. Bolt can run the old software.
> 
> As for speed. Huh? Both of my Bolts are very fast.


Have you used a Roamio? Although it has a slow CPU, it is many times faster than the bolt at doing pretty much anything. The example I gave is a typical use: try deleting a group in Suggestions. With my Roamio, it was instantaneous. With the new Bolt, it takes 20-30 seconds before the tivo will react again to any keystroke.

Regarding the software, is there a mechanism to downgrade to a usable software version?
The flashy software that came with this Bolt is junk and very unfriendly.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Works with a Bolt too: How to Rollback Hydra from Roamio and Mini's v1

Also answered here: Dump Bolt software for Roamios


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

sailprog said:


> Have you used a Roamio? Although it has a slow CPU, it is many times faster than the bolt at doing pretty much anything. The example I gave is a typical use: try deleting a group in Suggestions. With my Roamio, it was instantaneous. With the new Bolt, it takes 20-30 seconds before the tivo will react again to any keystroke.
> 
> Regarding the software, is there a mechanism to downgrade to a usable software version?
> The flashy software that came with this Bolt is junk and very unfriendly.


Once you are on the same software platform you'll see the speed in the bolt.


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## tenthplanet (Mar 5, 2004)

Bolt is the quickest computer device I've seen (it's a computer that records TV), click on a dvr function and it happens. Streaming functions can take longer due to external servers, but it's on par with over streaming devices. Hydra is not flashy, it's actually a little boring looking, the old UI looks like it was raided from an old cable box.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

sailprog said:


> Have you used a Roamio? Although it has a slow CPU, it is *many times faster than the bolt *at doing pretty much anything. The example I gave is a typical use: try deleting a group in Suggestions. With my Roamio, it was instantaneous. *With the new Bolt*, it takes 20-30 seconds before the tivo will react again to any keystroke.
> 
> Regarding the software, *is there a mechanism to downgrade to a usable software version?*
> The flashy software that came with this Bolt is junk and very unfriendly.


This comparison is between *apples and okra*, since you're comparing a BOLT running the Hydra software to a Roamio running the prior Encore interface.

To compare Hydra to Encore, you'd want to be using the same hardware; to compare a BOLT to a Roamio, you'd want to be running the same software on each.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

Apps are quicker to load on a Bolt than on a Roamio.
Bolt has built-in Moca
Bolt has gigabit ethernet
Bolt has built-in mobile streaming.
Bolt will format any drive that it doesn't recognize as the last installed drive.

Roamio OTA has composite output with an additional cable.
Roamio OTA 3.5" drives are cheaper and easier to upgrade up to 8GB.
Roamio OTA will recognize a previously used Tivo drive and not reformat it.
Roamio OTA needs additional cable card adaptor for cable tv.

If you care about faster apps and mobile device streaming go with the bolt.
If you don't have ethernet wired to other rooms and you want to use a mini go with the bolt to use moca.
If you just use one TV or have ethernet wired to multiple rooms and don't care about slower apps or mobile device streaming go with the Roamio OTA.
If you want to upgrade to an 8GB drive, go with a Roamio OTA.


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## tommage1 (Nov 6, 2008)

Johnny Danger said:


> What is better the Roamio or Bolt assuming same number of tuners?
> 
> I'm looking to maybe buy one of these but I'm not sure which one is best.
> 
> ...


For me Roamio hands down. Mostly because of the 3.5" drive. Larger sizes available, cheaper, more reliable. I pretty much just record TV shows and stream between Tivos not other devices. I prefer the Basic Roamio as it has OTA capability. You give up some features the Bolt 4 tuner model has built in like Moca and streaming I guess. The Bolt also has more on the internal flash drive. Cannot copy/expand a Bolt drive far as I know (though someone is working on it). Also cannot keep a backup of a Bolt drive, every time you swap drives you have to start over, even if you put your original back in you will have to start fresh. If you don't care about 4K for me Roamio for sure.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

tommage1 said:


> Cannot copy/expand a Bolt drive far as I know (though someone is working on it). Also cannot keep a backup of a Bolt drive, every time you swap drives you have to start over, even if you put your original back in you will have to start fresh. If you don't care about 4K for me Roamio for sure.


Two small errors:
Drive: Bolt Hard Drive Upgrade Choice
Changing a drive is the same as a Roamio.
I like my basic Roamio units.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

sailprog said:


> I have no idea what were the guys at Tivo smoking when they came up with the BOLT but it was clearly bad quality stuff.
> The Bolt is such a piece of crap! It is slooooowwwwwwwwww slooooooowwwwww, much slower than my previous Roamio. Try to delete something - be prepared to wait a very looooooooooong time.
> The new API is clearly intended as the worst UX possible. There is so much that is lost! The navigation is now very unfriendly: there is now one and only way to back out of anything: the tiny little "back" button. In previous versions of the software, you could also use the left arrow that is a much bigger target to hit.
> The new software also has removed extremely useful features like the search by channel or time. Often, the name of events are not predictable how they tivo will show them so searching for them is essentially impossible. The now removed feature of searching by channel/time allowed me to find the correct shows without having to guess the spelling used by tivo.
> ...


???Deleting on my Hydra Bolts is just as fast or faster as the Hydra Roamio. They are basically instant. I hit the clear button and poof, it's gone to the recently deleted folder.

Something must be going on if you have to wait a long time to delete. Because that is not normal.

My Bolts are easily the quickest TiVos I've ever owned.


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## lar01 (Mar 13, 2015)

With current special offer for transferring lifetime service, pricing is not the issue. But to me the question is whether I run risk of my 5 year old (basic) Roamio dying at some point (hard drives die, no?) and then having passed up the offer. Also, they are supposed to be bringing out both a TiVo app that will run on an Apple TV and a wireless TiVo Mini, but will those work with a basic Roamio or will I need a Bolt?


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## Furmaniac (Apr 3, 2018)

I prefer the Roamio because it has composite output in addition to HDMI output.
That means I can hook the HDMI to my TV and the composite to a DVD recorder, allowing me to preserve programs and streaming shows permanently on DVD-Rs.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Furmaniac said:


> I prefer the Roamio because it has composite output in addition to HDMI output.
> That means I can hook the HDMI to my TV and the composite to a DVD recorder, allowing me to preserve programs and streaming shows permanently on DVD-Rs.


Or you can just transfer the raw file to a PC. Then you could burn the 480P, 720P, or 1080i content to disc instead of using the lower resolution, composite video.

Sent from my Galaxy S10


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## mattyro7878 (Nov 27, 2014)

I like the...Premiere!! Just kidding although it is a nice piece of hardware sadly time and tech have moved on. I own a 4 tuner Bolt (1st gen) and a 6 tuner Roamio Plus. The Bolt is snappier in every way. I would go with Roamio if I still needed multiple video out (dvd recorder) but in todays world for my needs the Bolt is my choice...by an RCH! DON'T ASK! I hope my Roamio doesnt see this post!!


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## rlbumpus (Feb 21, 2005)

Do they even make the Roamio even more? I was just checking on the site concerning their upgrade offer and couldn't find anything other than the Bolt and Bolt Mini. My Roamio has six tuners and I'm not interested in leaving cable, but I am buying a 4K TV (future proofing). I couldnt even see how many tuners the Bolt offers.


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## osu1991 (Mar 6, 2015)

I’ve had to replace 2 Roamios in the last 8 weeks due to dead hdmi port on one and dead Ethernet and then just dead dvr on the other and was told both times by TiVo support, they had no more Roamios, so they sent me Bolts as replacements.


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## KevTech (Apr 15, 2014)

rlbumpus said:


> I couldnt even see how many tuners the Bolt offers.


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## Darrell Patton (Jul 19, 2018)

rlbumpus said:


> Do they even make the Roamio even more? I was just checking on the site concerning their upgrade offer and couldn't find anything other than the Bolt and Bolt Mini. My Roamio has six tuners and I'm not interested in leaving cable, but I am buying a 4K TV (future proofing). I couldnt even see how many tuners the Bolt offers.


The Tivo outlet store has them.
| TiVo


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## Davelnlr_ (Jan 13, 2011)

I never owned a Roamio, but after going through 3 Bolts with bad hard drives, I have to say my Premier 4 tuner is way better, except the bolt+ has a bigger drive and more tuners.


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## chicagobrownblue (May 29, 2008)

lar01 said:


> But to me the question is whether I run risk of my 5 year old (basic) Roamio dying at some point (hard drives die, no?)


Replace your Roamio hard drive now, proactively. I did. As far as the OP's question, I vote for the Roamio


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## tommage1 (Nov 6, 2008)

JoeKustra said:


> Two small errors:
> Drive: Bolt Hard Drive Upgrade Choice
> Changing a drive is the same as a Roamio.
> I like my basic Roamio units.


Hmm, just saw this as the thread has been revived. My post was correct, I was not talking about REPLACING a drive, I was talking about copying/expanding. There is a way to copy and expand now (using new MFSTools) but you still can't set aside the old drive as a backup. The only way you can swap drives in a Bolt and not lose almost everything is if the drives are exact clones. Once something changes on one of them (new recordings or deleting recordings) you cannot swap anymore without losing almost everything, ie you have to pretty much start over.


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## tommage1 (Nov 6, 2008)

chicagobrownblue said:


> Replace your Roamio hard drive now, proactively. I did. As far as the OP's question, I vote for the Roamio


Absolutely. You can get good PMR 3.5" 3-4TB drives for $40-70 if you shop well (make sure they are PMR not SMR). Don't even need WD reds, any GOOD QUALITY name brand PMR drive will do, mine are mostly Seagates. The tough part is figuring out which are PMR and which are SMR (took me a bit of research, certain model numbers are PMR, others SMR, same size drives). Regardless replace the drive, clone or clone and expand (assuming your current drive does not have a lot of errors) and set aside the current drive as a backup. You can swap drives in and out of Roamios with no problems (assuming they were CREATED on the Roamio being used.) Pretty much true with all Tivo models EXCEPT the Bolt.


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## lar01 (Mar 13, 2015)

chicagobrownblue said:


> Replace your Roamio hard drive now, proactively. I did. As far as the OP's question, I vote for the Roamio


Could you please point me to some info about how to do that exactly? (Replacing hard drives is not something I've ever tried to do. I'd hate to destroy my Roamio while It's still working in order as I try to proactively prepare for it to die at some unknown time.) Thsnks!


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## chicagobrownblue (May 29, 2008)

But, you may want to pull your programs to a PC or another Tivo so you don't lose content you want to keep.

I swapped out hard drives for 20 years. Unplug everything from the TiVo. Touch metal parts on the outside to ground yourself, open up the box and touch metal parts inside to ground yourself.

My Roamio is on a battery backup and a coax surge protector.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

lar01 said:


> Could you please point me to some info about how to do that exactly? (Replacing hard drives is not something I've ever tried to do. I'd hate to destroy my Roamio while It's still working in order as I try to proactively prepare for it to die at some unknown time.) Thsnks!


To give you an idea of how easy it is to do: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMDf28vdcdM&t=2s.* The biggest "problems": prying the box lid off and not losing a screw. 

And a more recent thread here on the topic, providing a walk-through--you might find it of assistance: TiVo Roamio Hard Drive Upgrade, PART 1.

* edit: I see that @chicagobrownblue and I are in agreement!


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## Darrell Patton (Jul 19, 2018)

lar01 said:


> Could you please point me to some info about how to do that exactly? (Replacing hard drives is not something I've ever tried to do. I'd hate to destroy my Roamio while It's still working in order as I try to proactively prepare for it to die at some unknown time.) Thsnks!


It's very easy. Don't be intimidated.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

assuming same # of tuners, I would say Roamio, since it's not a stupid curved shape.

Even NOT assuming same # of tuners, I'd say Roamio, since you can get 6 tuners and can "only" get 4 in Bolt (right??). While 6 sounds like a zillion, remember that if you have padding on (i.e. add extra minutes before/after shows), and are recording shows in time slots next to each other, you effectively have HALF the number of tuners you think you do.. (since e.g. an 8-9pm program and a 9-10pm program really take up TWO tuners, not one, if you have end padding on the first show).

I admit, it's nowhere near as big a deal as it used to be (but I actually have a Roamio and a premiere 4, but I have a few OPS duplicated on each for no particularly good reason anymore, though sometimes one is SD on one and HD on the other).


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## Darrell Patton (Jul 19, 2018)

mattack said:


> assuming same # of tuners, I would say Roamio, since it's not a stupid curved shape.
> 
> Even NOT assuming same # of tuners, I'd say Roamio, since you can get 6 tuners and can "only" get 4 in Bolt (right??). While 6 sounds like a zillion, remember that if you have padding on (i.e. add extra minutes before/after shows), and are recording shows in time slots next to each other, you effectively have HALF the number of tuners you think you do.. (since e.g. an 8-9pm program and a 9-10pm program really take up TWO tuners, not one, if you have end padding on the first show).
> 
> I admit, it's nowhere near as big a deal as it used to be (but I actually have a Roamio and a premiere 4, but I have a few OPS duplicated on each for no particularly good reason anymore, though sometimes one is SD on one and HD on the other).


Tivo sells a 6 tuner Bolt.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

aah ok, I should have checked. Wasn't the Bolt, even for cable, originally 4 tuner only? I thought there was another reason _besides_ the stupid case shape to think it was a downgrade.. (also using laptop hard drives IIRC?)


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## Darrell Patton (Jul 19, 2018)

Once you pair the remote with the Tivo, you can hide the Bolt behind something so that it doesn't offend your eyes. Since it's physically smaller than the Roamio you won't need as big of an object to hide it. When I'm watching a TV program, I'm looking at the TV screen, not the items on the shelf. The Bolt has 4K video & a faster performance. How often do you replace hard drives?

I still have a Roamio OTA 4 tuner, and I'm happy with it. If I ever need to replace it, then I'll get a Bolt, I don't really have a lot of other choices in the Tivo lineup at this time, assuming that I stayed with a Tivo.

I went to the Hydra UI, and after a couple of weeks I got used to the difference. I don't understand the complaining about the loss of the live guide. But that's why there are choices in the marketplace and forums to post to.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

mattack said:


> aah ok, I should have checked. Wasn't the Bolt, even for cable, originally 4 tuner only?


Originally, yes, until the release of the "*BOLT+*" 6-tuner CableCARD-only model. And now they're both members of the BOLT VOX line-up, with the difference sometimes hard to identify in the marketing materials.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

Darrell Patton said:


> Tivo sells a 6 tuner Bolt.


A ridiculously priced with all-in, stupid looking, more costly to upgrade 6-tuner Bolt. The same Roamio can easily be found on fleabay etc. for less than half the price.


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## Darrell Patton (Jul 19, 2018)

slowbiscuit said:


> A ridiculously priced with all-in, stupid looking, more costly to upgrade 6-tuner Bolt. The same Roamio can easily be found on fleabay etc. for less than half the price.


Is someone forcing you to buy one?


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

Check the title of the thread.


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