# Bolt + or just get a new Roamio?



## GCS2000 (Jul 22, 2015)

Currently have a 3TB 6 tuner Roamio now with lifetime. Nephew is off to college and has a house now for the next 4-5 years. Cable box from them is $15 a month ($6 additional for other rooms). Thinking of going TIVO for him - provider is good with it as the box they "rent" you is a TIVO box anyway.

My question should I go with Bolt + at home for me and pass him my Roamio or just get him a Roamio and be done? I have a 4K set and 4 Minis already.

My concern is I probably need the Bolt + and all the postings of issues with cablecards, transferring shows, v312 errors, netflix errors etc etc etc have me really worried about changing. Yeah I know people only speak up when there are issues not when all is well. I just don't want to switch and then have nothing but trouble with the Bolt + and wish I had never decided to help him out.

TIA

Greg


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Well you can not actually get him a "new" Roamio, it would have to be used, if that matters. I am OTA so can not comment on cable cards but I have a hard time believing the only new products for cable that TiVo is selling is not going to work as well as the older products.


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## Time_Lord (Jun 4, 2012)

Unless it is a monetary decision I would suggest not purchasing a Roamio. I am not saying this because the Roamio is inferior to the Bolt but rather the fact that the Bolt is the current production unit and will (should?) be supported further into the future than the Roamio will be.

Other than 4K capabilities and the Bolt being slightly faster I don't think there is any functional difference between the units today, no idea about tomorrow.

My $0.02

-TL


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## alexb (Jan 4, 2003)

i recently purchased a bolt+ - my first tivo in over 10 years. none of the issues i have seen are bolt specific. Cablecard pairing was flawless, netlfix and amazon apps work for me. Tivo minis have been rock solid stable. Yes the guide integration for netlfix and amazon sucks - but that is not a bolt issue.


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## GCS2000 (Jul 22, 2015)

Well my only real issues with Roamio Pro are 2 things - its slow and unresponsive a lot of the time especially with Plex and Netflix which we use a ton. Yes I know all of that can be dealt with via a cheap fire or Roku etc. I have both and definitely prefer them over the Tivo for all streaming local or internet however for WAF and KAF the "one box" solution is the BEST thing ever. Simple to use works (albeit slowly) and no device or input changing etc.

My second issue is my guide seems to be wrong a lot of the time. I know this is not a Roamio issue and that I will still have the issue with the Bolt but it is annoying as hell. Other than that I am fine with the Roamio but a speedier box sure would make me happier and with needing to set up my nephew it seems to make sense.

My concerns were just surrounding all the negativity about cable cards, connections, freezing etc but like I said when things are bad you hear a lot of noise when things are good you don't hear about it much.

Also trying to decide if it makes more sense to just grab a cheap 500gb Bolt and pop in a 3TB drive instead. Yeah I will lose the 2 extra tuners but I am not sure we have ever needed all 6 tuners at once anyway -- actually I take that back only ran into an issue once or twice because Tivo Suggestions was recording too much crap at one time.


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## chicagobrownblue (May 29, 2008)

I think you should go with a Bolt. It sounds like you want a 3TB drive, so go with the Bolt+ if you value your spare time highly or the Bolt if you want to upgrade the drive yourself. 

Reasoning: You notice slowness in the Roamio and the Bolt/Bolt+ are faster. You have a 4K TV already so you can try streaming 4K content over the Bolt. Use your new Bolt heavily during the 30-day return period. If there is a problem, return it.


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

Hi,
It sounds to me like you would like to get yourself a new Bolt+, go ahead and order one, you have 30 days to try it out and see if you can get everything working ok and transfer some recordings.....and if you run into problems...return it and maybe shop for a used Roamio Plus or Pro for your nephew. He may appreciate your gift more anyway after having to pay for renting a couple boxes.


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## alexb (Jan 4, 2003)

None of the bolt specific negativity you list have affected me or the two bolts I tried.


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## alexb (Jan 4, 2003)

fcfc2 said:


> Hi,
> It sounds to me like you would like to get yourself a new Bolt+, go ahead and order one, you have 30 days to try it out and see if you can get everything working ok and transfer some recordings .


Exactly as fcfc2 says - with 30 day free trial try what have got to lose?


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## GCS2000 (Jul 22, 2015)

Well I am picking up some cable cards and a new vanilla Bolt from Best Buy today. Gonna try it out and see how it goes. I may stick with the reg Bolt since it does OTA and just upgrade the drive to a 3TB one. BB had the 500gb Bolt on sale for $179 and then I used the $25 off $100 Visa Checkout deal yesterday to get it down to $154 before tax for a new unit. Worse case scenario if it doesn't work out I'll just return it and stick with my Roamio Pro.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

alexb said:


> Exactly as fcfc2 says - with 30 day free trial try what have got to lose?


The hours and hours it takes to set up a new TiVo? And if you use the cable card you currently have in another unit, the dealing with the cable company to activate it...

I think my current TiVo is on its way out (mysterious restarts) and I was getting ready to buy a Bolt+, but all these problems I am reading are kindof scaring me off. I would love to hear from GCS2000 how it went for them...


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## GCS2000 (Jul 22, 2015)

Went perfectly fine. I wasn't able to do set things up until last night due to work schedules but no issues at all at this point. Bolt is a lot faster than navigation wise in all apps than my Roamio. Picture quality is better as well - miles better no but better. Swapping the HDD out for a 3TB wasn't a big deal either.

I would say do what I did get a Bolt or Bolt + locally (ala Best Buy etc) grab another cable card and set it up for a few days to decide for yourself.


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## scottchez (Dec 2, 2003)

Got a Bolt Plus, no issues with Cable Card or Tuning Adapter, people with issues are just not READING the Tivo Support guide it is on their web site- Cable signal is too strong issue

https://support.tivo.com/articles/T...oamio-Series-Premiere-Series-and-Series3-DVRs

I would not give much weight to Tiros SNR statement, Cable TV experts say High SNR is OK, really the TIVO is showing you the EMR stats not the SNR so it is not a true SNR.
Pay more attention to the Signal Level Try for 99% or 99% with sometimes 100% so you are right at the sweet spot.

===key is Bolt has a cable amp for the 4 or 6 tuners==
Think about it, 4 or 6 Tuners . . . . they must amplify it

Yes the tuner changed in the Bolt from the Roamio, it is more sensitive.
VERY IMPORTANT- It is more sensitive to too strong to too weak of signals

Most have TOO Strong of Signal, just add a some splitters till your just at or under 100% on the 6 tuners.
Every house will be different I needed a 4 Way splitter (goes to Cable modem and Tuning adapter), and then to a 2 Way Splitter which goes to the Minis, and the BOLT+ Be sure to cap the un used ends and use a PEO filter. A 3 way splitter will also work but remember on of the ports is only -3.5 db others are -7 db

Signal is perfect.
Works great.

Had a MOCA issue with the Minis but would of had that with the Roamio also. I got interference in the Coax going to the Tivo Minis, from a UPS and bad Surger suppressors (not sure which so I removed them for till I found out).
Working good now, I got it fix.

Picture is much better than the Dish Hopper. Could be that new Tivo 4K Chip Set helping with the picture out to HDMI.

Remember Bolt is the current model, they sell a lot more BOLTs, People typically
ONLY report problems so yes you will see more bolt issues just like you used to see a lot of Roamio issues

Hope this helps with your research, good to have info from both sides. I like the buy it locally and try it out idea.


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