# Should I keep my Bolt?



## sandman55 (Aug 30, 2008)

I thought my Roamio Pro was giving me some audio/video problems so I thought the faster Bolt+ may help. Turns out it did not. So, I'm torn with returning the Bolt or keeping it and selling the Roamio with lifetime on Ebay. I have a 4K smart TV so I use that for Netflix. I think the picture on the Bolt may be slightly better so I'm torn. Any suggestions?
Thanks everybody.


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## lujan (May 24, 2010)

After my year of free service ran out, I just bought another refurbished Roamio and have not missed the Bolt at all. The Roamio has the skip function and that's what I use it for. The Bolt is probably not going to have network 4k for a long time. I get my 4k content from other devices.


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## crisfer (Mar 15, 2014)

I had a Roamio and recently upgraded to a Bolt. I hare virtually everything about the bolt. Its a cheaply made plastic box which design is ugly. It runs hot has a loud fan and a huge plug which needs two spots on a surge protector. The only positive I see is the better resolution on cable TV.


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## sandman55 (Aug 30, 2008)

crisfer said:


> I had a Roamio and recently upgraded to a Bolt. I hare virtually everything about the bolt. Its a cheaply made plastic box which design is ugly. It runs hot has a loud fan and a huge plug which needs two spots on a surge protector. The only positive I see is the better resolution on cable TV.


I only noticed the fan noise this morning when I was trying to go back to sleep on the couch at 5:30am with a restless dog. You are right about the design. I really miss multiple recording lights too.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

sandman55 said:


> I only noticed the fan noise this morning when I was trying to go back to sleep on the couch at 5:30am with a restless dog. You are right about the design. I really miss multiple recording lights too.


I didn't miss them at all. At first I thought I might. But Once my boxes go in standby the lights go out anyway, so I can't see that it's recording. But whether I see a light or not, I know it's going to be recording my One Passes like it is supposed to.

I went through the same thing going from the S3 (OLED) to the Premiere. I thought I would miss the display on the box. But it ended up not being an issue.


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## lujan (May 24, 2010)

crisfer said:


> I had a Roamio and recently upgraded to a Bolt. I hare virtually everything about the bolt. Its a cheaply made plastic box which design is ugly. It runs hot has a loud fan and a huge plug which needs two spots on a surge protector. The only positive I see is the better resolution on cable TV.


Yes, I noticed that too on my Bolt, it was louder than the Roamio's are. Another reason to stick with the Roamio especially if you can get one with all-in service.


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## zubinh (Jun 7, 2004)

The only real advantage of the Bolt is Netflix and Youtube in 4K without having to use any other streaming device and switch inputs. If you really value this feature then I would say keep the Bolt. Chances are slim to none that you'll ever be able to watch a 4K TV broadcast on the Bolt since most providers will probably use IPTV for delivery.


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## sandman55 (Aug 30, 2008)

zubinh said:


> The only real advantage of the Bolt is Netflix and Youtube in 4K without having to use any other streaming device and switch inputs. If you really value this feature then I would say keep the Bolt. Chances are slim to none that you'll ever be able to watch a 4K TV broadcast on the Bolt since most providers will probably use IPTV for delivery.


I have a 4K Samsung with Netflix which has a faster interface anyway. Just want to make sure that Romio will keep getting new features in the future.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

zubinh said:


> The only real advantage of the Bolt is Netflix and Youtube in 4K without having to use any other streaming device and switch inputs. If you really value this feature then I would say keep the Bolt. Chances are slim to none that you'll ever be able to watch a 4K TV broadcast on the Bolt since most providers will probably use IPTV for delivery.


Well, that and it's a bit peppier too, right? Plus, over a Roamio OTA, has MoCA and box-limited Stream baked in. Plus cosmetically, if one cares, all screens are HD. Plus, it's the latest box and so may get a longer amount of attention from TiVo (but, who knows--perhaps TiVo lumps the Roamio and Bolt together, in that regard).


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## zubinh (Jun 7, 2004)

Mikeguy said:


> Well, that and it's a bit peppier too, right? Plus, over a Roamio OTA, has MoCA and box-limited Stream baked in. Plus cosmetically, if one cares, all screens are HD. Plus, it's the latest box and so may get a longer amount of attention from TiVo (but, who knows--perhaps TiVo lumps the Roamio and Bolt together, in that regard).


Frankly I notice very little difference in speed between my previous Roamio Plus and my current Bolt +. Let's face it, other than Netflix and Youtube in 4K the Bolt offers little over the Roamio. I only upgraded because I received a high offer for my Roamio on ebay and the wife really likes using the built in streaming apps on Tivo. Since I got a 4K TV, I decided to do it. But if switching inputs for 4K Netflix is not a concern for you, I suggest you hold onto your money until Tivo comes up with a compelling reason to upgrade (like adding 4K Amazon and Vudu)


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

The Bolt also has faster transfer rates. I've seen the Bolt reach 500Mb/s transfer rates under the right conditions.

I could have kept using my 5TB Roamio Pro instead of using two Bolts. But I also liked going back to using two devices to record(which I used to have with two four tuner Premieres). And keeping more of my recordings separated. Since with just one device the My Shows list is very cluttered.

The one thing I miss from the Romaio Pro, is the ability to stream from a Roamio BAsic/OTA or Premiere. The Bolts will only stream from themselves. But I guess if it was really that important, I could get a stand alone stream.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

zubinh said:


> Let's face it, other than Netflix and Youtube in 4K the Bolt offers little over the Roamio.


Yep--except for the other differences I noted in my earlier post.


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## sandman55 (Aug 30, 2008)

I got the Bolt to see if it would stop my Comcast audio dropouts on ABC and CBS. I recorded the same show on Bolt, Roamio, and X-1 box and they all had the same thing. I am so frustrated with Comcast. They have changed all the splitters, the ends on all the cables and ran a new drop line from street to house. My signal strength is good now and upstream power went from 56 to 48. It's so irritating that I'm considering Directv, though I would cry if I lost commercial skip.


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## sandman55 (Aug 30, 2008)

I've decided to send back the Bolt since it didn't solve my original problem, and there is no video difference when displayed side by side. I'll use my Samsung TV for all 4K content. Thanks to everybody for their advice.


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

zubinh said:


> Chances are slim to none that you'll ever be able to watch a 4K TV broadcast on the Bolt since most providers will probably use IPTV for delivery.


Yep. At least with Comcast and Verizon FiOS -- knowing what I know about their upcoming STBs and business plans -- I highly doubt they'll ever offer 4K linear channels over QAM, only via IPTV. That said, it's possible they could offer 4K on-demand content, and even live streams of 4K linear channels if they wanted, via an app they make available for the Bolt.


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## randywalters (Oct 21, 2003)

aaronwt said:


> I didn't miss them (recording lights on front panel) at all. At first I thought I might. But Once my boxes go in standby the lights go out anyway, so I can't see that it's recording. But whether I see a light or not, I know it's going to be recording my One Passes like it is supposed to.
> 
> I went through the same thing going from the S3 (OLED) to the Premiere. I thought I would miss the display on the box. But it ended up not being an issue.


I find the recording lights on the front of my Premiere (and S3 OLED) are invalueable - they let me know if my TWC Tuning Adapter has stopped tuning, which happens 1 to 2 times per month. If the front of my Tivo is dark when it's supposed to be recording something, i know that i have to manually intervene.


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## leiff (Aug 24, 2005)

I had no intension of getting a bolt but couldn't resist this most recent offer with s2 upgrade. boy is things fan loud. & Box gets very hot? anyone tried running this thing without a lid maybe even without the fan? My roamio basic runs without a top lid for years with fan disabled still runs great. Temps stay about the same. My first time trying streaming seems to work okay too bad there's not a fast play option for it. I Expected bolt size box to be smaller. When compared to my roamio basic it's not much smaller. Makes me wonder why they bothered switching to smaller-sized harddrive.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

You can put a better fan in there. Or put the Bolt on a wire shelf. IN my use a Bolt with the stock fan on a wire shelf has similar temps to a Bolt on a flat surface with a Noiseblocker BalckSilentFan XS-2. So around 59 degrees.

You can also put something on the four corners of the Bolt to raise it up some from a flat surface. That will also lower the temps.


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