# TiVo's ad-skipping tech is coming to its older Roamio DVRs



## ilovedvrs (Oct 21, 2004)

http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/24/tivo-skipmode-roamio/

well I feel betrayed...

I had a life time unit and I upgraded to the bolt for what?

4k streaming doesn't even work yet...

they better lower the price of the lifetime subscription.


----------



## foghorn2 (May 4, 2004)

Do you feel betrayed buying a gee wiz 4k tv too?


----------



## mikeyts (Jul 10, 2004)

4K streaming on TiVo Bolt works fine for me, both Netflix and YouTube. It does need more 4K sources (Amazon and VUDU leap to mind) and it needs Hulu and other popular streaming services like FoxNow, the NBC app, CBS AllAccess, HBO Go, etc, etc. 

I am a bit surprised to hear this though; it'll definitely put a dent in Bolt sales. Without an interest in 4K, there's no reason for Roamio owners to "upgrade" to Bolt.


----------



## Thom (Jun 5, 2000)

mikeyts said:


> I am a bit surprised to hear this though; it'll definitely put a dent in Bolt sales. Without an interest in 4K, there's no reason for Roamio owners to "upgrade" to Bolt.


I agree. Add in the unattractive white color of the Bolt and its remote, plus the idiotic bend in the Bolt case, and I definitely find the Bolt a "no sale" item. I'm wondering if Bolt sales are lower than expected. I know TiVo is aware that the Bolt isn't visually as appealing; otherwise they wouldn't have included the "is the Bolt ugly?" question on their last survey.


----------



## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

Thom said:


> I agree. Add in the unattractive white color of the Bolt and its remote, plus the idiotic bend in the Bolt case, and I definitely find the Bolt a "no sale" item. I'm wondering if Bolt sales are lower than expected. I know TiVo is aware that the Bolt isn't visually as appealing; otherwise they wouldn't have included the "is the Bolt ugly?" question on their last survey.


TiVo wanted something to stand out, you have to give TiVo that, with a bent white Bolt, it sure stands out among all the other electronics in the store.


----------



## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

ilovedvrs said:


> http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/24/tivo-skipmode-roamio/
> 
> well I feel betrayed...
> 
> ...


Well, Ira Bahr said the bolt wasn't being designed or marketed for "us" as an upgrade path and I took him to his word.

I think migrating SkipMode to Roamio models makes a lot of sense and I am very happy to see it when it get delivered broadly)


----------



## mikeyts (Jul 10, 2004)

bradleys said:


> Well, Ira Bahr said the bolt wasn't being designed or marketed for "us" as an upgrade path and I took him to his word.


Did he mention exactly what its intended market is?

My purchase of it was for its 4K capabilities. I use my TiVo for streaming services because it will output their predominantly 24p encoded content as a 24Hz signal, which my 120Hz refresh rate television can output without application of 2:3 pulldown.


----------



## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

mikeyts said:


> Did he mention exactly what its intended market is?
> 
> My purchase of it was for its 4K capabilities. I use my TiVo for streaming services because it will output their predominantly 24p encoded content as a 24Hz signal, which my 120Hz refresh rate television can output without application of 2:3 pulldown.


In his own words:



> As an overarching thought for this whole conversation I would emphasize what many of you have already inferred. And that is, that the Bolt product was not really designed for the TiVo enthusiast. So your lukewarm reaction is not unexpected. Bolt is low on Tuners, light on storage, doesn't fit into your racks and really doesn't offer this group much more than 4K and *software features you figure we'll roll-down anyway.*
> 
> So this leads to "why the hell did you NOT design for the TiVo enthusiast?" First, we already have a roadmap *plan to bring you something you'll like way better in 2016* (more on this shortly). This product is on the already established 3 year product cycle which you're used to. Second, there just aren't enough of you to sustain the company's retail business alone. If there were, I assure you we'd have a way different approach. TiVo is simply unable to build its business on the backs of its ever diminishing group of loyalists. We did 150,000 activations in our last fiscal year. Compare that to the millions of streamers out there, and the tens of millions of DVRS out there and you see that we've got a lot of ground to make up. In order to win for the the company, and for YOU, we need to expand our market. If we fail to do this, we're not going to be able to do much of anything, We think we've got a plan for both the mass market AND for enthusiasts. So snuggle up with a warm multi-meter, walk through the answers and we'll try to talk more when you're done.


I am in no hurry to get on the 4K bandwagon... Too many technical delivery issues for too little value at a premium cost for me.


----------



## zalusky (Apr 5, 2002)

Don't the rumors indicate the real stuff comes out next year!


----------



## HD_Dude (Sep 11, 2006)

ilovedvrs said:


> 4k streaming doesn't even work yet...


4K streaming works perfectly on the Bolt.

You might need to upgrade from that old tube set and DSL...


----------



## Shanezam203 (Jul 28, 2007)

I am in Chicago and I got an email on Black Friday also was excited to hear Skipmode is coming December 10th to our existing Romeos and I don't need a Bolt!

TiVo's ad-skipping tech is coming to its older Roamio DVRs

It looks like TiVo Roamio owners won't need to buy an upgraded box for the new SkipMode feature.

_TiVo's website promising SkipMode will come to older Roamio DVRs on December 10th._

Starting today, a software update is going out that enabled QuickMode sped-up viewing on the Roamio. 
Meanwhile, a limited test will only let older boxes in the Bay Area and Chicago access SkipMode, for now (it's available nationwide on the Bolt).

For those in the Greater Chicago area: Roamio DVRs will soon include our innovative new *SkipMode* and *QuickMode* features2. Jump past commercial breaks with a single click, or speed-watch shows, movies and sports 30% faster with pitch-corrected audio.


----------



## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

If they roll this out nationwide then I might not replace my second ebay Bolt. I will just use my second Roamio Basic instead and still end up selling my Roamio Pro.


----------



## joewom (Dec 10, 2013)

I'm not sure why anyone on these forums would think the bolt is a replacement for the roamio? Less tuner and storage when everyone want more of both! 4K is the only plus and they won't be till at least 3 years which is my guess cable starts broadcasting channels in 4K. Until then the few 4K offering isn't enough to get a 4K tv let alone a TiVo.


----------



## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

joewom said:


> I'm not sure why anyone on these forums would think the bolt is a replacement for the roamio? Less tuner and storage when everyone want more of both! 4K is the only plus and they won't be till at least 3 years which is my guess cable starts broadcasting channels in 4K. Until then the few 4K offering isn't enough to get a 4K tv let alone a TiVo.


I would question why someone's Roamio needs to be replaced, but the Bolt is in fact a significant upgrade to the Roamio and meets or exceeds it in every way. If you think the only thing the Bolt has that the Roamo doesn't is 4K then you really don't understand what the Bolt's abilities are.

Now if you are actually talking about a Roamio Plus/Pro then you are correct that the Bolt is not designed to replace those units. And that is exactly what TiVo has said and that they are planning on another unit next summer that would be more of a Roamio Plus/Pro replacement.

When it comes to what someone who wants/needs a DVR now should buy it really comes down to what the person wants and what they can buy each model for. The lifetime deals on the Roamio and Roamio Plus are great and would make it really hard for me to buy a Bolt at it's current pricing. Glad I don't need another DVR so I don't need to actually make that call.


----------



## joewom (Dec 10, 2013)

atmuscarella said:


> I would question why someone's Roamio needs to be replaced, but the Bolt is in fact a significant upgrade to the Roamio and meets or exceeds it in every way. If you think the only thing the Bolt has that the Roamo doesn't is 4K then you really don't understand what the Bolt's abilities are.
> 
> Now if you are actually talking about a Roamio Plus/Pro then you are correct that the Bolt is not designed to replace those units. And that is exactly what TiVo has said and that they are planning on another unit next summer that would be more of a Roamio Plus/Pro replacement.
> 
> When it comes to what someone who wants/needs a DVR now should buy it really comes down to what the person wants and what they can buy each model for. The lifetime deals on the Roamio and Roamio Plus are great and would make it really hard for me to buy a Bolt at it's current pricing. Glad I don't need another DVR so I don't need to actually make that call.


Yes I was talking the plus and pro.


----------



## dougdingle (Jul 4, 2007)

atmuscarella said:


> I would question why someone's Roamio needs to be replaced, but the Bolt is in fact a significant upgrade to the Roamio and meets or exceeds it in every way.


I disagree. The Bolt uses 2.5" drives, which means 2 gigs is as high as you can go for internal storage for the foreseeable future. The Roamio Plus/Pro can go to 6GB with aftermarket products. So three times the storage.

The Roamio Plus/Pro has six tuners. So 2 more than the Bolt.

But the bottom line is there is exactly *ZERO *4K material for the Bolt to record off cable, and there may not be anything for years. So what you have is a 4K streaming box, an application which the $125 Roku 4 does much better.


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

dougdingle said:


> I disagree. The Bolt uses 2.5" drives, which means 2 gigs is as high as you can go for internal storage for the foreseeable future.


There are people on this forum who have already upgraded their Bolts to 4TB, so that's not true. The 2.5" is a bit more limiting then 3.5" used in the older units, but you can still make a Bolt with more space then any stock Roamio.


----------



## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

zalusky said:


> Don't the rumors indicate the real stuff comes out next year!


Only if the not-real stuff sells well and they decide to stick with retail? New CEO could change the dynamics. But how and when are anyone's guess.


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I'm not clamoring to replace my Roamio Pros, especially with SkipMode coming to them. 4K doesn't interest me in the slightest.


----------



## dougdingle (Jul 4, 2007)

Dan203 said:


> There are people on this forum who have already upgraded their Bolts to 4TB, so that's not true. The 2.5" is a bit more limiting then 3.5" used in the older units, but you can still make a Bolt with more space then any stock Roamio.


I was able to locate a single model Toshiba 3gb 2.5" drive, but could not find anyone selling it. Where are they getting the drives to expand the Bolt to 4TB internally? Adding external drives doesn't count when the Roamio can get to 6TB internally, and 12TB with Weaknees hardware.


----------



## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

dougdingle said:


> I disagree. The Bolt uses 2.5" drives, which means 2 gigs is as high as you can go for internal storage for the foreseeable future. The Roamio Plus/Pro can go to 6GB with aftermarket products. So three times the storage.
> 
> The Roamio Plus/Pro has six tuners. So 2 more than the Bolt.
> 
> But the bottom line is there is exactly *ZERO *4K material for the Bolt to record off cable, and there may not be anything for years. So what you have is a 4K streaming box, an application which the $125 Roku 4 does much better.


Well you conveniently didn't quote the rest of my post where I also said the Bolt wasn't designed to be a replacement for the Roamio Plus/Pro. However the Bolt is significant superior to the Roamio and the availability of 4K content is irrelevant to that fact. There are more choices for a hard drive for the Roamio but with 1,2, & 4TB drives available for use in upgrading the Bolt I don't consider it much of an advantage, compared to what you do get with the Bolt as compared to the Roamio.



dougdingle said:


> I was able to locate a single model Toshiba 3gb 2.5" drive, but could not find anyone selling it. Where are they getting the drives to expand the Bolt to 4TB internally? Adding external drives doesn't count when the Roamio can get to 6TB internally.


The 2.5 inch 4TB drives people have used to upgrade their Bolts internal drive where harvested from external 4TB USB drives. I believe this is the one most people have used: Seagate STDR4000100 there is a whole thread about it.


----------

