# Other PVRs vs TiVo



## mikerr (Jun 2, 2005)

Well with the impending switch off of _official _ S1 service, lots of people are looking at alternatives, here's a thread to put comparisons of other PVRs.

Post the make/model of unit and which features it supports:

Of interest are:

Live buffer always active

Guide Search functionality
-search by title
- keyword
- genre
- actor

Series Link functionality
- whether tied to a channel or not 
- any options such as record at most episodes,

Folders 
- for series
- any have user defined folders?

Wishlists 
- record by title across all channels
- record by keyword in title or description
- record by genre

Suggestions

External network/USB connectivity 
- and whether you can extract recorded content)

(Actually interested in consumer devices, but you're welcome to put the usual PC based suspects (windows MCE, mythTV) here too!)


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## spitfires (Dec 19, 2006)

Also...

Advanced Wishlists
- record by combination of actor "and not" title 
(e.g. "Jennifer Aniston and not Friends")


.


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## katman (Jun 4, 2002)

SKY + 

Live buffer lost when going into guide
Search - by FIRST LETTER of title
Guide - frequently doesnt go far enough into the future to be able to set up recordings for programs that have just been advertised !!!!
Series link - severely flakey
Wishlist - Wish I could get a new Tivo that would work with Sky !!!!


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## Sneals2000 (Aug 25, 2002)

katman said:


> SKY +
> 
> Live buffer lost when going into guide
> Search - by FIRST LETTER of title
> ...


Yep - though Sky+HD with the new EPG fixes some of these issues. (I don't think you lose the buffer in TV Guide, and you have multiple letters in search) Series Link is up to the broadcaster rather than Sky (and thus limited to the links the broadcasters want to operate)


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## djqster (Oct 22, 2010)

The search in Sky+HD operates on the first word in the title only.
Which is a pain as you need to know the exact title and not just remember that it had the word 'fishing' in it or something.


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## katman (Jun 4, 2002)

Sneals2000 said:


> Series Link is up to the broadcaster rather than Sky (and thus limited to the links the broadcasters want to operate)


So losing the series link when House took a break for Christmas is totally down to SKY then


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## TCM2007 (Dec 25, 2006)

Post the make/model of unit and which features it supports:

Windows 7 PC

Of interest are:

Live buffer always active No, and you can't save the buffer to a recording.

Guide Search functionality
Title, keyword, category (genre), actor, director, Internet TV (msn)

Series Link functionality
By particular channel or any channel, New/rerun/live, preferred time of showing, keep until delete/watched, keep up to.., soft end padding. Can set season pass and view all upcoming recordings and showings from any show in Recorded TV

Folders 
- for series Yes, within folder can order by episode title, recording date, OAD
- any have user defined folders No

Wishlists 
- record by title across all channels Yes
- record by keyword in title or description Yes
- record by genre No, but can by Actor or Director. Genres are broader than TiVos so setting a recording wish list for a genre is not something you'd want to do.

Suggestions No

External network/USB connectivity PCs can share content. Xbox 360 acts as an extender with full access to content, live TV, setting recordings, etc. Interface is identical to that on host PC.

- and whether you can extract recorded content) Yes

Additional features:
- Can manage and play DVD and Blu-ray library, ripped or offline
- Sky Player provides access to a number of Sky channels in sports and movies, plus on-demand (paid for)
- MSN Video player built in
- Can manage and play your MP3 collection
- Burn shows to DVD direct from the interface
- Synch shows to certain handhelds
- Can manage and play videos from other sources, inc MKV
- Can manage and view your photo library and combine photos with music
- Plug ins for iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD etc
- Some games
- you configure up to 4 tuners in any combination you like
- Choose whatever storage you like
- Extenders allow client/server set up enabling all TVs from a single source. Pause a show in the living room, resume it in the bedroom.
- Is a PC so can quit MC7 and do anything!
- the official remote looks a lot like the peanut!


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## solaise (Sep 17, 2006)

To add a little to TCM's post on Windows 7

*Tuners*
My understanding was that in Win 7 the 4 tuner limit is actually per type so that you can have 4 freeview and 4 freesat although since I only have 3 freeview(2 SD and 1 HD) and 1 freesat HD I cannot confirm from personal experience.

*HD recording*

(This wasn't asked but) yes Freeview HD and Freesat HD tuners are both available.

But UK format HD recordings cannot be played on extenders other than the X box.

*Folders*

Its perhaps worth mentioning that it doesn't support the Tivo concept of floating folders whereby a date recorded view has a folder for each series within it.

With W7 you can either view in order of date recorded (so all shows are shown and there is no series folder)

Or

Title view which is alphabetical with series shown as a folder


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## irrelevant (Mar 19, 2002)

katman said:


> So losing the series link when House took a break for Christmas is totally down to SKY then


Yes. In an email-exchange between myself and the ASA in September 2007:


> Sky have explained that the series link should work in all instances apart from when a break of four weeks or longer occurs in a series.


I've pretty much given up on Sky's season links ...


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## nitrochicken (Sep 9, 2006)

One think I really like about tivo is the 'jump-back' when fast forwarding.
I think pretty much every pvr I have tried does not have this feature so you always have to rewind for a few seconds.

Does MC7 have this feature? Or what about Myth TV?

Thanks


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## TCM2007 (Dec 25, 2006)

MC&: Hard to say; it does when you are FFing through a list like Recorded TV or the Guide, not sure about actual TV. It has three FF speeds and you'd have to have sharp reactions on the fastest.

Me, I use 30 second skip almost exclusively, which is why I'm not sure!


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## mutant_matt2 (Dec 16, 2008)

I am hoping to see someone experienced with using MythTV reply to this thread, as I am in the middle of building a Myth Proof Of Concept box, as I was thinking about augmenting TiVo with Freesat HD and multiple tuner recording capability anyway.

From my experiments so far, I have been amazed at how good Myth is, and how similar it is in functionality (if not usability), to TiVo (and how well it works on very cheap, low-powered hardware!! (currently running Myth (including MythWeb) on an Acer Revo 3610 (£180), with a single DVB-T USB stick (with IR remote included (£30)), recording 5 channels and playing back a recording, all at once, with only 35% CPU load, 4-5MB/sec hard drive write, and 1.5-2MB/sec read   ). The GUI is also very snappy, even when all this is going on.

I am definately going Myth (will have to buy another Revo, and give the kids their computer back   ), and assuming the EPG project comes to fruition, will keep TiVo for recording the subbed Sky channels only (and even then, may in the future look to seeing if Myth can deal with a CAM and Sky card, if I *really* like it).

Anyone?

Matt


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## martink0646 (Feb 8, 2005)

*Humax Foxsat-HDR

Live buffer always active - No. resets when going into 'Guide' or 'Media List'

Guide Search functionality
-search by title - Yes
- keyword - ?
- genre - Yes
- actor - No (?)

Series Link functionality
- whether tied to a channel or not - Tied to channel (?)
- any options such as record at most episodes, - No
Folders 
- for series - Yes
- any have user defined folders? -Totally user-defined to the extent of sub-folders

Wishlists - No
- record by title across all channels
- record by keyword in title or description
- record by genre

Suggestions - No

External network/USB connectivity - You can add extra storage via USB key or external HDD & transfer the recordings to them although the box is a bit fussy about formatting plus ftp is now enabled
- and whether you can extract recorded content)*

*Additional Features*

*Twin Tuner
HD Recording
Upscaled SD
Can play out HDMI & SCART at the same time
Low (1w) standby power consumption
BBC iPlayer*

*Conclusions*

*To paraphrase, "it's no TiVo" but it does a perfectly adequate job. My parents got a Thomson Top Up TV Freeview box last year & the Humax is a million times better than that unholy piece of s**t.

The PQ is excellent, especially in HD & the SD is also excellent although this is somewhat channel dependent. BBC, ITV, CH4 etc are very good but DAVE & the like are truly awful. I would hate to see what they looked like if they weren't upscaled. DAVE on freeview through the TiVo is much better. Maybe it's a satellite bitrate issue? Also the folder functions are really good & easy to use as is transferring recordings between folders. It is also v.good at getting the correct aspect ratio & switching between them automatically. It's one of those things that you only notice when it doesn't do it!*

Martin

NB where I have put a ? means I don't know the answer, where I have put (?) following an answer means I think, but stand to be corrected.


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## Trinitron (Jan 20, 2003)

May as well, having just commented on this in another thread...

make/model of unit:* SKY+HD *

Live buffer always active: Not really - up to 60 minutes saved unless channel changed or recording played back. Not active when box is in standby (but will make scheduled recordings).

Guide Search functionality
-search by title Yes - strictly first word only*
- keyword No
- genre No
- actor No

Series Link functionality
- whether tied to a channel or not : No, provided broadcaster switches link ID. Links generally operate by time slot (eg missing main broadcast will not pick up a repeat later in the day or week; setting repeat to record will not pick up main broadcast, only the equivalent repeat slot)
- any options such as record at most episodes: No

Folders 
- for series: Yes - stacked by series/channel (annoyingly). No option to NOT have series stacked 
- user defined folders: No

Wishlists*

Suggestions: No

External network/USB connectivity: Anytime+ VoD (with Sky broadband connection); Remote record via sky.com TV guide
can extract recorded content: No

* works in conjunction with sky.com Never Miss facility - search for name on Sky website and they will email you when programme/series is starting, with a remote record link.


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## stock (Jun 1, 2005)

mutant_matt2 said:


> I am hoping to see someone experienced with using MythTV reply to this thread, as I am in the middle of building a Myth Proof Of Concept box, as I was thinking about augmenting TiVo with Freesat HD and multiple tuner recording capability anyway.
> 
> From my experiments so far, I have been amazed at how good Myth is, and how similar it is in functionality (if not usability), to TiVo (and how well it works on very cheap, low-powered hardware!! (currently running Myth (including MythWeb) on an Acer Revo 3610 (£180), with a single DVB-T USB stick (with IR remote included (£30)), recording 5 channels and playing back a recording, all at once, with only 35% CPU load, 4-5MB/sec hard drive write, and 1.5-2MB/sec read   ). The GUI is also very snappy, even when all this is going on.
> 
> ...


Are you using the Revo as a combined front and back end ?
If so I might be tempted, most setups I've read about only mention using the Revo as a front end.


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## Nimbus (May 29, 2004)

stock said:


> Are you using the Revo as a combined front and back end ?
> If so I might be tempted, most setups I've read about only mention using the Revo as a front end.


I'm sure a revo would be man enough for front/backend duties, given that people are using them to run wmc7 successfully.


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## sculptor (Jan 7, 2003)

I hope to continue using my TiVo with the new epg solution after 1st June, but out of interest,

Which PVR TiVo alternatives allow you to control and record from a Sky Digibox like a TiVo does?

In addition to TiVo I use Eyetv on my Mac. 
This is handy for recording from DVB Terrestrial but has no means of controlling and recording from Sky other than a manual recording using the composite in.


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## Sneals2000 (Aug 25, 2002)

sculptor said:


> I hope to continue using my TiVo with the new epg solution after 1st June, but out of interest,
> 
> Which PVR TiVo alternatives allow you to control and record from a Sky Digibox like a TiVo does?


Windows Media Center can control set-top boxes.

You use an analogue capture card (almost all of them limited to composite/s-video capture) with a hardware MPEG2 encoder on-board (or a well engineered software MPEG2 encoding solution) - like the Hauppauge cards (or USB capture solutions) AND a proper Media Center USB IR remote receiver + IR blaster combo.

Haven't used this since the days of XP MCE - but I believe it is still supported in 7MC (though I haven't tried).

The other solution is using your valid Sky card with alternative receiver and conditional access solutions - though this is not for the faint hearted... (But does give you higher quality - including HD if required - recordings, and also allows multiple simultaneous recordings to be made) Long thread on it at AVForums and obviously it isn't supported by Sky - and you can fry your Sky card doing it if you don't know what you are doing.


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