# Tivo introducing a Terabyte Tivo?



## techieunite (Oct 18, 2005)

I had to call Tivo today about some problems with my Tivo HD pulling shows from my series 2 box.

In part of the conversation, we got to talking about people upgrading their boxes.

The rep I spoke with said that he had once spoken with a guy who had a Tivo Series 1. This Series 1 had a terabyte of space. The guy was having problems with the unit not working correctly, go figure.

Anyway, I told him about Weeknees, and how they already sell pre-imaged hard drives and brand new tivos with upgraded hard drives. 

So the rep said that they are working on releasing a Tivo HD with a Terabyte size drive.

I asked him about pricing. He said it would be about $1500. Obviously, this is a really high price. The tivo HD with a 160gb only costs $299 list.

I'm thinking mail in rebates for the Tivo HD are going to be in the works. This would help push those still with Series 2's to the HD. Obviously not everybody will upgrade, but up until this point there were no mail in rebates on the Tivo HD.(Yes I know there have been rebates on the original Tivo Series 3)

What would you pay for a Terabyte tivo? You can already pickup a terabyte sata drive for around $200, maybe less. That with the cost of a new Tivo is only $500. 

Where is Tivo getting the other $1000? Maybe the unit will be upgraded Series 3 unit (not Tivo HD) that also works with multistream cable cards. This would of course be a niche item, like the original Series 3 aimed at the upper elite home theatre enthusiasts.(and anybody with a credit card)

Only Time will tell. Anybody else have any juicy bits of information? Most of mine is just speculation, but the rep said that something is in the works.

**maybe they realized how many people were upgrading their Tivo HD's and Series 3, and finally wanted a piece of the pie**


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## Playloud (Jan 6, 2008)

Nobody in their right mind would pay $1500 for a Terabyte Tivo HD. I might pay $500...


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

There is absolutely no way it will be $1500, unless it's gold plated. Should be $200-$300 more than the current 160GB model.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

second thread on this - I think a TiVo CSR is either bored or misinformed. or Maybe the CSR is thinking of going into the upgrade business and finding a price point. 

But sure a TB TiVo HD for 500$ would sell me. Buy it and no need to do the upgrade stuff, save me an afternoon, though I do like having the backup Hard drive , just in case.


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## fallingwater (Dec 29, 2007)

Absolutely TiVo should offer a Tb TiVo right from the get go! Likewise TiVo should make a reasonable but decent profit on it.

A few questions from a mass-market sales perspective: 

What is the approximate price difference at the wholesale level between a 160 Gb HDD and a 1 Tb HDD? Would $100 added to that be a reasonable profit for TiVo or would they probably expect more?

Lastly, is there a relationship between the size of a HDD and its probability of failure over time with bad sectors developing? Would it be practical for TiVo to upgrade its s/w at reasonable cost to be able to recognize bad sectors as they developed on a large drive and automatically skip them?


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

Consider they are drives manufactured specifically for DVR service.

Also consider that that big a DVR would be considered a premium device. While $1500 is way out there, $500 is about a practical price point, at least to get the first buyers of the product, if it is just a big HDD in it.

IMHO, I think it might be more likely for WD to issue their 1TB DVR expander, or at least they will be first.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

classicsat said:


> Consider they are drives manufactured specifically for DVR service.
> 
> Also consider that that big a DVR would be considered a premium device. While $1500 is way out there, $500 is about a practical price point, at least to get the first buyers of the product, if it is just a big HDD in it.
> 
> IMHO, I think it might be more likely for WD to issue their 1TB DVR expander, or at least they will be first.


A premium device?

Sorry but as we get more and more HD content, 100 hours isn't going to be considered that premium.

I think they are going to have a hard time if they only offer a 16 hour model....

They are MUCH better off releasing a $399 terabyte model for people who recognize that 16 hours isn't nearly enough.


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## jhimmel (Dec 27, 2002)

Adam1115 said:


> A premium device?
> 
> Sorry but as we get more and more HD content, 100 hours isn't going to be considered that premium.
> 
> ...


I have to agree. As Adam has stated, with increasing HD content, the smaller drives are becoming impractical if not obsolete.

With the new FiOS lineup, I have just about every major network, educational, sports, and premium channel in HD. A standard, un-expanded/upgraded TiVo will start to look silly from a capacity standpoint.

Mine have three times the capacity of a standard S3, and I still have to be careful about going through my recordings to weed stuff out in time. 95% of my recordings are HD.

Drives are fairly cheap (and dropping) - even DVR "tuned" drives. It's time for larger capacity base models and certainly larger "approved" expanders.

Jim H.


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## MickeS (Dec 26, 2002)

A TiVoHD with 2TB is $999, and a Series 3 with 2TB is $1,299 at dvrupgrade.com - and that's already with a premium added compared to DYI.

So there is just no way that a factory TiVo would cost $1500 for 1 TB.

Why do people keep trusting that CSRs know what they talk about?


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## EVizzle (Feb 13, 2005)

MickeS said:


> So there is just no way that a factory TiVo would cost $1500 for 1 TB.
> 
> Why do people keep trusting that CSRs know what they talk about?


Or why do people trust someone typing about a "conversation" they had with a "person who works for Tivo"?


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## killzone (Oct 19, 2000)

A 1Tb SATA drive goes for under $150.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

Adam1115 said:


> A premium device?
> Sorry but as we get more and more HD content, 100 hours isn't going to be considered that premium.


But from the perspective of a catalog SKU, a 1TB DVR (compared to the 160GB unit), especially if new, would be considered some sort of premium, and could garner a premium price.


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

At some point, the underlying operations of a TiVo box will have to be heavily upgraded to handle the indexing and processing of such large recording capacity.

For us, it's easy. We just popped on a DVR Expander. We just have Comcast lifeline for the QAM locals HDs. the 80+ hours will be fine for us for a very long time.


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## tivoupgrade (Sep 27, 2000)

... if TiVo goes back into the 'high-end' of the marketplace. 

In the past, when TiVo has offered higher capacity, higher price-point units, it has not been worth their while (The HDR612 was a dismal failure).

Its easy for folks like us to offer these large units because the procurement and support model is much easier for small and agile little shops like ours. We can purchase our inventory 'just in time' and take on the support and Q&A aspects ourselves. If the prices of drives drop, we can lower our prices somewhat without losing our shirts because we try not to overbuy inventory.

For TiVo to offer a high-capacity product, they will most certainly have to charge more than we would and with such a high price point, it will not be as high volume a product as say, the TiVo HD. 

BUT, they will still need to procure relatively large numbers of drives because they'll need to need to make the product available throughout their channel. And of course, the prices of the drives, in the open marketplace, will continue to drop as higher capacity drives become available (next year, you will see 1.5TB and 2.0TB drives and that will force down the prices of 1TB drives...)

In the end, TiVo's bread & butter is service revenue, so unless something has fundamentally changed (I have not read their latest annual report, cover to cover), I don't know that they could make a lot of money selling a high-end TiVo with some margin in it.

I'd like to think they look to folks like us to service the demand for higher capacity units, but then again, they may have decided they want that segment for themselves. In a sense, they have already sent that message by offering an upgrade path for external drives, so it just doesn't seem prudent to augment their current offering with larger internal drives, as well.

It will be interesting to see whether this is a rumor that is "truth without a date" or just some guy in the call center who either misheard or misunderstood something.

Lou


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

> I don't know that they could make a lot of money selling a high-end TiVo with some margin in it.
> 
> I'd like to think they look to folks like us to service the demand for higher capacity units,...


There is a lot of difference between a "high-end" and "higher capacity" TiVo. I would think there might be room for a high-end TiVo, with higher capacity being one of the extras. After all people are still seeking out and buying the original Series 3 unit a high-end replacement unit based on the TiVo HD platform isn't really all that crazy.

Thanks,


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## tivoupgrade (Sep 27, 2000)

atmuscarella said:


> There is a lot of difference between a "high-end" and "higher capacity" TiVo. I would think there might be room for a high-end TiVo, with higher capacity being one of the extras. After all people are still seeking out and buying the original Series 3 unit a high-end replacement unit based on the TiVo HD platform isn't really all that crazy.
> 
> Thanks,


Well, I meant "high-capacity"... but with that said...

There do not appear to be many people out there seeking out the original Series3 units. If there are, they are not willing to pay the premium for them, even with the $200 rebate (that is now expired); I can tell you that from experience - we still have plenty of them in inventory.

So... that begs the question: If lots of people aren't willing to pay a $150 premium for 80% more recording capacity, and the additional features of the Series3, then how many high-capacity TiVo boxes do you really think TiVo will sell when a TiVo HD plus an external drive will meet the needs of many people as it is?

[edit] I'm not saying that there isn't a market for it; but I am saying that it is somewhat limited and definitely smaller than the markets TiVo is already pursuing. It doesn't make sense to me that TiVo would make an investment in pursuing an even smaller segment of the market than they are already appealing to, and that it would make more sense to continue focusing on higher-volume opportunities (like the one just announced with DIRECTV) to increase their acceptance in the marketplace...)


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

> So... that begs the question: If lots of people aren't willing to pay a $150 premium for 80% more recording capacity, and the additional features of the Series3,


I agree I wouldn't pay extra for a Series 3 now either - it's older tech and discontinued. Now build a new TiVo with the latest tech, a Terabyte drive, a blu-ray player/recorder, the ability to control STBs & record HD through component inputs, the ability to record 3+ shows at once, THX certified, special remote, etc. and maybe you have a current high-end product that people will buy, $1500 still sounds high but maybe at $999 it wouldn't be half bad.

Thanks,

PS: As you can see when I say high-end I actual mean high-end


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

tivoupgrade said:


> It will be interesting to see whether this is a rumor that is "truth without a date" or just some guy in the call center who either misheard or misunderstood something.


I am going to say just wait a day.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

classicsat said:


> But from the perspective of a catalog SKU, a 1TB DVR (compared to the 160GB unit), especially if new, would be considered some sort of premium, and could garner a premium price.


From a catalog SKU perspective would be similar to comparing a 40 hour and a 120 hour series 2....

Sure it will cost more, but it should demand some excessive premium beyond the disk price difference...


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

If I bought a TiVo HD right now I would also get a TB drive and put it in as soon as I could. So if a TiVo HD with already done drive came in for around the same price as the two then I am in. I could even see 50$ over what I would pay for the two as being worth my time not spent doing the drive upgrade.

as for bells and whistles - only two things would interest me - Blu ray player and/or netflix streaming included


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## tivoupgrade (Sep 27, 2000)

classicsat said:


> I am going to say just wait a day.


Hmmm... CEDIA starts tomorrow, doesn't it?

Perhaps TiVo will do something like what VUDU did earlier this year:

The home theater custom-installer types like to offer high-margin products to their customers and TiVo is not currently one of those types of offerings. To give the installers something with some margin in it, VUDU created an XL box available only to certain buying groups to give the custom installers a way to make some money offering the product... VUDU XL announcement


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

tivoupgrade said:


> For TiVo to offer a high-capacity product, they will most certainly have to charge more than we would


More than the $399 price you're charging for 1TB? I don't think so.


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## tivoupgrade (Sep 27, 2000)

c3 said:


> More than the $399 price you're charging for 1TB? I don't think so.


And why do you think that?


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

killzone said:


> A 1Tb SATA drive goes for under $150.


I was going to ask where.. but I presume you mean e.g. from newegg?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136151

$149.99 including free 3 day shipping. I'm not sure if this is the exact same drive that Fry's has alternately been selling (seemingly switching weekly with a Seagate IIRC) for IIRC $159.


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

It's here. And only $600. 

http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2008-09/tivo-hd-xl-unveiled-1tb-of-storage/


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

davezatz said:


> It's here. And only $600.
> 
> http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2008-09/tivo-hd-xl-unveiled-1tb-of-storage/


THX certified as well, I note.

ETA-
So I can find a TiVo HD for $250 and a 1 TB drive for $150. So when I find this baby for 450$ then it is priced at my point of sale. Good on TiVo to finally just put a big @ss drive in and stop playing around.


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

ZeoTiVo said:


> THX certified as well, I note.


Marketing fluff?  However, the Glo remote is a nice addition along with the extra storage. Wish I could morph my S3 into a THDXL - less energy consumption, larger drive, and most importantly M-Card support.


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

THDXL shows 157/1367 hours. Hacked 1TB shows 144/1367 hours. Hmmmmm.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

> Originally Posted by *tivoupgrade*
> For TiVo to offer a high-capacity product, they will most certainly have to charge more than we would


I guess TiVo figured out how to do it for less than $399:up: plus add in THX and the glo remote:up:


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

atmuscarella said:


> I guess TiVo figured out how to do it for less than $399:up: plus add in THX and the glo remote:up:


yep - when someone[ETA - who is a first time buyer] asks what model TiVo to get, I think there is an unqualified answer now.*

well sure this is a forum and the answer will go on for 50 posts about this or that but watch over time and most questioners will end up getting this model


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## DrewTivo (Mar 30, 2005)

MickeS said:


> A TiVoHD with 2TB is $999, and a Series 3 with 2TB is $1,299 at dvrupgrade.com - and that's already with a premium added compared to DYI.
> 
> So there is just no way that a factory TiVo would cost $1500 for 1 TB.
> 
> Why do people keep trusting that CSRs know what they talk about?


Turns out he knew what he was talking about . . . except for the price.


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## DrewTivo (Mar 30, 2005)

ZeoTiVo said:


> yep - when someone asks what model TiVo to get, I think there is an unqualified answer now.*


What about "I want a second [third, fourth] tivo for the bedroom [study, office, den]--which one should I get?"


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## fallingwater (Dec 29, 2007)

At last a 'no-fiddling needed' mass market DVR priced right! Only complaint is that there's nothing to complain about.

Oops. Actually there are two things:

1. TiVo's website locked up when clicking on detail links from the product description page. Had to crash out.

2. Darn uninspired looking HDTiVo cabinet on hi-capacity hi-end product to keep development costs and price low.

*****, *****, *****!


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

DrewTivo said:


> What about "I want a second [third, fourth] tivo for the bedroom [study, office, den]--which one should I get?"


true. I was thinking of the first time buyer, but had not explicitly set that parameter.


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## DrewTivo (Mar 30, 2005)

ZeoTiVo said:


> true. I was thinking of the first time buyer, but had not explicitly set that parameter.


Fair enough. I agree that for a first HD tivo, this is the one. I would probably opt for the less expensive one for other rooms, so long as my network can handle the transfers and I don't have so many people in the house using them to need one for each person.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

ZeoTiVo said:


> THX certified as well, I note.
> 
> ETA-
> So I can find a TiVo HD for $250 and a 1 TB drive for $150. So when I find this baby for 450$ then it is priced at my point of sale. Good on TiVo to finally just put a big @ss drive in and stop playing around.


I sort of agree, but one advantage to this is the ability to add an external esata drive without ripping the thing apart again.


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## windracer (Jan 3, 2003)

For some reason the XL moniker just reminds me of my old Atari 800XL.


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## MickeS (Dec 26, 2002)

davezatz said:


> Marketing fluff?  However, the Glo remote is a nice addition along with the extra storage. Wish I could morph my S3 into a THDXL - less energy consumption, larger drive, and most importantly M-Card support.


I'm thinking that this once and for all kills the hope that the S3 will ever use M-Cards (not that i had much hope about that left anyway ).


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## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

fallingwater said:


> At last a 'no-fiddling needed' mass market DVR priced right! Only complaint is that there's nothing to complain about.
> 
> Oops. Actually there are two things:


One more - no OLED front panel display. I really like it on my S3. Still, most people don't care.


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## cap (Jan 27, 2001)

nrc said:


> One more - no OLED front panel display. I really like it on my S3. Still, most people don't care.


I completely agree. I still like seeing what is being recorded. When I thought about getting a new TiVo I almost got another S3, but the THD was so much cheaper. Now I wonder if I made the right choice. The THD just isn't that visually appealing. Not sure what the designers were thinking.

That being said I'm trying to think of a way to justify the THDXL to the wife...


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

Tell her is is for her to record the programs she wants. And most likely she will not use all of the recording time slots so you can just add your own too.


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## cap (Jan 27, 2001)

jlb said:


> Tell her is is for her to record the programs she wants. And most likely she will not use all of the recording time slots so you can just add your own too.


That probably won't work. I already have too many TiVo's (by her reconning that is) sitting around (4 in use, 2 old S1's sitting on the shelf). But I do need a HD one for that HD TV in the bedroom so you never know. 

Maybe as a new Christmas present.....hmmm...


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

windracer said:


> For some reason the XL moniker just reminds me of my old Atari 800XL.


thats a good thing though


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## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

nrc said:


> One more - no OLED front panel display. I really like it on my S3. Still, most people don't care.


OLED is nice, but my cabinet is fronted with perforated steel, so I can't read it anyway.

I have 2 S3s and considering the XL, just to get more tuners.


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## morac (Mar 14, 2003)

Gregor said:


> OLED is nice, but my cabinet is fronted with perforated steel, so I can't read it anyway.
> 
> I have 2 S3s and considering the XL, just to get more tuners.


I like the OLED on my S3 as well. TiVo could probably implement a stand alone OLED device that plugs into the USB port if enough people wanted it.


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## dylanemcgregor (Jan 31, 2003)

So how much space does an hour of HD content take up again? I ask because I just can't imagine ever needing a TB drive. I have a 250GB drive in my S2, and I have things that have been on the TiVo for years without having to change the setting to KUID. I could probably cut the drive in half without even noticing...in fact I';m almost positive of that since I had a 120GB drive in my S1 that never felt cramped (usually had 30 hours or so of suggestions on it).

Also a question about the HD TiVos. Can you adjust recording quality with them to save space. If I have a show that is only shown on an HD channel, is there a way to sacrifice quality for a smaller file size?


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

dylanemcgregor said:


> Also a question about the HD TiVos. Can you adjust recording quality with them to save space. If I have a show that is only shown on an HD channel, is there a way to sacrifice quality for a smaller file size?


any digital recording is just streamed direct to the hard drive with no encoder involved to set a quality level.

If you recorded in HD on that S2 it would be liking cutting the drive down to 1/4 the size. The 1 TB really will become the standard others will need to live up to as Digital and HD become mainstream rather than early adopter.


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

And typically, I think an hour of HD is ~7gb of space. So while that 250gb drive of yours can record up to 250 hours (at basic), the i TB drive will record ~150 hours of HD. So it actually makes sense for someone like you if you leave a lot of stuff on there for extended periods of time. I love the idea of the XL box, but I just finished passing the WAF on my Expander for my HD. And with our lifeline cable and the stuff we watch, the ~85 hours of HD works just fine for us.


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## dylanemcgregor (Jan 31, 2003)

ZeoTiVo said:


> If you recorded in HD on that S2 it would be liking cutting the drive down to 1/4 the size.


Which would still be pretty big. My first TiVo started out life with a 20GB hard drive, that was a bit small, but worked fine for me for 4 years or so. I only upgraded after the drive went bad.



> The 1 TB really will become the standard others will need to live up to as Digital and HD become mainstream rather than early adopter.


Hopefully they won't start broadcasting everything in HD for a long time. The OTA stations can use the extra bandwidth they have to broadcast more stations, rather than just doing the same content in HD.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

The major broadcast networks are broadcasting HD now. I think though, they are also sending an SD version of their broadcast though.


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## DrewTivo (Mar 30, 2005)

jlb said:


> And typically, I think an hour of HD is ~7gb of space.


Based on 1TB=150 hours of HD, that's about right.

The way I look at it is that my original tivo S2 held 80 hours of SD programming, and that seemed like not enough, so I got the 180 hour model. That was plenty. But I'm quite sure the 20 hours of the reg. HD tivo will be insufficient (we just got it). So THDXL gets me back to where I was with SD (approximately).


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

dylanemcgregor said:


> Which would still be pretty big. My first TiVo started out life with a 20GB hard drive, that was a bit small, but worked fine for me for 4 years or so. I only upgraded after the drive went bad.


My first TiVo was the 240 model and 40 hours worked for about 2 months and then I started recording shows for my kids as well and it soon was not enough. Now I have 300 gig drive in a DT and record football games and some seasons of shows do not get watched until summer when it all reruns so it is nice to be able to just leave them.

Plus the olympics were a breeze to record and watch as I had no space worries.

to each his own.


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## Lensman (Dec 22, 2001)

I love it! They can use the extra storage as a key differentiating factor against operator boxes. The glo remote helps dress up the otherwise plain-looking box, too! Value is there as well - I'd pay $50 for the glo remote, $50 for THX marketing fluff (including the nice startup sequence), and $200 for an honest-to-goodness 1TB media drive.


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## BlackBetty (Nov 6, 2004)

Lensman said:


> I love it! They can use the extra storage as a key differentiating factor against operator boxes. The glo remote helps dress up the otherwise plain-looking box, too! Value is there as well - I'd pay $50 for the glo remote, $50 for THX marketing fluff (including the nice startup sequence), and $200 for an honest-to-goodness 1TB media drive.


well said.


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## djstix (Aug 30, 2007)

Here it is $599 https://www3.tivo.com/store/boxdetails.do?boxName=tivohdxl&boxsku=R65800


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## ort (Jan 5, 2004)

I apologize because I haven't been paying that much attention... but couldn't you buy an old 20 hour TiVoHD and add an external eSATA drive to it for less money?


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## djstix (Aug 30, 2007)

Yes - Seagate Freeagent pro 1TB is $179.99 at buy.com , if you buy a refurb Tivo HD you can get equvalent space fir $360, remote and THX not included


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## djstix (Aug 30, 2007)

Correction - the WD MYbook expander 500GB is the only esata external drive that will work with the TivoHD - the only way to get 1TB is to do an internal drive upgrade.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

djstix said:


> Yes - Seagate Freeagent pro 1TB is $179.99 at buy.com , if you buy a refurb Tivo HD you can get equvalent space fir $360, remote and THX not included


yep, you could never get a already done for you 1TB TiVo for the same as DIY. That really is just the way it is.
That said i would not look to pay 599$ for the HDXL but at around 450$ it looks like a comparable value to me, given I put some value on my time and feel they keep learning and tweaking the internal chips. Unless they cheaped out and someone finds an issue like slower network then the day will come thisis the standard model and all these $599$ comparisons will just be moot as the price always drops on tech like this.


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## bmgoodman (Dec 20, 2000)

ZeoTiVo said:


> yep, you could never get a already done for you 1TB TiVo for the same as DIY. That really is just the way it is.
> That said i would not look to pay 599$ for the HDXL but at around 450$ it looks like a comparable value to me, given I put some value on my time and feel they keep learning and tweaking the internal chips. Unless they cheaped out and someone finds an issue like slower network then the day will come thisis the standard model and all these $599$ comparisons will just be moot as the price always drops on tech like this.


I've not seen anybody factor in the longer hard drive warranty you'd get from buying and installing an internal replacement to your TivoHD. Don't Tivo units come with only a one year warranty on parts? Any good replacement drive should have a 3-5 year warranty. That should be worth something, especially since the hard drives seem to be the part most likely to fail.

(Yes, I know that opening your Tivo voids the warranty, but still....)


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## tivoupgrade (Sep 27, 2000)

bmgoodman said:


> I've not seen anybody factor in the longer hard drive warranty you'd get from buying and installing an internal replacement to your TivoHD. Don't Tivo units come with only a one year warranty on parts? Any good replacement drive should have a 3-5 year warranty. That should be worth something, especially since the hard drives seem to be the part most likely to fail.
> 
> (Yes, I know that opening your Tivo voids the warranty, but still....)


That's a good point and something we've talked about around here, as well. You are right, the hard drive is definitely the most likely thing to fail, but there is that trade-off associated with the implications of either breaking the unit itself, or it breaking and no longer being under warranty...


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## sender_name (Feb 12, 2005)

that's why my original drive is in a static bag stored away since i did my S3 upgraded to a 1TB...I lOVE my oled screen. I always use it to check what is recording without having to fire everything up. I wonder if this is the death of the S3...maybe there were not enough people willing to pay the extra $$ for the features? Why not make an S3 XL instead


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

tivoupgrade said:


> That's a good point and something we've talked about around here, as well. You are right, the hard drive is definitely the most likely thing to fail, but there is that trade-off associated with the implications of either breaking the unit itself, or it breaking and no longer being under warranty...


With warranty, I am not so worried when the hardare around 100$. I might keep track or I might not. Plus I would want the right size drive back in the TiVo as soon as possible.

Also, I have never seen a warranty issue here becasue someone upgraded the drive. Unless you drop the drive straight on the motherboard and crack some chips I would not worry about that aspect at all. Whether it be use a 3rd party or DIY upgrading the hard drive in itself is no big deal to TiVo.

either way a 1TB TiVo just kicks butt and I am glad TiVo finally understood to just put a big drive in from the get go.


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## DrewTivo (Mar 30, 2005)

sender_name said:


> that's why my original drive is in a static bag stored away since i did my S3 upgraded to a 1TB...I lOVE my oled screen. I always use it to check what is recording without having to fire everything up. I wonder if this is the death of the S3...maybe there were not enough people willing to pay the extra $$ for the features? Why not make an S3 XL instead


Or why not add an OLED screen to the HD XL?


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

The THD platform, which the XL is based on, may not support an OLED screen, in there is no physical connector for it, not to mention the front bezel would need redesigned to accommodate it.


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## sender_name (Feb 12, 2005)

classicsat said:


> The THD platform, which the XL is based on, may not support an OLED screen, in there is no physical connector for it, not to mention the front bezel would need redesigned to accommodate it.


...to look like the S3  I think at the root of it is the HD was a 'newer' hardware platform, more up to date right? So that would make sense at the choice for the xl. Again...I wonder if it was sales #'s for the HD vs. The S3 and perhaps not enough demand for the S3 existed...


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

The TiVo HD was essentially a ground-up redesign of the first Series 3 TiVo, to account for newer versions of chips, which will probably have a longer term availability than some of the chips (such as the Cablcard interface chips), as well as reduce costs somewhat, and and to account for some other design shortcomings of the Series 3 (such as the location of the CC slots).

The XL is just a re-use of the existing THD base platform, with some different chips used (that could have meant a slight board redesign). A major redesign of of the board would cost time and money, although they could have a headstart on the time element.


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