# Tivo Roamio plus or HTPC?



## skuzzzzy (Aug 26, 2013)

Currently have a cisco box from time warner cable, looking to replace it with a htpc with a cable card tuner or a tivo roamio plus.

What do you guys think?

The positive for the htpc is no longer have to pay monthly for a box, and i can replace the harddrives whenever i want.

The negatives are problely stability/reliability.

What do you think of the tivo compared to the time warner box's / htpc?

How often does tivo do software updates, gui changes, and how is the stability/reliability?
Also can you save or transfer your tivo recordings to a NAS?

Just tired of the sluggish / loud TW box's, not sure how much better a tivo is?


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

You are asking a tivo board if we would buy a tivo? Buy a tivo.


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## waterchange (Jun 29, 2010)

If your TW dvr is sluggish and loud, you'll probably end up loving the Roamio and think it's night and day better. And you can replace the hard drives whenever you want.

Regarding htpc no longer having to pay a monthly fee for the box, think of the Tivo + lifetime in the same way. I myself wouldn't buy a Tivo w/o lifetime. Yes, $900 ($399 + $499 lifetime) is a lot of money but compare that to how much you'll spend on building a nice htpc. And then consider the residual value of the Tivo if you want to sell it 2, 3 or 4 years down the road (which should be worth ~$400+ then). If you factor in the resell value, the costs might actually seem somewhat reasonable. These Roamio's are new but previous Tivo's have been pretty bullet proof for me. If there ever are issues, it's usually with the hard drive (easy to replace), power supply (less of an issue but still easy to replace), and maybe the fan (easy to replace). I'm confident I can keep my Tivos running for many years.

Do you want to deal with an htpc? Some people have no issues with theirs whatsoever. Others have issues (granted people with Tivos can have their own issues too). Here's one relevant slickdeals forum post that might be useful. I just know that in my household with wife & kids, an htpc wouldn't fly (and I'm a tech guy). Our Tivos just work.


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## drebbe (Apr 11, 2012)

I went the HTPC route for a while. I liked the HTPC but it does require tinkering and at the end of the day it is a PC with all the power and complexity that comes with it being a PC. As a result the WAF of the HTPC was low. 

Moving to TiVo has been a success. It has been solid, hassle free, way better than my Comcast DVR and the WAF of the TiVo has been high.


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## tatergator1 (Mar 27, 2008)

skuzzzzy said:


> Also can you save or transfer your tivo recordings to a NAS?


Just to add on this point, TWC is ridiculous when it comes to setting the the copy protection to "Copy Once" on everything but local broadcast channels. This effectively prohibits transfers to a NAS unless the show was on CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, PBS, and maybe a couple more.


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## skuzzzzy (Aug 26, 2013)

Im very glad to hear the harddrive is replaceable, that was a big concern of mine. Which makes no sense why someone would pick the pro, considering the price for adding your own harddrive.

I dont have $500 to pay for the lifetime service.

Is it true hbo, stars etc wont work on tivo for time warner?

I will get the roamino but if it means no hbo on it thats upsetting.

Does anyone know if the roamios run hot? and their size? im also looking into ordering a dune base 3d player but would need to stack the dune on the roamio or roamio on the doom to fit in my entertainment center, i know stacking is bad but should be ok if the roamio runs cool correct?


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## swerver (May 18, 2012)

You can watch and record hbo on the tivo. Virtually all cable co's do not allow transferring premium channels, but time warner is singled out as being particularly obnoxious in not allowing transfers on ANY cable channels. But you'll have that issue with your htpc too - it's a time warner problem, not tivo.


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## apw2607 (Nov 17, 2012)

skuzzzzy said:


> Im very glad to hear the harddrive is replaceable, that was a big concern of mine. Which makes no sense why someone would pick the pro, considering the price for adding your own harddrive.
> 
> I dont have $500 to pay for the lifetime service.
> 
> ...


The base Roamio certainly doesn't run cool. Mine gets so hot the tv coaxial cable attached to the thing even gets hot !!

I'm thinking about switching it for a plus which has a more traditional external fan.


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