# Is the TiVo Premiere a Series 4, or a new Series 3?



## gastrof (Oct 31, 2003)

Gotta keep the terminology running, after all.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

gastrof said:


> Gotta keep the terminology running, after all.


I had the same question about the Premiere, but I saw on one of the TiVo spec. sheets the word Series 4 was used, so I am guessing that when you look at the platform under SI it will say Series 4. I think TiVo wants to get out on the model numbers and into names as the Series 3 was confusing as one model had no name (the original Series 3 ) than came the TiVo-HD and TiVo-HDXL both being of the Series 3 platform.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

They're calling it a Series 4. Personally I don't think it represents as big a change as Series 1 to Series 2 (PPC to MIPS), or Series 2 to Series 3 (SD to HD), but there it is.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

wmcbrine said:


> They're calling it a Series 4. Personally I don't think it represents as big a change as Series 1 to Series 2 (PPC to MIPS), or Series 2 to Series 3 (SD to HD), but there it is.


many S3 owners seem to think that FLASH and thus having an HD UI is significantly different since the S3 will never see that HD UI.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

ZeoTiVo said:


> Many S3 owners seem to think that FLASH and thus having an HD UI is significantly different, since the S3 will never see that HD UI.


While this is a perfectly valid point, I tend to agree with wmcbrine. In the grand scheme of things, the S3 to S4 transition seems much less radical than any of the previous hardware evolutions. Hopefully, TiVo will prove me wrong, as they continue to develop apps for the S4 platform and expand its capabilities in ways we cannot even foresee.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

gweempose said:


> While this is a perfectly valid point, I tend to agree with wmcbrine. In the grand scheme of things, the S3 to S4 transition seems much less radical than any of the previous hardware evolutions.


speaking strictly of hardware that is completely valid as well. Better chips and Flash is really it. 
Now will SDV dongle work better with it or will they come out with some other funky USB adapter option - I guess that is possible but all in all TiVo learned that more expensive hardware just does not fare well. Does no one now recall how fast the original S3 price from TiVo went from 800 to 500$???
TiVo makes money on providing services and so they came up with a cheaper box with some more oomph and way for more developers to write apps faster for TiVo. The proof will be in the features added via software and how well the Premier does as a RCN branded DVR.

ETA - like gweempose said, I was really just agreeing with that post but saying it my own way I guess.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

The evolution of Tivo with regards to the series designations has mostly to do with the design of the basic platform. There was a drastic redesign of the original Tivo between the series 1 and series 2 (e.g., completely different processor). There were actually several versions of the series 2, but apparently not enough to warrant a completely new series designation (i.e., the DSR7000 DirecTivo vs. the DSR704, etc.). The only variant was the series 2.5 DirecTivo.

The series 3 Tivo was the first that could be used with digital cable and FIOS, which certainly earned it the right to a new series designation. The Tivo Premiere is similar to the series 3 in that regard but it has also been redesigned internally so it's basically a new Tivo from the ground up, even though many of the predecessor capabilities remain unchanged.


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## Ely105 (Sep 7, 2008)

wmcbrine said:


> They're calling it a Series 4. Personally I don't think it represents as big a change as Series 1 to Series 2 (PPC to MIPS), or Series 2 to Series 3 (SD to HD), but there it is.


I would tend to agree from a feature perspective that it doesn't seem that rich enough to warrant a new series #. But the UI is an apparent rewrite (flash) and if i remember correctly it's a 1080p UI. Also the CPU is dual core instead of single, giving it more HP, presumably.

One question I have would be whether the ethernet port can transfer at a faster rate. The one thing i liked about Series3 vs. THD was the ethernet speed capability. With all the HD content I have the THD just doesn't stream it all that well because most content is at or near the (i think 8mb) max rate of the THD.

-m


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

Ely105 said:


> One question I have would be whether the ethernet port can transfer at a faster rate. The one thing i liked about Series3 vs. THD was the ethernet speed capability. With all the HD content I have the THD just doesn't stream it all that well because most content is at or near the (i think 8mb) max rate of the THD.


I don't think you'll be disappointed.


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## NotVeryWitty (Oct 3, 2003)

bkdtv said:


> I don't think you'll be disappointed.


Now you're just teasing us. 

[I wish *I* was a beta tester. ]


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

NotVeryWitty said:


> Now you're just teasing us.
> 
> [I wish *I* was a beta tester. ]


I'm not a beta tester for the Premiere. I am familiar with the capabilities of the hardware publicly known to be in the box; based on that alone, there is reason for optimism.


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## NotVeryWitty (Oct 3, 2003)

bkdtv said:


> I'm not a beta tester for the Premiere. I am familiar with the capabilities of the hardware publicly known to be in the box; based on that alone, there is reason for optimism.


Okay, sorry for the false accusation. [I still wish I was a beta tester though.]


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