# Migrating to Amazon Recast from TiVo



## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

*Introduction*

With no overriding logic I decided to give Amazon Recast a tryout and see if I prefer it over TiVo. In my case a Roamio TE4 with blocked guide ads ($199 with Lifetime) and a Amazon Recast ($179 / Fire TV 4K free). This post will be more of a log versus a review with miscellaneous updates. To a large degree the swap process is routed in the bad taste from ads and change for the sake of change... something different. For the time being I'll be running both in parallel with day to day usage almost exclusively the Recast. After a month or so I'll either sell the TiVo or return the Recast.

*Installation*

I believe you need the Fire TV app (and Amazon account) to install the Recast and I happen to have a Fire tablet collecting dust. More than likely if I didn't have the tablet and Fire TV 4K sitting around I wouldn't have bother with the Recast as realistically I don't expect it to outperform TiVo in any measurably way based on my usage.

I split my OTA antenna signal and was happy to see TiVo was still receiving the channels I record. The Recast couldn't be simpler to hookup. OTA signal, network cable (in my case) and power. My tablet is rather under-powered however installation was very quick with only scanning for OTA channels taking a few minutes. Once installed you can view live TV and recordings via the tablet but not much more as far as I know such as scheduling recordings or re-configuring the Recast.

At this point I woke up the Fire TV 4K and it already had the DVR option on the menu bar. The DVR interface plays out very similar to the others so how you feel about the interface will carry over. You get On Now, My Recordings and DVR Manager columns. The first thing I did was go into DVR Manager/DVR Settings/Channel Management and hide all of the channels I don't view (26) and setup Favorites (7) that I do view. Signal strength I was good to go. Finally I went to DVR Manager/DVR Settings/Live TV Sources/Fire TV Recast/Default Recordings Options where you set Start/End buffers and Recording Preference (new episodes in my case). Under DVR Manager is also Channel Guide, Scheduled Recordings and Recording Priority.

You can play around and find a few other options however that's about it. You're ready to watch TV.

*I only have a few hours of usage and I'll update the below as I become more acquainted with its in and outs... my likes and dislikes.*

*Daily Usage*


As mentioned above you can hide channels so they don't appear in the guide
Forwarding through the guide (especially one day at a time) it will buffer

Skip forward (30 seconds) and backwards (10 seconds) is fairly smooth (not particularly fast) and it will buffer multiple presses of the remote (which is very nice)
For scheduling I have only clicked on the show in the guide and selected Record Series - no Alexa or whatnot at this point in time - it won't allow you to view guide data prior to "now"
Even though the interface is rather primitive and feature lacking streaming on a "cheap" Fire tablet works great. Effortlessly streams and connecting my Bluetooth headphones was painless.

*Video/Audio*


Noticed (or should I say my wife) the occasional lip sync issue - skip backwards might get you in sync
Rare buffering in the image - might be my weak WiFi - most often a recording will ramp up the quality as it begins

Flipping back and forth between the Recast and TiVo I think...
- Recast has a higher contrast ratio (gives the image a little more pop)
- 720p channels look more detailed on the Recast - I suspect a little more image processing, the above mentioned contrast and possibly some (mild) edge enhancement
- 1080i channels look very similar
On rare occasions I would "spot" a possible encoding issue - overall the image never felt as "solid" as TiVo
Recast upscales the image to 4K and I use naive on TiVo so the TV is doing the upscaling (LG OLED set) so it's hard to draw any actual conclusions here

*General Notes*


Recast can only stream (play) to two devices concurrently

Recast won't clip recordings (cut-off buffer before/after) to record either the same or different channel

One advantage is I can use my Bluetooth headphones with OTA since the Fire TV 4K supports such
There is no undelete recordings
If you reset Fire TV 4K back to factory settings you reset a few of the Recast configurations such as favorite/hidden channels however your scheduled recordings are retained

*Initial Reaction*

Going in I was worried about image quality and lack of AutoSkip. At this point I think image quality won't play a part in the decision. Skip forward is smoother than I guessed so it helps a little bit against AutoSkip. Also a big chunk of my viewing is done via chase play where AutoSkip doesn't come into play anyway.

Until I spend some serious time with the Recast I don't think it's fair to address the two interfaces. However I can say most of the time the Recast takes a second (or three) to buffer live TV or a recording

*Conclusion*

After two weeks the Recast has been returned. I'll miss its concept but not its execution. Going in I was always leaning towards the Recast... I wanted something new. However in virtually every category I was giving up more than I was getting in return and finally I ran across the straw that broke the Recast's back. I could have perhaps worked past the issue but there were simply too many others to the point it wasn't as effortless and as smooth as TiVo's experience.

The last straw was reception strength. My PBS station turned iffy. Fine most of the time with a solid "Good" rating however on occasion it would breakup or even lose signal completely. For years it's never been an issue with TiVo.

I was up for re-aiming the antenna which was a microcosm of the differences between the two. The Recast offers a few categories such as Poor and Good where TiVo provides a numeric readout which allows you to actually fine tune the signal. After numerous attempts (using TiVo) I couldn't improve the attic antenna's signal strength and I'm not willing to try an amp - I did try removing the splitter. If that was the only issue I would have sadly there are many more I couldn't overlook or change.

For my usage outside of support for (Bluetooth) headphones and an integrated interface the entire experience wasn't as "slick" and generally lacking just enough features and or performance it wasn't as enjoyable. For lack of a better description it always felt you were attempting to use a streamer as a DVR. If they release new hardware and or software I'd gladly give it another attempt.

All of the above is my experience and may have little or no value for someone else's use case.


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## jtdon99 (Oct 26, 2014)

I got a 4 tuner Recast the day they went down to $179 so I have a few more days of use than you. I am getting use to using it and have mostly the same experience you do, expect I haven't had any buffering issues and I get much better channel reception and channel count than my Bolt. Like you I feel the interface has a long way to go and I miss auto skip. I use a Fire TV Stick and since it has Alexa you can give commands like "skip 3 minutes" and speed up the skip process. I dumped Spectrum a few months ago & I use OTA, Prime, Philo & Hulu. The DVR guide intergrates the Philo guide with the OTA channels, which I like. Looking forward to following your experiences.


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## Donbadabon (Mar 5, 2002)

Can you compare the signal strength on the same channel on both devices? Are there any signal strength differences between the Recast and the TiVo?


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## Donbadabon (Mar 5, 2002)

Can you compare the signal strength on the same channel on both devices? Are there any signal strength differences between the Recast and the TiVo?


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

Donbadabon said:


> Can you compare the signal strength on the same channel on both devices? Are there any signal strength differences between the Recast and the TiVo?


All the channels on my Recast just say "Good" for signal strength. Signals are very strong in my area so I don't know if this is the highest indicator or not. As far as I can tell there is no numerical signal strength on the Recast unless it is in some hidden menu.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the Recast. The Fire TV mobile app could use some improvement though. Streaming works great, which is obviously most important. But there is no guide, you can't schedule future recordings, and there is no way to customize the channels that show up. So you have to scroll through an entire list to find the channel you want to watch.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

Adam C. said:


> Signals are very strong in my area so I don't know if this is the highest indicator or not. As far as I can tell there is no numerical signal strength on the Recast unless it is in some hidden menu.


Same here. I have had only one semi-iffy channel with the TiVo and since my last tweak in the attic it has been fine.



> The Fire TV mobile app could use some improvement though.


Yeah - the app feels half-baked Alpha at best... nowhere near Beta.

I'm more or less lost regarding audio. My receiver does DD+ fine and at times I have seen the Fire TV 4K use it - via the receiver's info screen. However most of the time when I check the receiver states Stereo input regardless of the setting I use.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

From my testing scheduling four recordings with a one minute Stop Recording buffer and then attempting to schedule a recording (directly afterwards) on one of the channels already being recorded or one that isn't Recast insists on cancelling one of the prior recordings. I did this all live via the guide so I don't know if it would be handled any differently via Scheduled Recordings but I'm guessing not.

Bottom line it won't clip recordings. I have set up my recordings without any overages and already lost a bit of one series (Survivor).


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## TeamPace (Oct 23, 2013)

I’ve had TiVo for over 10 yr, always OTA. Bought a Recast when they first came out and have both systems set up. I still find the TiVo my main DVR for personal use but the Fire TV recast is pretty decent. As a hobby I help friends cut the cord. I’ve now switched from recommending TiVo OTA to the Fire TV/Recast system for cord cutting. It’s so much simpler (and cheaper) to set up Recast, that people Are much more open to the cost and ease of set up. It’s also nice that they can have their local channels and streaming apps all in one interface and control with just one remote. Recast still needs some refinement and features such as auto skip for commercials but I’m hopeful those things will be added. The Fire TV app needs improved such as a guide and ability to set up recordings but the out of home streaming is pretty reliable. Much better than TiVo (I have a stream and it just doesn’t work well). If they continue to improve Recast it will be the system to beat. As to picture quality Recast only streams in 720P but the PQ looks about the same to me. Another limitation of the Recast is it only allows two streams at once. So for larger households with many TVs and family members that could be a problem.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

TeamPace said:


> I still find the TiVo my main DVR for personal use but the Fire TV recast is pretty decent.


As a pure DVR I think TiVo has a fairly decent lead. Its user experience is simply slicker and offers more features. Image wise outside of the rare breakup in fast motion portions of the image I often favor the Recast. I find myself migrating to online content more and more and since with the Recast the OTA experience generally is the same as online what it lacks (compared to TiVo) doesn't bother me much.

If I was new to OTA I'd buy the Recast based on the price and online integration. Having TiVo ($199 Lifetime) I can't really justify switching at least logically... however I am leaning that way largely for just something different.


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## jtdon99 (Oct 26, 2014)

One thing that has not been mentioned in this topic is the heat & noise issues with the Bolt. I believe the fan in a Bolt is 50mm and noisy. The fan in a Recast is 80mm (2 1/2 x larger in area) and runs at 17 dB. The Recast to barely warm to the touch. While the Tivo has a much superior interface I decided not to reward Tivo for making a lower quality product and charging more for it all the while taking away features that customers want. I too miss autoskip but I do not miss the fees Tivo charges or their failure to listen to their customers. Add to that I no longer need the slow mini's on my other tvs and the much bigger selection of streaming options that run much faster.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

jtdon99 said:


> One thing that has not been mentioned in this topic is the heat & noise issues with the Bolt. I believe the fan in a Bolt is 50mm and noisy. The fan in a Recast is 80mm (2 1/2 x larger in area) and runs at 17 dB. The Recast to barely warm to the touch.


I have only used up to Roamio TiVos and their fan noise have varied quite a lot. I believe they have had different vendors. For the most part the hard drive has been the determining factor as to how loud they are. In my case the Recast is installed in one of the unfinished areas and as such noise isn't an issue.



> While the Tivo has a much superior interface I decided not to reward Tivo for making a lower quality product and charging more for it all the while taking away features that customers want.


For me they appear pretty equal hardware wise. And while the Recasst might be a better bargain I don't feel the TiVo is overly priced.



> I too miss autoskip but I do not miss the fees Tivo charges or their failure to listen to their customers.


I have always purchased Lifetime and when replacing TiVo units sold them off for little out of the pocket cost or even a small profit (after upgrading the drive). To me you have to judge the item for what it is/does and what's best for you. And from what I have been reading Amazon hasn't exactly been listening to their users.


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## Pokemon_Dad (Jan 19, 2008)

jtdon99 said:


> One thing that has not been mentioned in this topic is the heat & noise issues with the Bolt. I believe the fan in a Bolt is 50mm and noisy. The fan in a Recast is 80mm (2 1/2 x larger in area) and runs at 17 dB. The Recast to barely warm to the touch. While the Tivo has a much superior interface I decided not to reward Tivo for making a lower quality product and charging more for it all the while taking away features that customers want. I too miss autoskip but I do not miss the fees Tivo charges or their failure to listen to their customers. Add to that I no longer need the slow mini's on my other tvs and the much bigger selection of streaming options that run much faster.


My Bolt fan developed a clicking noise very quickly, so I replaced it with a stock model fan. I still found that too noisy even when working properly, so I replaced it with a Noiseblocker BlackSilentFan XS-2. You're right, 50 mm is simply small and noisy, no way around it. The case design makes it all worse. Previous TiVo models were quiet enough for bedrooms, but the Bolt had to be banished to the server closet, and at this point I've retired it from service.

The Recast may be in need of some software updates, but at least it's a good hardware design. Having said that, it's too limited for our needs so I've been running Channels DVR on an NAS serving Fire TV apps, in anticipation of dropping TiVo and cable when our Roamio Pro goes kaput here.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Pokemon_Dad said:


> My Bolt fan developed a clicking noise very quickly, so I replaced it with a stock model fan. I still found that too noisy even when working properly, so I replaced it with a Noiseblocker BlackSilentFan XS-2. You're right, 50 mm is simply small and noisy, no way around it. The case design makes it all worse. Previous TiVo models were quiet enough for bedrooms, but the Bolt had to be banished to the server closet, and at this point I've retired it from service.
> 
> The Recast may be in need of some software updates, but at least it's a good hardware design. Having said that, it's too limited for our needs so I've been running Channels DVR on an NAS serving Fire TV apps, in anticipation of dropping TiVo and cable when our Roamio Pro goes kaput here.


I guess I'm a fortunate one: my Bolt box is at around the same noise level as my Roamio box (maybe a trifle quieter?), meaning low, and I don't hear it in a non-large bedroom. (Am now at 2-1/2 years.)


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

I have a Roamio OTA and the only time I can hear any fan noise is if I do a hard reset by unplugging it. Once it is fully booted I don't hear any noticeable noise.


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## Pokemon_Dad (Jan 19, 2008)

Mikeguy said:


> I guess I'm a fortunate one: my Bolt box is at around the same noise level as my Roamio box (maybe a trifle quieter?), meaning low, and I don't hear it in a non-large bedroom. (Am now at 2-1/2 years.)


I'm happy for you. You're not alone, but unfortunately for TiVo there are still far too many complaints about noise in the Bolt compared to previous models. Whether the cause is problems in only some production runs, or just a difference in a percentage of customers' ears, the Bolt has a bad rep.

This being a Recast thread, I've continued my Bolt story with an update here: How reliable are the Bolts?


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

With all the reports about bad guide data with TiVo so far I haven't been impressed with the Recast. Sunday night it listed Shark Tank with a description of last weeks' airing. Last week I thought they said it would return in January so I was pretty sure it was off. Sure enough something else aired and TiVo had it listed accurately.


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## TeamPace (Oct 23, 2013)

Charles R said:


> For me they appear pretty equal hardware wise. And while the Recasst might be a better bargain I don't feel the TiVo is overly priced


As far as only purchasing the primary unit I would agree that the price difference isn't a big factor. But when it comes to a whole house system the cost difference is substantial.

Two of the recent systems that I set up, one was five TVs and the other was seven. Those numbers are becoming quite common as TV prices are so low these days. Building a system like that for TiVo is very expensive. At least now with the WiFi adapter available you don't have to hardwire Ethernet or use Moca but With the cost of each Mini at $180 plus another $60 for the WiFi adapter that's $240 per TV vs $40 for a Firestick. And the Firestick can do so much more than the Mini that in most cases they would want some kind of streaming device on each TV regardless.

In explaining cord cutting options to people they're willing to consider the cost of a recast system but I quickly lose them if I start giving them figures for a whole house TiVo system. For the seven TV house TiVo costs would have been $1840 plus taxes bringing it to around two grand. The Recast/FireTv system at full retail would have been $569 plus tax. And with Black Friday pricing it was only $324 plus tax. Pretty significant in my book!


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

TeamPace said:


> As far as only purchasing the primary unit I would agree that the price difference isn't a big factor. But when it comes to a whole house system the cost difference is substantial.
> 
> Two of the recent systems that I set up, one was five TVs and the other was seven. Those numbers are becoming quite common as TV prices are so low these days. Building a system like that for TiVo is very expensive. At least now with the WiFi adapter available you don't have to hardwire Ethernet or use Moca but With the cost of each Mini at $180 plus another $60 for the WiFi adapter that's $240 per TV vs $40 for a Firestick. And the Firestick can do so much more than the Mini that in most cases they would want some kind of streaming device on each TV regardless.


This is spot on. Since setting up my Recast I can now stream to my extra TV's in my basement and kitchen. I don't use either of those TV's that much so I could not possibly justify spending $180 on each Mini for those TVs. I was able to get Fire Sticks on sale for $25 last week and now both TVs are watchable for 50 bucks total.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

TeamPace said:


> As far as only purchasing the primary unit I would agree that the price difference isn't a big factor. But when it comes to a whole house system the cost difference is substantial.


Personally, based on my usage (almost an entire week ) I would be rather hesitant to install Recast in so many locations. At one location I can (up to now) live with its minor issues. If I was to use it on a heavier basis I'm pretty sure frustration would set in (not that it hasn't to some degree already). Items such as lip-sync, buffering (beginning of streams/randomly) and image breakup - largely to encoding issues I'm guessing. Along with a somewhat clumsy interface leaves me wanting.

For the last week I have been using the Recast exclusively and on several occasions my wife (who simply views the shows) has stated she prefers TiVo. Such as when lip-sync is clearly an issue. One time she stated perhaps TiVo is worth more... how much would you save... I think she was about ready to make up the difference. 

I'm not even addressing features such as clipping recordings. That feature alone might have me returning the Recast and with a large installation it probably would really come into play. Oh and how about you can only view two streams among seven TVs!?


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

Charles R said:


> Items such as lip-sync, buffering (beginning of streams/randomly) and image breakup - largely to encoding issues I'm guessing. ?


I have not had any of those issues with my Recast. It sounds to me like you have network issues in your home rather than an issue with the Recast itself.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

Adam C. said:


> I have not had any of those issues with my Recast. It sounds to me like you have network issues in your home rather than an issue with the Recast itself.


Sounds like a good excuse... in reality not so much such as lip-sync being a network issue? Encoding issue where the entire image is "fine" outside of a small area where it is pixelated (clear encoding overload) not similar to image breakup and lack of bandwidth.

Last night I ran an extended test on Recast's network speed... WiFi never dropped below 90 Mbps to the Internet... locally it should be faster. And the Recast is Ethernet.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Realize that Recast will try to use it's own wifi if the connection isn't solid. This can cause the PQ to degrade. There is a procedure for disabling that, but you'll have to search for it. I don't remember the exact sequence.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

mdavej said:


> Realize that Recast will try to use it's own wifi if the connection isn't solid. This can cause the PQ to degrade.


Not if you disable it... also from the 711 page Throughput checks out.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Charles R said:


> Not if you disable it... also from the 711 page Throughput checks out.


That's what I'm saying. You have to disable it. Sounds like you already have.

How do you access 711 page?


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

mdavej said:


> That's what I'm saying. You have to disable it. Sounds like you already have.


To put the network "issue" to bed I have locally streamed (on the same device) more hours of 4K content than I have Recast without any issues.


> How do you access 711 page?


Hold Rewind+Left Arrow for three seconds than press Menu - Home to exit.


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

Charles R said:


> To put the network "issue" to bed I have locally streamed (on the same device) more hours of 4K content than I have Recast without any issues.
> 
> Hold Rewind+Left Arrow for three seconds than press Menu - Home to exit.


Do you have your Recast connected to the network via Ethernet? That's how mine is set up and I have never seen any of the issues you describe. If nothing else you may have a defective unit (especially with that picture breakup issue). It might be worth doing an exchange just to see what happens.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

Adam C. said:


> Do you have your Recast connected to the network via Ethernet?


Yes - as posted previously.


> That's how mine is set up and I have never seen any of the issues you describe.


Honestly I think it has to do with tolerance levels. As an example my wife is very sensitive to lip-sync... I won't notice and she'll point it out and at the point I can't help but see it. Same with minor encoding issues (only logical explanation) they don't jump at you however occasionally I'll notice such and my wife would never spot or remark about it.


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## NJChris (May 11, 2001)

I've had the recast since it came out. I also have a bolt that can do OTA, but it's tuner is horrible so I have it sitting in the closet. I like that PlutoTV integrates into the channel guide. 

It's done what it needs to do. It would be nice to have commercial skip (I read it's being beta tested now?), but you can also use the remote voice input to say skip ahead 3 minutes or skip 30 seconds at a time with the remote. 

I haven't noticed any lip sync issues and the only time the picture breaks up is if the signal reception isn't good enough.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

NJChris said:


> I also have a bolt that can do OTA, but it's tuner is horrible so I have it sitting in the closet.


As I posted earlier for me both (easily) pick up the channels I record - even with the signal split.


> I like that PlutoTV integrates into the channel guide.


Over the years have I tried PlutoTV on a couple of occasions and never made it past two minutes because of the content and its experience... I'll never get that bored.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

Well after two weeks I'd still pick TiVo as the better experience - it's no contest for my wife... TiVo all the way. If TiVo (versus Recast) was the new experience I'm certain I would be much more excited about swapping. At this point I feel like I'll be giving up more than I'll be gaining. However I'm still in the "mood" for change so I listed TiVo for sell (upgraded to a 1TB WD purple drive I had sitting around) and if it sells for a reasonable price it's gone. If not the Recast will go back in a month or so. I refuse to do an even swap and end up with a worse experience. 

Current thinking...

*Recast*
- Headphone support via Bluetooth
- One interface with Internet streaming
- Better image on some channels
- Worse image on some channels - especially buffering/low quality at the beginning of playback and the rare encoding issue

*TiVo*
- Slicker recording with clipping
- Better image stability - even with "great" wireless the Recast occasionally has an issue
- AutoSkip and overall better user interface - two examples: no guide buffering and easier to find guide data such as season/episode/air date.


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

I still use my Roamio as my primary means of watching TV, but I have started using the Recast more often to test it out. One thing I have noticed this week with the Recast is that there seems to be a subtle jerkiness or stutter to the video, most noticeable when there is motion. It doesn't even need to be fast motion, it can be as simple as someone turning their head or walking across a room. It seems that it may be the frame rate that is too low but I can't tell for sure. I have tried watching the same show with my Roamio and I don't notice the stutter, so it's definitely a Recast issue.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

Adam C. said:


> One thing I have noticed this week with the Recast is that there seems to be a subtle jerkiness or stutter to the video, most noticeable when there is motion.


I find the video to be a mixed bag... for native 720p channels I generally prefer Recast over TiVo. For 1080i channels it's usually a draw. I haven't "studied" the topic outside of several A/B swaps during the first few days.

Of course Recast is always encoding the video which I think can easily explain most differences. I typically find TiVo to be "softer" lacking a little detail and having a little less contrast. I haven't caught Recast applying (overly so) any edge enhancement so I don't find it overly sharp. At the same time the Recast pretty much never feels as "stable" for a variety of reasons.

Again most of the time I'll prefer Recast however during a good portion I won't... and I don't think those times are wireless related however I would like to try the Ethernet adapter just to check it out. I had issues streaming local native 4K videos until I switched to 5GHz... my Bluetooth headphones were stepping on the stream.


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## stuart628 (Jul 5, 2006)

so after 2 months of trying recast, there were some positives and there were negatives...and we decided to stick with tivo. I LOVED the integration in the firestick, but to me the video was hands down better on the tivo (using 4k tvs and a sony hw40es projector). The big reason we are going to stick with tivo is really two reasons. #1 commercial skip and watching a show in fast mode....also #2. The tuners on the recast are way tooo sensitive.....every show I recorded on the recast would pop up with signal quality issues and low signal pop ups but I was at 75+ on tivo (yes I switched cables just to make sure) anyways my current setup will now be a caavo control center with a firestick 4k for streaming apps (espn, disney plus , movies anywhere etc.) Directv box for live tv, tivo for OTA since I have a lifetime bolt...this works the best for the family and I, so I am going to be selling the 4 tuner 1 tb recast I have and sticking with tivo


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

stuart628 said:


> so after 2 months of trying recast, there were some positives and there were negatives...and we decided to stick with tivo.


Makes sense. If price is close I think it's hard to justify Recast over TiVo (in most cases). Regarding the tuners you could try removing the splitter and see if that helps. Also I think "low signal" can be misleading (at times) as where an iffy wireless connection will trigger the "false" message. I have seen it at times (before relocating the Fire TV 4K) and checking the station's signal strength it would be reported as "good" or some such.


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

I'll continue using my Roamio OTA on my primary TVs since I have a Lifetime subscription anyway and no pre-roll ads. So that's a no-brainer. I will keep the Recast and use that for mobile streaming as well as streaming to my secondary TV's that I don't use very often.


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## tommiet (Oct 28, 2005)

Adam C. said:


> I have not had any of those issues with my Recast. It sounds to me like you have network issues in your home rather than an issue with the Recast itself.


I also have not had this issue with my Recast.... Are you using a wireless connection? Also, you have some options for sync via your host device (Amazon Cube....etc.) for sound sync.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

tommiet said:


> Are you using a wireless connection?


I think we pretty well covered the wireless aspect earlier in the thread.


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## Puppy76 (Oct 7, 2004)

Does Amazon still inanely leave WiFi Direct pairing on 24/7 (or Bluetooth?)

I had a fire tv first gen years back that I liked fairly well, but got rid of it when amazon updated the software to leave it in pairing mode 24/7. Ridiculous and dangerous.

i’m so glad to see this thread. Even aside from the Wi-Fi direct issue, the Amazon solution sounds a little flaky. Lip-synch and an unstable image would be complete dealbreaker‘s for me. But I do love that there’s a second name brand company making a DVR now!

there’s really no future guide data? That sounds like a deal breaker to me too. I could make do with less than two weeks probably, but if I can’t even look forward to the next day or two, I don’t know how that would work.


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

Puppy76 said:


> there's really no future guide data? That sounds like a deal breaker to me too. I could make do with less than two weeks probably, but if I can't even look forward to the next day or two, I don't know how that would work.


I just checked and I have 10 days of guide data.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

I updated the first post with my *Conclusion* - I returned the Recast.. It's just my experience and I can easily see why it wouldn't be the same for others.


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

Charles R said:


> Yes - as posted previously.
> 
> Honestly I think it has to do with tolerance levels. As an example my wife is very sensitive to lip-sync... I won't notice and she'll point it out and at the point I can't help but see it. Same with minor encoding issues (only logical explanation) they don't jump at you however occasionally I'll notice such and my wife would never spot or remark about it.


I started noticing lip sync issues on my Firestick when watching Prime Video and the Youtube app. So the lip sync problem may not necessarily be directly related to the Recast. I found this video and it seems to have fixed the problem. Give it a try. Make sure you follow the steps at the end to clear all the caches and restart the stick.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

Adam C. said:


> I started noticing lip sync issues on my Firestick when watching Prime Video and the Youtube app. So the lip sync problem may not necessarily be directly related to the Recast.


I'm pretty sure it's native to the Fire TV (audio processing). Don't think the above will "fix" the issue. Rather like skip back it may get you in sync until the next time it happens. Somewhat related I wasn't a fan of the audio settings as much like the TV signal strength they are "dumbed" down to the point of being rather cryptic.


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## Pokemon_Dad (Jan 19, 2008)

For the record, we have *not* seen lip sync issues on our two Fire TV sets or our Fire TV Stick 4K. Just want to throw that out there for anyone thinking of buying another Fire TV product. Based on posts here I'm not sure I'd buy a Recast yet though.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

My Fire TV (TV not stick) has lipsynch issues a lot on several apps, including Prime, Recast, Pluto, etc. But it seems to happen randomly and works fine most of the time. I think it's more an OS level issue rather than a specific app.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

Pokemon_Dad said:


> Based on posts here I'm not sure I'd buy a Recast yet though.


I think there are far too many variables for anyone to recommend one or the other without really defining one's use case.

In my case it would have been virtually an even swap (money wise) although the PBS reception issue couldn't be overlooked. For someone new to OTA recording the Recast is probably a "lot" cheaper. And even knowing the various advantages if my TiVo "died" I'd probably go back to the Recast and try a signal booster. I'd be giving up more than I'm gaining however with the lesser price I could/would justify it.


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## Puppy76 (Oct 7, 2004)

This possible lip sync issue would be an absolute deal breaker for me, though also (if I haven't mentioned it) for years now fire tv hardware has been left permanently in Wifi pairing mode, making it entirely insecure.

I had a first gen firetv which I liked quite a lot (when individual apps weren't broken for months at a time) but then they switched to WiFi controllers and switched it so it was in pairing mode 24/7, presumably because they don't have physical buttons on the units to activate pairing mode for a few _seconds_ and amazon just doesn't care, and leaves it always pairing/insecure.


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

Puppy76 said:


> This possible lip sync issue would be an absolute deal breaker for me, though also (if I haven't mentioned it) for years now fire tv hardware has been left permanently in Wifi pairing mode, making it entirely insecure.
> .


I really don't think the lip sync issue is a Recast problem. I have had lip sync issues with my Firestick apps but NOT when watching the Recast. I think part of the problem is that the audio and video settings are, by default, set to "Auto" in the Firestick. I adjusted mine to force Stereo for audio and 1080p for video and that seems to have eliminated the lip sync problems.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

Puppy76 said:


> (if I haven't mentioned it)


Pretty sure you have...


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## Jim1348 (Jan 3, 2015)

I was looking at the Amazon Fire TV Recast earlier today at a Best Buy. I, too, am tempted to try it, but I haven't, yet. I am glad that I found this thread.


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

Puppy76 said:


> This possible lip sync issue would be an absolute deal breaker for me, though also (if I haven't mentioned it) for years now fire tv hardware has been left permanently in Wifi pairing mode, making it entirely insecure.
> 
> I had a first gen firetv which I liked quite a lot (when individual apps weren't broken for months at a time) but then they switched to WiFi controllers and switched it so it was in pairing mode 24/7, presumably because they don't have physical buttons on the units to activate pairing mode for a few _seconds_ and amazon just doesn't care, and leaves it always pairing/insecure.


FWIW: I've only had a single instance of lip sync issues with my FireTV, and that was on Prime Video content, not anything recorded on the Recast. I had lip sync issues more often with DirecTV, although never with Dish IIRC. Anything that transcodes is going to be susceptible to lip sync problems now and again.


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## wizwor (Dec 18, 2013)

Jim1348 said:


> I was looking at the Amazon Fire TV Recast earlier today at a Best Buy. I, too, am tempted to try it, but I haven't, yet. I am glad that I found this thread.


Keep your eyes open for deals on the Recast and 4kFTV. The two tuner model has been as low as $130 and the FTVs have routinely been $25. For $150, you really ought to scratch that itch. A friend who finally relented and bought a Recast told me last week he is getting rid of cable.


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## pldoolittle (May 2, 2002)

Great report, thank you!


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## Teavo (Feb 12, 2020)

I'm intrigued by this as a backup to my Roamio but it's $280 at Best Buy right now.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

Teavo said:


> I'm intrigued by this as a backup to my Roamio but it's $280 at Best Buy right now.


Best Buy often has the 4-tuner for $179... at least they have in the past. When Amazon places it on sale Best Buy matches the price for a week.


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## TeamPace (Oct 23, 2013)

I though I had seen this info before but does the Recast use Gracenote for it's guide data? I noticed that TiVo (data provided by Rovi) this week has episode numbers messed up for "This is Us" putting them out of order in the list. My Recast had them right.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

TeamPace said:


> I though I had seen this info before but does the Recast use Gracenote for it's guide data?


Not sure who they use however I wasn't (overly) impressed with the guide data during the few weeks I used the Recast. I found it lacking and checking a few listings TiVo had better data... overall I didn't do a lot of comparisons.


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## JLGomez2667 (Apr 16, 2018)

Just switched.. and will never look back after the new stunts tivo is playing.. my tivo bolt ota 2tb will lifetime and 2 minis r up for sale on ebay for 550 as a package.. bye bye tivo


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

I've given up on my Recast. It just isn't stable for me. It constantly skips recordings for no apparent reason. I just use YTTV.


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## JLGomez2667 (Apr 16, 2018)

U know that the basic recordings setting. Is keep 20 shows max.. is it possible it the 21st show.. but anyway ur more then welcome to bid on my tivo bolt with the 2 minis I'm taking offers..


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## rts (Mar 30, 2020)

jtdon99 said:


> I got a 4 tuner Recast the day they went down to $179 so I have a few more days of use than you. I am getting use to using it and have mostly the same experience you do, expect I haven't had any buffering issues and I get much better channel reception and channel count than my Bolt. Like you I feel the interface has a long way to go and I miss auto skip. I use a Fire TV Stick and since it has Alexa you can give commands like "skip 3 minutes" and speed up the skip process. I dumped Spectrum a few months ago & I use OTA, Prime, Philo & Hulu. The DVR guide intergrates the Philo guide with the OTA channels, which I like. Looking forward to following your experiences.


I got a new tiVO Bolt OTA and was looking to shift in the opposite direction - from recast to TiVo, mainly because of poor video quality of the recast. I agree with you - I get much better channel reception than my Bolt. The bolt is very sensitive to over and under loading of channels. A couple of channels get constant pixellation on TiVo while they run flawlessly on recast (same antenna). Also, turns out that TiVo Bolt's picture quality is not that much better than recast (it is, but slightly - a bit more so on 1080i channels obviously). My HDHomeRun blows both away in picture quality (though powered by a high end Nvidia card in my media center).


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

JLGomez2667 said:


> Just switched.. and will never look back after the new stunts tivo is playing.. my tivo bolt ota 2tb will lifetime and 2 minis r up for sale on ebay for 550 as a package.. bye bye tivo


I don't feel any stunts, as I've stayed on TiVo's TE3 UI.


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## lparsons21 (Feb 17, 2015)

Reprising this thread...

I’ve been using a Bolt for my OTA dvr but have been wanting a unified UI on one box to fit both the OTA and streaming wants. Tivo just doesn’t cut it for that these days.

So I got a Recast 1TB 4-tuner model and set it up with my FireTV Cube 2nd Gen. Works great! It isn’t a slick as the Tivo but it gets the job done well enough for my needs, especially these days when there is so little of live TV that is of interest to me.

The tuners are stronger than the Bolts by a huge margin. Not only did it get more channels than the Bolt could find, it plays them all with few video/audio glitches which was not the case with the Bolt. The PQ is better than the Bolt, especially on the plethora of SD channels that are the sub-channels around here. All in all, a better solution for me.


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

lparsons21 said:


> Reprising this thread...
> 
> I've been using a Bolt for my OTA dvr but have been wanting a unified UI on one box to fit both the OTA and streaming wants. Tivo just doesn't cut it for that these days.
> 
> ...


I'm still debating this. There are pro's and con's to both devices. I have been using a Roamio OTA for the past 4 years and it has worked great, and the auto commercial skip is a very nice feature. On the other hand the Recast gives me more flexibility on where I can watch (such as tablets and mobile devices that don't work with my Roamio). I was reading a Recast forum and saw some complaints about missed recordings which would be a big issue. I don't recall that my Roamio has ever missed a scheduled recording. What I may end up doing this fall season is setting up my series on both devices and seeing which works out better.


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## lparsons21 (Feb 17, 2015)

So far the new or returning stuff I’ve seen for the fall season is a big yawner, little of interest to me. Which means recording things will continue as it has for the last few months, and that is very few recordings at all.

But I did set up some recordings to test things out and it did what it was supposed to do. No missed recordings yet.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Adam C. said:


> I'm still debating this. There are pro's and con's to both devices. I have been using a Roamio OTA for the past 4 years and it has worked great, and the auto commercial skip is a very nice feature. On the other hand the Recast gives me more flexibility on where I can watch (such as tablets and mobile devices that don't work with my Roamio). I was reading a Recast forum and saw some complaints about missed recordings which would be a big issue. I don't recall that my Roamio has ever missed a scheduled recording. What I may end up doing this fall season is setting up my series on both devices and seeing which works out better.


There were many bumps in the road with Recast in the past couple of years. But it's been quite stable and reliable the past several months.

It's a given that the DVR part of Recast is inferior to Tivo in several respects (auto commercial skip, wish list, 1080i). The only decision to be made is whether you're willing to live with those trade-offs in order to have all your streaming and DVR content on the same device. I personally ran my Recast and Tivo in parallel for a few months before I ultimately sold my Tivos. No reason you couldn't do the same.

Having said that, my switchover was a few years ago. If I were in the market today, I'd hold off until ATSC 3.0 hardware came out. I wouldn't want to spend a lot on an old system that's going to be obsolete in 5 years.


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

mdavej said:


> There were many bumps in the road with Recast in the past couple of years. But it's been quite stable and reliable the past several months.
> 
> There were many bumps in the road with Recast in the past couple of years. But it's been quite stable and reliable the past several months.
> 
> ...


Glad to hear it's been stable for you. I recently set up a few new series in the past couple weeks and it seems to be working well. I bought the 4-tuner Recast for $179 during a Black Friday sale last year which is a steal. I'm not concerned about ATSC 3.0 at this point. In my market there have not been any stations even testing yet, and even once they do switch to 3.0 they still have to broadcast on the old standard for 5 years. So in reality you're looking at 5-10 years before the hardware becomes obsolete...an eternity when it comes to electronics.


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

I noticed some issues with the Recast program guide. There is no indicator to tell you if the show is new or a repeat, and the Air Date always lists the current date, rather than the original air date of the show. Has it always been like this or is this a new problem?


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## lparsons21 (Feb 17, 2015)

Adam C. said:


> I noticed some issues with the Recast program guide. There is no indicator to tell you if the show is new or a repeat, and the Air Date always lists the current date, rather than the original air date of the show. Has it always been like this or is this a new problem?


I noticed that too, but I'm too new to Recast to know the answer.


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## wizwor (Dec 18, 2013)

lparsons21 said:


> The tuners are stronger than the Bolts by a huge margin. Not only did it get more channels than the Bolt could find, it plays them all with few video/audio glitches which was not the case with the Bolt.


This surprises me. I have a Roamio/OTA and a Recast plugged into the same splitter. When I have issues with a channel, I can tune it in on the Recast to compare. I find the two devices in lockstep with regard to reception. This thread concludes that the Bolt and Roamio tuners have similar performance.


lparsons21 said:


> The PQ is better than the Bolt, especially on the plethora of SD channels that are the sub-channels around here.


Picture quality is subjective and affected by a lot of factors. You say that PQ is especially better on the subchannels. This might be related to how the television scales the provided signal. In my experience, the Recast picture is 'softer' than the Roamio -- especially on those subchannels. The softness is very noticeable on a 55" 4K television and barely noticeable on a 720p 32" television.


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## lparsons21 (Feb 17, 2015)

wizwor said:


> This surprises me. I have a Roamio/OTA and a Recast plugged into the same splitter. When I have issues with a channel, I can tune it in on the Recast to compare. I find the two devices in lockstep with regard to reception. This thread concludes that the Bolt and Roamio tuners have similar performance.
> 
> Picture quality is subjective and affected by a lot of factors. You say that PQ is especially better on the subchannels. This might be related to how the television scales the provided signal. In my experience, the Recast picture is 'softer' than the Roamio -- especially on those subchannels. The softness is very noticeable on a 55" 4K television and barely noticeable on a 720p 32" television.


I can only go by what I see. Tuner strength for me is stronger as I'm getting a couple channels the Bolt wouldn't. And the main CBS and NBC channels on the Bolt are often as not and either/or/neither situation. But on the Recast all channels are solid all the time, even the ones that indicate a weaker signal.

I only watch on a Sony 900E(?) and the picture is noticeably better on the SD channels as I said, not great but very watcheable. With the Bolt those same channels varied quite a bit in PQ for whatever reasons. For the HD channels video is nearly the same with maybe a slight edge for the Recast. I'm using a 2nd Gen FireTV Cube is that matters.


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## wizwor (Dec 18, 2013)

^^^ That's fine. Happy for you. Love my Recast as well. Just didn't want people to think it was some kind of magic box.


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## lparsons21 (Feb 17, 2015)

wizwor said:


> ^^^ That's fine. Happy for you. Love my Recast as well. Just didn't want people to think it was some kind of magic box.


Yeah it isn't a magic box, but it can be good choice. Tivo still does better overall for many things and their implementation of DVR functionality is hard to beat.

Recast is much simpler but it does well enough for me. And one big plus is that I can use the FireTV as the one box that works for all functions. In my setup switching devices gets twitchy as hell and very irritating.


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

lparsons21 said:


> I can only go by what I see. Tuner strength for me is stronger as I'm getting a couple channels the Bolt wouldn't. And the main CBS and NBC channels on the Bolt are often as not and either/or/neither situation. But on the Recast all channels are solid all the time, even the ones that indicate a weaker signal.


I have had a similar experience. There are 2 channels that will occasionally pixelate on my Roamio, usually during bad weather. But if I switch over to my Recast at the same time both of those channels come in fine (connected to the same antenna via splitter). Both of these are VHF channels, so to some extent I wonder if the Roamio has more trouble on VHF.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

Adam C. said:


> There are 2 channels that will occasionally pixelate on my Roamio, usually during bad weather.


I had the opposite experience. The Recast had issues with one or two channels that were fine with the Roamio.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

Adam C. said:


> Glad to hear it's been stable for you. I recently set up a few new series in the past couple weeks and it seems to be working well. I bought the 4-tuner Recast for $179 during a Black Friday sale last year which is a steal. I'm not concerned about ATSC 3.0 at this point. In my market there have not been any stations even testing yet, and even once they do switch to 3.0 they still have to broadcast on the old standard for 5 years. So in reality you're looking at 5-10 years before the hardware becomes obsolete...an eternity when it comes to electronics.


When they switch over to ATSC 3.0 the ATSC 1.0 channels will all be broadcast in 480i.


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## wizwor (Dec 18, 2013)

shwru980r said:


> When they switch over to ATSC 3.0 the ATSC 1.0 channels will all be broadcast in 480i.


I won't mind that at all. As things stand, I rarely watch Network Television. Mostly SD classics. There should be a lot of OTT options available. I expect Tablo, Amazon, (obviously) Silicondust, and even TiVo to integrate ATSC 3.0 tuners into their infrastructure by then. My TiVos will be getting close to ten years old anyway.


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

I found the 4-tuner Recast to do a superior job at pulling in signals than the Roamio OTA I used to own as well as the AirTV and Tablo 2-Tuner devices I tried, FWIW.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

wizwor said:


> I won't mind that at all. As things stand, I rarely watch Network Television. Mostly SD classics. There should be a lot of OTT options available. I expect Tablo, Amazon, (obviously) Silicondust, and even TiVo to integrate ATSC 3.0 tuners into their infrastructure by then. My TiVos will be getting close to ten years old anyway.


Same for me. I don't mind most shows in SD. Only thing that notice that needs HD is sports.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

ncted said:


> I found the 4-tuner Recast to do a superior job at pulling in signals than the Roamio OTA I used to own as well as the AirTV and Tablo 2-Tuner devices I tried, FWIW.


Is that because you can locate the Recast closer to the antenna?


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## wizwor (Dec 18, 2013)

shwru980r said:


> Same for me. I don't mind most shows in SD. Only thing that notice that needs HD is sports.


I watch a lot less sports these days.


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

shwru980r said:


> Is that because you can locate the Recast closer to the antenna?


No, they all were located in the same spot. Same distance from the antenna.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

Has there been any software updates of late? I see it's back on sale for $179 and just wondering if I should give it another try...


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## pfiagra (Oct 13, 2014)

Charles R said:


> Has there been any software updates of late? I see it's back on sale for $179 and just wondering if I should give it another try...


I don't own a recast, but Amazon announced a couple of weeks ago that a new totally redesigned Fire TV home screen experience, which includes support for user profiles, is coming later this year or early next.


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## Puppy76 (Oct 7, 2004)

Charles R said:


> Has there been any software updates of late? I see it's back on sale for $179 and just wondering if I should give it another try...


That price remains so tempting....

geez, if it works and is supported for years it's a steal. 
Of course supposedly ATSC 3.0 is already rolled out in a lot of places, though I've heard nothing about that having actually happened, and hasn't happened where I am.


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## Pokemon_Dad (Jan 19, 2008)

Puppy76 said:


> That price remains so tempting....
> 
> geez, if it works and is supported for years it's a steal.
> Of course supposedly ATSC 3.0 is already rolled out in a lot of places, though I've heard nothing about that having actually happened, and hasn't happened where I am.


ATSC 3.0 Station List || rabbitears.info

Nothing in my area yet either, but I got hold of an HD HomeRun Connect 4K anyway.


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## Charles R (Nov 9, 2000)

pfiagra said:


> I don't own a recast, but Amazon announced a couple of weeks ago that a new totally redesigned Fire TV home screen experience, which includes support for user profiles, is coming later this year or early next.


I read the same but didn't see anything about the Recast (features) being updated. Plus Googling around I haven't found anything for at least a year.


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## pfiagra (Oct 13, 2014)

Charles R said:


> I read the same but didn't see anything about the Recast (features) being updated. Plus Googling around I haven't found anything for at least a year.


No, but if Amazon is completely redesigning their Fire TV Home Screen, then how one navigates and accesses the Recast recordings will be affected. Whether or not it is an improvement is yet to be seen.


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## lparsons21 (Feb 17, 2015)

I’m an avowed geek so I decided to add yet another box to my mix. This thread is about the Recast vs Tivo. 

I’ve added an AirTV Anywhere 4-tuner OTA DVR to the mix. The biggest advantage of the AirTV devices is that they will work with almost every box out there because they use SlingTV apps and you don’t have to sub to Sling to use it.

Tuner strength seems to be as good as the Recast and it comes with a 1TB drive just as the 4-tuner Recast does. Video quality seems to be on par with Recast, as is audio quality.

No fee for guide data but the guide is only for 7-days vice the 10+ on the Recast.

Cost is $199 from airtv.com, but one of Sling’s offerings is get the AirTV Anywhere, indoor antenna and 3-month prepaid Sling Blue or Gold for $189 total.


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## MikeekiM (Jun 25, 2002)

Amazon Recast looks like it has a lot of potential... But for me, I am going to hang on tight to my lifetime TiVo Roamio OTA as long as possible and hope that Amazon uses that runway to come up with something truly world class...

And then when I need to replace my TiVo Roamio, I'll swoop on in!


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## tommiet (Oct 28, 2005)

I'm slowly moving to recording all my OTA via my Recast. When my Bolt hits the dust... That will push my to just using my Recast. AND.. the Bolt will die. Just a mater of time.


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## wizwor (Dec 18, 2013)

MikeekiM said:


> Amazon Recast looks like it has a lot of potential... But for me, I am going to hang on tight to my lifetime TiVo Roamio OTA as long as possible and hope that Amazon uses that runway to come up with something truly world class...
> 
> And then when I need to replace my TiVo Roamio, I'll swoop on in!


I agree with your strategy and expect TiVo to be around in some form for a long time, but there's no runway.


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## Saturn_V (Jun 2, 2007)

wizwor said:


> I agree with your strategy and expect TiVo to be around in some form for a long time, but there's no runway.


I don't think Recast isn't one of Amazon's key products. When it launched two years ago, it did with little fanfare- so I don't think there's a runway either. It exists only to keep users in the FireTV ecosystem, and there's no way to directly derive income from a Recast. They have no vested interest to improve on it, it'll be several years before they sunset ATSC1 channels.

Still happy with it after two years. Use it a lot more than I anticipated. Only slight complaint is streaming to phone/tablet can be hit-and-miss at times. But it's been rock solid to the Firesticks. And it's better than the HD HomeRun Extend I already had.


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

I stopped using my Roamio OTA this past month and migrated everything to Recast. I just picked up a Fire TV Cube for 79.99 during Prime Day and it works amazingly well with the Recast. I love having everything in one ecosystem and being able to watch recordings on my phone/tablet/Chromebook that I could not do with the Roamio.


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## Adam C. (Jul 24, 2017)

I'm trying to figure out a recording issue with the Recast. I have Dateline NBC set to record all episodes. There is an episode airing tonight and another airing tomorrow night which are both listed in the guide, but neither of these episodes is being selected to record. Is anyone else noticing this?


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## tommiet (Oct 28, 2005)

Maybe a recording conflict? Anything else being recorded at the same time?


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

tommiet said:


> I'm slowly moving to recording all my OTA via my Recast. When my Bolt hits the dust... That will push my to just using my Recast. AND.. the Bolt will die. Just a mater of time.


I guess it also depends on how we define "die". With my Bolt, if it's just a bad HDD I Can always put a relatively cheap HDD in easily enough. "Die" for me is when Comcast no longer supports cable cards. That is when I will have to make a decision.


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

Adam C. said:


> I'm trying to figure out a recording issue with the Recast. I have Dateline NBC set to record all episodes. There is an episode airing tonight and another airing tomorrow night which are both listed in the guide, but neither of these episodes is being selected to record. Is anyone else noticing this?


I had the same problems with Dateline. Also, the repack ruined my reception. I eventually gave up and subbed to YouTube TV

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## tommiet (Oct 28, 2005)

jlb said:


> I guess it also depends on how we define "die". With my Bolt, if it's just a bad HDD I Can always put a relatively cheap HDD in easily enough. "Die" for me is when Comcast no longer supports cable cards. That is when I will have to make a decision.


I just don't know for sure... But with Spectrum offering a cloud DVR for $5.00 a month when using their streaming package ($15.00-$49.00) Not sure if I would want to keep my Tivo when renewal time comes around. Spectrum's DVR would work on any of my smart TV's and no more hardware to buy or support. With my Recast as backup, I think my TiVo hardware can go to Ebay or Goodwill in 2021. I completely agree that a cloud DVR would not be as nice as a TiVo. But I'm sure I can get my $5.00 worth out of it. AND, I get a guide with NO COMMERCIALS! Spectrum's DVR allows a 30 second FF. So I can skip commercials.

TiVo... with very little DVR hardware to sell anymore, its going away as we know it today. The poor customer service support is enough to run off many customers. If I had a lifetime device, I would ride it to the end, but with yearly account, no reason to continue to fight it. It's just time to call it quits and move on. Any hardware issue, would push me out today.

TiVo's money is lawsuits and selling access to their software products. Not DVR's.

Bottom line... IT'S JUST TV.


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

I totally agree. My TiVo bolt is lifetime and I will ride that as long as I can. At least there are options for when that time comes.


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