# Thinking of Roamio - which one



## serial_port_me05 (Nov 15, 2005)

Long time tivo owner.

I got suckered into the Premiere - that thing never worked great, but I am still using it. 

I am thinking of moving to Roamio, but don't want to pay for plus or pro. I suppose I am not any worse off than premiere and I can always get Tivostream later?

Does Roamio work THAT MUCH better than Premiere? Thoughts?

THANKS. Talk me into it!


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## ltxi (Feb 14, 2010)

Yes, it does. Light years if you're using the HD menus. Imo get the Plus....better/proven physical platform with better features. Unless you need OTA, then you be stuck with the Basic. If you want a larger HD, buy a WD 30eurs AV drive and drop it in. It's the only difference between the Plus and the Pro....cheaper and you get to keep the blank 1TB drive as a spare or for whatever.


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## videojanitor (Dec 21, 2001)

I'll talk you into it. I was in the same boat. Had the Premiere, but stayed on the SD menus because it was painfully slow otherwise. Saw the Roamio in person and had to have it -- the difference is truly night and day. The Roamio keeps up with every button I press -- navigating menus is like walking in shoes coated with butter. I really can't believe how much better it is. 

I bought the base model as I need OTA, so this was my only choice. It's pretty cool to be able to have a 30-minute buffer running on FOUR channels at once!

In short, buy it, you won't regret it. My Premiere is sitting on eBay right now ....


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Just be advised: You won't be able to do OTA and Cable simultaneously on any Roamio model.


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## chrispitude (Apr 23, 2005)

videojanitor said:


> I'll talk you into it. I was in the same boat. Had the Premiere, but stayed on the SD menus because it was painfully slow otherwise. Saw the Roamio in person and had to have it -- the difference is truly night and day. The Roamio keeps up with every button I press -- navigating menus is like walking in shoes coated with butter. I really can't believe how much better it is.


Totally this. The Premiere was a t*rd and everyone knows it. I am amazed the Roamio came from the same engineering team.


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## SugarBowl (Jan 5, 2007)

The roamio basic is perfectly fine, and a good deal at $200 cheaper than the plus. If you're using it for cable, the only thing to consider is how many Tivo mini's you might want to support in the future for watching live TV.


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## SugarBowl (Jan 5, 2007)

Best Buy is offering $50 gift cards and free shipping on all roamios.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/tivo-ro...04&skuId=9999215000050004&st=roamio&lp=4&cp=1


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## celtic pride (Nov 8, 2005)

I noticed best buy shows the regular price as $249.99 thats wrong isnt it $199.99 regular price for the basic roamio?


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## jhirsche (Mar 2, 2009)

Noticed this in the Overview area of the online item ad:
Special package savings of $50 (discounted from individual-item total: reg. price $199.99 DVR + $50 gift card = $249.99 - $50 gift card instant savings = $199.99 final price)


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## leiff (Aug 24, 2005)

Other things basic lacks:
No component video out.
No moca/ethernet bridge networking
No giga ethernet speed Ethernet port. This makes your transfer of shows about half speed of pro :
90 MBps vs 180 MBps i think. Note this is still fast enough for effecive streaming on base roamio from pc to TiVo. Amazon has basic for $150. If you can pricematch bestbiy to amazon plus get $50 gift card thats only $100 for basic roamio


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## bayern_fan (Aug 12, 2013)

As someone who started out with a base Roamio, then upgraded to a Roamio Plus, I can say that I absolutely recommend the Plus model unless OTA is needed. 

Not having to deal with an external stream, having twice the storage capacity, MoCA for my TiVo Mini, and gigabit ethernet for quicker transfers are all excellent features.

Also, as Leiff mentioned, having component video means that it plays nicely with HD output to a Slingbox 350/500.


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## leiff (Aug 24, 2005)

Well as it happened i dont miss any of the plus features that much, so for me the base roamio was the easy best choice for me. And now at under $150 too. I bought mine at abt for $180 with coupon, i had bought a mini at the same time for $260 total, then price adjusted to amazon- abt gave me $50 back making my base roamio $130 free shipping no tax not inluding cashback Shopdiscover


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## leiff (Aug 24, 2005)

one more bummer thing about the basic Romeo which probably wont bother many people but there's no hard button on the main unit to switch resolution. this does bother me because I prefer 1080 P fixed but one of my TVs can't see 1080p and i mirror to 3 different tv's from my base roamio so first I have to turn on another TV to switch resolution before I can use that TV. I believe plus/pro have a resolution button.

One more thing base raoamio lacks is remotefinder. Im not sure how this really works
More things i like about basic:
Smaller form factor. Fits in my av rack better.
External power supply means easy swap out.


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## ltxi (Feb 14, 2010)

I still think an extra $200 spread over the generational, nominally four year, life of the product for a more capable system is trivial and worth it. Form factor size is an interesting note. For me, the standard 14 or so inch rack size works much better for component stacking.


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## leiff (Aug 24, 2005)

if you're like me- the series 3 & 4 Tivo fan noise bothered you and your wanting the more quiet Romeo. I bought the basic assuming it would be more quiet but i havent compared it to to plus/ pro. It may be the noiser one because my basic roamio fan noise bothers me.


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## djjuice (Mar 29, 2008)

get the plus and upgrade the HD. don't pay extra for the pro
built in wireless was more than enough to convince me. along with the streaming.

i was able to get a 3TB drive for $60 since nobody bid on the drive...


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## leiff (Aug 24, 2005)

basic roamio also has wifi.


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## serial_port_me05 (Nov 15, 2005)

Thanks for all of the input. I am looking at getting a plus. I guess if I ever want to stream, or mini or whatever I may as well just get it over with now.

Also, although I have Ethernet at the tivo, I think the Moca will be cleaner.

Thanks.


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## serial_port_me05 (Nov 15, 2005)

Just ordered a plus. Also got a mini for $50 as an offer for buying Roamio.

THANKS.


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## curiousgeorge (Nov 28, 2002)

Is the hardware in the basic Roamio inferior to the Roamio plus? We got the plus first, then I got two basics because we only needed one box with external streaming. The Roamio basic units seem to be more sluggish on menus than the Plus. Is the CPU/memory/bus speed, etc the same in the basic? If it's not, I might be taking these back and getting two more plus.


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## danterner (Mar 4, 2005)

I have a 2-tuner premiere, and a TivoHD, and I'm considering replacing one of them with a Roamio Plus. I'm particularly interested in the ability to stream my shows while out of my home. The Tivo Stream was a non-starter for me because (as I understand it) it required that it be connected to my router via a wired connection: the Stream does not work wirelessly. That was a problem for me, because my computer and router are nowhere near my tivos: I've been using wireless adapters.

If I get a Roamio, can I set it up wirelessly and have the out-of-home streaming functionality, even though it's connected to my network wirelessly? I know from poking around on the tivo site that wireless capability is baked into the Plus and Pro and that I won't need a network adapter, but does that mean that I'll also be able to stream wirelessly, too?


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## curiousgeorge (Nov 28, 2002)

dlfl said:


> Just be advised: You won't be able to do OTA and Cable simultaneously on any Roamio model.


This was an unwelcome surprise. The pre-purchase propaganda is pretty misleading on this. It should say Antenna OR cable, not list both, implying you can have both like the Premiere.


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## kcossabo (Dec 8, 2007)

Plus or Pro?

I read Plus and upgrade the HD, I am in, is there a link as I thought the HD had the OS and it was complicated (Thinking back to wee knees days)

Also on the product page;
https://www.tivo.com/shop/roamio

under Compatibility & Specs, there is an odd line. Line header is "Works with" and the plus is Built in, but the Pro is N/A?

I assume this is a format issue and the N/A should be under the Cable Box?


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## djjuice (Mar 29, 2008)

kcossabo said:


> Plus or Pro?
> 
> I read Plus and upgrade the HD, I am in, is there a link as I thought the HD had the OS and it was complicated (Thinking back to wee knees days)
> 
> ...


Previously there was some work to be done, but with the roamio's its plug and play. Just drop in the HD and the roamio will do the rest...
Go for the 3TB WD AV-GP drive WD30EURX


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## dmk1974 (Mar 7, 2002)

djjuice said:


> Previously there was some work to be done, but with the roamio's its plug and play. Just drop in the HD and the roamio will do the rest...
> Go for the 3TB WD AV-GP drive WD30EURX


Seriously? You don't need to screw around with a boot disk and expansion? If so, sweet!

Also, why not the 3TB WD Red Drive? I have a 2 TB Red in my Premiere 4 and it's fast, quiet, and stable (8 months and counting).
http://www.amazon.com/WD-Red-NAS-Hard-Drive/dp/B008JJLW4M


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## tomm1079 (May 10, 2005)

dmk1974 said:


> Seriously? You don't need to screw around with a boot disk and expansion? If so, sweet!
> 
> Also, why not the 3TB WD Red Drive? I have a 2 TB Red in my Premiere 4 and it's fast, quiet, and stable (8 months and counting).
> http://www.amazon.com/WD-Red-NAS-Hard-Drive/dp/B008JJLW4M


i just put in a 3 tb red in my plus today. So far so good


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

curiousgeorge said:


> This was an unwelcome surprise. The pre-purchase propaganda is pretty misleading on this. It should say Antenna OR cable, not list both, implying you can have both like the Premiere.


And the plus and pro models can't even be configured to do OTA.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

danterner said:


> The Tivo Stream was a non-starter for me because (as I understand it) it required that it be connected to my router via a wired connection: the Stream does not work wirelessly. That was a problem for me, because my computer and router are nowhere near my tivos: I've been using wireless adapters.


The stand-alone stream needs to be hardwired, but can be ANYWHERE on the home network.



danterner said:


> If I get a Roamio, can I set it up wirelessly and have the out-of-home streaming functionality, even though it's connected to my network wirelessly? I know from poking around on the tivo site that wireless capability is baked into the Plus and Pro and that I won't need a network adapter, but does that mean that I'll also be able to stream wirelessly, too?


Use MOCA for the Roamio, wired is always better (some may balk- but interference can happen anywhere and changes over time). While a Roamio can connect wirelessly, that is really only for guide service. Higher functions require a hard-wired connection.


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## curiousgeorge (Nov 28, 2002)

dlfl said:


> And the plus and pro models can't even be configured to do OTA.


I knew that going in and it's clearly stated. The part that was shifty is that the basic is shown to have cable and OTA, which it DOES, but it's implied that you can have both (like all TiVos with both before), but you have to CHOOSE at setup, which is the same as not having it, IMO.

The TiVo promotional materials need to make it clear that it's cable OR OTA, not AND.


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