# One Thin I Miss



## Pnyklr (Aug 4, 2015)

Having been a former DTV user I really miss the two hour buffer on their DVRs. Is the 30 minute limitation with TiVo a hardware or software limitation?


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## cosmicvoid (Oct 13, 2013)

Neither. Its a design choice.


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## Pnyklr (Aug 4, 2015)

For 10+ years?


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

I miss being thin too. 

Yeah, long-standing complaint about the short buffers. Some people will chime in and tell you "but if you record everything you ever watch, who cares". To which I say, as much as I'm a TiVo fanboy, I have both TiVos and DirecTV, and I love the 90 minute buffer on my Genie.


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

Pnyklr said:


> For 10+ years?


Yes, it's never been longer than or less than 30 minutes. If this is a problem for you, you can avoid this problem by recording your shows and not watching live TV. It's not on the top of most people's complaint list.


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## thefisch (Jul 25, 2015)

ReplayTV had no time limit on the buffer - it would fill up the available memory. However, it was not that useful as you'd lose the buffer if a show started to record and there was no way to include the buffer in a recording. I would use it now and then to buffer CNN and skip through to the stories I was interested in. However, recording would do the same.

At least tivo let's you include the buffer if you decide to record the show.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

There was a backdoor code on the S1/S2 units years ago that let you bump the buffer up to 2 hours. So they were at least experimenting with allowing a bigger buffer at some point.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

How would it truly inconvenience anyone if tivo allowed us a settings option to configure buffer length? I record many things, and at the same time I'd like the option to have a buffer of at least one hour. Not everyone plans for everything that might be on one of their tuners at that exact moment, but given that most people watch less than 10 channels (on average), and given that roamios have up to 6 tuners, odds are you are already tuned to a channel that you might want to back up further than 30 minutes. Sucks when you realize 43 minutes into a show that might only be airing one time, that you can only (generally) back up to minute 13.

Other thing I'd like to see is for the tivo to allow us to stay "delayed" when swapping btwn two tuners. Yeah, you can hit pause, but if you swap constantly, and forget to hit pause, you jump to live tv...and that can ruin a game if you aren't super careful. Dish does this, and God knows they were found to have violated Tivo's patents, so it should be possible.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

astrohip said:


> Some people will chime in and tell you "but if you record everything you ever watch, who cares".
> 
> 
> ej42137 said:
> ...


It only took one reply, and there it was!



FitzAusTex said:


> How would it truly inconvenience anyone if tivo allowed us a settings option to configure buffer length?


I don't think it's inconvenience, it's probably so hard-coded into a million different areas, that changing it would be a monster task.

But who knows? Maybe one day...


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

FitzAusTex said:


> How would it truly inconvenience anyone if tivo allowed us a settings option to configure buffer length?


How about a user configurable buffer, user configurable queue and user configurable skip?

Sony had it in 2005 on the DHG series HD DVR. Some people still use it since it has a cable card and OTA with an acceptable tuner. I have four looking for a home.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

astrohip said:


> I don't think it's inconvenience, it's probably so hard-coded into a million different areas, that changing it would be a monster task.


I don't know about the current codebase, but as mentioned above there use to be a way to change it between 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes using a hidden code. All it did was reduce the usable space by the appropriate amount. Now on a 6 tuner unit it would require 6x as much space, but it should still be more then possible.

It seems like an option for this is long over due. It's like the free space indicator use to be. A simple option that was frequently requested but never added with no real explanation as to why.


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## Chuck_IV (Jan 1, 2002)

Yea I may see myself missing this as well when I switch.

I'd settle for just an hr but 30 minutes is a bit short.


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## cosmicvoid (Oct 13, 2013)

astrohip said:


> ... I don't think it's inconvenience, it's probably so hard-coded into a million different areas, that changing it would be a monster task...


That would be very poor programming practice. I'd bet it's more likely a global #define, which if defined as a variable in a config file would make it fairly easy to make it user setable.


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## Pnyklr (Aug 4, 2015)

Good discussion guys. 

The 2 hour buffer was especially helpful to me when dealing with the children. 

So Daddy is watching something and the girls ask me to come look at something. I pause the show and next thing I know 45 minutes have gone by and I pickup where I left off when I paused. I was a happy camper.

With the TiVo way I am screwed in that scenario, which happens quite a bit.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Pnyklr said:


> Good discussion guys. The 2 hour buffer was especially helpful to me when dealing with the children. So Daddy is watching something and the girls ask me to come look at something. I pause the show and next thing I know 45 minutes have gone by and I pickup where I left off when I paused. I was a happy camper. With the TiVo way I am screwed in that scenario, which happens quite a bit.


Hit record, then pause.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

FitzAusTex said:


> How would it truly inconvenience anyone if tivo allowed us a settings option to configure buffer length? I record many things, and at the same time I'd like the option to have a buffer of at least one hour. Not everyone plans for everything that might be on one of their tuners at that exact moment, but given that most people watch less than 10 channels (on average), and given that roamios have up to 6 tuners, odds are you are already tuned to a channel that you might want to back up further than 30 minutes. Sucks when you realize 43 minutes into a show that might only be airing one time, that you can only (generally) back up to minute 13.
> 
> Other thing I'd like to see is for the tivo to allow us to stay "delayed" when swapping btwn two tuners. Yeah, you can hit pause, but if you swap constantly, and forget to hit pause, you jump to live tv...and that can ruin a game if you aren't super careful. Dish does this, and God knows they were found to have violated Tivo's patents, so it should be possible.


They have at least given us the option of zero buffers which I really like. With the newer standby feature, it doesn't use any of the tuners while in standby, except for a scheduled recording. So when I sit down to watch something and bring my TiVo out of standby, there is nothing in any of the buffers.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Pnyklr said:


> Good discussion guys.
> 
> The 2 hour buffer was especially helpful to me when dealing with the children.
> 
> ...





HarperVision said:


> Hit record, then pause.


Yes. When I first got TiVo in 2001/2002 I quickly found out that the best policy was to always hit record. Anything that I started watching I would hit record. Because if you lost track of time, you could miss a show if you just used pause. Or even a wrong button press. Accidentally hitting a number and the channel changes, losing the buffer. So after running into those issues initially, I then changed my behavior to always hitting record and have not regretted that decision during the last thirteen years of using TiVos.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I find it easier just to not watch live TV.


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## Pnyklr (Aug 4, 2015)

aaronwt said:


> Yes. When I first got TiVo in 2001/2002 I quickly found out that the best policy was to always hit record. Anything that I started watching I would hit record. Because if you lost track of time, you could miss a show if you just used pause. Or even a wrong button press. Accidentally hitting a number and the channel changes, losing the buffer. So after running into those issues initially, I then changed my behavior to always hitting record and have not regretted that decision during the last thirteen years of using TiVos.


I'll give that a try, thanks.


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

Dan203 said:


> I find it easier just to not watch live TV.


Me too. I find that by watching only recordings I tend to watch less crap TV and enjoy what I do watch much more. And when I see a full season of a show pile up and realize that I'm never going to want to watch it, I get a thrill when I delete the episodes and season pass and get 18 or so hours of my life back that I would have wasted on bad TV.


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## Pnyklr (Aug 4, 2015)

That brings up another question. How do I delete an entire folder of the same episode in one fell swoop?


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## Thom (Jun 5, 2000)

Pnyklr said:


> That brings up another question. How do I delete an entire folder of the same episode in one fell swoop?


Highlight the folder and press the clear button. It will ask if you want to delete the folder and all its contents.


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## Pnyklr (Aug 4, 2015)

Thank you!


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Chuck_IV said:


> Yea I may see myself missing this as well when I switch.
> 
> I'd settle for just an hr but 30 minutes is a bit short.


For me, the biggest problem I've found with the insanely short 30-minute buffer is when I'm interrupted by someone/something and need to pause the LiveTV feed for what I think will be just a moment. Often, the interruption will be longer than expected and the TiVo will auto-resume when the 30-minute buffer has filled, both injecting noise where it's not wanted and losing my place in the show.

Sure, I could record everything, but a bump of the buffer would likely negate almost all concerns.


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

krkaufman said:


> For me, the biggest problem I've found with the insanely short 30-minute buffer is when I'm interrupted by someone/something and need to pause the LiveTV feed for what I think will be just a moment. Often, the interruption will be longer than expected and the TiVo will auto-resume when the 30-minute buffer has filled, both injecting noise where it's not wanted and losing my place in the show.
> 
> Sure, I could record everything, but a bump of the buffer would likely negate almost all concerns.


Except if channel changing clears the buffer, as is easy to do when you don't intend. It's better to enter the 21st century and stop watching live TV.


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## Series3Sub (Mar 14, 2010)

Yes, I've found TiVo's 30 minute buffer very limiting. Everyone else is 2 or 1 hour.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

ej42137 said:


> Except if channel changing clears the buffer, as is easy to do when you don't intend. It's better to enter the 21st century and stop watching live TV.


Enough with all the replies telling people making reasonable requests/suggestions that they should just suck it up and accept seemingly senseless limitations. I think a 21st Century DVR could shoulder a smidgen of a bump in the live TV buffers without flinching.


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

krkaufman said:


> Enough with all the replies telling people making reasonable requests/suggestions that they should just suck it up and accept seemingly senseless limitations. I think a 21st Century DVR could shoulder a smidgen of a bump in the live TV buffers without flinching.


There is a suggestions forum where that might be appropriate to whine about things that are unlikely to be changed; this is the place where we talk about how to get around problems.

Back when you could change the buffer length I took that option. You know what? Even two hours wasn't enough when you have two children and a wife pulling you away for the television; only using the record button really solves the problem.

Use the record button; it will avoid problems if you change the channel and it won't matter even if your interruption is longer than two hours. IMO in these days when TiVo is worried about trying to capture the cord-cutters and the cord-nevers they are unlikely to spent limited resources on this issue. We're talking about a company that can't even afford to index their website, you know.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

ej42137 said:


> Back when you could change the buffer length I took that option.


Glad you agree.

---
edit: p.s.


ej42137 said:


> There is a suggestions forum where that might be appropriate to whine about things that are unlikely to be changed; this is the place where we talk about how to get around problems.


It's a bit late for this comment, and comes across as petty, given its inclusion in your third reply to the thread. Further, if the moderators opt not (or simply lack the time) to move a thread to a more appropriate subforum, we users are left to comment where we find 'em.


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

krkaufman said:


> Glad you agree.


Actually, I do agree; it would be "nice" to have a two hour buffer, and it was nice to be able to change the size of the buffer. But it's ridiculous to run that campaign in this thread. It's better to suggest ways to lessen the pain than to continually grind the axe.

Also, please stop with the _ad hominem_. You are usually a better person than that.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

ej42137 said:


> Actually, I do agree; it would be "nice" to have a two hour buffer, and it was nice to be able to change the size of the buffer. But it's ridiculous to run that campaign in this thread. It's better to suggest ways to lessen the pain than to continually grind the axe.


What "campaign"?!? I posted one comment providing a specific example of where the 30-minute buffer has been problematic, in my experience, to which you replied with your THIRD comment to the thread (sans any moaning over the appropriateness of the thread topic relative to its resident subforum), in what could considerably more fairly be characterized as a "campaign" instructing people to not watch live TV -- and with a less than convivial attitude:



ej42137 said:


> It's better to enter the 21st century and stop watching live TV.


... which pairs nicely with this comment, completing the ironic hat trick...


ej42137 said:


> Also, please stop with the _ad hominem_. You are usually a *better person* than that.


(helpful link)


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## WorldBandRadio (Dec 20, 2010)

cosmicvoid said:


> That would be very poor programming practice. I'd bet it's more likely a global #define, which if defined as a variable in a config file would make it fairly easy to make it user setable.


You're presuming that TiVo has good coding practices. That's a pretty big leap.


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## WorldBandRadio (Dec 20, 2010)

aaronwt said:


> ... the best policy was to always hit record. ...


Also because the RF remote sometimes falls off the chair and changes the channel when it hits the floor.


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## garylapointe (Feb 16, 2003)

astrohip said:


> I don't think it's inconvenience, it's probably so hard-coded into a million different areas, that changing it would be a monster task.
> 
> But who knows? Maybe one day...


Maybe one day they'll code the SD menus into HD so that they match the rest of the interface. How hardcoded is that code that they can't fix it?!?

It works fine, I just think it looks awful....

Gary


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