# why more than one roamio in your house?



## marklyn (Jan 21, 2002)

OK, I'm probably asking a stupid question now that I'm about to become a Roamio Plus newbie...

During my various areas of research on the boards I occasionally come across posts were people talk about having two Roamio's for their home. If a Roamio Plus (like I'm planning to get) has 6 tuners, why would you need two of them, unless you plan on watching/recording more than 6 shows at once. Is is that simple?
I plan on a Roamio plus and 4 mini's? Would there be any reason for me to consider two Roamio's and 3 mini's? Straighten me out!


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## monkeydust (Dec 12, 2004)

To keep the Kardashians off my Tivo!


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## marklyn (Jan 21, 2002)

monkeydust said:


> To keep the Kardashians off my Tivo!


Sorry, I know that was a joke, but I don't get it.


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## monkeydust (Dec 12, 2004)

marklyn said:


> Sorry, I know that was a joke, but I don't get it.


It is not a joke at all. I don't want all the crap my wife likes to watch on my Tivo such as Keeping Up with the Kardashians or Dance Moms is another example.


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## AdamNJ (Aug 22, 2013)

marklyn said:


> I plan on a Roamio plus and 4 mini's? Would there be any reason for me to consider two Roamio's and 3 mini's? Straighten me out!


Here is a possible reason with the setup your mentioned. If all 4 minis will be watching live tv at the same time, now you only have 2 tuners available for new recordings.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

If money is no issue there is a case for more DVRs in a household where the various users watch very different content and each user has their own TV. Much easier to just manage your own content and let the kids and/or spouse manage there own on a different DVR. 

Also some people might like to have a DVR that can do OTA so again if money is no issue having a Roamio Plus/Pro for cable and a base Roamio for OTA would be useful for some people.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

I'm not getting a second Roamio, but I kept a Premiere XL4. We don't need 10 tuners, but until Tivo comes up with user profiles or some other kind of "mine", "yours", and "Little Johnny's" folder system to keep things organized, I prefer to have all of my sister's and her kid's stuff on a separate box.

But I already had the box, so I'm not spending much more money by keeping it (except the cablecard fee).


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## marklyn (Jan 21, 2002)

OK, now I understand. Since it's just myself and my partner, with same/similar tastes, I likely don't need a second DVR. Thanks for the examples.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Yep we're in the same boat. I bought a Roamio for my shows and all the shows we watch together and gave her my old XL4 for all her crap. We don't actually need 10 tuners, but until there is some sort of profile system we can't share. Even then we may not be able to because my wife is adamant about having that clock back door* turned on and I hate it. We bought a Premiere together once a long time ago and fought about that stupid clock all the time. It got so bad that I ended up buying her out just so I could leave the clock off all the time. 

*SPS9S enables a little clock in the upper left corner that shows the current time and your current position in the show


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## marklyn (Jan 21, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> Yep we're in the same boat. I bought a Roamio for my shows and all the shows we watch together and gave her my old XL4 for all her crap. We don't actually need 10 tuners, but until there is some sort of profile system we can't share. Even then we may not be able to because my wife is adamant about having that clock back door* turned on and I hate it. We bought a Premiere together once a long time ago and fought about that stupid clock all the time. It got so bad that I ended up buying her out just so I could leave the clock off all the time.
> 
> *SPS9S enables a little clock in the upper left corner that shows the current time and your current position in the show


So has there been any real talk about a profile environment for this very reason or is this on a wish list?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

A few years ago this screenshot showed up in a review of the Premiere...










Other then that TiVo has never said a word about profiles. We're all just hoping it's part of their long term plan.


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## monkeydust (Dec 12, 2004)

Dan203 said:


> A few years ago this screenshot showed up in a review of the Premiere...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks. I've never seen that. Guess it was a feature that got pulled for more work or for strategic reasons.


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## Antennaman (May 5, 2004)

monkeydust said:


> It is not a joke at all. I don't want all the crap my wife likes to watch on my Tivo such as Keeping Up with the Kardashians or Dance Moms is another example.


And I thought my wife was the only one! My box is loaded with Orange County, NJ, Atlanta housewifes and every cooking show on TV. Now she wonders why the new Roamio is in the living room and her old verizon 2 tuner piece of crap is in the bedroom.


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## DigitalDawn (Apr 26, 2009)

At CEDIA I asked about profiles/separate folders for individual family members. I was told by one of the TiVo booth people that it was looked at but that it was considered too complicated for most folks to figure out. 

Of course, most of us here would have no problem with this feature, but TiVo is also catering to people who are a lot less technologically oriented, so I can see their point of view.


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## KevinG (Sep 3, 2003)

Another point to consider. You can't pull recordings from pyTivo to a mini.

This is what is causing me to buy roamios instead of minis. If Minis could stream content from a home-server, things would be very different.


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## monkeydust (Dec 12, 2004)

KevinG said:


> Another point to consider. You can't pull recordings from pyTivo to a mini.
> 
> This is what is causing me to buy roamios instead of minis. If Minis could stream content from a home-server, things would be very different.


But you could pull it to a Roamio and then stream it to the Mini.


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## marklyn (Jan 21, 2002)

KevinG said:


> Another point to consider. You can't pull recordings from pyTivo to a mini.
> 
> This is what is causing me to buy roamios instead of minis. If Minis could stream content from a home-server, things would be very different.


Argh. that's close to a deal breaker, maybe not quite, but close, for me. I have a lot of media content and use PlayOn as my media server. So if I want to watch my media, I have to download it first to the Roamio? Can't I just download everything from my media server to my Roamio and delete it from there when I watch it?


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## dcpmark (Feb 8, 2006)

I'm slowly replacing my four Series 3 Tivos now, and have gone with Minis to replace two of them. 7 months ago I replaced two TivoHDs with a Premiere XL4 (not knowing the Roamio was around the corner!) and a Mini. Last night I replaced my main S3 and a TiVO HD with a Roamio Pro and a Mini. Both Minis are in rooms that don't need their own dedicated DVRs, but I can access everything in the house.


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## ltxi (Feb 14, 2010)

monkeydust said:


> It is not a joke at all. *I don't want all the crap my wife likes to watch on my Tivo *such as Keeping Up with the Kardashians or Dance Moms is another example.


Nailed that one perfectly!! Exactly why I just got two to replace two S3 HDs instead of one and a Mini.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

marklyn said:


> During my various areas of research on the boards I occasionally come across posts were people talk about having two Roamio's for their home. If a Roamio Plus (like I'm planning to get) has 6 tuners, why would you need two of them, unless you plan on watching/recording more than 6 shows at once. Is is that simple?


6 Tuners does not *necessarily* really mean 6 "shows at once", as you'll likely find out. Unless you're one who doesn't care about missing the end/beginning of shows.

You will have to add 'padding' to a lot of shows (esp network shows, and a few cable channels that do it for all of their shows). That is, make the season pass start a minute early and/or end a minute late.

That "eats up" your tuners.

Plus, if you have multiple people in the household, 6 tuners isn't that much either.

I have a premiere 4 and Tivo HD, so the equivalent in tuners to a roamio pro. I want to consolidate to one device (not two SP lists), but still once in a while end up with a clipped show because of not enough tuners.

Tivos *could* handle this automagically in most cases (if you were recording abutting shows on the same network), but they don't.


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## Quake97 (Apr 24, 2006)

Just to add to the discussion, until there are profiles, I don't want my kids shows filling up the now playing list on the "adult" TiVo. Considering the base Roamio is only $100 more than a mini, it's not a big deal to me. 

Joe


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Quake97 said:


> Just to add to the discussion, until there are profiles, I don't want my kids shows filling up the now playing list on the "adult" TiVo. Considering the base Roamio is only $100 more than a mini, it's not a big deal to me.
> 
> Joe


But keep in mind the Lifetime Service cost is 2-3 times as much on a full fledged TiVo than a mini.


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## dcpmark (Feb 8, 2006)

Ok, I made the complete switch: one Roamio Pro and 3 Minis, and I couldn't be happier. I'm sending back 3 CableCards and canceling the monthly service on the Premiere. 

The "filling up" argument for me doesn't exist. I consolidated all the recordings from 2 Tivo HDs and a Premiere 4 onto the Roamio, added a bunch more movies, and I'm still only at 18% of capacity. It's got a crazy amount of space. Still wish we had folders, though!


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

marklyn said:


> OK, now I understand. Since it's just myself and my partner, with same/similar tastes, I likely don't need a second DVR. Thanks for the examples.


hey Marklyn-

You may want to edit your signature- if you get a 3GB upgrade in your Roamio, it won't hold much!


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## Sixto (Sep 16, 2005)

His and Hers DVRs. And a 3rd for the kids. That's always been the standard here, and life is good with everyone doing their own thing, managing their playlists as they like, and plenty of storage. Also allows for different styles of playlist management ... as an example, I watch/delete, other family members watch/keep forever until space needed.


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## marklyn (Jan 21, 2002)

Sixto said:


> His and Hers DVRs. And a 3rd for the kids. That's always been the standard here, and life is good with everyone doing their own thing, managing their playlists as they like, and plenty of storage. Also allows for different styles of playlist management ... as an example, I watch/delete, other family members watch/keep forever until space needed.


Just so I'm clear. If you have two Tivo's then you can see what's recorded on all connected Tivo's from either one, right?
Also, Is it possible to see all of the season passes (on both Roamio's) from one of them or do you need to review on each one separately?
If you can also do both of these things online, that is ok too.
I'm trying to avoid the situation I have now, with my 3 DirecTV DVR's, I can see all playlists combined from any one, but I have to go to each one and see what's set up in the season passes, which is a pain. Having a way to see playlists and season passes for all connected machines would be great if it works that way.


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## Devx (Jun 1, 2006)

marklyn said:


> Just so I'm clear. If you have two Tivo's then you can see what's recorded on all connected Tivo's from either one, right?
> Also, Is it possible to see all of the season passes (on both Roamio's) from one of them or do you need to review on each one separately?
> If you can also do both of these things online, that is ok too.
> I'm trying to avoid the situation I have now, with my 3 DirecTV DVR's, I can see all playlists combined from any one, but I have to go to each one and see what's set up in the season passes, which is a pain. Having a way to see playlists and season passes for all connected machines would be great if it works that way.


The 2 Roamios will be able to see each other on the network. This will allow you to view the recordings on the other Roamio and stream the recording as well. Season passes are not shared and cannot be viewed from the other Roamio. They can be viewed and managed online or via the smartphone/tablet apps (iOS, Android). The same apps can also view the recording listing and manage recordings as well. In all cases, online, via the apps, or on the Roamios, the listings are separate for each Tivo. It is never one combined listing of multiple Tivos. The one exception I can think of is in the online Season Pass manager, if you get to the step to prepare to copy Season Passes, it's possible to have it list all Season Passes from 2 Tivos in a 2 column format.


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## dcpmark (Feb 8, 2006)

Devx said:


> Season passes are not shared and cannot be viewed from the other Roamio.


But Season Passes can be viewed, altered, and created from all the Minis attached to the Roamio, right?


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

dcpmark said:


> But Season Passes can be viewed, altered, and created from all the Minis attached to the Roamio, right?


Yes


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## BigHat (Jan 25, 2004)

I think the most obvious reason has been missed if I skimmed the answers properly. Two units means no SINGLE POINT FAILURE.

I've had TiVos since 1999 and very one of them eventually needed a new hard drive. I'm not willing to lose TV while I sort out the problems. So I have two units as well as DTV unit that I have for the NFL/MLB but could use in a pinch.


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## marklyn (Jan 21, 2002)

BigHat said:


> I think the most obvious reason has been missed if I skimmed the answers properly. Two units means no SINGLE POINT FAILURE.
> 
> I've had TiVos since 1999 and very one of them eventually needed a new hard drive eventually. I'm not willing to lose TV while I sort out the problems. So I have two units as well as DTV unit that I have for the NFL/MLB but could use in a pinch.


You guys are changing my thinking on this. Maybe I should consider two basic Roamios. That would give me 8 tuners total, plus OTA reception. I could still see both playlists and season passes online from what I've read. And, from what I've been reading, I'm less likely to have issues with Time Warner's tuning adapter/cable card is the 4 tuner model (or am I misreading that)?


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## uw69 (Jan 25, 2001)

Or you could just have a spare hard drive on site and swap in a new HD if you had an issue. Takes about 10 to 15 mins to swap the hard drive on a Roamio.


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## BigHat (Jan 25, 2004)

uw69 said:


> Or you could just have a spare hard drive on site and swap in a new HD if you had an issue. Takes about 10 to 15 mins to swap the hard drive on a Roamio.


Admittedly, I have not swapped a drive in a Roamio and hope it's a loooong time before I do. But I have discovered that changing a drive in a PremiereXL isn't as simple as it used to be with the advanced copy protection now on HBO etc. This now leads to a painful evolution with FIOS/Verizon to "re-pair" the card. I can get access to all but these prem. channels on my own via their website, but it's usually a two hour or more long process to get this resolved. So unless the Roamio stores that data somewhere other than where the Prem XL does, it's no 10-15 minute job.


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## uw69 (Jan 25, 2001)

BigHat said:


> Admittedly, I have not swapped a drive in a Roamio and hope it's a loooong time before I do. But I have discovered that changing a drive in a PremiereXL isn't as simple as it used to be with the advanced copy protection now on HBO etc. This now leads to a painful evolution with FIOS/Verizon to "re-pair" the card. I can get access to all but these prem. channels on my own via their website, but it's usually a two hour or more long process to get this resolved. So unless the Roamio stores that data somewhere other than where the Prem XL does, it's no 10-15 minute job.


Pairing a cable card can be simple or complex depending on the level of expertise shown by your service provider, but to physically change a hard drive is as stated, a 10 to 15 min job. Rerunning guided set up etc. of course adds additional time.

Still believe it's a bit over kill to have multiple Roamio's for protection against a hard drive failure.


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## marklyn (Jan 21, 2002)

uw69 said:


> Pairing a cable card can be simple or complex depending on the level of expertise shown by your service provider, but to physically change a hard drive is as stated, a 10 to 15 min job. Rerunning guided set up etc. of course adds additional time.
> 
> Still believe it's a bit over kill to have multiple Roamio's for protection against a hard drive failure.


I go back and forth between two basics and one Roamio plus. But, as mentioned, even with one unit if it goes down, I put in a new drive and we're back up in about 20 minutes or so. I do like the option of having OTA though.


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## uw69 (Jan 25, 2001)

marklyn said:


> I go back and forth between two basics and one Roamio plus. But, as mentioned, even with one unit if it goes down, I put in a new drive and we're back up in about 20 minutes or so. I do like the option of having OTA though.


It's a decision only each individual can make. If 6 tuners isn't enough, if some OTA capability is desired or if you like to keep recorded shows separate ( like kids from adult shows) all seem like reasonable rationale to get multiple units.

Hard drive failure seems a bit of a stretch, with a little planning to have a spare drive close at hand. I have a plus with a 3tb hard drive, i have the original 1TB drive and a spare 3TB drive on hand just in case.


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## ltxi (Feb 14, 2010)

marklyn said:


> I go back and forth between two basics and one Roamio plus. But, as mentioned, even with one unit if it goes down, I put in a new drive and we're back up in about 20 minutes or so. I do like the option of having OTA though.


Well, here's my situation, solution, and reasoning:

Been doing TiVo since December 2000 and am a tunnel vision addict.

For the last four years I've had three units running. A 1TB, two tuner Premiere in the LR, a 1TB, S3 HDXL in the MBR, and a 2TB S3 HDXL in my basement work out room that also served as the back up for stuff we did not want to lose in case of a drive failure. I've long been sensitive to the single point failure issue.

With drive failure followed by other flakiness ironically involving the back up unit, tuner and drive full management issues with the Premiere, and the introduction of the S5s I just upgraded our system. Practical options for me came down to the existing S4 with Lifetime and: 1) 3TB Romaio Plus and existing S3 2) 3TB Roamio Plus and a Mini 3) 3TB Roamio Plus and a 3TB Roamio Basic 4) two 3TB Roamio Plus units.

Option 1) went south after my wife saw the Roamio with HD menus that actually work and the interactive abilities with the other units the S3 lacks
Option 2) is clearly economically attractive but as noted by me and others in this thread we don't want each others recording tastes and habits polluting each others TiVos. Absent that and the SPF concern I think this thin client solution is prolly the best
Option 3) and it's possible companion, two upgraded Roamio Basics, went to non-starter because the form factor is different/new, oriented to cheap, and is unproven. Less inherent capability, and doesn't really save much money.
Option 4) is where I/we ended up. S4 went to the basement workout room and also serves as a convenient back up, mostly for my stuff. And we have a good interactive system that doesn't need tuner nor content management.

Notes...OTA capability is dnc for for us. Roamio Plus with a drop in 3TB WD 30EUR AV drive upgrade vs the Pro just on general value principles. As a Basic upgrade this or a 2TB drive should be a no brainer....better drive and less power drain than the original. Comcast Denver additional cable card charge is a dnc $1.99/month.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

marklyn said:


> You guys are changing my thinking on this. Maybe I should consider two basic Roamios. That would give me 8 tuners total, plus OTA reception. I could still see both playlists and season passes online from what I've read. And, from what I've been reading, I'm less likely to have issues with Time Warner's tuning adapter/cable card is the 4 tuner model (or am I misreading that)?


But then you also have two SP managers to keep up to date.

In theory I agree with the "single point of failure" argument FOR having multiple Tivos, but even as someone who had a Tivo *completely die* (apparently fried as new power supply wouldn't make it even turn on), I'd rather DAY TO DAY have ONE season pass list.

The only other thing that's being less important to me day to day but still slightly a pain is that you cannot transfer (to computer) "from pause point" on Premieres (or presumably Roamio) anymore.. So as someone who did(*)/does collect musical performances from talk shows, which often are near the end of the show, a glitch in the recording means you can't transfer it to a computer.

(*) Out of my own carelessness, I killed a drive with a lot of the stuff I had on it, so I guess I don't care about the recordings TOO much since I was using a bare drive with a connector cable and no backups!


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## KevinG (Sep 3, 2003)

If you have multiple roamios, and a few minis, what, if any, is the interface like for choosing which roamio you want to "see" from the mini?

In other words, if one roamio is for the kids shows, and the other roamio is for the "grown-up" shows...how does a given mini choose which one to "browse"?


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## dave13077 (Jan 11, 2009)

I would love to transition from my Premiere XL4 and 2 tuner Premiere to a Roamio Pro and a Mini (I already have another Mini Mini in our bedroom). My issue is transferring all the recorded content from the XL4 to the new Roamio. Easy to transfer non copy restricted shows but how does anyone, if even possible, move the copy protected content to the Romano?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

KevinG said:


> If you have multiple roamios, and a few minis, what, if any, is the interface like for choosing which roamio you want to "see" from the mini?
> 
> In other words, if one roamio is for the kids shows, and the other roamio is for the "grown-up" shows...how does a given mini choose which one to "browse"?


It will show up at the bottom of the "My Shows" list. But you can also easily link the mini to a different Roamio by going to the settings and changing it. But no matter which one it's linked to, as long as the other Roamio is on the same account and same network, it will show up in the my Shows list for you to browse through the recorded shows.


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## ort (Jan 5, 2004)

DigitalDawn said:


> At CEDIA I asked about profiles/separate folders for individual family members. I was told by one of the TiVo booth people that it was looked at but that it was considered too complicated for most folks to figure out.
> 
> Of course, most of us here would have no problem with this feature, but TiVo is also catering to people who are a lot less technologically oriented, so I can see their point of view.


Well, they can solve the "too complicated" issue by simply not making it on by default. Only let profiles be there for people who take the initiative to set them up. Problem solved for everyone.

Also, I think you have to be pretty dang technology oriented to even have a TiVo in your house. Maybe not every user, but someone in the house has to be pretty committed to the platform to even bring it in.

Non-techy people are just going to get the cable company DVR and not mess with things like CableCards, Tuning Adaptors, MOCA networks, etc...


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## DigitalDawn (Apr 26, 2009)

I agree with you, but obviously TiVo doesn't concur.


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## uw69 (Jan 25, 2001)

At first I didn't understand why profiles would be needed. Having come from multiple TiVo's (kids, wife, mine and ours) profiles were basically the different TiVo's around the house.

Now with a Roamio and two Mini's (and potentially more Mini's in the future) I wish there was some way to set up profiles to allow the segregation of shows. Maybe TiVo will work on this when the push to fix Roamio anomalies is over.:up:


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## BigHat (Jan 25, 2004)

uw69 said:


> Pairing a cable card can be simple or complex depending on the level of expertise shown by your service provider, but to physically change a hard drive is as stated, a 10 to 15 min job. Rerunning guided set up etc. of course adds additional time.
> 
> Still believe it's a bit over kill to have multiple Roamio's for protection against a hard drive failure.


I guess it's a hassle to me and not to others. I have had to engage Verizon twice since they initiated the premium channel copy protection and it's always been a full day, pain in the ass. The first time was a 10 min drive change (I got worried about some transitory issues that surfaced) after I installed my standby HD I had in reserve from Weaknees followed by techs asking me the series of stupid questions about the unit before getting serious. When the Roamio was introduced I bought one and replaced one of two Premieres. That might be a different scenario from a user starting from scratch. To me the single point failure is a major weakness. I can certainly live without TV for a few days but with a spare that works independently I feel a bit better.

Would you live with only one way to get online?


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## dcpmark (Feb 8, 2006)

uw69 said:


> At first I didn't understand why profiles would be needed. Having come from multiple TiVo's (kids, wife, mine and ours) profiles were basically the different TiVo's around the house.
> 
> Now with a Roamio and two Mini's (and potentially more Mini's in the future) I wish there was some way to set up profiles to allow the segregation of shows. Maybe TiVo will work on this when the push to fix Roamio anomalies is over.:up:


Agreed. I'm very happy so far switching to a Roamio Pro and 3 Minis, but profiles would be awesome! For those of you like me who do the TiVO surveys, PLEASE keep asking for profiles at the end of every one.


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## rcahall (Oct 29, 2013)

aaronwt said:


> It will show up at the bottom of the "My Shows" list. But you can also easily link the mini to a different Roamio by going to the settings and changing it. But no matter which one it's linked to, as long as the other Roamio is on the same account and same network, it will show up in the my Shows list for you to browse through the recorded shows.


So just to clarify, if I have 2 Roamio Plus' and 3 Mini's, the 3 Mini's will show the recordings from both Roamio's without having to switch the DVR they're "connected" to?

I saw someone say that the 2 Roamio's would see each other's shows natively, so I just wanted to clarify about the Mini's.

We currently have 1 Roamio Plus & 3 Mini's but am curious about this in case we decide to add a second Roamio.


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## DigitalDawn (Apr 26, 2009)

Yes, this is true. You can watch shows from any Premiere or Roamio connected to your network.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

rcahall said:


> So just to clarify, if I have 2 Roamio Plus' and 3 Mini's, the 3 Mini's will show the recordings from both Roamio's without having to switch the DVR they're "connected" to?
> 
> I saw someone say that the 2 Roamio's would see each other's shows natively, so I just wanted to clarify about the Mini's.
> 
> We currently have 1 Roamio Plus & 3 Mini's but am curious about this in case we decide to add a second Roamio.


Yeah the other TiVos on your network which are not the Primary TiVo show up at the bottom of the list, just like they do when you're using the real TiVo, and you can select them and play anything you want from them as well.


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## HF444 (Dec 17, 2006)

From what has been discussed so far in this thread, 

it seems that the most flexible setup would be 2 Roamio Basic's.


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## HF444 (Dec 17, 2006)

Oops. Hit the submit button too soon.

Having 2 boxes provides redundancy, and failure "issues".

Roamio Basic's would provide a total of 8 tuners combined across OTA or cable,

and for the family that needs it, a sort of "filing" system for the recordings.

And the purchase costs work out.

Comments ?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

If there was not an extra cost for cable cards, I would have my Roamio BAsic on cable too. Just so I could split up some of these season passes. But cables cards on FiOS are $5 each now. At one time I had eight, and it's nice to finally be down to one cable card.

If TiVo would implement profiles it would make things easier. By not having profiles it actually makes it more complicated. So all SPs are jumbled together. It's much more difficult to keep track of. With profiles it would make things much easier to keep track of. So it perplexes me why someone from TiVo would say that profiles would make things more complicated, while in reality, not having profiles makes things more complicated.

It's so difficult to keep track of the things my GF wants recorded. I have to wade through literally hundreds of recordings to find her stuff. If there were profiles it would make things much easier. I would be able to find her things in a few seconds.


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## StevesWeb (Dec 26, 2008)

marklyn said:


> You guys are changing my thinking on this. Maybe I should consider two basic Roamios. That would give me 8 tuners total, plus OTA reception. I could still see both playlists and season passes online from what I've read. And, from what I've been reading, I'm less likely to have issues with Time Warner's tuning adapter/cable card is the 4 tuner model (or am I misreading that)?


If you are a TWC customer you might benefit from having an OTA Roamio because any TiVo on TWC is going to have the copy protection bit on for every channel with few if any exceptions.

OTA recordings can always be copied.


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## conjoe (Mar 12, 2007)

Does Time Warner require both a cable card and a tuning adaptor?


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## marklyn (Jan 21, 2002)

conjoe said:


> Does Time Warner require both a cable card and a tuning adaptor?


If you want to receive more than analog (basic) channels, yes, there is no other way from what I understand.


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## tatergator1 (Mar 27, 2008)

conjoe said:


> Does Time Warner require both a cable card and a tuning adaptor?


Yes, in general, you need both. Most TWC markets are heavily invested in Switched Digital Video for delivering many of the digital channels. From my experience, with only a CableCard, I can get most of the popular SD channels and only the Local Broadcast networks (CBS, ABC, etc) + ESPN in HD. All other HD channels require a Tuning Adapter.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

HF444 said:


> Roamio Basic's would provide a total of 8 tuners combined across OTA or cable


Just to be clear you have to dedicate the entire Roamio to either OTA or cable. They can not combine the inputs like the old 2 tuner units could.

Personally I'd rather have a single 6 tuner TiVo and a Mini then two Roamio's. Managing recordings between multiple units is a PITA.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> Just to be clear you have to dedicate the entire Roamio to either OTA or cable. They can not combine the inputs like the old 2 tuner units could.
> 
> Personally I'd rather have a single 6 tuner TiVo and a Mini then two Roamio's. Managing recordings between multiple units is a PITA.


I do think it's less than a PITA than managing all recordings from a single unit.
I didn't realize how much of a pain managing all the SPs and recordings would be from a single box. WHich is why profiles would have been perfect. As it is, after just a couple of days I have to wade through a bunch of recordings to find what I need. It's much worse after a week.

Which I why I would love to have profiles. I would have one for my GFs stuff. I would have one for news, one for movies, one for reality shows, one for regular shows etc. Then I could find anything I want in just a few seconds. Which is not the case right now.

It was much easier when I had two TiVo Elites and split my shows up between the two. But I also don't want to pay for two cable cards, so I just have to suck it up and bear with it.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

We do have separate units for me and my wife. If I had to wade through all the crap she records I might be right there with you. 

Profiles would be a very welcome addition in my opinion.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

Dan203 said:


> We do have separate units for me and my wife. If I had to wade through all the crap she records I might be right there with you.
> 
> Profiles would be a very welcome addition in my opinion.


Profiles is the key to reducing the number of Roamios in my home, without that as Dan said it would be a pain to have to wade through the crap the rest of the TiVos are recording being all on one Roamio.


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## Starfury9 (Nov 1, 2013)

I am sure glad that me and my wife have very similar viewing tastes, so one Roamio Plus and a mini work out really good. There are only a few shows that I like and she doesn't, or vice-versa.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

My wife watches mostly reality TV. Everything from Real Housewives, to Teen Mom, to the Amazing Race. I can't stand any of it. We have a core set of shows we watch together and we record those on my TiVo. But all the crap she watches by herself is on her own TiVo.


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## ltxi (Feb 14, 2010)

Dan203 said:


> My wife watches mostly reality TV. Everything from Real Housewives, to Teen Mom, to the Amazing Race. I can't stand any of it. *We have a core set of shows we watch together and we record those on my TiVo. But all the crap she watches by herself is on her own TiVo.*


X2....and then harmony reigns. :up:


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## wecnews (Oct 19, 2009)

monkeydust said:


> It is not a joke at all. I don't want all the crap my wife likes to watch on my Tivo such as Keeping Up with the Kardashians or Dance Moms is another example.


I will tell you I did the same thing

We had two Tivo HD's in our family room. One for me and one for the Mrs. I liked that my tivo was "smart" and knew me. 

It knew my shows and I didn't want hers shows tainting my tivo's thinking.

Even had to get an elaborate switcher system that I spent hundreds on to route both tiros' property at the push of a button.

Well, we moved and I did my setup again in the family room with both tivo hd's

but in this house we both tend to watch TV more in our very large kitchen. I was shocked at how well the tivo balanced recording for both of us.

There was always an equal mix of my crap and her crap. suggestions/recordings everything.

The one tivo did a great job. So.

I got the roamio and sold all the tivo's and I let it record everything for all of us it wasn't a difficult transition at all.

Just something to keep in mind.


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## wkearney99 (Dec 5, 2003)

We may move to just a Premiere in the family room, Roamio in the theater and possibly Mini's in the bedrooms. But I do have to confirm, the Mini will run it's own Netflix client, correct?


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## Bigg (Oct 31, 2003)

atmuscarella said:


> If money is no issue there is a case for more DVRs in a household where the various users watch very different content and each user has their own TV. Much easier to just manage your own content and let the kids and/or spouse manage there own on a different DVR.
> 
> Also some people might like to have a DVR that can do OTA so again if money is no issue having a Roamio Plus/Pro for cable and a base Roamio for OTA would be useful for some people.


Don't you lose live cable on the Roamio doing that though? You could always start a recording to watch it live I guess, but it seems like sort of a PITA. The elegance of the Roamio is having one central box that rules them all.


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## dmk1974 (Mar 7, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> Yeah the other TiVos on your network which are not the Primary TiVo show up at the bottom of the list, just like they do when you're using the real TiVo, and you can select them and play anything you want from them as well.


Is there an option to list the other TiVo's on the network at the TOP of the list? I know I can tap the skip to end button, but at the top would be more frequent and convenient to easily call up the other box (or boxes) on the network.


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## GmanTiVo (Mar 9, 2003)

Found this old thread b/c I am looking to pick-up a 2nd box (used 3TB Roamio/Bolt) so to have 1) back-up for some old tv shows and 2) so the wifey and kids can go to town with their recorded content.

My Question is: Does the 2nd device have to have Lifetime/All in Service ? i.e. does it have to be on a subscription plan?

Can my current Roamio Pro be the one with Service plan and Cable Card and the 2nd box just be a dummy (no service plan, no CableCard ?

Thanld for any advice, Gman


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## josim (May 22, 2016)

I believe service plan is required. I have a Roamio Basic (w/Cable Card) and an OTA. Both with All In service. OTA can watch all on the basic and vice versa. Also have a Mini which is attached to the Basic.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

GmanTiVo said:


> Can my current Roamio Pro be the one with Service plan and Cable Card and the 2nd box just be a dummy (no service plan, no CableCard ?


A TiVo box has to have some kind of service (monthly, lifetime, whatever), or it won't talk to the other TiVos. No recording, no transfers, etc.


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## GmanTiVo (Mar 9, 2003)

astrohip said:


> A TiVo box has to have some kind of service (monthly, lifetime, whatever), or it won't talk to the other TiVos. No recording, no transfers, etc.


Thanks, been eons since I last had to touch my setup, brain fart, of course they do, I now recall how I transferred the lifetime fron my S2 to S3 back in the mid 2000s, apols for the silly question. 
All good, found a Roanio 3TB that suits my needs and fits the bill. I'll get Verizon to send me a M-Card and will CAT6 connect to my LAN .

Good to see old timers like yourself and Aaron here on the boards!😃

Cheer, Gianmarco


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