# Series 3 -- Where are you???



## trainwrecka (May 30, 2006)

Well with no sign of Series 3 in sight my in-laws have made the switch from TiVo to a Verizon FiOS Motorola HD DVR. Just like my Brother did a few weeks ago.

With so many people buying HDTV's it is amazing that TiVo hasn't gotten this product out faster. I've been sitting with my TiVo series 2 on my HDTV forever waiting on the S3 ... my year of payment is up in June ... maybe I should jump ship and then come back when the Series 3 comes out.

Anyone else having TiVo with no HD problems?


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## annenoe (Oct 19, 2003)

trainwrecka said:


> Well with no sign of Series 3 in sight my in-laws have made the switch from TiVo to a Verizon FiOS Motorola HD DVR. Just like my Brother did a few weeks ago.
> 
> With so many people buying HDTV's it is amazing that TiVo hasn't gotten this product out faster. I've been sitting with my TiVo series 2 on my HDTV forever waiting on the S3 ... my year of payment is up in June ... maybe I should jump ship and then come back when the Series 3 comes out.
> 
> Anyone else having TiVo with no HD problems?


Well, yes and no. I was quite happy until my dear husband went out and bought a new HDTV and then sprang for the new dish (and 2 more years) with DTV. I'd watch live for awhile, marveling at the clarity, then I'd have to go to the bathroom, or the phone would ring, or the dog would drop a ball at my feet. And I'd go to pause it and... RATS!!

Then, I got to the point that I'd watch it live HD and record in SD. I mean, come on. This is getting just a little crazy.

So, I finally bit the bullet and have a HR10-250 on order. I figure it's a stop gap.

Future? I have no idea. Do I want to pay $16 a month on top of my DTV subscription when the S3 comes out? Do I want to switch to Comcast and lose rugby (only available now thru DTV)? It's like, no matter what I do, I have to give up something.

My plan now is to use the HR10-250 to record the really good stuff off OTA and quickly delete it (I bought the cheap one and not sure I'm going to pour more money after bad to upgrade). I'll also use it to watch live TV and be able to pause it whenever the quality is better than the S2. And I'll continue to use the S2 (upgraded) to record the bulk of the stuff we watch - most of which is not HD. And keep my fingers crossed that DTV is slow to upgrade to MPEG4.

I'm hoping that I'll get 2 good years out of the HR10-250, by that time I'll be done w/ the two year committment and maybe things will have sorted themselves out. Oh yeah, and pigs will be flying past my window.


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## fatcat220 (Mar 29, 2006)

trainwrecka said:


> Well with no sign of Series 3 in sight my in-laws have made the switch from TiVo to a Verizon FiOS Motorola HD DVR. Just like my Brother did a few weeks ago.


 Sorry to hijack this thread, but how do your in-laws like Verizon's FiOS? How's picture quality? Cost?


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## ihatecable (Apr 16, 2003)

*DAMM YOU TIVO TO HELL!!! (shakes fist in air). *

Just got off the phone with Tivo sales and they told me sometime in October


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

fatcat220 said:


> Sorry to hijack this thread, but how do your in-laws like Verizon's FiOS? How's picture quality? Cost?


One of my friends just got this. The picture quality is better that DirecTVs HD channels. Not sure how it stacks up to OTA, although it certainly offers more channels.

No idea on the cost. According to him (and based on my limited usage) the HD DVR is annoying to use, and the remote is way too cluttered.


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## trainwrecka (May 30, 2006)

all remotes (other than tivo & apple) are cluttered if you ask me.

the FiOS picture looks really good. My in-laws don't have it yet - it is getting installed on the 20th. my brother however does have it - and loves it. he had comast 1st then DirectTV then Dish network and now FiOS. he claims FiOS is the best hands down. for the price you pay it is well worth it.

For my in-laws house the bill will be less than $65 and that includes 180 digital channels, 2 HD DVRs and 1 SD DVR.

The only complaint my brother has is it is not a TiVo ... he loves TiVo but without an HD TiVo on the market he didn't want to wait any longer.


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## SullyND (Dec 30, 2004)

annenoe said:


> Future? I have no idea. Do I want to pay $16 a month on top of my DTV subscription when the S3 comes out? Do I want to switch to Comcast and lose rugby (only available now thru DTV)? It's like, no matter what I do, I have to give up something.


You do know the S3 will not work with DTV, right?


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## mgar (Feb 14, 2005)

ihatecable said:


> *DAMM YOU TIVO TO HELL!!! (shakes fist in air). *
> 
> Just got off the phone with Tivo sales and they told me sometime in October


That would be the first I have heard a specific month mentioned. I wouldn't put a lot of stock in that time frame.

As long as I am able to put one under the tree this Christmas, I will be happy. If it slips to next year, then I will by upset.


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## Corvin (Aug 30, 2004)

Are they dragging their feet on this or what? I dumped Tivo in summer 05 and went with the cable company and thier HD DVR. It is average and I would love to get the HD-Tivo with just OTA and ditch the cable company but alas there is no product for my money. Where are you Tivo?

I was really hoping to have one BEFORE the fall season starts, but that would make too much sense.


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## thwart (Jul 26, 2004)

Corvin said:


> Are they dragging their feet on this or what? I dumped Tivo in summer 05 and went with the cable company and thier HD DVR. It is average and I would love to get the HD-Tivo with just OTA and ditch the cable company but alas there is no product for my money. Where are you Tivo?
> 
> I was really hoping to have one BEFORE the fall season starts, but that would make too much sense.


There are probably a lot of bugs that they have to work out with the series 3 since there is more complexity involved -- HDTV, cable cards, 6 tuners, LED display on the front, pause live tv, power switch, vent to keep it cool, ... Hey yeah, why is it taking so long. If the cable companies have been doing it for years why haven't they been able to get a stable version of a Tivo out sooner?

Currently, I actually have money burning a whole in my pocket that I want to use to buy a HDTV, but I'm waiting until Tivo releases the series 3. It sucks waiting, but I figure waiting to buy the big screen t.v. will mean getting a better value at the time of purchase.


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## ThreeSoFar (May 24, 2002)

*sigh*

*sniff*

Stupid TiVo.


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## lynesjc (Feb 10, 2005)

If they wait until after the Holidays they'll be going head to head with CC equipped Vista HTPC's...


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## Harrypr (Dec 27, 2003)

I've been using Comcast DVR's for a long time. They have greatly improved over the last 2 years, though they are still not up to par with my old Tivo. It's been rumored that Comcast will "eventually" offer a Tivo software download option to their customers, but I'll believe it when it actually happens. As for series 3, I doubt that it will ever happen if it doesn't materialize by the holiday season. Tivo has lost all its momentum by being dead last to jump on the High Definition cable bandwagon and failing to give us periodic updates! I'm sorry but NO significant update in 6 months is assinine. No news is not GOOD News!!!! Why not tell us what the hell is happening, TIVO Execs????? Is the series 3 dead in the water?Perhaps they will update us once we NO LONGER CARE!!!!


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## pkscout (Jan 11, 2003)

lynesjc said:


> If they wait until after the Holidays they'll be going head to head with CC equipped Vista HTPC's...


Holiday which year? Vista is only, what, 4 years behind schedule. And the October ship date got pushed back to January, then Balmer said maybe first quarter of the year...

Then after all that the HTPC vendors have to get Vista on their hardware, get it working. I'm betting no shipping HTPCs with Vista until October 2007.

Besides, now we're arguing over two products that aren't shipping now and have no firm public ship date. Now *that's* fun.


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## btwyx (Jan 16, 2003)

I have TiVo and HD, I'm still looking forward to trying an S3.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

btwyx said:


> I have TiVo and HD, I'm still looking forward to trying an S3.


Me too. Patience is NOT my strong suit, but the $$ is burning a hole in my pocket, too, except it's money for the S3. I already have the HDTV. And I've REALLY missed recording HD with the Stanley Cup playoffs on. My schedule is such that I've missed several of the finals games (like last night's OT game). And watching hockey in SD is, well, just crummy.


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## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

trainwrecka said:


> ...With so many people buying HDTV's it is amazing that TiVo hasn't gotten this product out faster... maybe I should jump ship and then come back when the Series 3 comes out.
> 
> Anyone else having TiVo with no HD problems?


Well, the HR10s I own have had few if any problems. Dropped a couple recordings (2 in 18 months of heavy use), needed a reboot every few months, etc. Other than that, completely flawless and a true joy to use.

I think the entire S3 holdup centers on CC2, which is still sort of up in the air. It would not surprise me that there might be a Tivo warehouse in Nevada City with tens of thousands of S3s sitting there totally complete, save for CC2 tuners. Beta testing, OS, everything else, probably completed.

Unless you want to drink the Kool-Aid like I have and jump into buying and upgrading a couple of HR10's, which possibly have an obvious and somewhat finite expiration date some 4 or 5 years from now, I would not hold my breath for owning a HD Tivo, including the S3, even as terrific as it probably will be.

My advice, go to cable, where you will get slightly better HD and selection than DTV, and the best DVR you can get that isn't a Tivo (that might not be saying all that much, I guess). But the best part is its month to month, and you can hunker down there while the dust settles and the S3 finally emerges from under the CC2 rock. It might be good to see how green the grass is or isn't over there, but if you do it's probably inevitable that you will long for, pine away for, Tivo. And when you come back, then you will _really_ appreciate it.

Or, you could lease HR10s from DTV and then be at their mercy for a swapout to an obviously inferior product when the time comes, a scenario that never seemed all that appealing to me.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

SullyND said:


> You do know the S3 will not work with DTV, right?


Last I heard it worked fine with digital TV, two ATSC tuners.. no?


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## cstelter (Mar 18, 2002)

annenoe said:


> ... Do I want to pay $16 a month on top of my DTV subscription when the S3 comes out?...


To which SullyND replied:


SullyND said:


> You do know the S3 will not work with DTV, right?





Adam1115 said:


> Last I heard it worked fine with digital TV, two ATSC tuners.. no?


Pretty clear in this context, they were talking DTV==DirecTV, not DTV==DigitalTV. Two ATSC tuners is my understanding as well, for what that's worth.


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## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

Yeah, I guess we take a chance using the contraction "DTV" for DirecTV, but typically DT is what is understood to mean "digital television" on this forum. I prefer the old-school "D*", but then some people confuse that to mean DISH Network, so I've gone to "DTV".


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## drew2k (Jun 10, 2003)

TyroneShoes said:


> Yeah, I guess we take a chance using the contraction "DTV" for DirecTV, but typically DT is what is understood to mean "digital television" on this forum. I prefer the old-school "D*", but then some people confuse that to mean DISH Network, so I've gone to "DTV".


What does DTV stand for? Here's what AcronymFinder says:

DTV Digital Television 
DTV Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag 
DTV Desktop Video 
DTV DirecTV, Inc. 
DTV Direct Television 
DTV Durchschnittliche Tägliche Verkehrsstärke 
DTV Disc Thickness Variation (automotive disc brakes) 
DTV Day Television 
DTV Deutscher Tanzsportverband Ev 
DTV Driver's Thermal Viewer 
DTV Distributed Training Vehicle 
DTV Denton Television (Denton, TX) 
DTV Dynamic Test Vehicle 
DTV Deutscher Terminhandel Verband EV

(These are listed in rank order, and Digital Television is ranked ****** while DirecTV is ranked *****. Significant? Not a clue, as I didn't look into what the ranks mean.)

AcronymFinder lists 112 entries for DT, so I think the meaning always depends on the context. As already noted, though, sometimes that takes more work than you'd think!

For what it's worth, I usually see Dish abbreviated as E* (for Echostar) or simply spelled out (it's only 4 letters after all!), and DirecTV abbreviated as D*. I always like to type it out though.


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

TyroneShoes said:


> Yeah, I guess we take a chance using the contraction "DTV" for DirecTV, but typically DT is what is understood to mean "digital television" on this forum.


Except that lately on other parts of these forums it stands for Dual Tuner, refereing to the new Series 2 Dual Tuner standalong units.

The various meanings of DTV and DT can make it interesting to try to understand posts here.


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

I vote for using [)1|23(+\/ (l33t speak) for now on.


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## knightl (Mar 15, 2006)

it's here.
the second half.
i want my series 3....


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