# Two Roamios with one Mini?



## bobfrank (Mar 17, 2005)

I know I can use 2 Minis with one Roamio. But is it possible to use 2 Roamios with 1 Mini?


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## supasta (May 6, 2006)

Yes.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

You will pair the Mini to one of the Roamios. Then when you go to My Shows all other Roamio and Premiere units will be at the bottom of the list, just like on the TiVo itself. From there you can pick one and play any show from it.


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## bobfrank (Mar 17, 2005)

Thanks for the info.

Unfortunately this complicates my decision whether to go with 2 Roamios and one Mini or with 2 Minis and one Roamio.


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

bobfrank said:


> Thanks for the info.
> 
> Unfortunately this complicates my decision whether to go with 2 Roamios and one Mini or with 2 Minis and one Roamio.


I can't see of any reason to go with two Roamios vs two Minis unless you believe 3TB of storage and 6 tuners is not enough in your environment (or you have one of those weird situations where you must have a separate his and her TiVo to keep marital bliss). Certainly it's the less expensive way to go. A lot less expensive.


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## bobfrank (Mar 17, 2005)

If there were no cost difference I think most people would go with 2 Roamios. The additional benefits of more tuners, disk space and managing recordings would be an advantage.

The cost difference swings the advantage to one Roamio for most people. But there are reports of some irritations with the Minis that wouldn't occur with an additional Roamio.

I suspect that the one Roamio plan will win out, but I needed to know my options before deciding.


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

bobfrank said:


> If there were no cost difference I think most people would go with 2 Roamios. The additional benefits of more tuners, disk space and managing recordings would be an advantage.
> 
> The cost difference swings the advantage to one Roamio for most people. But there are reports of some irritations with the Minis that wouldn't occur with an additional Roamio.
> 
> I suspect that the one Roamio plan will win out, but I needed to know my options before deciding.


Sorry, I still don't bite. Managing two sets of recordings on two TiVos and knowing what is on which TiVo is more of a headache than it is worth for me personally (and a lot of other people I imagine). The one advantage I see is that if one of your TiVos fail, you have another one.

To put things in perspective, for a brief amount of time I had two TiVo HD boxes, each with two tuners. I would record some things with one box and other things with the other box. Remembering which box something was on was a pain and I'm not the only one who thinks so.... people had been asking for the ability for TiVo to do tuner management and conflict resolution ... basically merging multiple Tivos together.

The Roamio + Minis will sort this out for 99% of users. One big fat monster TiVo with six tuners and a monster hard drive and then various Roamios sprinkled around to view stuff on when you aren't at the main TV.


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## Scooby Doo (Dec 18, 2002)

bobfrank said:


> If there were no cost difference I think most people would go with 2 Roamios.


I know I wouldn't. Six tuners and 1TB are plenty for me. And the Mini is in my bedroom so small form factor and silent operation are big plusses. I'm also more or less exclusive on the iPad for managing recordings.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I have to agree. Having all your recordings and SPs consolidated onto a single TiVo is a MUCH better solution then having multiple TiVos. The only reason to get multiple TiVos is if you need more then 6 tuners (4 if you're OTA) or if you have some special situation where you need a separate TiVo for your wife, kids, porn, etc...


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## bobfrank (Mar 17, 2005)

Ok, you all have me convinced. We are used to managing programs spread over 2 Tivos, so that wouldn't add any troubles. Certainly having everything on 1 Tivo would have its advantages.

I was just a little concerned with the minor short comings a few people were reporting with the Mini. I thought they might cause my wife more problems than were solved by having one Tivo.

Thanks for the advice. One Tivo with two Minis will make it easier to $ell my wife on the new purchases.


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

I have one Roamio and two Minis that are connected over MoCA and it's working very well for the most part. I wouldn't anticipate wife problems. My wife is quite happy with the Mini we have in the bedroom.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Just be aware that if you normally download Amazon content to the TiVo, that it can't be viewed on the Mini.


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