# Specific differences between TivoHD and Premiere?



## jeffw_00 (Sep 19, 2000)

Hi - Could someone list, specifically, what features the Premiere has that a TivoHD (or make it harder - a disk-upgraded TiVoHD) doesn't have? Is there really much of substance?

Thanks!
/j (who -thinks- he still loves his TiVoHD)


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

It's basically faster hardware and a software upgrade to the user interface. The UI now is in HD, the TiVo search is integrated (you may have seen the beta on your TiVo HD), there is a free space indicator, and the program plays in the corner while you are looking through the menus (which can be turned off). There may be some other features we don't know about, but it'd all be software changes and not hardware ones.


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## jeffw_00 (Sep 19, 2000)

Thanks Dancin' Dude. So these are changes they -could- have given to the existing HD units if they wanted to? I wonder if they'll offer a paid SW upgrade to their existing base down the road.

Thanks - I appreciate it. HW seems fast enough on my HDTiVo, I don't use TiVo search, never worry about free space (TB drive), and although having the program running would be nice - it's not worth a HW upgrade. However, I would pay, say, $49, for a SW upgrade....

thanks! I appreciate the info
/j


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

They say the new HD interface would run too slow on the Series 3 hardware (the new UI runs on a version of Flash) and will not be coming to the Series 3. I would have been happy with a software upgrade to my S3 as well but it is not coming.


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## Ziggy86 (Jun 23, 2004)

Will we be able to upgarde the Premiere like we can the TivoHD?


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

Hardware wise: The Premiere has a faster SOC with hardware Flash, which is what allows the HD UI. It has only one CC slot, and is on the back. It drops the modem and S-video connectors.

I expect nothing changes WRT drive upgrades.

If TiVo could provide the HD UI for the Series 3 platform, they would, for free. I haven't seen them sell software upgrades, and I doubt they'd start now, especially on what is nor the last generation platform.


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## Krandor (Jun 10, 2004)

There may be some features that come to the S3. I believe they talked about Pandora and that seems like something that could come to the S3. Guess we'll have to wait and see.


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

Ziggy86 said:


> Will we be able to upgarde the Premiere like we can the TivoHD?


Unknown until the hackers get their boxes but I'd say it's extremely likely. The premiere does still have the ability to add on a My DVR Expander esata drive to upgrade the space.


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## b_scott (Nov 27, 2006)

so where is the QWERTY and where are details on it? I saw a picture of it, and it said it was coming, but that was it. It's not included, and it's not up in the store or anywhere. Weird.


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## weaknees (May 11, 2001)

We've got a general comparison here - we're trying to keep tabs on the emerging changes:

http://www.weaknees.com/cable-hd-dvr-tivo-comparison.php


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

Will the new Wireless N adapter only be compatible with the Premiere, or will it be backward compatible with the older boxes as well?


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

gweempose said:


> Will the new Wireless N adapter only be compatible with the Premiere, or will it be backward compatible with the older boxes as well?


Some in the media were told that it would be backward compatible.


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## Mark McM (Oct 24, 2007)

gweempose said:


> Will the new Wireless N adapter only be compatible with the Premiere, or will it be backward compatible with the older boxes as well?


And in a related question - can we assume that with the Wireless N adapter plus the faster processor that transferring videos to/from a PC (with Tivo Desktop) will be faster? I've got a Tivo HD and a wireless G adapter and transfer speeds are glacial (it takes almost twice the time to transfer an HD program than it does to record it live off the cable).


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## b_scott (Nov 27, 2006)

Mark McM said:


> And in a related question - can we assume that with the Wireless N adapter plus the faster processor that transferring videos to/from a PC (with Tivo Desktop) will be faster? I've got a Tivo HD and a wireless G adapter and transfer speeds are glacial (it takes almost twice the time to transfer an HD program than it does to record it live off the cable).


sounds like that might be your router. My router + wireless G adapter transfers about one hour of TV in 45 min. That's with one TivoHD hardwired and one on G.

edit: sorry, I misread - I was talking about transfer between Tivos


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## fyodor (Sep 19, 2006)

bkdtv said:


> Some in the media were told that it would be backward compatible.


It's my understanding that it's actually a wireless bridge (i.e. accepts Ethernet input) so there's no reason it shouldn't work. OTOH, wireless n ethernet bridges have been available for while.


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## fyodor (Sep 19, 2006)

Mark McM said:


> And in a related question - can we assume that with the Wireless N adapter plus the faster processor that transferring videos to/from a PC (with Tivo Desktop) will be faster? I've got a Tivo HD and a wireless G adapter and transfer speeds are glacial (it takes almost twice the time to transfer an HD program than it does to record it live off the cable).


It's really the processor that is the limiting factor. Even with hardwired connections, it's limited to about 10-12 megabits/s. It's my hope that if the Tivo Premiere is capable of faster-than-realtime speeds, some enterprising person will come up with a some sort of free computer soft-client that can be used to play recorded shows.


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## propeciakid (Sep 26, 2008)

DancnDude said:


> It's basically faster hardware and a software upgrade to the user interface. The UI now is in HD, the TiVo search is integrated (you may have seen the beta on your TiVo HD), there is a free space indicator, and the program plays in the corner while you are looking through the menus (which can be turned off). There may be some other features we don't know about, but it'd all be software changes and not hardware ones.


I'm very exited about the new flash Apps that could be developed. Since the Series 3 can't be upgraded this will be the only way to get new features when they arrive. I just hope these features arrive faster to the Series 4 than they did to the last generation.

Don't forget its smaller and more energy efficient. My rack system will soon be slightly less crowded.


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## ohboy710 (Jun 30, 2008)

I'm not really going to upgrade because I don't see a big advantage but I do have a question. My current cable provider (a local one) gives me 2 cable cards - unlike a lot of providers that have dual cable cards. So if I was to upgrade, I wonder if I would only be able to get one channel since there is only one card and my cable provider doesn't have dual cards.


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

DancnDude said:


> Unknown until the hackers get their boxes but I'd say it's extremely likely. The premiere does still have the ability to add on a My DVR Expander esata drive to upgrade the space.


in another thread someone who knows a bit piped in and described the partition structure. Sounds like the added a mysql partition so current tools will need to be updated to deal with it, but seemed like no biggie to the folks who figure such things out. Someone said something like "just dd the drive over and then expand it"- from my TINY knowledge that seemed like it would work.

(again Tiny knowledge here )


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

dd probably would since it copies bit for bit, but it can be extremely time consuming depending on the size of the drive. I think it too like 12+ hours when I did one of mine 500gb DirecTivos that wouldn't copy through WinMFS but that was also with shows I was trying to keep.


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## rEmiXeN (Aug 31, 2010)

The Premiere is the new generation TiVo platform, which amongst other things, support a Flash based HD UI.

The TiVo HD is the previous generation of the TiVo format, which only supports the old UI format.

The "XL" is the 1TB version of either platform. For the TiVo HD, it also THX certified, and comes with the GLO remote.


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