# Differences between Tivo Roamio 1TB and Tivo Bolt 1TB?



## Katatak (May 18, 2016)

Geetings all,

We are finally getting ready to become cord cutters and I had a few questions about the different Tivo boxes. We will be using this box for OTA and streaming. We have Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, and Showtime streaming apps on our iPads, Apple TV and Roku devices, and have already installed an HD Antenna. We also plan on subscribing to Sling TV, and I know that is not a feature of Tivo. We'll just use one of the other devices for that. But we are now looking for something to record network TV. 

My problem is that I don't know which box to buy. I have searched everywhere, but cannot seem to find a side by side comparison between the new Tivo Roamio 1TB and the Tivo Bolt 1TB. I would love to see the exact hardware spec differences, as well as the streaming content differences (which apps are available), so I can decide which box would be best for us.

If anyone can point me in the direction of a chart or spec sheet that shows all of this info I would appreciate it. 

Thanks so much in advance!
Kat

P.S. I also read that you can replace the hard drive in the Tivo box? So should I just get the 500GB version and add my own drive for more storage? Or purchase the larger Tivo from the beginning? Does it void the warranty if I change the drive?


----------



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Start here:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=540367&highlight=bolt+roamio+differences

Yes, changing the drive voids the warranty. It may affect your ability to get support. Just save the old drive.

Except for Amazon, I use my Roku 3 for streaming.


----------



## Katatak (May 18, 2016)

JoeKustra said:


> Start here:
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=540367&highlight=bolt+roamio+differences
> 
> Yes, changing the drive voids the warranty. It may affect your ability to get support. Just save the old drive.
> ...


That is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!


----------



## HobokenSkier (Oct 14, 2015)

Do you have a 4k tv?

When do you plan to buy a 4k tv?

That is probably the deciding factor between bolt and Roamio. 

That said I'd still likely go Roamio. Broadcast 4k is a long way off and the Roku 4k will cover most all 4k content when you upgrade the tv.


----------



## Katatak (May 18, 2016)

HobokenSkier said:


> Do you have a 4k tv?
> 
> When do you plan to buy a 4k tv?
> 
> ...


No we don't have a 4K TV yet. And we do watch a lot of stuff on the Roku.


----------



## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

Have you considered a Plex server for your home? There is a considerable difference between Roamio and Bolt when running Plex. Other apps are faster also. Also the Roamio does not stream video to your portable devices and does not have MOCA built in.


----------



## Katatak (May 18, 2016)

jcthorne said:


> Have you considered a Plex server for your home? There is a considerable difference between Roamio and Bolt when running Plex. Other apps are faster also. Also the Roamio does not stream video to your portable devices and does not have MOCA built in.


I used Plex years ago (around 2008). Back then I had a tons of movies and video content on my drives, so it made sense. But I don't really store them anymore because so much of it is available online now. We mostly watch network TV and I wanted to be able to DVR those shows. I hate commercials! LOL

We've had DirecTV for about 20 years now and have been pretty happy with it. But all of the increased fees over the years are getting insane. Especially since most of what we watch are channels I can get for free with an antenna. We do watch a few cable shows (ESPN, CNN, AMC, etc) so Sling TV will take care of those. It's not perfect, but it will do for now. The one channel I'm going to miss though is SYFY. Hopefully someday that will be available without a cable subscription.

I didn't know about the MoCA difference. Good tip! Based on all of the answers I've seen so far it looks like I'm leaning towards the Bolt over the Roamio.


----------



## sheshechic (Apr 14, 2012)

Katatak said:


> We do watch a few cable shows (ESPN, CNN, AMC, etc) so Sling TV will take care of those. It's not perfect, but it will do for now. The one channel I'm going to miss though is SYFY. Hopefully someday that will be available without a cable subscription.


Hopefully Hulu will offer SyFy in their live tv package next year.


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

Katatak said:


> Geetings all,
> 
> We are finally getting ready to become cord cutters and I had a few questions about the different Tivo boxes. We will be using this box for OTA and streaming. We have Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, and Showtime streaming apps on our iPads, Apple TV and Roku devices, and have already installed an HD Antenna. We also plan on subscribing to Sling TV, and I know that is not a feature of Tivo. We'll just use one of the other devices for that. But we are now looking for something to record network TV.
> 
> ...


My understanding is that you do not subscribe to traditional cable TV (Comcast, Charter, Cox, etc.) and have no future plans to do so. And you are trying to decide between the TiVo Roamio OTA 1TB (which can only receive OTA and streaming) and the TiVo Bolt 1TB (which can receive either OTA or cable, plus streaming).

You will pay hundreds more for the Bolt and the only real benefits are the following: 
1. Bolt can stream in UHD/4K from Netflix and YouTube (and possibly other services in the future). Its other apps are limited to regular HD. The Roamio is limited to HD streaming in all apps and will never be able to handle UHD/4K.
2. Bolt has a faster processor and so launches some apps (particularly Netflix) faster and moves through screen menus a little faster than the Roamio. 
3. Bolt can stream its recordings to other devices on your home network and in the future should be able to also stream them to your devices while away from home over the internet. If you want the Roamio OTA to do that, you would need to buy the TiVo Stream accessory separately.
4. Bolt has a built-in MoCA adapter. That MAY be beneficial to you if you plan to buy TiVo Mini accessories to extend your TiVo service to additional TVs in your home. If not, that feature doesn't matter to you. (You can buy a MoCA adapter for the Roamio OTA separately if you need it.)
5. The white Bolt has funky styling which you may or may not prefer to the more traditional-looking black Roamio OTA.

The 1TB Bolt with All-In (lifetime) service (meaning you would never have to pay the $150 annual service fee going forward) now costs $850. Or you could buy it plus only the required first year of service for $450. (After that, you'd need to pay $150 per year to keep using it, unless TiVo changes the price.)

The 1TB Roamio OTA with lifetime service costs only $400, with nothing more to pay ever.

Up to you to decide if the benefits listed above are worth the extra $$$.

Lastly, you might consider the Tablo OTA DVR that currently works with your Roku (and may soon work with the latest Apple TV).
https://www.tablotv.com/


----------



## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

There's no way in my book that the 1TB Bolt is worth the $450 extra cost, but to each his/her own.


----------



## Tomar (Jun 16, 2007)

jcthorne said:


> Have you considered a Plex server for your home? There is a considerable difference between Roamio and Bolt when running Plex. Other apps are faster also. Also the Roamio does not stream video to your portable devices and does not have MOCA built in.


What is the difference between Plex running on a Roamio versus a Bolt?


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

Tomar said:


> What is the difference between Plex running on a Roamio versus a Bolt?


Hopefully someone who has used Plex on both will chime in but, based on what I recall reading around here, I believe Plex for Bolt currently allows you to stream 1080p (and possibly even 2160p?) video from your Plex Media Server while the Plex for Roamio app tops out at 720p. Actually, for a little while the Roamio app gained the capability to handle at least some 1080p videos but that apparently went away in a recent update, so it's back to 720p max now.


----------



## thewebgal (Aug 10, 2007)

JoeKustra said:


> Start here:
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=540367&highlight=bolt+roamio+differences
> 
> Yes, changing the drive voids the warranty. It may affect your ability to get support. Just save the old drive.
> ...


I got the base Roamio with 4 tuners about 2 years back - dropped a 2TB drive into it immediately, before I ever booted it up. I happen to have it FIOS - but with the DC are a nearby, have consider doing the OTA thing. It works great with my Mac network in the house - I use streambaby to feed stuff from my Mac/hard drive upstairs, plus I stream Netflix and Amazon Prime.
I bought a Lifetime subscription in the first 6 months and its been running strong and works great. No complaints!

No reason for me to buy a newer Bolt - there just aren't enough extras to justify it.


----------



## sterfry (Dec 21, 2001)

ATSC 3.0 is on the horizon. When it's standardized and implemented all current OTA hardware will become paperweights. Due to this I would go with the Roamio OTA and save my money for a future TiVo that will work with ATSC 3.0.


----------



## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

NashGuy said:


> Hopefully someone who has used Plex on both will chime in but, based on what I recall reading around here, I believe Plex for Bolt currently allows you to stream 1080p (and possibly even 2160p?) video from your Plex Media Server while the Plex for Roamio app tops out at 720p. Actually, for a little while the Roamio app gained the capability to handle at least some 1080p videos but that apparently went away in a recent update, so it's back to 720p max now.


Its also far more stable, UI is much snappier and it supports a wider array of files for direct play.

I do agree its hard to justify the higher cost for the bolt. Hopefully the cost of lifetime service on the Bolt will become more reasonable. THere is no reason the subscription costs should be so different.


----------



## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

sterfry said:


> ATSC 3.0 is on the horizon. When it's standardized and implemented all current OTA hardware will become paperweights. Due to this I would go with the Roamio OTA and save my money for a future TiVo that will work with ATSC 3.0.


The people wanting ATSC 3.0 are also pushing ATSC 3.0 gateway devices (network attached tuners). If ATSC 3.0 broadcasts actually start in a relatively short period of time (next few years) no reason TiVo can not sell a ATSC 3.0 gateway device that will work with the Bolt or update the Bolt's software to work with other brands. However unless these devices are powerful enough to convert multiple h.265 streams to h.264 the Roamio line would not work with them.


----------



## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

sterfry said:


> ATSC 3.0 is on the horizon. When it's standardized and implemented all current OTA hardware will become paperweights. Due to this I would go with the Roamio OTA and save my money for a future TiVo that will work with ATSC 3.0.


????? paperweights? Why? Most of the current ATSC broadcasts will still be around. Especially since the vast majority of people will not have ATSC 3.0 hardware. Plus the government is not requiring ATSC 3.0 in devices.


----------



## sterfry (Dec 21, 2001)

aaronwt said:


> ????? paperweights? Why? Most of the current ATSC broadcasts will still be around. Especially since the vast majority of people will not have ATSC 3.0 hardware. Plus the government is not requiring ATSC 3.0 in devices.


700 MHz to 800 MHz was auctioned off a few years ago to mobile phone companies. 600 MHz to 700 MHz will be auctioned off later this year. Unlike the transition from NTSC to ATSC 1.0, there won't be much excess RF spectrum available for simulcasting ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 broadcasts.

If there is some form of piggyback tuner that may be a solution assuming it doesn't cost as much as an entirely new ATSC 3.0 compatible TiVo.


----------



## ratinthekitchen (May 19, 2016)

slowbiscuit said:


> There's no way in my book that the 1TB Bolt is worth the $450 extra cost, but to each his/her own.


I see the 1TB Bolt on Amazon for $299. What am I missing?


----------



## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

ratinthekitchen said:


> I see the 1TB Bolt on Amazon for $299. What am I missing?


The additional $550 for all in/lifetime service you still have to pay above the $299. The $400 for the Roamio OTA includes all in/lifetime service.


----------



## series5orpremier (Jul 6, 2013)

sterfry said:


> 700 MHz to 800 MHz was auctioned off a few years ago to mobile phone companies. 600 MHz to 700 MHz will be auctioned off later this year.


So what? That only affects UHF channels that are broadcast on frequencies above 34 which are virtually non-existent. Plus, if the buyers don't use those frequencies productively the FCC might just take it right back from them. It's happened before. I've heard the buyers will just be small shell companies of investors who don't intend to use it as anything other than an investment, hoping to get bought out by the big cell phone companies. Unless those big oligarchy companies are willing to change their business model on how they price data then any growth in usage will be limited.


----------

