TIVO Premier
 

Want.

Cool. I might need to upgrade my HDTivo.

Gawd do I want! Sadly, I just purchased a TiVo HD XL five weeks ago.
%$&@#!

Wow, the article says TiVo didn't post a profit until 2008 and hasn't been able to sustain since. For a brand that's become the "Band-Aid" and "Kleenex" of its product type, it's shocking.

Definitely WANT that qwerty remote, at least.

I still have a series2 with an [old skool] lifetime subscription on it. Trying to nurse it along until I get a bigger TV, then I can upgrade everything.

I'm digging the Netflix streaming capability since I was looking at getting a Rouku awhile ago (and never did) and the internet streaming would be awesome, if it works like I think it will (you can watch Hulu and other streaming TV shows on it).

A few months ago that would have been very attractive. But we have since connected a PC directly to the TV, and upgraded to an HD video card. Gives us pretty much all of that functionality, and more. It might be slightly clunkier than having it all in one box with TiVo's excellent interface, but not $300 less.

I was looking into doing this, but I'm not sure my TV or the PC I want to use can handle it. Can you point me in the right direction for info? Or tell me what I need? Ya, I know it's a stupid question coming from someone in IT. I fail.

The only thing special I added to ours was an HD Video card with an HDMI output. I got this one. Good price at ~$50 (I actually got it on sale for $35), no moving fan so no noise issues, and unless you plan on doing any serious gaming, perfectly good picture quality for viewing video content.

You can even set it up to be dual-monitor so you can watch TV and do other stuff at the same time.

Mind you, we're not using the PC as a DVR, sticking with TiVo for that. Can't help you much there. MythTV has a good rep, but it's somewhat of a pain to get running on Windows. SnapStream is a Windows option, no idea if it's any good. Nor do I know how well any of those options work (or if at all) with cable box vs. cablecard.

What I was thinking of doing was just using the PC to stream Netflix and Hulu onto the TV. I have a fairly old desktop that would need an upgrade in RAM and perhaps a new video card. But I wasn't planning on using it as a PC anymore (or a TIVO).

In my head I think I just need to get a cable to go from the monitor output on the computer (serial) into the monitor input on the TV (S-Video) and maybe a different video card. My TV is the same one I've had for years. I'm not concerned about HD at this point.

Well, as a current TiVo user, I can get a 20% break on a new box. But, as they always do, I cannot transfer my lifetime subscription.

Other than SCHEDULING a recording of internet material, I don't really see what more I would be getting (other than expanded choices of internet material). I can already search for and play You Tube material and get NetFlix movies. What am I missing?