Moving In

[GotWAF!]

I am moving to Columbus from MI soon (Go Bucs?). I currently have Dish, loaded with dual tuner HD, etc., have been for 9 years. I will have to switch to TWC due to we are renting for a year while we decide where to buy.

I searched this forum for newbie info and didn't find anything organized. Can I buy my own Tivo for HD DVR service? Do I need to use their receiver ahead of the the Tivo? Any other useful info you can give someone who hasn't had cable would be greatly appreciated.

By the way, in 9 years of subscribing to Dish I can count on one hand the number of times I lost service for anything; I doubt anyone with cable can claim that. I saw some posts regarding Dish and thought I would add my two cents.

Thanks to all in advance!

[TheCableGuy]

yes you can have a TiVo, most techs aren't going to know a whole great deal about connecting them because it's not our product. As far as where you place the TiVo, upstream or downstream from the STB, it all depends on what programming you are trying to record.

[DublinDoodah]

I don't have TIVO, but I've been using the Instant Replay DVR for years. It's configured to receive the channel programming for both a raw cable connection that's used by its internal tuner, and the cable box channel programming for its video-in connection. It is connected down stream from the cable box using the S-video out from the cable box. When recording analog channels, it uses its own tuner directly off the cable. When recording digital channels, it switches to the cable box input and tunes the channel on the cable box with an IR blaster (a wired IR transmitter stuck to the front of the cable box).

Of course, all of this SD. It's my understanding that the new HD TIVOs will use a cable card for each of it two tuners. You, therefore, would not need (or want) a cable box; the cable cards would provide the same functionality directly.

[tenja]

I could be mistaken, but you asked if you can buy your own Tivo for HD DVR use on TWC. There isn't a HD Tivo unit available for purchase yet. It should be out this fall called the Series 3. As Doodah said, it will use 2 cablecards in lieu of a cablebox.

If you are referring to a HD DVR from the cable company, they have them available for rental. I hear a lot of bad things when comparing their functionality and ease of use to the real Tivo boxes though. I am sure all cable companies will try to find ways to make it hard to use the Tivo boxes in the future as it will eat away from their profits.

As a last note, look into WOW cable for the area you are moving into. They have a far better HD channel lineup than TWC. As an example TWC does not have hte HD channels for ABC or FOX, they don't have ESPN2 HD or NFL network HD either if you are into sports.

[festivus]

I really liked the TWC HD DVR (the SA 8300). But then again it's the only dvr that I've ever used. The biggest failure of it in my opinion is that it can't handle an OTA input. With TWC's inability to strike a deal with sinclair for abc and fox HD, an OTA input is really needed.

And don't forget that TWC won't have the NFL Network at all, not even SD.