Time to say goodbye.....

[socrates]

After 11 years or so I'm about to retire my TiVo. For the last month I have forced myself not to use it so as to give myself time to get used to the Humax HDR T2 which will take over. It wasn't easy - the TiVo remote just feels so right, the buttons and on screen menus are so natural that even in the dark and after a bottle of wine I can operate it without thinking ( or having to put on my specs ). In comparison the Humax remote and display does feel overcomplicated - it's the difference between TV oriented design and computer thinking.

But..... the Humax is undoubtedly more capable. It does pretty much everything the TiVo does ( albeit sometimes not as elegantly ) and quite a bit more besides. It has HD, twin tuners, rock solid Freeview reception, built in networking and so on. I can't really justify keeping two other boxes running ( TiVo plus its slave Freeview box ). And whilst the TiVo itself is as reliable as ever I'm sick of the constant lock ups and sound drop outs of the Freeview STB.

It's a sad day. I wasn't ready to say goodbye last year when the UK service was shut down so a big thanks to all who kept the service going. But time to move on.....

[ByTheCringe]

My TiVo's front end is clobbered, so I cannot use it to record programmes. Nevertheless, I find it essential for finding the programmes that I then record on my Sky +HD box. Humaxes are fine, and I find the programmes for mine mainly from Radio Times. But I so value TiVo Suggestions, and especially Wishlist. And for programmes on Sky, the Sky EPG is virtually useless, especially now it has been "improved" to only have 8 rows of data. So I scan the channels on TiVo, and then just set up the Sky box from the results.

You too could use your TiVo in this manner, you don't need to have a Freeview box connected. I am surprised that you can part with Wishlist - you must surely need to see when programmes that you missed are being repeated, and there is no competitor to TiVo for this.

[mrtickle]

Indeed. There was an article on The Register yesterday about the new freesat interface, which continues to miss the point: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/06/tv_interfacing/

TiVo is better at finding recordings then everything else put together. Not just Wishlists and Suggestions, but the way basic Season Passes work by filtering duplicates and finding alternatives as a continuous endless background task, not a once-only chance when you initially set a recording manually and there is a clash. The competition's method of throwing extra tuners at the problem doesn't work properly, because they don't get the problem.

[socrates]

It's true the TiVo still does some things better than the Humax, primarily finding programmes as you say above. However I never used its suggestions in all the years I had it; it just never appealed to me. Wishlists were good - I didn't often use them but it was so impressive to put in a part remembered film title and then when you had forgotten all about it it would appear on Now Playing. And season passes were simple and reliable, there was never any issue with it failing to pick up a new season of a programme which had been off air for months.

On the Humax some of these functions aren't as slick or are missing but it looks as though they can be added via custom firmware. I never felt the need to tinker with the TiVo since it did all I wanted straight from the box. But clearly modern kit has shifted to a computer midset away from the TiVo's consumer TV one. Not all progress I agree. But keeping TiVo going just as an electronic Radio Times doesn't seem worthwhile.

When I switch TiVo off ( no I haven't yet ) I won't junk it - just in case I wake up in a few months time and find I've ditched my first love for a trophy wife.

[mrtickle]

When I switch TiVo off ( no I haven't yet ) I won't junk it - just in case I wake up in a few months time and find I've ditched my first love for a trophy wife.

[johnscott99]

I've got two TiVos and one Humax HDR T2.

Humax = 500mb +2Tb external
TiVo1 = 240Gb
Tivo2 = 500gb

We watch Humax for most TV in the living room.

Then we see that a TV show has started and we have forgotten to set a recording (Worlds most dangerous roads, Jools Holland etc). Flick onto TiVo and bless it, it's already recorded it - 'cos it knows what we like and it loves us nearly as much as we love it.

Then when large sporting events are on, we simple cannot record 8 hours a day on the Humax. Reliable, massive TiVo is there like an old friend recording the entire showing of Wimbledon on BBC1 - then BBC2 - every day. Olympics were the same.

Music festivals are another excuse to fill up the TiVo with hours and hours of footage of the backs of muddy teenagers in front of groups I have never heard of.

In the bedroom we have TiVo dedicated to shows we watch in bed as we fall asleep. Half hour US comedy shows (Big Bang, 2 Broke Girls, New Girl etc) or hour long crime dramas (CSI, person of interest etc) and documentaries (Serial killers, COPS etc).

At Christmas all three are recording every minute of dross that we can filter through at our leisure.

In total I have 5 devices that can record 6 channels as we watch a 7th.

Truly mental.

[GaryF]

I've also got the Humax box which sits on top of the TiVo, but we use it more as a repository for items that we want to keep forever (e.g. films). It will be useful when we can receive HD next month. However, TiVo is still the most used on a day-to-day basis. We also have the ability to control it via a second remote from the bedroom too so we can watch upstairs.

Don't get rid of it - it has done a lot for you over the years and not quite ready for retirement!

All the best,
Gary.