Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 7/29/2006, 4:25 PM
Depends on the TiVo. The ones that come with cable or satellite boxes save the incoming encrypted stream directly and play it back. Difficult to do anything with this stream, although there may be some hacks.

The models that actually encode the video do so, I think, to a variant of MPEG-2. Getting it out of the TiVo and into your computer can be easy or difficult, depending on the model. There are quite a few sites that give you all sorts of instructions on how to do this. I would love to get a TiVo or similar product, but can't stand the idea of not being able to simply and easily create DVDs from the shows I want to keep. So, for the moment, I use my computer as a TiVo. If you go to the AVS Forum you will find all sorts of information on how to build a Home Theater PC (HTPC) that will give you TiVo-like functionality and a LOT more. The only downside is that TiVo is pretty much plug-and-play, wherease the do-it-yourself HTPC is pretty geeky.
JJKizak wrote on 7/29/2006, 4:38 PM
You might check out the MY-HD-130 HDTV card (Win98,se, me, 2000, xp) You can record OTA the same way a TIVO does with some free downloads called EPG. It's not cable but it is solid in what it does. You can also play back your Vegas rendered HD1080I files if you insert them in the MY-HD folder and change the file ending from mpg to tp. The MY-HD card will play back 40 meg per sec files flawlessly on your HDTV. The card records directly to your harddrive at about 8.3 gigs per hour with 24 meg per sec settings. Also just checked the Gigabyte newly introduced motherboards and they claim perfect HD playback with the new NVIDIA control chips. Only 2 PCI slots though with one "S" video otput. Check digitalconnections.com
JJK
johnmeyer wrote on 7/29/2006, 7:36 PM
Thanks for the recommendations!
Jameson_Prod wrote on 7/30/2006, 2:53 PM
I LOVE TIVO!!!!

I have 4 at my house...all networked....my computer reads the TIVos...my tivos read the computer....I'm addicted!!!!

If you are familar with Unix or Linux it is not very hard to "hack" a tivo and get to the vidoes as long as you have a hackable tivo. Took me about a week to learn it from scratch. My last tivo I hacked took about an hour. (DirecTv R10 and R15 can't be hacked). The file format is called a tystream (*.ty). Basically it is their version of a mpeg wrapper.

Here are a few sites that I visit that will help you get started if you are really interested in getting to the video.

Tivo Community
Steve Jenkins How To
DealDatabase Forum


I have callerid set up on them (shows number on the TV). I preview my videos from Vegas on the TV without burning DVDs. I've got some cool video from the tivos to use in my videos. Did I mention I was addicted???

Have fun!!


fldave wrote on 7/30/2006, 7:42 PM
I have had a Dish PVR (which TIVO successfully sued for patent infringement) for several years. There is a network port on the back which I have never connected, and is labeled "future use" or something like that. I figured it was hacking, and could not easily find what to do with the port on the net.

I love it. Pause live shows, record shows, back up and start recording a show. Pausing is the single most impressive change in lifestyle.

I have a set-top DVD recorder that I record shows to for the ones I want to keep. No problems. I also have the S-Video/audio from the Dish box linked to my PC to record, I can select what ever format I want to capture to, if I want to combine things into one MPG.
DGates wrote on 7/30/2006, 7:57 PM
I'm way too addicted to my DVR.

I find I want to rewind the news radio in the car, and people when they're talking to me in person.