My one sentence take on TiVo’s new baby? Pretty damned good. Read on for the details.
Impressions
- My Setup – TiVo Series 2 w/Linksys WiFi adapter, 2.5GHz/1GB Windows XP box with way too much crap running on it, Linksys wired/wireless router.
- Getting Started – Pretty much as simple as it gets. My TiVo was already connected to the network via WiFi (to free up the phone line), so all I had to do was install TiVo Desktop 2.0 on my PC, punch in the Media Access Key provided on TiVo’s website, and I was done.
- Using It – I clicked the “Pick Recordings to Transfer” button in TiVo Desktop, waited for a minute, and up came a list of every show currently residing on the box in the next room. I checked off the shows I wanted to download, clicked “Start Transfer”, and again, I was done. That’s really, truly all there is to it.
- Performance – Despite some very odd reports elsewhere, I’ve found the transfer speed to be completely in line with expectations. Videos download at an approximate .5MB/second clip over 802.11b, meaning that a thirty minute sitcom recorded at Basic quality can be downloaded at greater-than-realtime speeds, while a Best quality basketball game is slower than realtime.
- PC Experience – I’ve got stuff on my Series 2 that dates back to 2003 –Nickel Creek performance from PBS, an uncut HBO airing of Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet, some Spring Break stuff– that I don’t want hogging up TiVo’s hard drive, but can’t bear to delete. No problem with T2G, which is fantastic. The analog S-video is slightly fuzzy when viewed on a computer monitor, but that’s the nature of the beast, and no big deal. Fast-forward and rewind are kinda clunky on my machine with Windows Media Player 10… on Best quality recordings in particular, there is a several-second pause between moving the progress slider and the show actually jumping to the new point in the timeline.
- Burning DVDs – I haven’t tried this, for two reasons: my Sony DVD burner died recently, and I really don’t have any interest. Burning DVDs of already-digital video is a complete waste of time in most cases… we have huge hard drives to hold that stuff, drives that provide better response times and greater convenience. The only time I bother is when it comes to passing around copies of a my vacation videos or something similar.
- Missing Stuff – T2G doesn’t include an MPEG2 codec of its own, so if your computer didn’t ship with a DVD player app, you’re probably going to need to pony up for one to view .tivo files. Very annoying, that. The inability to move shows to the TiVo box is regrettable… personally, that leaves me in the market for some kind of streaming device, a task I’d rather leave to TiVo. And the (so far) lack of 802.11g support is a big flaw, since it would allow Best quality recordings to fly across the network. None of these are deal-breakers, in my opinion, but they should all go on the corporate To Do List.
Tests
- Sealab 2021 – Basic quality – 15m program length – 7m download time
- I Love the 90s – Basic quality – 60m program length – 27m download time
- Star Trek: Enterprise – Medium quality – 60m program length – 45m download time
- NBA Basketball – Best quality – 90m program length (partial recording) – 135m download time
Basically, if you do most of your recording at the lower quality levels, you’ll be content with T2G’s performance. In our house, the only things that get recorded at higher-than-Medium quality are sporting events and the occasional movie, so this works out just fine.
Dissenting Voices
Contrary to my experience, some folks really dislike T2G.
TiVoNotToGo: Dave offers the following complaints, tied to his assertion that T2G is inferior to a VCR:
Some shows can be tagged as non-transferrable, such as pay-per-view and some premium programming, meaning you can’t watch them on your computer at all (whereas a videotape can record anything).
Try recording a Macrovision-scrambled program with a VCR some time, Dave. It’ll record, sure, but you won’t want to watch the results. DRM has been with us for some time, and it’s only going to get worse. And for the record, I’ve yet to find any tagged programming amidst my own recordings.
All video requires a “media key” to be unencrypted. This is to prohibit sharing the content, and doing so may result in your account being revoked (whereas a videotape requires no such bullshit).
Neither does a DVD, which you can burn from a T2G file.
The video is not in a standard format and requires special software to operate… currently only available for Windows 2000 or Windows XP (whereas a videotape will work on any VCR without special conditions).
Unless it’s a Beta tape. Or Hi8. Or D8. Or DV. Or S-VHS. Or HD-VHS.
The TiVoToGo service will only work from specific players, meaning those of us with DirecTV boxes that have TiVo built-in or multiple tuners are shit-out-of-luck (whereas a VCR is a VCR is a VCR).
See above. An HD tape will only work in an HD VCR… this is not a flaw in the technology, it’s common sense.
Thomas Hawk: Links to some negative reviews and has the following to add.
As the owner of two unsupported TiVotoGo units, an old Series One model and a current DirecTV HDTV model, I find it questionable that TiVo would choose to spend the last year working on something that works for less than half of their users at the expense of developing other things (like a dual tuner standalone TiVo for instance).
As the owner of two ancient Series 1 TiVos (one of which has been unplugged in the corner for two years now), I don’t find anything questionable about TiVo’s efforts with T2G. The old boxes are too underpowered to do anything more than basic recording chores, so they can’t be upgraded. And of course, DirecTV won’t allow the DTiVos to upgraded… they’d all be updated tomorrow if it was up to TiVo HQ.
As for a hypothetical dual-tuner standalone, two quick points:
- What makes you think they haven’t been working on just that over the last year? The hardware engineering and marketing involved is no small task for a tiny company with no real profit on the horizon. Their next piece of hardware will be the one that makes or breaks the company, so I doubt they’ve been ignoring it.
- Bear in mind that a new standalone is something that would work for even less than half of their users… anyone still running a Series 1 or a DTiVo is unlikely to switch to a standalone any time soon.