Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)

[Tom Buskey]

On 11/7/06, Ben Scott <dragonhawk at gmail.com> wrote:


>   At the same time, though, my Series 2 box is starting to show signs
> of old age.  I suspect at least one of the hard drives is going bad --
> perhaps both, since they are identical models purchased and installed
> at the same time.  But even if I get away with just one drive

Drive replacement isn't hard.  I upped my 2 40GB units to 80GB and
160GB in one day.  I could've kept the 40s as 2nd drives too.

> replacement, I'd still like dual tuners, still more capacity, better
> performance, more features, etc.  The S3 would give me that, and TiVo
> has always been a joy to use.

S3 takes away 1 feature that S2 had: Tivo2go.  In order to get the
HDTV and the CableCard, Tivo had to give up the ability to transfer
and burn to DVD.

I'm not sure the MultiRoom viewing thing is available either.

For me, that clearly puts MythTV (which I don't have) better.  I have
2 Tivos and transfer from one to another all the time.  I've
pushed/pulled shows off to Tivo Desktop to pull back later and have
burned DVDs to watch later.

I'd like to rip my DVDs to a file server running galleon or tivo
desktop so I can transfer movies to the tivos and my kids never handle
another DVD again.  Think MP3 jukebox for DVDs.

There are some contortions to go to/from DVD but it can be done.
MythTV just does MPEG-2 right? So it would be easier.  And "kludges"
like Tivo Desktop and Galleon are not needed.

>   Those of you here who are already using MythTV, how do you find it
> works in day-to-day usage?
>
>   I'm not as concerned with how hard it is to set-up -- I'm confident
> I can figure that out.  What I want to avoid is something that's a
> pain to *use*, or that I have to tinker with to keep it working, or
> that fails to record programs properly, etc.  If I'm watching TV, it
> means I want to take my brain off-hook for awhile.  :-)  So I want it
> to behave like a good appliance -- something that, once installed,
> stays working for long periods of time.

As you know, Tivo has a high SAF (Spousal Approval Factor - Neil Cherry).

It seems to me MythTV needs some $$ up front for the hardware but
after that runs "forever".  The Tivo you can get for "free" with a
prepaid one year subscription ($16.95/mo or $6.95 if you have more
then one).  Plus the Tivo hardware is designed to sit nice and quietly
on top of the TV and look good.