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

[Randy Edwards]

 > Those of you here who are already using MythTV, how do you find it
 > works in day-to-day usage?

   Brilliantly.  I have a back end on Debian Etch/Testing with 3 tuners (a 
PVR-350 and a PVR-500) and while the IVTV drivers aren't the most stable, I 
have very, very little problem with the system.  Once every few weeks it'll 
need a cold boot; the biggest "problem" is for me to resist the temptation to 
play with the OS and to upgrade things. :-)

 >  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.

   The install is, IMHO, a PITA, but yes, you'll overcome that.  The usage is 
where it shines.  You'll likely be very pleased on that score.

 > 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.

   Yup, that's been my mindset, and Myth has met that criteria well.  It's 
completely revamped the way I watch TV.  The number of hours watched has 
fallen a lot, but the quality of what I watch has skyrocketed.  I'm in a 
habit of scanning through the "new" listing once every two weeks to tag what 
looks interesting, and there's always something good on -- I no longer have a 
clue as to when anything is on; everything is on my schedule.

   And the impact it's had on my four year old son is also dramatic.  He 
doesn't have a clue about something "not being on now" and his exposure to 
advertising (Myth's commercial skipping is a godsend!) is nil.  For example, 
he called me from the kitchen the other day hollaring about a clown he saw on 
some TV show.  When I walked in, it was a Nickelodeon show I didn't have 
tagged for commercial skipping and he saw Ronald McDonald.  It took a second 
for it to dawn on me that he wasn't on a firstname basis with Ronald. :-)

   My advice would be to set it up on a box.  I think the biggest "quirk" Myth 
has is in changing channels on "live TV" (it takes a few seconds because it's 
really not "live TV"), but it's solid, loaded with features, and will likely 
completely rewrite the way you watch TV.

 Regards,
 .
 Randy

-- 
Fast fact: The US minimum wage today is lower, in inflation-adjusted dollars, 
than in 1979.