TiVO?

[telophase]

TiVo's running a deal right now where you get a free TiVo for signing up for a year or more's plan. I'm tempted, but the technical issues and what-all I have to buy in order to get my setup to work are a bit daunting at the moment. Any help, in very short words, would be appraciated.



I have:

• one crappy TV whose cable-input RF jack is loose and therefore I can't use it if I want to see the screen clearly, and thus have to use the RCA jacks.*


• a box that the cable from the wall, the cables from the DVD player, and the cable from the PS2 run into, which then plugs into the TV via RCA cables. I have to hit buttons on it to switch from TV to watching a DVD of playing the PS2. I am probably going to have to get a 4-way one anyway, but that's no biggie.


• a digital cable box from Ygnition.com, whose FAQ says I can use it with TiVo.


• no land phone line. I have no phone service set up. I use my cell exclusively.


• a cable modem with one connection - Toby had to unplug my connection to plug his laptop in.

What else do I need? TiVo says I need a network connection, that broadband works just fine - I could go the wireless route, but I think that's a it mroe money than it's worth at this point in time. TiVo says:

Wired network connection: If you have broadband and you want to use a wired connection, connect a wired USB network adapter (sold separately) to one of the USB ports on the DVR. Connect one end of an Ethernet cable (also sold separately) to the Ethernet connector on the adapter, and connect the other end to a port on your network hub or router. Refer to All Wired Network Adapters for a list of compatible adapters.

I'm gathering that I need to buy:

• TiVo box (with $220 rebate) - $0


• TiVo service for 1 year or more - $199/1 year, $299/2 or 3-year


• a new RCA switch box, because I want four plugs instead of two - $20


• a USB to Ethernet adapter for the Tivo to attach the Ethernet cable - $30


• an Ethernet cable that will reach from the TiVo to my computer - $20


• [12:04] toby: an ethernet cable to go from the router [he refers to the cable modem here, I think] to the switch (since you'll need your current one to go from the PC to the swtich) - $20


• a switch for the cable modem, so I can plug in my computer and the TiVo at the same time - $30


• [12:05] toby: and I'd recommend a cable guard (found at Office (Max|Depot) or Wal-Mart, etc.) to go across the floor

Am I missing anything?

* The TV claims it's "digital," but I think that's a brand name - there's certainly nothing digital about it.

Comments

[jspurlin.livejournal.com]

be sure and investigate the DRM considerations of the new tivos. There are a lot of catches to it... you can't keep stuff recorded more than a certain amount of time, things like that...

[telophase.livejournal.com]

OK, will do. Thanks.

[chisotahn]

I can't help you with the tech stuff, but our Tivo (obtained about three years ago) is made of awesome and of win. We almost never watch anything live anymore. Death to commercials! Doom to missing my TV shows! All... two of them!

Okay, so the others in my family use it way more than me, but it is still made of win.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Being able to stack up shows I miss without having to find and download them, especially when it's things that don't have a lot of net popularity - the local PBS station is airing Jonathan Creek on Fridays, but I never remember to watch until too late - would be wonderful. And I'm thinking this may be my Christmas present to myself this year.

[chisotahn]

Ours was a Christmas present from my dad to my mom.

She was... dubious at first. My mom + technology != OTP. But even she learned to use it, which is saying something.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

I think you've got everything. Also, I think a wired connection is better for you than wireless since in addition to being cheaper, I am pretty sure it is also faster. Assuming, that is, that you want to transfer data between the TiVo and your computer. Given new DRM considerations, I don't know if the new TiVos allow that. But with my current setup, transfers are sloooow, and apparently would be even worse with wireless.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

They advertise the ability to watch a show on your computer while the kids are watching one in the living room, so I think they do allow it. :)

Anyway: yay. Now I just have to add up how much it will all cost. I'd probably end up dropping $300 on the 3-year contract, just because it's the same price as the 2-year contract right now. But ... it seems weird to lock myself down for 3 years. Hrm.

[tprjones.livejournal.com]

I also have multiple RCA inputs to deal with, but instead of a switcher box I went to a pawn shop and for $20 picked up an old VCR that had three sets of RCA inputs running into it. It eats tapes, so it's sole purpose is to act as a switcher box with a remote control, at which it does a fine job. And since the TiVo input is going into it through a cable connection, three sets of RCA jacks are sufficient for my needs.

If you do this, be sure to find one with a remote control you like, and preferrably one that is compatible for also controlling your television and/or DVD player. It acts as my main remote, with the TiVo remote being the only other one I need regularly, and I like that remote quite a bit.

As to the ethernet setup, by switch do you mean a type of routher, or an actual physical switch that you move by hand from PC to TIVO? If the latter, I would urge you to consider the former as I imagine switching it to TIVO and forcing an update on a daily basis would become very tiresome. TiVo is very well designed for the common tasks of recording and watching programs, but navigating the systems menus in it's bowels for things like forcing updates can be a pain.

If a router is beyond your desires, another option may be letting your computer act as a server to the TiVo. As long as you generally leave your comptuer on at all times, then the only added cost here would be a second ethernet card in your machine to plug the TiVo in to (thus leaving your current setup otherwise unchanged). I'm not familiar with how good XP is at serving it's connection to other devices, though, so this may be more trouble than it's worth.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

My personal techieboy tells me that my cable modem is a router and that I would be able to plug the TiVo into it if it only had another ethernet port, and that using a switch to connect it would allow me to plug the computer and the TiVo in at the same time and not have to fuss with it ever again.

Please keep in mind that I only have the vaguest idea about hardware and what it does. What I want is a list that I can take into Best Buy, Office Depot, or whatever, present it to the clerk, and buy it, take it home, and plug it in. I'm not interested in hacks any more complex than the RCA switch because I don't want to fuss with it (I wouldn't be using that, and chain everything together instead, except that I can't use the RF jack in the TV). I'm trying to get a list here so I don't buy the wrong thing, or unnecessary things, or something more expensive/complicated than the most basic. (Yeah, I've not had good experiences with electronics clerks, who assume I either know way more than I do or that I'm an idiot and in both cases I end up with the wrong stuff.)

[tprjones.livejournal.com]

Ah, in that case I am afraid my suggestions have been of little value. Would that I could correct this, yet it seems you do indeed have everything under control and are not in need of my humbly limited expertise.

On an unrelated note, I simply must stop reading so much Steven Brust. It seems that my own more conversational style of expression has been inadvertantly and unconsciously ursurped by a more cumbersome prose. Fortunately my own inability to spell accurately can provide some comfort, in that regardless of how many unneccessary words I cannot stop myself from adding to my responses I can take solace in the number of them that are not real words at all due to such imperfections.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

What I need to know now is: if I take this list into a store, is the clerk going to ask me the same things about the switch/router that you did? Or is he going to point me to a rack of little boxy things and say "Choose the one that's the price you want"?

[tprjones.livejournal.com]

Probably not. My own experience with such devices has been rather limited to full routers, and while I have passing acquantence with the concepts involved I've never used a basic switch such as Toby has described. No doubt any salesman with any knowledge will not have the confusion I have in this matter.

However, there are some rather clueless salesmen out there, especially at the larger chain stores, so I could be mistaken. Let the price be your guide: if the switch you are expecting to find costs around $30 and the salesman points you to a $90-$120 router, then it should be immediately obvious that he is in error.

If he somehow points you to a $30 router, then tell me where, as that's a pretty good deal. :)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I have no idea if a router will ever be up on the site, but http://www.freeafterrebate.info/ seems to be nifty. XD If I were only in the market for any of the products they're offering, I would be buying them like mad. (But this is where I came across the TiVo deal this morning.)

[tprjones.livejournal.com]

omg that is awesome! Thanks for the link!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

* I don't use XP at home. I use Win2K Pro.

[(Anonymous)]

By switch, I meant Ethernet switch (as in OSI Layer 2). Not the same thing as a router (Layer 3 - IP), though they're often sold as one device. Can't say I've ever heard of a physical Ethernet switch (like the RCA switch already mentioned).

Her cable modem acts as her router, but only has one Ethernet port on it. A 4-port switch will accomodate her PC and TiVo with room to spare.

-Toby