# R15 on "Ellen"



## Curtis52 (Oct 14, 2003)

From another board:

"Just watching Ellen since today is a holiday and her guest Allison Hannagan and Ellen had a long discussion about how Allison was obsessed with Tivo and when her box died she called her sattelite co for a new one and they sent her a box "that was not Tivo". She refered to it as "this box that was not Tivo. It said DVR" and how much she hates it . Great free advertsement for Tivo and nice dig at crappy(directTV) generic dvrs. Ellen also had a long dicussion with Penny Marshall about Tivo (she has three). "


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

And I make all my life decision based on what I see on the Ellen show.
Oprah maybe... but not Ellen..

Anyway..

TiVo set the bar at a good level. 
At list point, in more then enough areas the R15 has fallen short. In others, it has past it.

ANYONE that is switching from a TiVo to the R15 interface is going to have problems. Simple natural fact of changing from one system to another.

I love how people call this a "generic" DVR..... What is so "generic" about it compared to the TiVo... Sure some things are not as refinded... but "generic" ?
(to each their own)

But lets see... out of the big three carriers... (DirecTV, DishNetwork, Cable-Co's as a whole).

DirecTV has their own DVR platform now
Dishnetwork has ALWAYS had their own DVR platform 
Cable-Co's if they offered one, it was their own DVR platform.

TiVo at the time, was just able to tap into the analog feeds, and provide "generic" guide data to make it work. Then they got the integrated gig with DirecTV... and bottom line.. without that, TiVo probably wouldn't be where they are at today (from a market penetration point of view).

I know I certainly could not have afforded to have 10 SA units, to do the same work my 5 DTivos did...

IMHO... TiVo should have stuck to what they did best.. the software, the brains of the system... and developed it to be an OEM solution for multiple vendors.

T3 (TiVo Series 3), is going to be the make or brake for TiVo the company. And I am going to be curious to see what the difference is between the Series 3, and the TiVo / Comcast combo unit.

Either way...


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## directvfreak (Feb 1, 2006)

What air date was it? Can i find that days recording somewhere?


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## Curtis52 (Oct 14, 2003)

directvfreak said:


> What air date was it? Can i find that days recording somewhere?


I did a search on my DTiVo. Judging by the names of the guests, it looks like it will be on again 2-27 on the Oxygen channel.


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## ISWIZ (Nov 18, 2005)

Earl Bonovich said:


> ANYONE that is switching from a TiVo to the R15 interface is going to have problems. Simple natural fact of changing from one system to another....


OK Earl, anyone monitoring this and other forums is able to see that is not the main problem people have dealing with the R15. (We shall no longer not tell the Emporer he has no clothes)



Earl Bonovich said:


> IMHO... TiVo should have stuck to what they did best.. the software, the brains of the system... and developed it to be an OEM solution for multiple vendors.


The same should be said for DTV, they should have stuck to what they do best, provide content....the data stream, the programming.... and let other vendors provide the software, the brains of the system.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

ISWIZ....

I agree (with regards to switching from TiVo to R15)... and for most of us, it isn't the problem anymore... but it is the problem for the about 90% of the first users of the R15... until they find the other issues 

As for doing what they do best... I don't have much of an argument for that... I have always liked the "open" method for doing things.

You do X,Y,Z the best you can do it and conform to some standards.
You do A,B,C the best you can do based on those standards to generate 1,2,3 output.

There is not one person or company, that can do EVERYTHING great, they can come close... but.....

But either way, both companies (actually all of them) have chosen their path... 

In all honesty... If you would have asked me three years ago... I would have figured DirecTV would have purchased TiVo (the company).

For me... still not time to give up on the R15 yet.. but then again, I am not like other users. My R15 still supliments my TV viewing, my HR10-250 is my primary unit.


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## Wolffpack (Jul 29, 2003)

As I see it, DTV has taken steps backwards while at the same time Cable Cos and Tivo has been taking steps forward.

DTV goes from having Tivo DVRs to again, reinventing the wheel. Drops Tivo and lowers their standards to that of Dish and the cable companies buggy DVR offerings.

Meanwhile Tivo has wanted to offer their hardware to vendors other than DTV and IIRC that MAY be one of the reasons DTV and TIvo parted ways.

So now Tivo has a deal with Comcast, and the Series 3 will have some version of a cablecard slot. Cable is now poised to pull in the Tivo technology that DTV just dumped.

I'm not certain of the future, but it seems that DTV is somewhat lost at this stage.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

I am still curious to see the threads:

My Comcast-TiVo can do this, can't do this.
But my Series 3 Cable Card can do this, can't do this....

Why can't I do all of it on my T3... 

Let's just agree that, DVRs in 2006 is the year of the DVR transition..


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## Alexandrepsf (Oct 26, 2005)

Well after a long period of absence from this forum because of extensive work, I am back. During last week I tried to read the threads on this forum and catch up on what is said in here.

First let me say, I am very frustrated with R15 as it is full of bug, although I should say that the latest update 109f in my eyes fixed (*SO FAR*) one of the most annoying bugs of the bug. 
The bug was about some recorded items not being shown in the MyVOD list, although they were recorded, I had to go to the list and leave it several times in a row, and all in sudden the recorded items were showing. I did not see this hapening again since the update.

Earl, first thanks for all the helps that you bring to the users, but i do not agree on your conception of transition year for the DVRS. It is for sure the transition year for D* in this matter as they want to have their homemade box, but DVRs have been there for long while now, and with Tivo having a solid and functional box DVRs are defeinetly out of any transition or test period.

D* hit and missed on the launch of their DVR, let's just hope that they are smart enough to turn around and offer their user a solid HD-DVR box. 
If it does not happen I personally am ready to leave D* (after 7 years) as I hate big corporations who do not care about their users. I am ready to take the hit and pay the penalty fee if i have to (it is less than the amount I would pay for three month of utilization) but I would not let them screw with me again.
As an example, when I called and talked about my frustration about their box the CSR told me take a look at Dish and their DVR box, it is worse. Why should I care about something that I do not pay for?

Anyway, good to be back, :O)

Alex


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

Alexandrepsf said:


> Earl, first thanks for all the helps that you bring to the users, but i do not agree on your conception of transition year for the DVRS. It is for sure the transition year for D* in this matter as they want to have their homemade box, but DVRs have been there for long while now, and with Tivo having a solid and functional box DVRs are defeinetly out of any transition or test period.


Your welcome.... and that is all cool that you disagree with me.

My statement was not so much on the "theory" and usage of DVRs... more so on the that pretty much accross the board, every major vendor out there is going to have a DVR offering in 2006

Dish is now rolling out there new one.
DirecTV as we know started with the R15, with the HR20 and maybe the Home Media Center and Microsoft offerings at the end of the year
The Cable-Co's are rolling out new stuff... and with the T3 comming this year, it offers the DIGITAL cable users an opportunity to jump into the game.

The core theory behind the DVRs... not changing. Schedule/Record... Which for what ever reason, the R15 isn't performing at a 100% level yet.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

Alexandrepsf said:


> As an example, when I called and talked about my frustration about their box the CSR told me take a look at Dish and their DVR box, it is worse. Why should I care about something that I do not pay for?


100% correct. Period, end of story... as the rule of thumb that we as people follow... You can't point a finger, without three others pointing back at you...


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## mikewolf13 (Jan 31, 2006)

Curtis52 said:


> From another board:
> 
> "Just watching Ellen since ...."


ironically, I had set my R15 to record that show......but it didn't


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## franco (Nov 6, 2003)

Am I the only one who has a fully functional R15 and loving it??? My main DVR background was with dish. When we moved they could not get it right so I went to cable.....for about a month!! Found their DVR archaic and the PQ Sub par...
along comes DTV and I get .....oh golly!!! A TIVO!!!! Well after 3 hard drive problem R10'S and one with a SAt 1 feed fried I thought it best to purchase an R15. SO FAR THE UNIT HAS DONE EVERYTHING EXPECTED!! I did have the ocassional caller ID glitch but even that is fine now...and I'm on 190A!!

The R15 is everything I need and want in a DVR ......and for me at least..It WORKS!!!

Frankl


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## Melquiades (Feb 19, 2006)

I'm with you, Frank. I've had the DCR for more than 2 months and it has yet to skip a recording or freeze up or do anything I don't want it to do.

My one complaint is the layout and responsiveness of the remote. Otherwise I'm thrilled.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

Franco... I hear you... there are a good number of people that have had ZERO problems.

But there are problems in there... They just may or may not have affected you based on your recording selections.

Hence why, Myself and others have a lot of hope for the unit.


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## Wolffpack (Jul 29, 2003)

mikewolf13 said:


> ironically, I had set my R15 to record that show......but it didn't


Classic. :icon_lol:


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## Mike770 (Mar 1, 2004)

I have had my R15 since November 2005. I also have not had any problems with the DVR freezing. 

I did have a Directivo and I was sort of spoiled by that in the sense that it recorded as it should. 

The only issue with the R15 is that is records EVERYTHING as opposed to "first run only". Once they have that issue sorted , all will be good. 

I actually find the GUI on the R15 much better that the Tivo. 

I guess the word of the day with the R15 is PATIENCE. :grin:

edit: Spelling


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## Capmeister (Sep 16, 2003)

Earl Bonovich said:


> DirecTV has their own DVR platform now
> Dishnetwork has ALWAYS had their own DVR platform


Yes. That's the main reason I left DISH. It wasn't the price of Dish--they're about the same. It wasn't the channels--they're about the same. It was getting a DVR that WORKS--that I need not worry about.

When DirecTV makes me give up my TIVOs, I'll go to whomever has the best working recorder. That may be Dish, it may be cable, but I can't spend my life betatesting for ANYONE, and I won't. I'll either have something that works, or they won't have my business.


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

"D* fans, welcome to our nightmare......."

A longsuffering E* subscriber who has had flaky satellite company made receivers a lot longer than you guys.....


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## Clint Lamor (Nov 15, 2005)

franco said:


> Am I the only one who has a fully functional R15 and loving it??? My main DVR background was with dish. When we moved they could not get it right so I went to cable.....for about a month!! Found their DVR archaic and the PQ Sub par...
> along comes DTV and I get .....oh golly!!! A TIVO!!!! Well after 3 hard drive problem R10'S and one with a SAt 1 feed fried I thought it best to purchase an R15. SO FAR THE UNIT HAS DONE EVERYTHING EXPECTED!! I did have the ocassional caller ID glitch but even that is fine now...and I'm on 190A!!
> 
> The R15 is everything I need and want in a DVR ......and for me at least..It WORKS!!!
> ...


Franco,

I don't have a ton of issues with mine, my major complaint is that it records too many episodes of SL's that I have for First Run. Mine has been pretty solid. I would say it's about on par with when I got my first TiVo some time back. I had issues with that box also and still do as of today. I think my TiVo is a more mature product at this point in time but I can't say it's a better product.


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## Curtis52 (Oct 14, 2003)

The episode in question is on tonight on Oxygen at 11:00 Eastern.


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## ISWIZ (Nov 18, 2005)

And Tivo in their infinite wisdom is now "fairly soon" offering to "give out boxes for free" in order to stay afloat. It was something they should have done oh say, 3 years ago and then no one would have looked at another DVR without Tivo. As we've seen, a free DVR trumps most of what you have to pay for (if you've never had one).


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## Curtis52 (Oct 14, 2003)

ISWIZ said:


> And Tivo in their infinite wisdom is now offering to "give out boxes for free" in order to stay afloat.


As far as I know, this is not true.


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## ISWIZ (Nov 18, 2005)

Curtis52 said:


> As far as I know, this is not true.


USA Today lied???

Posted 2/27/2006 5:47 PM

TiVo may test giving away boxes
NEW YORK (Reuters) - TiVo, the television recording technology company that is facing increasing competition, Monday said it is considering giving away TiVo set-top boxes as part of plans to win subscribers.
Chief Executive Tom Rogers said the company, whose name has become synonymous with the ability to pause live television and skip commercials, was close to offering a range of pricing options, including one plan that would include a free set-top box.

"We're continuing to pursue the prospects of zero upfront and all upfront" pricing, Rogers told the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in New York.

The company is likely to begin the test to offer free boxes, possibly in exchange for higher priced and longer term plans, fairly soon, said Rogers, who was named chief executive last July.

TiVo currently serves about 4 million subscribers, including about a two-thirds from partner DirecTV Group Inc.. It is under pressure from Wall Street to expand its customer base as DirecTV is readying its own digital video recorders.

TiVo also faces competition from far bigger cable and satellite TV providers and consumer electronics makers, all of whom are offering rival digital video recorders to consumers. Many of the devices are more powerful than TiVo's and are offered at lower prices - sometimes for free.

The company says its service, which costs most users about $13 a month, is superior, thanks to options such as a system that is easy for consumers to use.


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## Curtis52 (Oct 14, 2003)

ISWIZ said:


> USA Today lied???


I read that yesterday morning. I almost posted it myself to point out that what you said isn't true.


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## ISWIZ (Nov 18, 2005)

And it proves that how?


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## walters (Nov 18, 2005)

I think you guys are having a bit of a sematics argument (Curtis52 is winning) and don't know it. It is not true that they are "now offering" free boxes. They are considering a range of options, one of which is free hardware.


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## ISWIZ (Nov 18, 2005)

I apologize and will qualify it, to "fairly soon" as that is what they said:

"The company is likely to begin the test to offer free boxes, possibly in exchange for higher priced and longer term plans, fairly soon, said Rogers, who was named chief executive last July."

I stand corrected and humble before the forum:kickbutt:


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## ISWIZ (Nov 18, 2005)

ISWIZ said:


> I apologize and will qualify it, to "fairly soon" as that is what they said:
> 
> "The company is likely to begin the test to offer free boxes, possibly in exchange for higher priced and longer term plans, fairly soon, said Rogers, who was named chief executive last July."
> 
> I stand corrected and humble before the forum:kickbutt:


OK, I was off by 7 days.

TiVo Announces New Pricing Structure By MAY WONG, AP Technology Writer
Wed Mar 8, 6:48 PM ET

As it struggled to gain new subscribers, TiVo Inc., the maker of the popular set-top digital video recorder, on Wednesday reported narrower fourth-quarter losses in line with Wall Street expectations.

To attract more subscribers and boost sales, TiVo also announced a new pricing structure similar to cell phone service schemes: subscribers would no longer have to pay upfront for the set-top-box but would face only charges based on the length of a service contract.

For the three months ended Jan. 31, the DVR pioneer said it lost $19.5 million, or 23 cents per share, compared to the year-ago loss of $33.7 million, or 42 cents a share.

Revenue rose slightly to $60.1 million from $59.4 million in the quarter last year.

Analysts were expecting the Alviso, Calif.-based company to post revenue of $46.4 million, according to Thomson Financial.

TiVo said it acquired 356,000 new subscribers in the fourth quarter, compared to 698,000 in the year-ago period. About 173,000 of those new accounts were from DirecTV satellite TV subscribers, instead of consumers who purchased TiVo's standalone DVRs.

But that long-running relationship with DirecTV is set to end next year as the satellite TV company switches to a different DVR platform. And the competition continues to heat up from other cable and satellite TV operators now offering their own DVR services - usually at lower prices.

DVRs record shows onto a hard disk while allowing users to pause TV broadcasts and fast-forward past commercials.

"This was a steady quarter for TiVo as our subscription base continued to grow, even in this more competitive environment," TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said.

TiVo, which now has more than 4.4 million subscribers, has been adding new features and is expanding its service beyond set-top-boxes to cell phones and portable digital players to help differentiate itself.

It also has a deal with Comcast Corp., though details of how the cable TV titan will incorporate TiVo's technology into its services remains to be seen. A TiVo-based Comcast set-top-box is expected to released in the second half of 2006.

Under TiVo's new pricing plans to be launched next week, subscribers will not have to pay for a DVR box, which currently costs about $50 after rebates. Instead, they will pay $19.95 a month, or $224 prepaid, for a one-year commitment; $18.95 a month, or $369 prepaid, for a two-year commitment; and $16.95 a month, or $469 prepaid, for a three-year commitment.

The new pricing plan will be available initially only to customers who sign up via TiVo.com. Customers attained through retail stores will still face the current prices and service fees, though TiVo is working to apply the same new pricing plan for retail customers.

TiVo's previous product-lifetime service subscription fee of $299 will be eliminated, the company said.

For the fiscal year, TiVo said it had a net loss of $34.4 million, or 41 cents a share, compared to a net loss of $79.8 million, or 99 cents a share in fiscal 2005.

For the current first fiscal quarter, TiVo said it expects revenues in the range of $48 million to $50 million and a net loss of $19 million to $22 million.

Analysts were expecting a loss of $2.1 million, or 3 cents a share, on revenue of $50.3 million.

The wider-than-projected net loss for the current quarter stems from expectations of "significant" legal costs for the upcoming jury trial of TiVo's patent infringement case against EchoStar Communications Corp., TiVo officials said during a conference call to analysts.

"While we fully recognize the challenges we face, we believe we could continue growing," Rogers said during the call.

The company has pegged losses throughout most of its eight-year history, though it did break even on a per-share basis in its last fiscal second quarter.

Shares of TiVo fell 10 cents, 1.7 percent, to close at $5.75 Wednesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock was unchanged in late trading, after the report was released.


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