# Tivo Roamio Plus/Pro vs Hopper vs Genie



## lparsons21

In another thread I said I would provide a write-up as I make my shift from satellite to cable.

It will take more than one post to get through it, and I'm going to start with some broad strokes as I've only had the Tivo for a few days and my cable service isn't connected to it yet.

GUI - The Tivo is first and foremost more similar to a computer media center that has the ability to bring various video/audio sources together in one box. Similar to a Home Theater PC in many respects, but much better at it than any of them I've seen over the years. It has both wired and wireless networking and has 6 tuners. It requires a cablecard to interface to your local cable company. They have to provide one that supports the maximum number of tuners the unit they rent does. IOW, if your local cable company is using Tivo Premier Q boxes, which have only 4 tuners, then the cablecard they provide only has to support 4 tuners. They can charge rent on the cablecard, but it is usually pretty cheap. In the case of Mediacom it is $1.99/month.
It is a bit fiddly because you aren't just controlling the sat or cable stuff, but interfacing with quite a few other things. Netflix, Amazon (including Prime), Hulu Plus and other media apps are included. And they are integrated into search quite well. Compared to Hopper, it is much more fiddly, somewhat more fiddly than the Genie.
The guide is very austere and it comes from Tivo's database. No channel logos which really surprised me as I would have thought a box as sophisticated as the Tivo would have those. One great thing is that the guide has no ads at all!
Overall the Tivo UI uses lots of non-picture presentations; ie; no/little use of icons and no tiles at all. In that way it is somewhat similar to the D* UI. But I find it much more pleasant to use and I'm not sure why that is.

External HD - You can add an eSATA external hard drive to the Tivo and it extends the storage. IOW, if you use a 2TB drive, it adds that 2TB to the DVR storage area. That's both good and bad. The good is it is all integrated and you don't actually see the added drive in most screens, it is all contiguous space to the Tivo. The bad is that it can't be switched to another Tivo and keep the shows on it available to watch. Because it is used as an extended storage space, Tivo only recommends the WD AV MyBook though I would think any AV rated drive would be fine.

External applications - Tivo has a desktop app that can transfer files from the PC to the Tivo and vice versa. It is a paid app at about $15. But there is some open source solutions that I think are better. pyTivo and Streambaby. I'll talk about pyTivo as that is the one I set up and am using.
My pyTivo setup is to interface my Playon/Playlater media server and files to the Tivo. It requires python to work and the install is very manual. There is a Wiki so you can download the needed items and pretty good documentation to help you along the way.
pyTivo & Playlater - You can record shows with Playlater and if you have the HD addon for Playlater and the show is in HD, the recording will be and will transfer to the Tivo in 720p HD. Audio seems to be just 2 channel though.
PyTivo & Playon - You can stream from the Playon server in 480p only. No HD for streams though there is some work going on to get that. So far the indication is that Media Mall, the makers of Playon/Playlater would have to get involved and so far they are resistive. The good part is that the 480p streams look very good. MUCH, MUCH better than SD from either D* or E*.


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## damondlt

Nice, 
And yes the Guide I think is similar to the Directv's guide, and Yes its very nice not looking at PPV sales pitches in the guide.

When I had my 2nd Roamio, they could transfer recordings to each other, which made it nice when giving the other Roamio back.
After using a 2 Roamio 2 mini setup, I've never needed more that 6 tuners , so I gave my one back and swapped it out for a mini.
That's saved me $20 a month, and they came out for FREE without me even asking to make this change.

Something Directv would never do without either charging you an Upgrade fee, or 24 month commitment, even if it was a downgrade.

But as I said the Minis work so good, it's not like them slow Directv Clients at all. 
It's like have an H25 speed at ever location.

I love them, I've put in a request for a feature.
I want to be able to create a favorites list from the minis, and I've gotten a response.

It's coming, lol.

As Far as the logos, I'm fine without them, I don't like big blocky logos.
I also like the Mini guide, I find myself using it more than the real guide.
3 channels and still 1 and a half hour out.
It's nice.

Just press select.

Netflix and On demand are right in the guide, that's nice and easy.
All search functions search
Blue Ridge OnDemand
Netflix 
YouTube
AOL On
Web Video Hotlist

Unfortunately our cable provider doesn't support Amazon or Hulu as of yet , I don't subscribe anyway.

But they do offer cable cards if I want to buy my on Roamio. 
But No on demand, no whole home services.
I would like a longer live buffer, but it's nice having 6 live buffers, and the Minis will give one up after a few hours of inactivity which is also nice.


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## damondlt

I agree with you on the SD , I thinks it's DVD quality which is way better than what Directv was giving out.
Directv HD looks so good because their SD is so crappy.
Sorry. Lol.

I'm told it easy and cheaper to upgrade the internal drives on the Roamios rather than use the MY book, which is 1 TB max aloud by the way.

Here is the Mini guide if you didn't try it yet.
Just press select.


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## lparsons21

Can't try the mini-guide until I get actual TV service going! 

Here the only video online service the Mediacom provided Tivo units come with is YouTube. No Netflix or the others you listed. I do subscribe to Netflix and Amazon all the time and HuluPlus on an on-again off-again random schedule. For info, the menus for those apps are excellent.

I lose VOD and PPV from Mediacom but frankly see that as no loss since I have the other streaming services and PPV's are not hard to find. Plenty of places willing to take the money for a PPV. What are you referring to with 'whole home services'? Are you talking the Tivo+Tivo+Mini via MOCA? If so, I think that Mediacom still allows that with customer provided Tivo boxes, but since it doesn't apply to me, I never looked or asked.

With the pyTivo application I set up yesterday I can see my Playon/Playlater channels/videos. They have a slew of channels supported and it is pretty handy. For instance I have all of HBO's Deadwood recorded in 720p HD on the computer by using PlayLater. I can watch/copy them to the Tivo and if my Tivo craps out, I haven't lost them as they are still on the PC. And if I want to transfer a Tivo recording to the PC, I can do that also if I change the pyTivo configuration a bit. I haven't quite figured that last part out yet though.


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## lparsons21

damondlt said:


> I agree with you on the SD , I thinks it's DVD quality which is way better than what Directv was giving out.
> Directv HD looks so good because their SD is so crappy.
> Sorry. Lol.
> 
> I'm told it easy and cheaper to upgrade the internal drives on the Roamios rather than use the MY book, which is 1 TB max aloud by the way.


You can use bigger than 1TB drives, but the My Book only comes in 1TB size. Get a bigger AV rated drive for internal use and just use a good quality eSATA enclosure. Tivo just doesn't 'recommend' any other drive than the MyBook.

Because of the way I bought the Roamio, I can only use monthly or annual subscription with them. So far no one has been able to change one of those deals to Lifetime. Downside is that it is a bit more expensive @$149/year, upside is that it effectively gives you a life of continuous warranty.


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## fireponcoal

XboxOne has everything TiVO has minus the DVR features. I use Plex+BitTorrent and OnDemand for the rest.. FiOS works incredibly well with the One and with my current package in pretty much set... Every time I look into getting TiVO I don't see the point personally.. I'd love to have it to play around with one though and threads like this are very tempting.. I haven't had a DVR since I left D* and have not really missed it. I did Like my D* DVR set up but I never viewed most of what I recorded with it anyway.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## damondlt

lparsons21 said:


> What are you referring to with 'whole home services'? Are you talking the Tivo+Tivo+Mini via MOCA? If so, I think that Mediacom still allows that with customer provided Tivo boxes, but since it doesn't apply to me, I never looked or asked.
> 
> .


I can't mix owned tivo products with Cable provided setups.
They will not mix .
I can't buy a tivo mini from TIVO and add it to my current system.
I can't integrate the owned system with the cable owned system and have it be whole home.

You can buy your own Roamios and just use cable cards, then you can buy and integrate what ever you want.

You just can't mix the cable company's T6 versions and minis with the owned systems.

That might just be my cable company, I don't know.
If I bought another Roamio , I would have to pay $5.95 and it wouldn't be part of my whole home. But it would still work.


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## lparsons21

fireponcoal said:


> XboxOne has everything TiVO has minus the DVR features. I use Plex+BitTorrent and OnDemand for the rest.. FiOS works incredibly well with the One and with my current package in pretty much set... Every time I look into getting TiVO I don't see the point personally.. I'd love to have it to play around with one though and threads like this are very tempting.. I haven't had a DVR since I left D* and have not really missed it. I did Like my D* DVR set up but I never viewed most of what I recorded with it anyway.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I have a data cap @250Gb so just cutting the cord wouldn't be feasible. I currently use about 200Gb per month just with the streaming I do now.
You could do the same things that Tivo does with a HTPC I suppose, but it wouldn't be as well integrated and smooth in operation. It isn't perfect, just better than any of the HTPC's I've seen over the years.


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## damondlt

I have a 250 GB monthly allowance during peak time only, 5pm-1am. The rest of the time it's unlimited.
We average around 100 GB a month total, maybe 50 -75 of that is peak hours.
That's 4 samsung Galaxys, Tivo with 4 stream Netflix plan, computer,PS3, 2 LG smart blu ray, Roku streaming stick.


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## lparsons21

Mediacom doesn't have it that way, it is just total up/down in the month. I can move up in service if I needed to, the next bump ups the data cap to 350Gb. Or if I go over, it is $10 per 50Gb block. Because of the price structure and the fact that I would seldom go over the 250Gb anyway, it is cheaper in the long run to pay for the 50Gb block when needed instead of locking in a higher monthly price.

I will have to correct a comment I made in an earlier post. With pyTivo I can transfer Playlater recordings at 720p which is the max Playon HD does, BUT I can't transfer HBO stuff to the Tivo. It informs me that it is restricted.

I can stream HBO in HD from various other equipment and can stream HBO from Playon in SD (480p), just no transferring. I suppose it is a 'copy' flag of some sort set in the video.


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## lparsons21

A further correction. If I record with Playlater from HBO Go, then I can't 'transfer' them to the Tivo with pyTivo. But if I record the HBO show from Amazon Prime I can. I suppose the "don't copy" flag or whatever isn't set at Amazon.

The Roamio can be a bit laggy at times, though it isn't at the "throw remote through window" level that was part and parcel of the D* HR2x's before the HR24 came out. 

Compared to the Hopper, the overall look and feel is very austere. Hopper/Joey/SuperJoey are very graphic while the Tivo really isn't. That said, Tivo did a great job of making it an enjoyable UI to use and look at. Little touches that are missing in the much more crude D* HDGUI.

The search function is just frankly amazing. It searches everywhere the Tivo can see either from the cable company channels, or from the video app sources that come with it. There seems to be 2 places it doesn't search. The 3rd party open source software sources and the recorded shows. That last is one thing I liked with Hopper's search. The results for a Hopper search would include any that you already had recorded and be pointing to that recording. Neither Tivo nor DirecTV do that, or at least I haven't seen it.

The quality of the SD provided from all sources on the Tivo is just short of fantastic. Very watcheable so if a video isn't available in HD, you don't really mind watching in SD. And that includes watching on the 73" DLP I have.


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## damondlt

Laggy?? 
What's your setup because Laggy is not a word that comes to mind.
You would be hard pressed to hear those words from anyone.

I've used the Hopper with sling, and they are dead even with commands IMO.

But we also don't need tuning adapters and such.

I'm curious to know what seems laggy.
Not for debate, but just for information .

My Tivo Minis can tune to netflix faster than my HR34 could tune a channel.

I can tell you honestly I've never sat here waiting for channel or menu delays.
But also to be fair I've never felt the VIP 722 was slow.
So if the Hopper is better, Then that's good enough for me.


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## lparsons21

I've found as I meander through the menus and such, that sometimes the Tivo doesn't respond for a short bit of time.
I can't comment on channel switching as my cable's not connected yet.


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## damondlt

Honestly can say I don't have this issue.
Everything is instant.

But if you don't have it hooked to cable and internet , I would imagine you can't connect to Tivo .


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## lparsons21

I am connected to internet, the only thing not there yet is the cable service.
After reading your post and fiddling around a bit more, I found that 'backing' out of an app was where almost all the lag was occurring. If I just paused and then hit the Tivo button, it is quick as a bunny!! 
I've been enjoying playing around with the Tivo even though the cable isn't connected. You can do quite a bit with just the internet if you subscribe to the various services as I do. I can even set up OnePass for shows though it won't record what I don't have, but it will show that the event is available at one of the streaming sites. And I tried a Wishlist for 'boxing' and it found plenty though all actual boxing matches are only on the cable service so it isn't of much value yet.
One thing I did notice or at least I think I did, is that 'search' doesn't search or show recordings. Will that change when the cable service is connected, or is that just the way it is?


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## damondlt

That's cool but I noticed the cable version, won't react the same when there is no cable sevice.
I think it tries downloading guide data or something.

But yes the search functions do search the recordings.
I'll post a Pic.

I have grown ups 2 recorded, and I'll do a search.


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## damondlt




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## damondlt

Sorry about the pictures, but it's so bright in here.

But once you do the search and go to results it shows you on the bottom right, and also when you click "on watch now from"


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## lparsons21

damondlt said:


> That's cool but I noticed the cable version, won't react the same when there is no cable sevice.
> I think it tries downloading guide data or something.
> 
> But yes the search functions do search the recordings.
> I'll post a Pic.
> 
> I have grown ups 2 recorded, and I'll do a search.


Thanks and thanks for the pictures.
The reason I asked is that the recordings I've transferred using pyTivo don't show up in a search though they do in 'my shows'. Odd.


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## damondlt

No problem, I don't know much about transfers, I've only done them from one Roamio to another, which was simple lol.

I'm actually really happy with the Tivos, so is the whole family, and that's never the case lol.


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## lparsons21

You know how easy it is to get into the 'more channels' frame of mind? That's what kept me from considering cable at all over the years. When I got my first HD set, the local cable company had nothing in HD, but Dish did, then Direct came to the fore and back and forth with the cable company lagging behind.
It was years before they had more than a total of around 25 channels, now it is somewhere around 75. Still missing some that the satellite providers have, but when I started digging into things I found that they weren't missing the channels I actually watch!
And as prices were rising for all services, and the winter weather keeping me home way too much, I started looking at how to save some money, get the channels I watch in HD and have equipment I liked to do it with. Since I was pretty well versed in the satellite services, I decided to see what Mediacom was up to these days. Oddly I had just switched a month or so before to Mediacom for internet services and their direct sales guy showed up at the door with his pitch.
First I started reading here and at Satellite Guys and then added the Tivo community forums. That's where I found out about the unadvertised specials that Tivo had going. The zero down refurb deal and the military deal don't show up on their main page and the only way you find them is to have a link. The Tivo community forums was where I got the link to both those deals. @$99+service for the Roamio Plus, it was a no brainer to take a shot at it, the 30 day return policy was the icing on the cake for me to get one.
Nothing happened then, but as I looked it just seemed that there was serious money to be saved with the cable bundle, they had the channels I wanted and they were doing Tivo. By switching I'll save almost $400/year with the combo. Now I'm waiting for the cable install tomorrow afternoon so I can see how good or bad Mediacom's video is. That will be the deciding factor as to what I'll do going forward.
I'll be within the 30 day return window with Tivo until the 2nd of April and my subscription to Mediacom isn't a contract type so if things don't turn out the way I want them to, I can just keep with Dish. I won't be disconnecting them until I'm satisfied with the whole widget.


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## damondlt

I'm happy with cable.
Our cable company has around 100 HD channels, many local channels that satellite will never have , Red Zone, MLB Strike zone, Fox soccer plus, SEC, Comcast Philadelphia, SNY,and YES are all included in my base package.
No sports packs or RSN fees required.
It's nice.


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## slice1900

lparsons21 said:


> After reading your post and fiddling around a bit more, I found that 'backing' out of an app was where almost all the lag was occurring. If I just paused and then hit the Tivo button, it is quick as a bunny!!


"Backing out" as you say kills the app. Hitting the Tivo button leaves it active so it will be faster next time, but using memory. Not sure if it is possible to run out of memory, I never have but I always back out of stuff and never use the apps.


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## lparsons21

The Mediacom installer came today and got the cablecard installed and all is good. Now that the cable is there I got a chance to play around a bit with recording.
The Tivo is a lot more fiddly with recording series and such, but then it has more options that can come into play. Like where it will come from, is it free or buy, new/all, and so forth. That's because the OnePass recording for a show is looking for the show/episodes just like search does and there are more sources than just the cable. Overall even though it is a bit more fiddly, I think I like it.
The HD PQ is on par with D* and a little better than E*. The SD from the cable company is so very much better so that watching the bit starved, low power station that is broadcasting The CW stuff is not bad at all.


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## damondlt

lparsons21 said:


> The Mediacom installer came today and got the cablecard installed and all is good. Now that the cable is there I got a chance to play around a bit with recording.
> The Tivo is a lot more fiddly with recording series and such, but then it has more options that can come into play. Like where it will come from, is it free or buy, new/all, and so forth. That's because the OnePass recording for a show is looking for the show/episodes just like search does and there are more sources than just the cable. Overall even though it is a bit more fiddly, I think I like it.
> The HD PQ is on par with D* and a little better than E*. The SD from the cable company is so very much better so that watching the bit starved, low power station that is broadcasting The CW stuff is not bad at all.


I basically said the same thing in reference to fiddly in my own review.
You need to know your way around a little bit. 
Sometimes I miss just a one touch record, but most times I also think I like it this way.

Too bad you don't have any minis because while I think Directv's Clients look better,and they allow custom channel lists, they are way behind in speed and reliability.

But over all our PQ with Blue Ridge is Very good in SD and I would also say about even with Directv. 
Directv sometimes would seem like it's not consistent. 
I always felt they play around with their bandwidth or something.

We didn't really get any new HD since I've switched, but yet there really isn't anything I request as of now.


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## lparsons21

One of the things I looked at carefully before making the jump was the channel's available. For the most part, both D* & E* have many more HD channels. But Mediacom has the channels in HD that I watch, so it doesn't actually matter. And I'm paying less that either D* or E* can do when you add in the internet service.
Basically I'm switching from Sat+Internet to Cable TV/Internet+Tivo fee and coming out better in the short and long haul.

One thing that is a big irritant is the inability of these cable companies to map channels properly. The HD channels are a mess and nothing matches up in ways you would think made sense. ie; SD channel 122 at worst should have a HD channel at some logicial addition up, like 722. I'll get used to it but will grumble about it a bit.

The 2 hour and about 15 minute guide width is OK, still like the 3 hour of the Dish equipment better.


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## damondlt

lparsons21 said:


> One thing that is a big irritant is the inability of these cable companies to map channels properly. The HD channels are a mess and nothing matches up in ways you would think made sense. ie; SD channel 122 at worst should have a HD channel at some logicial addition up, like 722. I'll get used to it but will grumble about it a bit.
> .


Agree, our channel mapping is ridiculous .
I wish we could have the ability to create a favorites list, where we can put the channels arranged the way I would like them.
I'm not saying change the channel numbers, I'm saying if I want TBS next to my ABC we should have an option to do that.


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## lparsons21

A couple things more...

Suggestions - Tivo really shines here since it isn't just 'suggestions' or 'you might like', you can set it to actually record the suggestions automagically. While that sounds like it would eat up drive space, and it does, it also manages that drive space so that programs recorded from 'suggestions' won't keep assigned recordings from happening. I suppose deleting the oldest 'suggested' shows to make space.

It isn't mandatory to let it happen but I don't think there is a real downside since it only records them from the cable service.

Neither D* or E* have that level of support for 'suggestions'.

OnePass - This is similar to series links and so forth, but it can include the cable channels as well as listings for the streaming services all in one place. It is easy to have a bit of clutter because of that, so I'm working through the OnePasses that I have set up the clean things up a bit.

Overall speed of operation is on par with the Hopper w/Sling and HR44 and faster than the other boxes from D* and E*. Channel changing is quicker, but I would expect that to be so. Support for 'native video' is there as it is with D*, E* doesn't support it. As with D*, if you select the other resolutions, there will be a flicker and some slowness as you change channels/videos with different resolutions.


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## damondlt

lparsons21 said:


> A couple things more...
> 
> Support for 'native video' is there as it is with D*, E* doesn't support it. As with D*, if you select the other resolutions, there will be a flicker and some slowness as you change channels/videos with different resolutions.


I leave mine on 1080p
And 1080p pass through 
My tvs like that setting just fine.

I used to check 720p and 1080i on my HRs for native, but it used to screw up my sound when automatically switching resolutions. 
Hdmi issues I'm sure.

So I got out of that habit.


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## lparsons21

One thing I've not found is a way to do some mass deletions. With both D* and E* there is some form of 'select/mark' and then 'delete' to get rid of a bunch of shows/episodes you no longer want.

With Tivo I've not found a way to do that.

Well other than supposedly selecting a folder and hitting 'clear' which clears out a single folder, which is usually the show's name. I say 'supposedly' because I've read that somewhere in a google search, but haven't actually tried it.


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## damondlt

When you're in your recording list you highlight over a recording and just press clear .
You can go into your folders and Just press clear over what ever one you want to remove.
Or the whole folder if you wish.

As fast as you press the button, they will delete.


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## Sixto

Yep, rather then check all the shows or folders, you just click CLEAR instead. And Undelete can bring them all back, which I use all the time.


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## lparsons21

Thanks guys. I figured there had to be a way to do it.


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## damondlt

Yes any questions can be answered here for sure.
Sixto and Diana know a tremendous amount about these systems.
Plus I know quite a bit about them.
But I'm still poking around myself.


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## lparsons21

A few random thoughts... 

This discussion has been about the Tivo Roamio Plus/Pro and not about the units that cable companies rent to their customers. And that is a horse of a different color.
Many of them these days are renting out the Pace XG1/MG1, which is a Tivo software powered unit with 6 tuners. The advantage of using them with the cable company is that you can then get to their VOD, but in most cases you lose a lot of the functionality of the actual Tivo product. And that isn't because the Pace unit can't do it, it is specifically because of what the cable companies decided to disable.
In Mediacom's case, here's what you lose:
1. Video streaming services - Amazon/Prime, Netflix, HuluPlus and any other except for YouTube.
2. No support for and external HD and since it is rented you cannot put in a bigger drive. The Mediacom unit comes with 500Gb hard drive which is pretty small for a 6-tuner DVR.
3. No internal support for Tivo Stream. The box has the capability, just not enabled.
4. No internal support for Ethernet/MOCA bridging, all done external to the box with more hardware.

Overall the Tivo Plus/Pro compares quite well to the Hopper & Genie as far as operating the cable or satellite service. It is very quick in operation overall but I've found it misses some key strokes now and then. The UI is more similar to the Genie but is much more sophisticated than the Genie. IOW, it looks like someone made decisions to go beyond just functional and to make it more pleasing to the eye.
Compared to the Hopper, the Tivo is more fiddly as it is doing more than either the Hopper or Genie does. And that comes because it is primarily a media control center instead of just a DVR for cable/sat. If you subscribe to Netflix, Amazon Prime and/or HuluPlus the integration of those services into the overall operation of the Tivo really shines.


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## damondlt

Blue Ridge does their T6s a little different than Mediacom then.
First they Are Tivo Roamio Plus models.

They Allow Netflix, Plus OnDemand 
They claim Hulu soon.
Amazon I haven't heard.

They have 1 TB hardrives, and they do allow you to do eithernet only.
The problem is , most people don't have Eithernet Jacks by their tvs, 
So they will install a Moca bridge and just be done with it.
I happend to have Eithernet next to every tv, so I wasn't forced into a Moca bridge.

I've never see a T6 that wasn't a Roamio plus.
Yours is the first I've heard of such.

I know for a Fact Blue Ridge and RCN use tivo Roamio plus units, and they also don't require Tuning adapters.

http://www.brctv.com/tivo

http://www.rcn.com/tivo/

Here is some info on SDV
http://www.multichannel.com/news/technology/tivo-crafts-embedded-switched-digital-video-tech/376007


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## damondlt

According to Mediacom Website these are Tivo Premier versions.
They say only 4 tuner.
https://mediacomcable.com/site/tivo_features_comparisons.html

I haven't found a T6 on Mediacom website.
Unless you found a link?
But I get nothing in a search for T6 and Mediacom .
Plus the pictures don't show a Roamio.
They show a Tivo Premier 4.


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## lparsons21

Mediacom's website is behind the times. They were using Tivo Premier Q (series 4) models, which does have 4 tuners.
In most, but not all markets, they are now shipping the Pace XG1/MG1, which is a 6 tuner model. But Mediacom is like Direct, they don't guarantee model you will get. IOW, to them a Tivo is a Tivo regardless of brand. If the new user is savvy enough to ask they can find out which model is being used in their market.

I asked and was told Pace 6-tuner model, but then they shipped me a Premier Q with one Mini. I promptly taped the box back up and shipped it back with the included shipping label. I hadn't finalized an order at that point and actually nothing should have been shipped to me. The sales guy jumped the gun.


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## lparsons21

Here's a link to news article about Mediacom & Pace units:
http://www.multichannel.com/news/content/mediacom-readies-rollout-pacetivo-combo/356930

In some forums you can find discussion about it, but as I said, Mediacom's worthless website is behind the times.

The other oddity with Mediacom is that all orders changes of services/programming have to be done by phone call. Even if you start a signup on their website, you can't complete the order there. And when you order it is all verbal, no email followup, nada. Hell, you can't even get the retail price for things from them without calling. And to make matters a little more irritating, they bill $2 for change of programming! Up or down, doesn't matter!


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## damondlt

lparsons21 said:


> Here's a link to news article about Mediacom & Pace units:
> http://www.multichannel.com/news/content/mediacom-readies-rollout-pacetivo-combo/356930
> 
> In some forums you can find discussion about it, but as I said, Mediacom's worthless website is behind the times.
> 
> The other oddity with Mediacom is that all orders changes of services/programming have to be done by phone call. Even if you start a signup on their website, you can't complete the order there. And when you order it is all verbal, no email followup, nada. Hell, you can't even get the retail price for things from them without calling. And to make matters a little more irritating, they bill $2 for change of programming! Up or down, doesn't matter!


Yikes that thing looks scary.
So the Pace is kind of like Directv's Tivo.
Just an HR with Tivo sofware.


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## lparsons21

damondlt said:


> Yikes that thing looks scary.
> So the Pace is kind of like Directv's Tivo.
> Just an HR with Tivo sofware.


In a broad sense, yes. But from some I've talked to it isn't like Directv's Tivo in speed!!  And of course, it comes with 6 tuners instead of the 2 D*s came with.

Technically the box is very competitive to the actual Tivo, but the cable companies that chose to use it have got it hamstrung in some ways.
The Tivo Stream support is there but disabled at the cable company request
Hulu, Netflix & Amazon could work but is disabled at the cable company request
External HD support is there again disabled at the cable company request
Internal Ethernet-Moca bridging is there but disabled at the cable company request.

Literally everything that is missing from the cable company's rental Tivo/Pace units is because the cable company wanted it that way. That's why I got the Roamio Plus. No Mediacom VOD, but I sub to HuluPlus, Netflix and Amazon Prime so why would I care??


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## damondlt

Maybe I'll think about buying a Roamio Plus, because apparently all the apps still work right? 
Adding a cable card shouldn't deactivate any of the Roamios features correct?
And then I can buy 3 minis and save around $35 a month.
I'm guessing I just wouldn't have On demand, but I don't care.

Plus the minis don't have a monthly fee when you buy them.


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## lparsons21

damondlt said:


> Maybe I'll think about buying a Roamio Plus, because apparently all the apps still work right?
> Adding a cable card shouldn't deactivate any of the Roamios features correct?
> And then I can buy 3 minis and save around $35 a month.
> I'm guessing I just wouldn't have On demand, but I don't care.
> 
> Plus the minis don't have a monthly fee when you buy them.


All my apps work fine on the Roamio Plus, get all the video, audio and Opera apps and all still worked after the cablecard was installed and activated. With Mediacom I did lose the access to VOD and I think the only company allowing it is Comcast and then only in some markets. Not sure about PPV as I haven't tried it.


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## lparsons21

One caution. If you buy one of the cheap refurb deals that I linked to, you are stuck with a $20/month subscription fee for 2 years. When I first got mine there were people that said they were able to change that to an annual sub, but I guess Tivo caught on because when I tried to do it, they said no.


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## damondlt

Yeah I just priced it out, 
It would cost me $915 just for the Roamio Plus and 3 minis.
But I would still have to pay for the Roamio $12.50 per month at the yearly rate of $150 and $5.95 per month for my cable card. 

This would only save me $24.80 a month, but I won't see that savings for 37 months.

Right now I pay $23.99 for the T6 that includes HD, DVR Multiroom Service, and Equipment protection. 
And $19.35 for 3 tivo minis.


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## lparsons21

Even though I'm stuck paying $20/month which is about $100 more a year than I would have to if I could have switched to annual billing, I'm still saving money, just not quite as much as I had originally figured.


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## slice1900

damondlt said:


> Yeah I just priced it out,
> It would cost me $915 just for the Roamio Plus and 3 minis.
> But I would still have to pay for the Roamio $12.50 per month at the yearly rate of $150 and $5.95 per month for my cable card.
> 
> This would only save me $24.80 a month, but I won't see that savings for 37 months.
> 
> Right now I pay $23.99 for the T6 that includes HD, DVR Multiroom Service, and Equipment protection.
> And $19.35 for 3 tivo minis.


It would be a better deal for you to buy lifetime service instead of paying by the year. I calculate it at $399 + $499 for lifetime and $450 for the Minis, plus $40 for a three year extended warranty on the Roamio. That's about $1390 up front, but you save $37.39/month instead of $24.80/month so the payback is same 37 months but your savings are far greater after that 37th month versus paying year by year, plus the resale value of the Roamio is much greater should you choose to quit cable earlier than that.

I bought my Premiere (2 tuner non XL) a few weeks shy of five years ago for $199, got lifetime for $299 (including the $100 discount for owning another Tivo) and $40 three year extended warranty. Checking eBay now I see completed 'buy it now' auctions for the same model for $275. That's basically half my initial investment I could recover after FIVE YEARS for a model that was replaced a year and a half ago!

A couple years from now the Roamio will probably be replaced by a new model, if you want to upgrade you're in a better position to do so when you can sell the old one with lifetime service.


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## Sixto

And a full lifetime Plus or Pro can be had in the 500-600 range with one of the codes that most people have been using.


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## damondlt

Sixto said:


> And a full lifetime Plus or Pro can be had in the 500-600 range with one of the codes that most people have been using.


I may consider this approach this fall.

Any discount would be welcome.
And since I really only need one Roamio Plus and not 2, it should be more affordable than originally anticipated.


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## lparsons21

OK, here's how I rank the Hopper w/Sling, HR44 and Tivo Roamio:

From the standpoint of operating the cable or sat service:
1. Hopper w/Sling - just superb imo, very fast and the best interface to manage the DVR
2. HR44 & Roamio - Both are fine boxes for managing the cable or sat service. Roamio has a leg up in visual appeal though.

From a media controller point of view:
1. Roamio - Just hands down better at integrating the streaming services. You check the ones you actually subscribe to and then all searches and season passes can include the streaming shows just as if they were on the Tivo. That is a huge plus! It is a little slow in starting a stream because it runs an app to do it, but once you stream the first show, you can continue in that app.
2. Hopper w/Sling - With the addition of Netflix, HWS steps up to at least one streaming service being supported. But unlike the Tivo, the only time it knows about Netflix content is when you run the app.
3. HR44 - virtually nothing beyond what it gets from the satellite. Well, other than VOD.

Direct made a minor move to support a Tivo box, but they half-stepped by doing it with an HR22. You have to wonder how much better it could be if they used an HR44 with the full Tivo software, including the streaming apps. IMO, after using the Tivo I have to think it would be a huge feather in D*'s hat if they chose to do it.


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## slice1900

The Genie didn't exist when Directv was working with Tivo, so that wasn't an option. Theoretically nothing stops them from doing another one in the future, but if they were going to do that it would make more sense for them to do it as a way of getting out of the STB software business entirely instead of having two totally different UIs.


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## lparsons21

Just for info, Dish has 2 totally different UIs and has done well with it.

The Genie line should have had a new one when it came out and I've said that for quite some time. Here's the way I see it. "we've got this great and powerful all new DVR, but we kept the crude UI because we are too lazy to fix it"!!


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## damondlt

I want a Roamio option that works with directv.
Hopefully we may see something on those lines in the future, but if not I will definitely not lose sleep over it.


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## slice1900

If the FCC required video providers to go with the AllVid standard we'd see it, but if they had any appetite for pushing it they probably lost it with the realization that all the fat lazy cable/satellite companies will face new competition from streaming.

Who knows, maybe the AT&T deal will change Directv's thinking and they'll get in bed with Tivo again.


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## lparsons21

damondlt said:


> I want a Roamio option that works with directv.
> Hopefully we may see something on those lines in the future, but if not I will definitely not lose sleep over it.


If they could make the Tivo software work on the HR22 as they did, I see no reason why they couldn't do it on the HR44. That said, they probably won't unless AT&T makes bigger changes than I think they will.


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## lparsons21

I find myself using streaming much more these days because of the way the Roamio handles it. I have been close to data caps before without the Tivo, so it was nice to find out about a good deal Mediacom is running right now for existing customers.

Upgrade up to 2 tiers from current service is $5/month more per tier and another $5/tier in the 2nd year as it is a contract deal. So I went from 50/5 internet @$45/month with a 350Gb data cap, to a 100/10 internet @$50/month with a 999Gb data cap. Well worth it!!

Ran a speedtest and it shows actual to be about 120/18 so speed sure won't be an issue!!


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## damondlt

lparsons21 said:


> If they could make the Tivo software work on the HR22 as they did, I see no reason why they couldn't do it on the HR44. That said, they probably won't unless AT&T makes bigger changes than I think they will.


I don't want an HR platform, I want a Roamio platform.


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## lparsons21

damondlt said:


> I don't want an HR platform, I want a Roamio platform.


I can understand that want. But realistically I think that would be harder to accomplish because of the tuner differences.


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## captaink5217

I noticed that BRC added Hulu support on their TiVo this week so now the only video service I would like added is Amazon


What's up and stuff


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## captaink5217

captaink5217 said:


> I noticed that BRC added Hulu support on their TiVo this week so now the only video service I would like added is Amazon
> 
> What's up and stuff


Now this morning Hulu is gone WTF

Just found out from BRCTV that Hulu will be up, someone flipped the switch a couple days early.


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