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Latest Update on the DirecTV TiVo HD

There’s no question we get asked here at WeaKnees more than “When is the new DirecTV TiVo HD coming out?”

Man, do we wish we had a good answer.

Both DirecTV and TiVo have generally only gotten as specific as “2010.” And that’s all we’ve been able to repeat to everyone.

But, recently, DirecTV has posted a couple of tweets that narrow down the 12 month window to, maybe, a four month window. They’ve used the terms “early next year” and “first part of 2010” in their posts.

Yes, this is important breaking news, and it’s definitive.

Now, if only we had some clue as to features, pricing, looks, availability, etc. . .

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Customer Contacts DirecTV TiVo News WeaKnees News

Another Customer Wish NOT Granted: DirecTV and DVD

While we’re on the theme of what customers want but they can’t get, we should put to rest another request: the DirecTV TiVo with DVD.

Yesterday’s installment concerned the request for an HD TiVo with DVD. That one can’t work at this point and probably in the future for technical reasons.

But the idea of a DirecTV DVR with an integrated DVD burner really, really could work for technical reasons. The issue here is more about copyright, and, in general, DirecTV’s unwillingness to push the envelope with content providers.

Why is this different from a standard TiVo with DVD which does, in fact, exist? The big reason is that on the Humax models that we sell (and on the older Pioneer and Toshiba TiVo models with DVD) the recordings are made from analog inputs. That means that the quality, while very good, isn’t quite as good as the all-digital quality of recordings to DirecTV TiVos and other DVRs and the HD TiVos with CableCARDs. If you take that all-digital signal and pump it to a DVD, then you’ve basically got a digital copy that’s pretty amazing. DirecTV doesn’t want to be the gatekeeper on that.

Of course, if that’s what you really want – all digital copy to a DVD – then there is a way to do it, just not with DirecTV. You can get a standalone TiVo or HD TiVo and copy your shows over a network to your PC or Mac, then burn them there. But DirecTV won’t help you there – at least, so far. There’s a chance that the upcoming DirecTV HD TiVo will have networking features . . .

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Customer Contacts Product Information WeaKnees News

Everyone’s Looking For: An HD TiVo with DVD

Sorry – it just doesn’t exist. We really wish it did. We have the standard definition Humax DVD unit, but nothing for the HD world.

There really aren’t even consumer-level DVD burners that can make Blu-ray DVDs at this point, and they may never come. With the HDCP copy protection on HD broadcasts, really the biggest candidate for recording to DVD in HD would be video from an HD video camera.

So what are the next-best options?

-Recording as standard def to DVD with a standalone player

or

-Transferring data to a Mac or PC over a network. For Macs, you’d need Roxio Toast, and for PCs you’d need TiVo Desktop Plus.

To transfer data, you need to have your TiVo on a network. If you aren’t already on a network, see our list of TiVo networking adapters.

Finally, we really don’t expect a unit with both HD and DVD to ever exist, so if you’re waiting for one to make the jump to HD, our advice would be to just get an HD unit now and enjoy it without DVD.

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Customer Contacts Product Information TiVo News WeaKnees News

TiVo in Canada – and we have the Perfect Unit!

OK – so Canadians have been using TiVo since long before TiVo really supported Canadian TV guides. And then, a few years ago, TiVo really started to expand into Canada with support for cable companies and six-digit postal codes. Here at WeaKnees, we’ve been shipping units to Canada for years – anything except DirecTV equipment.

Earlier this year in the US, we stopped broadcasting analog antenna signals. So for years in advance of this, US DVRs and TVs started to drop support for analog antenna broadcasts. And Canadians lost out – they’ve been unable to find TiVo DVRs that could record these signals, short of the HD models.

drt400

But we have good stock of the Humax DVD TiVo units – the DRT400 and DRT800. These units are standard definition, they have built-in DVD burners (that’s a whole other world of goodness) and, best of all for Canadians, they have analog antenna inputs! So if you’re just watching good old-fashioned FREE antenna broadcasts and you want a TiVo, this unit is perfect!

For more good info on what works and what doesn’t in Canada see TiVo’s Canada information here. It’s a little dated about the lifetime service offer – that option is still available and is currently $399 for the first TiVo on your account, and $299 for each additional unit. Also, note that the unit on their page (which we sell also) does NOT have the antenna input necessary for reception of free analog broadcasts.

If you’re looking for an HD TiVo for Canada, our TiVo HD units will also record analog antenna as well as HD digital antenna signals. (Important note – HD TiVos cannot use CableCARDs in Canada because CableCARDs aren’t available.)

If you’d like an idea of what it will cost to have a unit shipped to Canada, please use our cart. It fully supports all Canadian postal codes and it will give you live, firm shipping prices.

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Customer Contacts DirecTV Product Information TiVo News TiVo Upgrade WeaKnees News

DirecTV HD TiVo Update

The update is:

No update. Sorry. We’re still hearing 2010.

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to get some sort of update, we just can’t get anyone to talk about the release date. But we decided to post on the blog because we get SO many inquiries about this. We think this will be a very popular product.

Of course, since our two biggest interests are TiVo and DirecTV, we may be uniquely positioned to hear from everyone who wants information. But it’s a lot of people, generating a lot of pent-up demand.

If you want the latest news (when there actually is some), we’d recommend you:

1 – Sign up on TiVo’s list for DirecTV information.

2 – Sign up on our general list for TiVo and DirecTV news.

3 – Watch this blog.

4 – Follow us on Twitter.

As soon as we have any news, we’ll likely post it to here and on Twitter, and if it’s substantial, we’ll probably send out an email.