OK, OK, this may not be as newsworthy as info on our upcoming 4 TB TiVo Premiere, but for those without full time internet access, the TiVo phone line adapter is the only way to get a Premiere or Premiere XL running and full of guide data.
This is a simple USB-modem dongle that reminds me a lot of the dongles that Apple made right after they first came out with their first laptops that didn’t have internal modems. And it basically accomplishes the same thing: providing an inexpensive solution for those without broadband access.
Now, as TiVo makes clear, a lot of the functionality of the TiVo Premiere line is lost without a broadband connection. In fact, as you will learn if you install one of these, the TiVo Premiere can’t be used with HD menus if you’re using a phone line connection (as of this writing, anyway). One of the steps (omitted in TiVo’s online instructions) is to switch from HD to SD menus – that’s required if using the phone line adapter.
Setup is as simple as could be – just as if the modem were built into the motherboard. The TiVo presents numbers and tests them.
The unit is in stock and ready to go, and ships with a long phone cable and a splitter.
