We previously posted about switched digital video adapters coming to Time Warner systems, and it looks like Cox may finally be rolling Motorola adapters out in a big TiVo market close to the weaKnees home–Orange County.
From this article, it appears that Cox is starting to Beta test adapters, so if you are in The OC and have a TiVo, it might be worth a call.
Quite some time ago, DIRECTV stopped including serial ports on the back of its standard definition receivers. The last receiver to include one, the D10, hasn’t been manufactured in years. No subsequent receiver (D11, D12, D13, etc.) has included the port.
Why does this matter? The serial port allows a hard-wired connection between a TiVo and a receiver. It minimizes communication problems that can sometimes occur when using IR blaster cables. Serial control also reduces the time it takes for the TiVo to change channels.
Unfortunately, DIRECTV still does not include serial ports on the back of it’s receivers. However, we have obtained a small quantity of older-model RCA receivers that have low-speed data ports that work perfectly with standard definition, standalone TiVo units. You can find those TiVo-Compatible DIRECTV receivers here. The receivers come bundled with the specialized home-control cable that you will need to connect the TiVo to the receiver.
As we indicate on the website, these units are refurbished, and they currently get all of the standard definition stations coming down from DIRECTV. However, they do not include a remote that can control the “Mix” stations that DIRECTV has launched. For TiVo owners, however, this shouldn’t matter, as TiVo units cannot control these stations even on receivers that are compatible with them.
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 . . .
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.
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.
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.