TiVo versus PC-based solutions: PC Mag.
 

The April 20 issue of PC Magazine (page 25, "First Looks") has an
interesting examination of three PC-based competitors including a comparison
to PVRs (most notably TiVo). Here are a few interesting quotes:

On the negative side:

"TV image quality varied. None of the three solutions here can match the
video output of a dedicated set-top DVR." The paragraph goes on to describe
relative picture quality of the Hauppauge TV Tuner / SnapStream package,
ATI's All-In-Wonder 9600 Pro and Pinnacle PCTV Deluxe.

The article continues by stating that
"All shared one weakness: the inability to control an external cable- or
satellite-TV tuner box."

On the positive side, the article states that:

"As with a Microsoft Windows XP Media Center edition PC the solutions we
tested provide free channel-guide listings -- a plus compared to set-top
recorders, which require a service fee."

"...all three PC-based solutions do well at pausing live TV and recording
shows. Also a plus: All the packages can output VCD-compliant MPEG-1 video
as well as SVCD- or DVD compliant MPEG-2."

My opinion:
Like everything else in life, you get what you pay for.

I see no point in buying into any technology that isn't as good at doing the
most important thing it is supposed to do (in this case, record television
programming) as existing or previous technologies can.

Also, why tie up the resources of a 1000 dollar-plus PC to do something a 99
dollar (okay, $99 - $400) box can do better on a 24/7 schedule?

Sure, you pay for the use of the database of show schedules, but to me the
cost is worth it because the system actually works (eg. is highly reliable)!

At this point it's going to take a heckova lot of work for PC-based systems
to beat the bang for the buck provided by standalone PVRs/DVRs -- TiVo
especially.

Ack

In article ,
"ack" wrote:

At this point it's going to take a heckova lot of work for PC-based systems
to beat the bang for the buck provided by standalone PVRs/DVRs -- TiVo
especially.


WRONG. No one has anything near the elegant smarts that Tivo has.
It may not take long for a PC to come close to a dumb system like the
Dish Player or an SA 8000 maybe. On the other hand folks have been
saying that for years and it still hasn't happened.

Tivo is in a different paradigm.

"Robert M." wrote in
:

In article ,
"ack" wrote:

At this point it's going to take a heckova lot of work for PC-based
systems to beat the bang for the buck provided by standalone
PVRs/DVRs -- TiVo especially.


WRONG. No one has anything near the elegant smarts that Tivo has.
It may not take long for a PC to come close to a dumb system like the
Dish Player or an SA 8000 maybe. On the other hand folks have been
saying that for years and it still hasn't happened.

Tivo is in a different paradigm.

Why do you tell him he's wrong, and then go on and back up his very
statements???


--
Jim H

Jim H shaped the electrons to say:
Why do you tell him he's wrong, and then go on and back up his very
statements???

Because he's trolling.

-MZ, RHCE #806199299900541, ex-CISSP #3762
--
URL:mailto:megazoneatmegazone.org Gweep, Discordian, Author, Engineer, me.
"A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men" 508-755-4098
URL:http://www.megazone.org/ URL:http://www.eyrie-productions.com/ Eris

"MegaZone" wrote in message
...
Jim H shaped the electrons to say:
Why do you tell him he's wrong, and then go on and back up his very
statements???

Because he's trolling.

Whatever it is he's doing, it makes him look stupid!

He should get his paradigmatic heinie down to the newsstand and get the
April 20 copy of PC magazine... and then READ IT!

Ack

On Sat, 10 Apr 2004 15:05:48 -0400, Robert M. wrote
(in message ):

From: "Robert M."
Newsgroups: alt.video.ptv.tivo

In article ,
"ack" wrote:

At this point it's going to take a heckova lot of work for PC-based systems
to beat the bang for the buck provided by standalone PVRs/DVRs -- TiVo
especially.


WRONG. No one has anything near the elegant smarts that Tivo has.
It may not take long for a PC to come close to a dumb system like the
Dish Player or an SA 8000 maybe. On the other hand folks have been
saying that for years and it still hasn't happened.

Tivo is in a different paradigm.

Did you even READ the author's post?

In article , ack
wrote:

Also, why tie up the resources of a 1000 dollar-plus PC to do something a 99
dollar (okay, $99 - $400) box can do better on a 24/7 schedule?

Sure, you pay for the use of the database of show schedules, but to me the
cost is worth it because the system actually works (eg. is highly reliable)!

I'm always amazed at this. I know a guy at my work who makes $180K a
year, and he frets over the $6 a month fee for the DirecTivo.

Another guy with a similar income spent weeks picking parts to build a
PC, and would spend hours at a time trying to save an extra $20 on a
hard drive or video card. Despite being a bright guy, he seems to have
no grasp that his *time* has value.

Where's the line between practically frugal and fanatically scroogish?

Quiet Desperation ) wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
I'm always amazed at this. I know a guy at my work who makes $180K a
year, and he frets over the $6 a month fee for the DirecTivo.

I'd be upset at a $6/month fee for DirecTiVo, too, since everybody else
pays only $4.95. :)

Another guy with a similar income spent weeks picking parts to build a
PC,

This really isn't a money issue, is it? For special purpose PCs, I spend
some time doing research on the hardware I will need (fast video card,
video capture, DVD burner, HD tuner, VFD display, etc.). Getting the
right thing is far better than fighting with the wrong stuff.

and would spend hours at a time trying to save an extra $20 on a
hard drive or video card. Despite being a bright guy, he seems to have
no grasp that his *time* has value.

Where's the line between practically frugal and fanatically scroogish?

Buying hardware from the first place you find it is spending foolishly.
Using PriceWatch is frugal, since it takes maybe 2 minutes extra to find
what is almost certainly the best price. Hunting down coupons you can
stack with sales and rebates to get a 120GB hard drive for $40 when there
are 20 online stores selling them for less than $70 every day is silly.

--
Jeff Rife | "You are now dead. Thank you for using Stop and
For address harvesters: | Drop, America's favorite Suicide Booth since
| 2008."
| -- "Futurama"
|

Quiet Desperation wrote:
PC, and would spend hours at a time trying to save an extra $20 on a
hard drive or video card. Despite being a bright guy, he seems to have
no grasp that his *time* has value.

He may evaluate that differently. He may _enjoy_ searching for the
cheapest bargain. I could be earning $100/hr at work, but at home on my
own time? That's not worth anywhere near that amount. That's downtime,
relax time, do my own thing time. That's when I could happily build a
PC, hunting around to save $20 (hey, that's 4 pints of beer on Friday!).

--
Stephen Harris

The truth is the truth, and opinion just opinion. But what is what?
My employer pays to ignore my opinions; you get to do it for free.

In article , Jeff Rife
wrote:

I'd be upset at a $6/month fee for DirecTiVo, too, since everybody else
pays only $4.95. :)

I meant to type 5.

This really isn't a money issue, is it? For special purpose PCs, I spend
some time doing research on the hardware I will need (fast video card,
video capture, DVD burner, HD tuner, VFD display, etc.). Getting the
right thing is far better than fighting with the wrong stuff.

But it was a money issue. He said as much.

Buying hardware from the first place you find it is spending foolishly.
Using PriceWatch is frugal, since it takes maybe 2 minutes extra to find
what is almost certainly the best price. Hunting down coupons you can
stack with sales and rebates to get a 120GB hard drive for $40 when there
are 20 online stores selling them for less than $70 every day is silly.

It was more than that. He was calling up local retail stores trying to
shave off single digits.