Looking for Tivo recomendations! (1 Viewer)

I want Tivo really bad, but I know that in less than a year I will buy a 1080p TV. Are there any Tivo or Tivo like devices out there that will let me record in HD or 1080p HD? Any recomendations?

I don't think there are currently any 1080p video sources, are there? 1080i is as high as broadcast HD goes, and I believe that is also the standard set for both hi-def DVD formats. I'm not sure about D-VHS. A 1080p CRT will probably display 1080i material at 1080i. A 1080p LCD/Plasma/DLP/LCoS will upconvert all inputs to its native resolution by one interpolation scheme or another.

TiVO does not currently make a hi-def unit of any kind, which is a pity. I love the service and the networking capabilities. The cable and satellite services have started offering tuners with HD DVRs. I have a Scientific Atlanta box from Adelphia cable. There are two major disadvantages to it:

1) The interface is a kludge compared to TiVo, it has nothing like the ease of use and its extremely limited "record all" function is a pale shaow of TiVo's wonderful season passes. It offers nothing like the ability to search by director, actor or theme, or to set season passes based on them.

2) You cannot transfer a digital recording in full resolution to another device in the digital realm. With TiVo I can off-load my recordings to my PC (or the TiVo in my home office.) From the PC I can use the TiVo-enabled version of Sonic My DVD to burn programs to disc. The SC HD DVE only lets me transfer recordings as linear analog streams to a VCR via composite video cable or, at best, s-video.

I'm hoping that TiVo will have an HD announcement soon, but there's nothing on the horizon immediately. In the meantime I'm keeping my two TiVos for my two analog TV sets, and using the SC unit with my HD LCD panel.

Check with your cable or satellite provider to see what is available in your area.

Regards,

Joe

DirecTV makes a DVR that runs the Tivo software. It's sometimes called the HD Tivo. Since D* controls the DVR, they have disabled some of the more recent Tivo features like MRV, Tivo-2-go, remote scheduling, etc. All of the more important things are still included like Season Passes, Wish Lists and other recording features. The big advantage are the dual tuners. I can record two shows in HD while watching a previously recorded show (also in HD).

-Robert