Vickie_M
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2001
- Messages
- 3,208
In a good way, mostly!
Tivo has taken over my life, I swear!
I used to watch a lot of television, but slacked off a few years ago. I could go for weeks without even turning on the TV. Months even! (For instance, I watched TV all day and night on Sept. 11, then turned it off and didn't turn it on again until mid-January)
Now, Tivo has taken over my life! We got a Tivo for the Olympics, but it went flaky shortly after getting it and had to have it replaced. I didn't have it for the Academy Awards, pout, but now it's back, and I've gotten so hooked on the thing it's frightening! There are DOZENS of shows in my To Do list, I've gotten Season Pass fever, and, Oh my god, the Wishlists! I'm constantly having to delete things without watching them to conserve space.
Me likee Tivo!
But, here's what's driving me nuts...
1. You can't narrow down WishLists.
I set up a WishList for Peter Jackson, because I don't want to miss if he's on a talk show or something. I set it up using Keywords because if I use Director WishList that'll only get his movies. I don't want his movies, I've already got the DVDs. I want if he's mentioned within the description of a program, so I use the Keyword WishList.
Since I can't do something like use quotes to specify that I'm only looking for "Peter Jackson," Tivo is recording every damn thing that has a Peter and a Jackson in it, so I'm getting Charlie's Angels because Kate Jackson is in it! ARGH! My Keyword WishList for Peter Gabriel is giving me every movie with Gabriel Byrne in it! It's getting out of hand.
2. The Repeats & first run doesn't work for me.
If I set it to get a show that airs once a week with no repeats, such as Greg the Bear (I haven't actually watched any episodes yet), that's fine, but if I set it for a show that repeats without specifying that it's a repeat, Tivo gets them all! For instance, I set a Season pass for The Daily Show. There's one new episode a day and 3 repeats. Tivo gets all 4. This one is not so bad, since I've determined that the new show airs at 10pm (Central) so I deleted my Season Pass and did a Manual record for Comedy Central at 10:00pm, M-T.
What's REALLY bad is a show like Hollywood One On One, which airs on Starz. It repeats endlessly and I can't set a manual since I don't know when the next new show will be. Same with shows like Get Reel or Hollywood At Large. I set Season Passes for them and suddenly I have dozens of shows set to record, and there goes my queue time. I suppose it isn't Tivo's fault as much as it is the channel's fault, because they don't specify which is the FIRST NEW SHOW of the week. Their web sites are no help either.
3. It seems to arbitrarily record things under a WishList name and doesn't say why.
I have to do some explaining here. I mean, when it sets up End of Days to record I *know* it's because Gabriel Byrne is in it. Again, I have Peter Gabriel as a WishList and since I have no interest in End of Days, I manually delete it. But, I have the name "Astrid" as a WishList item because I'm searching for anything with the singer Astrid Hadad (I figure that Astrid is such an unusual name that I don't have to worry about the last name). I check my To Do list and it's going to record a movie called Love Affair. I don't know why it's set to record that. I love Irene Dunn, but I've seen the movie before, so I delete it.
Then I check my Upcoming WishList programs and Love Affair is listed under Astrid! Why? I have no idea. In the description it says "Love Affair (1939) Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya. Spoken-for couple (Boyer, Dunne) meet on ship, plan to meet again. Black & White"
What the freak does that have anything to do with the word Astrid?? This happens all the time, where nothing in the description matches the WishList item it's listed under. I have enough trouble with the things I do want it to record for me, let alone these mysterious entries.
4. The "Thumb Down" is too close to the Play button. I'm constantly pushing one instead of the other.
Those are the main things that bug me. I don't even really know what Tivo can do about any of these, but I had to get them off my chest.
Bitching aside, oh god, I love my Tivo! It's one of those things that you don't know how much you wanted/needed it until you have it. It was a godsend during the Olympics. I used to have to buy dozens of blank tapes, set 2 or 3 VCRs, then spent time dubbing down the things I wanted. This year, since I could be taping...uh...tivoing, 2 things while watching a 3rd, I got through the whole Olympics and ended up with only a few VHS tapes, and the things I wanted (skating, for instance) were dubbed directly from the Tivo hard drive, so there was no loss in quality. Amazing!
It's the best thing since sliced bread!
But it has taken over my life. I'm watching TV constantly now. Time for a hard drive upgrade...
Tivo has taken over my life, I swear!
I used to watch a lot of television, but slacked off a few years ago. I could go for weeks without even turning on the TV. Months even! (For instance, I watched TV all day and night on Sept. 11, then turned it off and didn't turn it on again until mid-January)
Now, Tivo has taken over my life! We got a Tivo for the Olympics, but it went flaky shortly after getting it and had to have it replaced. I didn't have it for the Academy Awards, pout, but now it's back, and I've gotten so hooked on the thing it's frightening! There are DOZENS of shows in my To Do list, I've gotten Season Pass fever, and, Oh my god, the Wishlists! I'm constantly having to delete things without watching them to conserve space.
Me likee Tivo!
But, here's what's driving me nuts...
1. You can't narrow down WishLists.
I set up a WishList for Peter Jackson, because I don't want to miss if he's on a talk show or something. I set it up using Keywords because if I use Director WishList that'll only get his movies. I don't want his movies, I've already got the DVDs. I want if he's mentioned within the description of a program, so I use the Keyword WishList.
Since I can't do something like use quotes to specify that I'm only looking for "Peter Jackson," Tivo is recording every damn thing that has a Peter and a Jackson in it, so I'm getting Charlie's Angels because Kate Jackson is in it! ARGH! My Keyword WishList for Peter Gabriel is giving me every movie with Gabriel Byrne in it! It's getting out of hand.
2. The Repeats & first run doesn't work for me.
If I set it to get a show that airs once a week with no repeats, such as Greg the Bear (I haven't actually watched any episodes yet), that's fine, but if I set it for a show that repeats without specifying that it's a repeat, Tivo gets them all! For instance, I set a Season pass for The Daily Show. There's one new episode a day and 3 repeats. Tivo gets all 4. This one is not so bad, since I've determined that the new show airs at 10pm (Central) so I deleted my Season Pass and did a Manual record for Comedy Central at 10:00pm, M-T.
What's REALLY bad is a show like Hollywood One On One, which airs on Starz. It repeats endlessly and I can't set a manual since I don't know when the next new show will be. Same with shows like Get Reel or Hollywood At Large. I set Season Passes for them and suddenly I have dozens of shows set to record, and there goes my queue time. I suppose it isn't Tivo's fault as much as it is the channel's fault, because they don't specify which is the FIRST NEW SHOW of the week. Their web sites are no help either.
3. It seems to arbitrarily record things under a WishList name and doesn't say why.
I have to do some explaining here. I mean, when it sets up End of Days to record I *know* it's because Gabriel Byrne is in it. Again, I have Peter Gabriel as a WishList and since I have no interest in End of Days, I manually delete it. But, I have the name "Astrid" as a WishList item because I'm searching for anything with the singer Astrid Hadad (I figure that Astrid is such an unusual name that I don't have to worry about the last name). I check my To Do list and it's going to record a movie called Love Affair. I don't know why it's set to record that. I love Irene Dunn, but I've seen the movie before, so I delete it.
Then I check my Upcoming WishList programs and Love Affair is listed under Astrid! Why? I have no idea. In the description it says "Love Affair (1939) Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya. Spoken-for couple (Boyer, Dunne) meet on ship, plan to meet again. Black & White"
What the freak does that have anything to do with the word Astrid?? This happens all the time, where nothing in the description matches the WishList item it's listed under. I have enough trouble with the things I do want it to record for me, let alone these mysterious entries.
4. The "Thumb Down" is too close to the Play button. I'm constantly pushing one instead of the other.
Those are the main things that bug me. I don't even really know what Tivo can do about any of these, but I had to get them off my chest.
Bitching aside, oh god, I love my Tivo! It's one of those things that you don't know how much you wanted/needed it until you have it. It was a godsend during the Olympics. I used to have to buy dozens of blank tapes, set 2 or 3 VCRs, then spent time dubbing down the things I wanted. This year, since I could be taping...uh...tivoing, 2 things while watching a 3rd, I got through the whole Olympics and ended up with only a few VHS tapes, and the things I wanted (skating, for instance) were dubbed directly from the Tivo hard drive, so there was no loss in quality. Amazing!
It's the best thing since sliced bread!
But it has taken over my life. I'm watching TV constantly now. Time for a hard drive upgrade...