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TiVo HD
Installation
Hooking the TiVo up to the TV was simple. I simply disconnected the HDMI cable from my Apple TV (I'm out of HDMI inputs on my TV), connected it to my TiVo, and then plugged it in. Booting up took the TiVo about five minutes. From there, you get the animation (new for the TiVo HD), which highlights the various features of the TiVo box, such as KidZone. After the animation is over, the TiVo menu will come up and you are then able to enter the guided setup tool. Since I had purchased the TiVo HD directly from TiVo's website, I didn't need to perform activation; I just plugged it in and it already knew my account. In the guided setup, the TiVo will ask a number of questions about you and your cable service. Type in your zip code, cable provider, and level of service (analog, digital, premium channels), and you're on your way. The only thing left to do is customize any channels you receive that you don't want to show up in the guide. I went and marked off a few channels, and finished the guided setup in about 15 minutes. Installation - CableCard In order to receive encrypted digital channels, you'll need to have CableCards installed in the TiVo HD. The cards are about the size of PCMCIA cards, and have the same connector as well. One major drawback of the current generation of CableCards is that they are unidirectional. This means no pay-per-view and no on demand. You can still get premium channels like HBO, however. The other problem this creates is that you may not be able to view some of the less popular channels due to a new technology called Switched Digital Video (SDV). SDV works by requesting the channel from the cable equipment in your neighborhood and then, if that particular channel isn't already being viewed by someone else, it'll broadcast over the Coax. This requires two-way communication between your set top box and the neighborhood equipment, which is not something the TiVo HD can do out of the box. In the cable world there are basically two different companies that provide cable systems: Motorola and Scientific Atlanta (owned by Cisco). This means that, if you've got cable service, you probably have a Scientific Atlanta or Motorola cable box. These two companies, along with other cable companies, have been dragging their feet in Congress for 12 years now. Congress mandated that the security portion of the set top box (STB) be separated from the rest of the box (referred to as the "Integration Ban"), in order to enable third parties (like TiVo) to create their own compatible STBs, allow consumers to purchase these STBs (instead of renting them forever), and push competition in the cable industry. Unfortunately, not much has changed. What has happened over the last 12 years is much more than I'm willing to write in this article, but suffice it to say that here we are in the 21st century, and both cable companies and hardware providers can't find an interoperable two-way solution that would be open to other companies. TiVo did say, in front of a Congressional Committee, that they are working the companies towards a solution, but didn't disclose much more than that. Anyways, on to the installation. The first day Cox was scheduled to come to my home, the installer was 30 minutes early. However, I wasn't home from work yet, so no one was home to answer the door to let him in. I get a call from Cox dispatch and I tell them I'm on my way home now and I'll be there in a half hour. Well, the installer never came back and the day was a waste. The next day, the installer (a different guy) was on time at 3PM and he brought four cards with him (I only needed two for my device, but CableCards are notorious for not working properly). He put the first card in slot one and was able to get it activated. When he put the second card it, the TiVo said it was bad, so he put in the third card. The card was unable, however, to pair with the TiVo device and, at the insistence of the tech back at Cox HQ, he proceeded to reboot the TiVo by unplugging it. If you know how the TiVo works, you know what I'm about to say next. After unplugging the box for the fifth time and plugging it back in, I received the green screen of death. It informed me that there was a major problem and the TiVo would need about three hours to recover. I suspected that it was a file system issue because the installer was unplugging the box without shutting it down properly. Also, the TiVo device runs Linux, and the primary Linux file systems are extremely sensitive to corrupting if they are not shut down properly. At this point we were about 50 minutes into the install and there was no way he was going to wait around for three more hours. So, he took out the third card, put in the fourth card, and agreed to come back the next day at 5PM to pair it with the TiVo. The next day the installer showed up around 6PM, but with no extra cable cards. He tried to pair the last card with no success. Apparently, Cox was out of cable cards (there was a shipment that night) so he said he would be back the next day (Friday) at 5PM. On the fourth attempt to install the second CableCard, the installer brought several extra cards, and was able to get the first card he tried to pair and work properly. Finally, after four visits and about 2 hours worth of work, we got my TiVo HD to work with both CableCards.
Page 1: Introduction & First Looks
Page 2: Installation Page 3: DVR Functionality & Extra Features Page 4: Conclusion 
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Add Comment
2 User Comments 1 - Posted by
jim
on September 3, 2007 - 10:27 pm Pretty fair review, though obviously colored by the ineptness of your cable installer. If your installer knows what they are doing, two cards can be installed in about 15 minutes.
2 - Posted by
Anthony
on September 4, 2007 - 12:00 am Yea, but my story about the ineptness of the cablecard install doesn't seem to be that far out of line if you look at the TiVoCommunity forums. And sadly, most places dont allow self-install. And just like a cell phone, the phone might be great but if the reception sucks, its no use. Its a package deal. Add Comment To add a comment without being a member, you may omit the password field, but you must enter your name (or nickname) along with your comment. * Denotes required fields. |
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