First impressions of the Australian HD TiVo

[tosca]

This new TiVo is a very nice beast.

I recklessly purchased one from Harvey Norman on the Gold Coast on Thursday. I even had to wait while they opened up the shipping crate to get one out – it was the first one they had sold.

For anyone familiar with the OzTiVo there are no surprises, everything looks pretty much the same onscreen but with quite a few extra options.
The biggest improvement is in picture quality, as the output is in Component Video instead of the AVI on the old ones. The difference is remarkable even on an aged 42” low def Plasma.

The other major improvement is twin digital High Definition tuners fitted internally.

Setup is very simple, but will not start until you have registered your purchase by Serial number, along with your personal details, on the website. Otherwise, no dramas, although it missed NBN (Gold Coast CH8) on the first tuning run (it picked it up OK on a subsequent run).

There is much more information accessible onscreen than the old one, but one thing missing – there appears to be no network access to the machine by web browser or telnet. However, even their website is not fully functioning yet, and no doubt someone will report how to get into it in due course.

The new peanut remote is a bit longer than the old one, but has only 4 extra buttons with 3 extra functions.

There is little information supplied with the unit, and I already have a pair of OzTiVos in the same room. The new remote uses the same code set as the old one, so I went to the OzTiVo HowTo on controlling 2 or more TiVos in the same room. The two OzTiVos are on Control channels 1 & 2, so I set the new HD one to channel 4 and VOILA! Thank you very much RonDavis for your HowTo written way back in July 2003!

The final step was to integrate the command set into my Sony RM-VL900 remote, and the whole operation works seamlessly. Each TiVo is selected by a different macro, and the whole thing is so simple I didn’t even have to teach my better half how to drive it – just which macro was required to select it.

TiVo rocks, and this version is even better than the old one :)

[Darren King]

but one thing missing – there appears to be no network access to the machine by web browser or telnet. However, even their website is not fully functioning yet, and no doubt someone will report how to get into it in due course.

Telnet access on the old TiVo is only by way of a hack. Standard software releases "out of the box" for the Series 1 don't have it either.

Similarly TiVoWEB on the Series 1 is also a software hack. Although there have been reports of a possible official WEB based interface to the TiVoHD from TiVo I don't think it will be released any time soon, and like all other add-ons for the Australian TiVoHD it will come at an additional price.

[petestrash]

Just to add to Darrens comments, to enable any hack or access to the TiVo you will need to replace the Prom chip on the mainboard with a reprogrammed one. This makes any hacking more difficult for the average user.

Peter.

[Darren King]

Just to add to Peter's comments (no, this is not a tit-for-tat session :) ) the reason for needing to exchange the PROM chip (kind of like a computer BIOS) is because unlike the Series 1 that was more or less an open system, the Series 2 and higher TiVo's (Australia's TiVoHD is a Series 3) have much tighter security to prevent anything experimental and/or to circumvent revenue from extra features to be employed. The bottom line is that these security upgrades from that on a Series 1 TiVo will make most attempts at modifying the newer machines impossible.

[pjpete]

Just to confirm, is there guide data for Foxtel channels, or is it (as amazingly attacked in another thread) just a better vision quality, yet poorer product?

[Darren King]

TiVoHD cannot receive Foxtel nor does it have any way of connecting an external A/V input into it. It has two FTA digital tuners for FTA TV only. That is all.

[JohnScott]

Another happy customer with one or two minor gripes.

Love the picture quality on a Sony Bravia LCD connected via HDMI but have noticed lots of flickering when switching resolution modes when the Video Output Format is set to native, ie no conversion of the recorded content. For example, the menu display is 720p while most standard def programs are 576i. When you select something from the Now Playing list the screen flickers for a second or two while switching from 720p to 576i.

This could be my TV so no criticism is implied, plus using one of the other Video Output Formats, eg 1080i Fixed, gets rid of the flicker as Tivo converts everything to 1080i.

The remote is a bit of a pain - am used to the Series 1 Sony remote which has larger buttons for many functions, an easier to read typeface and a more logical layout, at least according to my taste.

[Hellerphant]

First time on this site....

I also got a TiVo HD last night from Harvey's and have to say so far so good, loving every bit of it.

As for the flickering issue, I also have a Sony Bravia (46" X Series) and when set to native it also flickers when switching between channels, even occasionally saying no signal for a brief moment. I'd say this is just switching the resolution like you said, but tonight I may try and set it to 1080i fixed and see how she looks...

In my opinion, I'd say the picture quality looks better than the inbuilt Bravia HD Tuner in the X series, which is really saying something coz I am super happy with my TV (Got it four weeks ago)

[pjpete]

Thanks Darren, I just wanted to really confirm that about Foxtel. It is as I thought, just a FTA system. Pity about the A/V inputs, but then there is the issue of Guide data as well, so really the unit is quite useless for me.

[Rocket]

Hi All,
This is my first post as I found the forum by searching for first impressions on the Aust. TiVo.
Like a lot of people here, I went into H/N the day after they got stock and bought one on the spot.
First impressions were pretty bad. Less than 24hrs after getting it home and loading all my wishlists, scheduling programs, etc. I was watching AFL last Saturday and the screen froze!
To cut a long story short, I couldn't get it going again, despite calling H/N and going through the power off/on routine (incidentally, is there any way to put the thing in stanby overnight or does it just stay on?).
Anyway, down to H/N on Monday and they checked out the faulty unit, swapped it over without any hassle which I was quite impressed with as I expected some sort of drama. They said they had sold 10-15 units already and mine was the first faulty one.
Now I have another unit home and it's lasted longer than 22hrs, I find it is good except that I can see it's going to take time to help it learn my preferences.
The other, not disabling, but damn annoying thing is that every now and then (seems to be when recording is going), when I try to look at something on the now playing list, there is no sound! Sometimes going through a menu driven restart will fix this, other times pressing the TiVo button and starting again will fix it (but you can't always do that when you have recordings taking place!).
As I say, it's not totally disabling, but it is damn annoying especially with all the testing they did here before launch and the fact that this technology has been in use in the U.S. for nearly ten years one would have thought they had all the bugs ironed out?
Other than that, I'm happy, look forward to what the system will have to offer down the track, I don't mind paying a few dollars for the upgrade later in the year, as long as they get the minor bugs out of the software.
Cheers.

[Hellerphant]

Amen, let's just hope that we don't end up like the UK and they abandon a sinking ship :(

[petestrash]

First impressions were pretty bad. Less than 24hrs after getting it home and loading all my wishlists, scheduling programs, etc. I was watching AFL last Saturday and the screen froze!

That's not a good sign, but chances are your unit still had the original firmware. This gets automatically upgraded in a day or two. Have a look at the system information page an let us know what firmware you have now.


(incidentally, is there any way to put the thing in stanby overnight or does it just stay on?).

Yes there is, you can select standby in messages and settings. But all it does is turn off the the video output and front panel lights. The whole machine runs 24 hours a day, and very few people bother with the standby function.


I find it is good except that I can see it's going to take time to help it learn my preferences.

Yes, make sure you use both thumbs up and down to as many shows as you can. This will speed things up. Normally start seeing results after about a week.


The other, not disabling, but damn annoying thing is that every now and then (seems to be when recording is going), when I try to look at something on the now playing list, there is no sound! Sometimes going through a menu driven restart will fix this, other times pressing the TiVo button and starting again will fix it (but you can't always do that when you have recordings taking place!).

I don't see this, again it may be an issue with the original firmware, don't forget Harvey Norman was not supposed to start selling the Units yet. what do you have selected for digital sound.


As I say, it's not totally disabling, but it is damn annoying especially with all the testing they did here before launch and the fact that this technology has been in use in the U.S. for nearly ten years one would have thought they had all the bugs ironed out?

This TiVo is totally different to the US one because of the DVB-T tuners, so a lot of the code has been rewritten.


Amen, let's just hope that we don't end up like the UK and they abandon a sinking ship :(

Just to clarify things in the UK, Thomson (who were partners in TiVo UK) stopped making TiVo boxes. But service was and still is provided, so no one is any worse off, except you cannot buy a new TiVo.

Peter.

[Hellerphant]

That's a relief, thanks Pete :D

[Rocket]

Just to clarify my response (which I seem to have mucked up format wise with quotes, etc. sorry!), when I mentioned the online guide I didn't mean on my TiVo, that is working perfectly. I was referring to the one at tivo.com.au - re-reading the post it sounded a bit confsuing.
Rocket.

[petestrash]

8.2.1-01-2-663 is the current upgraded software, so hopefully you won't get the lockup again.

You only mentioned giving 3 thumbs up, try and give some 1 and 2 thumbs up using the same criteria that you use for the thumbs down.

For the Audio issue try selecting Dolby Digital to PCM instead and see if it improves. Either way once they start taking support calls log a complaint as it shouldn't happen.

For some reason TiVo have decided to set their line-ups and messages in a way that if there is any change anywhere in Australia everyone seems to get the message. It's dumb and doesn't need to occur. But, unless it lists channels you receive, you can safely ignore the message.

Peter.

[Darren King]

when I mentioned the online guide I didn't mean on my TiVo, that is working perfectly. I was referring to the one at tivo.com.au

As Peter has already mentioned the official launch date is not until the 29th. Harvey Norman started selling them before Hybrid Television Services told them to, so HTS have not got their website ready yet.

[Rocket]

8.2.1-01-2-663 is the current upgraded software, so hopefully you won't get the lockup again.

You only mentioned giving 3 thumbs up, try and give some 1 and 2 thumbs up using the same criteria that you use for the thumbs down.

For the Audio issue try selecting Dolby Digital to PCM instead and see if it improves. Either way once they start taking support calls log a complaint as it shouldn't happen.

For some reason TiVo have decided to set their line-ups and messages in a way that if there is any change anywhere in Australia everyone seems to get the message. It's dumb and doesn't need to occur. But, unless it lists channels you receive, you can safely ignore the message.

Peter.

Many Thanks. It happened again a few hours ago. As I say, I can always go away and reset when there's no recordings taking place and watch later. But as you say, once the official date arrives I will call support if it's still happening.

The thing with the extra channels is that we are technically in 'central Victoria', on the very outskirts of the metropolitan area (about 50-60km from the CBD) so I guess it is technically possible that the TiVo Tuner is a bit more sensitive than my Sony DVD Recorder (it is a Dig. Tuner) and it has picked the extra channels up? I will try the instructions and see if they appear on th channel list and can be ticked.

To give you an idea, we have problems with the ABC as it quite regularly brakes up on a variety of tuners, although some of them seem to have 'learned' over time and don't break up as often. TiVo is almost unwatchable on channel ABC1 and ABC2 but we have Foxtel iQ as well and probably need a better antenna or a booster.

Cheers,
Rocket

[petestrash]

Did the sound cut out with the PCM setting as suggested or had you not tried it yet?

For interest it would be worth checking your signal level for ABC. The TiVo has quite a good meter built in. Go to Messages & Settings>Settings>Channels>Signal Quality and have a look at the levels for 1,2,3,7,9 (the HD's will be the same) and let us know.

Peter.

[Rocket]

Did the sound cut out with the PCM setting as suggested or had you not tried it yet?

For interest it would be worth checking your signal level for ABC. The TiVo has quite a good meter built in. Go to Messages & Settings>Settings>Channels>Signal Quality and have a look at the levels for 1,2,3,7,9 (the HD's will be the same) and let us know.

Peter.

Hi Peter,
Sorry for the late reply. I changed the sound over today when it happened again. Funny thing is, it only seems to happen (so far) with the Tivo Introductory Videos and 'The News Hour with Jim Lehrer' recorded from SBS (Channel 30).
I haven't had a chance to test it again or have it happen again with the sound set to DD PCM (note, at the moment, I have my HT set up with Stereo due to having swapped out a power amp and needing to get a chance to move the extremely heavy cabinet out to reconnect everything properly - I mention this because I assume PCM downconverts to Stereo, which isn't a problem for me at the moment).
A restart of TiVo fixed the problem once again.
I will check the signal level and let you know. I work from home and have been fairly busy the last week so haven't had time to look often at TiVo but will try and check it out over the weekend.
Cheers,
Rocket.

[BungeeCork]

I'm a Tivo first-timer. I bought one last Tuesday week. I was just asking questions about it when they offered to sell it, I thought the launch date was fixed in stone. I brought it back the next day and swapped it for another and kept that. Am almost completely happy with it so far.

First impressions before powering on were that it looked and felt cheap and badly put together (my first one rattled - it is definitely not a Sony). The channel scan was disappointing - it registered all channels but didn't display any 7 or 9 channel. My Samsung TVs inbuilt HDTV tuner reported 7HD signal strength at 84 to 88. Moving the aerial cable over to the Tivo and the Tivo reported 7HD at 48 to 50. That's why I brought the first one back, that and the audio from the Tivo was twice as loud as my other TV input devices (VCR and DVD). Had the same signal level and audio issue on the second Tivo so I kept it and am getting Mr. Antenna to visit. I'll live with the overly high audio level I guess.

To summarise, I'm happy enough but I wish it didn't have the following issues;
* the Tivo TV tuner SEEMS to be inferior to my old Topfield STB and my new Samsung TV, and that's based on my experience of 2 Tivos
* the Tivo audio SEEMS twice as loud as other TV input devices, and music doesn't sound all that good via the Tivo, sounds a little mangled, and it was the same on my first Tivo
* you can mark which channels are your favourites but you can't re-order them (something you can do on a Topfield STB and on a Samsung digital TV). In Australia the channel order is all over the place, I'd like to have ABC1 and ABC2 next to each other and at the beginning of the channel list)
* you can't bring up a channel list to select a channel to change to (OK you can use the guide for that but even that shows a scroll list)

Other than all of the above, I'm a fairly happy little Tivo-mite. But one new problem became apparent as the days passed and as I began to watch the recorded shows. The audio level changes during playback - it fades down and just as I'm about to reach for the volume control it goes back up again.

And another bad point - although I can control the TV volume using the TiVo remote, the volume button does not repeat the command when you hold it down.

[petestrash]

I do agree with most of your comments.

I feel the styling of the unit looks cheap, but internally it is well constructed with a strong chassis. Pity you had trouble with the first one.

Testing the TiVo's built in signal meter against an industry one, the TiVo is actually quite accurate. My Samsung show a signal level of only 42, while the TiVo is on 80.

What levels do you get with the replacement unit? If much over 80 you may actually have too strong a signal flooding the tuner. But yes the TiVo's tuners are not as selective as most cheap STB's. Hopefully this is just a software issue as DVB-T is new to them.

What setting do you use for Dobly Digital? Some people have reported fluctuating audio issues, and have changed to PCM as I have posted about earlier. this is only temporary fix until HTS sort out the problem.

Personally I don't have any sound issues other than the ABC news, which is an ABC issue.

Peter.