Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - TiVo or Cox?

Didnt see any posts exactly for this.

Will we save money in the long run by getting rid of our Cox set top box and switching to TiVo? The only thing we MUST have is DVR functionality.

Would also LIKE to have kids channels and some kind of on demand movies - dont need a monthly package though - but we can work around that.

The Cox box (with DVR) is $10 for DVR, $5 for insurance (?), $8 for the box itslelf and about $5 in taxes. About $30.

TiVo seems to be about $10 per month here Northern Virginia (is that right? The guys at the store werent clear) plus about $150 to $300 for a good unit it looks like.

HELP! What should we do?

The problem is, with Tivo you get no in demand, no PPV, even if it is cable card equipped, since Cable Card right now are a one way communication device. So you would need an cable box just for PPV and in demand functions. If you are using Digital cable you'll unfortunately have to keep the tuner box. It's a less than optimal solution as the IR blasters do make the odd error every now and then, but it's not terrible. If you can use a direct serial connection from the Tivo to the Cox tuner you'd be better off, but I don't believe the Cox digital tuners support that. If Serial port on the receiver is not turned on, so you will need to use the IR blaster. If you have a Series 3 S3 (not a Series 3 HD) it does not support multi stream cards. Some cable providers a moving some of their channels to switched digital video (SDV). As of now, Tivo is not compatible with SDV. The cable industry has announced plans to provide a USB dongle that will plug into a cable card device (like Tivo) to allow you to tune SDV channels. keep in mind Cox has partnered with TIVO to have it software in it's DVR boxes, though it is still in trial roll out deployment back east ( New England and Boston ) Those charges seems high for a rental charge on the DVR from Cox.

Thanks. Dont have to have PPV or "on demand". The tech came by to change the box yesterday (box failed)... he said we could get channels 2 - 102 directly without the box. So I guess that means we'd be getting Digital without the tuner box, right?

I think what we are going to do is just start getting more stuff directly off the internet and watching that on the TV screen.

If your PC is up to it (probably is) then you could just use the PC as a media center. A little more expensive in the short term but with as many features as a PC can have, plus no subscription charges beyond whatever cable plan you get. Works as a DVR, jukebox, photo album, etc.

I think what we are going to do is just start getting more stuff directly off the internet and watching that on the TV screen.
There you go. Connect the VGA from the computer to the TV and watch anything that's on TV, or watch any movie you want.

All you need is a fast internet connection (3 meg or better) to view HD online, or 1 meg to view SD (Standard Def).

All of the major TV and cable networks have now embraced streaming as a new profit center for advertising, so most TV shows and movies will be interrupted by commercials. Still, a 60-minute network TV show will take only 45 minutes or so to view online.

And just cross your fingers your cable provider does not start charging for bandwidth.

most don't
Verizon does not care, nor do they meter BW, they know anyone with a fast FIOS account downloads a lot
Cox does really care either
Comcast does selectively throttle accounts
Not Sure Abut Time Warner though, i have heard they do monitor high BW useage

I am a great fan of hulu for streaming movies and what not