DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

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CountryBoy
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DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

Post by CountryBoy »

Anyone able to suggest a reliable DVD-R, RW and VHS Player?

The ones listed at Amazon for Toshiba have very mixed reviews.

I am not looking for a high end entertainment center model but something a sensible Boglehead might use to just get the job done. (Think Toyota Camry or Honda Accord.)

Maybe there is a Forum where this topic is discussed.

Thanks.
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Ged
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Re: DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

Post by Ged »

These were never a good idea because you normally record a DVD at much higher speed than you play back the VHS tape. There used to be DVD/VHS/HDD hybrid units available but alas no more.

There are a variety of tutorials on how to transfer a VHS tape to a computer from which you can make a DVD. This is what you want to do.

http://www.cnet.com/pictures/vhs-tape-d ... er-photos/
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CountryBoy
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Re: DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

Post by CountryBoy »

So how do I record my movies if I am not supposed to use DVD or VHS formats and prefer not to sign up for TIVO or Netflix?

Thanks.
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22twain
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Re: DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

Post by 22twain »

So you want to record TV broadcasts for later viewing, and possibly archiving permanently?

This hard-disk (HDD) recorder is like a TiVo without the program guide (and the subscription fee that you have to pay for it), but with a built-in DVD recorder. You can simply watch a recorded program off the HDD and then delete it when done, or you can copy it to a DVD-R.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Magnavox-MDR5 ... r/36246088

It's the only unit of its kind currently available in the US, as far as I know, and it's available only through Wal-Mart.
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notinuse
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Re: DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

Post by notinuse »

CountryBoy wrote:So how do I record my movies if I am not supposed to use DVD or VHS formats and prefer not to sign up for TIVO or Netflix?

Thanks.
You could build a MythTV server or use Windows Media Center. If you don't want to build a system, you could use something like the Channel Master DVR+, http://www.channelmaster.com/Products_s/329.htm .
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Re: DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

Post by CountryBoy »

My thanks to both people above for their suggestion. However, I think they are possibly too sophisticated for my level of technical know-how.

Below, are the responses from people on Amazon to the two different units. It is highly probable that I would run into problems that other people did on either of the units.

The price range seems ok on either unit but there seem to be potential problems with either one.

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Hope your experience is better than mine, August 1, 2014
By
K - See all my reviews
This review is from: Channel Master DVR+ Bundle - subscription free digital video recorder with web features and channel guide (CM7500BDL2) (Camera)
Had the same experience as Carl. When SCOTUS put Aereo out of business The horrible thought occurred to me that I might have to go back to my cable provider (perish the thought). I live on the 11th floor on the UES of Manhattan facing away from the Empire State Building surrounded by other even bigger high risers (think: lots of concrete & steel). I didn't think there was any way I was going to get an OTA signal where I was. Went on line to see if there were any OTA antenna that might work in my situation. Lo & behold, I found a highly recommended antennae: HD Frequency Cable Cutter Indoor/Outdoor HD Digital Antennae. Bought it on Amazon (see my review). It was expensive compared to other indoor antennae but my thought was that if it didn't work, I return it & eat the return shipping and any restocking fees. (still cheaper that a monthly cable bill). Thing works like a charm (5 stars). Better reception than I was getting through the cable provider. (Hard to believe? Has to do with signal compression which doesn't occur with OTA.) My TV is a 3 & 1/2 year old Samsung series 7000. I'm guessin' the tuner in the TV must be pretty good because like I said the HD reception was SUPERB. I figured all I needed now was a DVR to record & time shift the stuff for the "regular" (non cable) channels and I was set (My wife & I stream most everything else through Amazon Prime, Hulu+ & Netflix.) Liked the reviews I saw on Amazon for the Channel Master. Bought it. Tried it. Sent it back. (Hadta eat the return shipping.) It appears to me (and like I said, to Carl also) that the tuners in the CM leave a lot to be desired. I even did a upgrade to the newest version and no matter what I did the reception was degraded badly. Tried reseting the unit several times and the same thing would happen: bad pixelation. The unit would go black if you changed a channel; sometimes the channel would come back; most times not. Tried repositioning the antennae: no help. Disconnected the unit and reconnected the antennae. Voila! Perfect reception. While I really wanted this thing to work, It was apparent to me just about right away that the electronics (the tuners, I'm guessin') were degrading the OTA signal to point of being useless. I hope they get their act together but for me it's already too late. Movin' on to something else.
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1 of 6 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars By now I've paid over $500 to try to cut the cord from satellite and I think I may as well send this crap back and forget it, October 2, 2014
By
T. Woodward (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Channel Master DVR+ Bundle - subscription free digital video recorder with web features and channel guide (CM7500BDL2) (Camera)
It worked okay at first, except I could only record about two hours worth of programs. I was told I needed more megs of memory. I bought a flash drive with 16 megs (I think) and the DVR didn't seem to acknowledge its presence. Then I was told I needed at least 82 megs. So I bought a flash drive with 128 megs and the DVR still did "read" it. I wrote to Channel Master and was told they don't provide support for any additional memory from any place but Seagate. So I bought a Seagate external memory and the DVR won't even work now. Nor will my TV work with the DVR hooked to it. I get 25 to 36 "local" (HD) channels without the DVR. When I hook the DVR up it will scan for channels then tell me there are no valid channels, as the words "No Signal" float around on my TV screen. By now I've paid over $500 to try to cut the cord from satellite and I think I may as well send this crap back and forget it. I was away from home for quite a while and haven't had time to deal with this. I emailed Channel Master again about my issues a few days ago and have received no reply. NO, i WOULD NOT RECOMMEND IT TO A FRIEND OR EVEN AN ENEMY. BE PREPARED TO SPEND EXTRA ON EXTERNAL MEMORY DEVICES.
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5 of 16 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Very problematic unit, April 14, 2014
By
Gary - See all my reviews
This review is from: Channel Master DVR+ Bundle - subscription free digital video recorder with web features and channel guide (CM7500BDL2) (Camera)
It is only good if you get your TV reception from an antenna and then it is still terrible. Sometime it records and sometimes it does not. Sometimes it records the wrong channel. On third unit from Channel Master and they all act the same. I am using all their specified equipment and it still does not wrong properly. The worst thing of all about this unit is its tuner. Channels sometimes cut in and out. This happens even on my close strong stations. I am going to stick with the Magnavox MDR537 , MDR535 or MDR533 machines since they work flawlessly and can do so much more!!
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1 of 9 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars It records and plays back very nice. The info available is poor, September 11, 2014
By
Christy Mattson - See all my reviews
This review is from: Channel Master DVR+ Bundle - subscription free digital video recorder with web features and channel guide (CM7500BDL2) (Camera)
I used it for antenna broadcasts. It records and plays back very nice. The info available is poor, for instance it doesn't tell you the year the recording was made. it also doesn't let you record only new episodes. it also takes more button pushes to accomplish a task than is necessary.
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11 of 31 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars So many issues/complaints that I don't even know where to start!!, April 13, 2014
By
htp01 - See all my reviews
This review is from: Channel Master DVR+ Bundle - subscription free digital video recorder with web features and channel guide (CM7500BDL2) (Camera)
It's unfortunate, since, in theory, this could've been a great product!
I was truly looking forward to it and have been greatly disappointed!!
There are far too many unresolved problems (some significant) with this product!!
(this is factual, based upon information provided by qualified, respectable users of this product from a highly respectable source, "AVS Forum")
Channel Master needs to do something drastic and soon to remedy these problems, if they expect this product to be anything more than a failure!!
In addition, you're forced to purchase a separate external hard drive (not included in this "bundle")!
Otherwise, you can record for a full two hours (beyond ridiculous!).
The hard drive should've been built in (as customers will need to invest in it anyway, effectively increasing the price, which is already higher than it should be)!

If you have the time (and patience), read about this product (and all of it's issues/complaints) on "AVS Forum" (which is a highly respectable source for information on products such as these).
Look for "Channel Master DVR+ Owners Thread". Since there are 100+ pages to review, I suggest that you simply read through the last few (most recent) pages/posts. Should you not have the time to invest, trust me, avoid this product (at least until they work the bugs out of it)!!
And for the other unit..

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9 of 15 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars but Magnavox has disappointed me., August 11, 2014
By
Spot - See all my reviews
Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Magnavox MDR557H/F7 1Terabyte Hard Disc Drive Digital Video Disc Recorder (Electronics)
Tried the one step record option for model MDR533H/F7. It cycled through all of the possible record times (30, 1:30.2, etc.). very fast... forever. Would not stop when STOP was pressed. Returned it.

Ordered a model MDR557H/F. Tested recording on both HDD and DVD... worked OK. The next day tried to record... got the same problem as the MDR533H/F7. Ruined an important live recording session. Returned the MDR557,. Thank goodness Amazon has a decent return policy.

Indian tech support lady was less than helpful. All she could do was read the manual to me. She did not even seem to know what a composite video input was.

I am at a loss as to what recorder to try next, but Magnavox has disappointed me.
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3 of 9 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Junk!!!, September 12, 2014
By
My Review - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Magnavox MDR557H/F7 1Terabyte Hard Disc Drive Digital Video Disc Recorder (Electronics)
This thing is a piece of junk!! From the first moment I plugged it in the quality was poor. Even with HDMI, the quality was questionable. The instructions are complicated and grossly incomplete. They describe and illustrate connections that make no logical sense at all. The on-screen menus offer no help at all. If you do not have extensive experience and training with audio-video engineering, do not buy this product. And, even with proper connections and setup, the video quality is extremely poor. Getting help from the manufacturer is near impossible. They do not answer questions by email, and their 800 number is useless.
Stay away from this junk!!!
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0 of 5 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars One Star, September 16, 2014
By
LAZB - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Magnavox MDR557H/F7 1Terabyte Hard Disc Drive Digital Video Disc Recorder (Electronics)
It was not compatible with my cable network(Cameron Communications).
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22twain
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Re: DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

Post by 22twain »

For what it's worth, I used three different Panasonic HDD + DVD-R recorders over the years. They're all discontinued now, but they were the same basic idea as the Wal-Mart / Magnavox units, and worked well.

Now I use a TiVo. I don't pay a monthly subscription, instead I paid a one-time lifetime subscription fee (the box's lifetime, not mine) which I figured would break even after about three years. Total was $600 or $700 for the box plus lifetime subscription. The interface is very slick, although it does take some getting used to. I can archive programs by copying them over my home network to my computer.
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CountryBoy
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Re: DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

Post by CountryBoy »

Sounds like I might have to adjust my thinking to TiVo....? But not everyone is a TiVo fan. The following are comments are from Amazon on TiVo
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars TiVo Roamio not ready for prime time, January 24, 2014
By
Rebecca Shapiro - See all my reviews
This review is from: TiVo Roamio Plus HD Digital Video Recorder and Streaming Media Player (TCD848000) (Electronics)
I bought a TiVo Roamio plus with the intent of replacing my 3 Verizon Fios cable boxes. I bought the box at Best Buy and hooked it up. The set up all seemed to go well, I was able to load a cable M-card with no problem and the network connected and installed with no problems. When I tried to use the box none of the apps like Netflix, Hulu, etc were able to be loaded. I was unable to set the dvr up to record a series, and the search function was unavailable. I was getting an error message C501 in the download manager. I called TiVo support and spent a considerable amount of time trouble shooting the problem. Their idea of trouble shooting was to connect to the network over and over again to see if that solved the problem, which it did not. They then told me that it should take 24-48 hours for the box to properly download and install the software. I gave them the 48 hours and the unit still did not work. I again called support and, once again, spent a considerable amount of time while they tried to figure out the problem unsuccessfully. The tech support department had me check to see if all of my "ports" were clear, which they were, but they were completely unwilling to admit that anything could be wrong with the unit. Ultimately, it was suggested that I exchange the box for a new one. So, off to Best Buy to exchange the TiVo for a new one. I again go through the set up with no network errors, and go to use the unit.....same result. Once again I call tech support to see if maybe the problem is with my home network, because, what are the chances of 2 faulty boxes? After another lengthy time on the phone with tech support the agent finally tells me that issues I am experiencing (C501 error) are a known problem with new Roamio's that are going out, and they are working "hard" to fix the problem. They offered no solution, and said to call back next week if it still doesn't work. Ok, I call back the following week, because the box still doesn't offer any of the features. It does record individual shows, and a ton of the "TiVo recommended" shows, but none of the main features work. No streaming, no viewing from the ipad or iphone, no search features, and no series recording.

I was very disappointed in the unit, the advertised functions, all seem like they would be a great solution for our home. Unfortunately, and according to TiVo themselves they are apparently unable to fix this problem or provide a unit that works properly in my case. So, I returned the TiVo and 2 mini's and went back to my whole house DVR with Verizon that works flawlessly, albeit for a considerable monthly price.

The TiVo tech support was appalling at best. By the end of my conversations with them I knew more about the box than they did, and they can't offer any solutions. Ultimately, I would wait to buy the TiVo Roamio until they can make a unit that consistently works out of the box.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars So many missed recordings!, December 26, 2013
By
Mark Twain - See all my reviews
Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: TiVo Roamio Plus HD Digital Video Recorder and Streaming Media Player (TCD848000) (Electronics)
I sincerely miss my Series 3 Tivo. It provided flawless service for years. When the hard drive gave out, I decided to upgrade to Roamio.

As a standalone gadget, Roamio is great. The new HD menusj and features are nice. The problem is that it's not standalone-- where I live, it has to be used with Cable Cards and Tuning Adapters. These are the devices that make it work with the cable network and each cable network has their own quirks-- manufacturers and firmware versions on the Cable Cards and Tuning Adapters, signal quality on the line, and who knows what else. My cable company seemed to have achieved great compatibility with the Series 3 Tivo. Unfortunately, compatibility has not been stabilized with Roamio. Is this Tivo Inc.'s fault? Not completely, but it's their name and logo on the box and on the screen, so here's my review. I live in a large metropolitan area with a couple million residents and subscribe to cable service from one of the big 3 providers so it's not like I'm asking the device to do something unusual.

The Roamio seems to push the boundaries of what these peripheral devices can do. My Cable Card has not previously been asked to tune six shows at once, and it took a couple different ones to get one that would cooperate. The Tuning Adapter locks up almost daily, denying access to many cable channels. To this day (December 2013), even after a software update to the Tivo, I still suffer from daily reboots. Tivo tells me to troubleshoot this by unplugging the cable line, cable card, and tuning adapter for a few days (translation: no live TV nor recordings). The theory is that those devices are to blame, which seems logical except working with these devices is what the Tivo is supposed to do and in fact what I require it to do.

So let me be clear: after upgrading to Roamio a couple months ago, I have missed dozens of recordings due to reboots and tuning adapter lockups. I've swapped peripherals with the cable company and given them both a chance to troubleshoot this, and the best Tivo Inc. can offer is to unplug it from cable service for a few days.

I am sincerely considering renting a DVR from the cable company. The devices are horrid to use but I have to assume they will at least function as designed. They seem to have cable cards and tuning adapters embedded and tested, if not if not actually customized, for their own network.

Plenty of people have a great experience with the Roamio. Unfortunately I'm not one of them.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Misses too many shows, February 19, 2014
By
Paul Sysol - See all my reviews
This review is from: TiVo Roamio Plus HD Digital Video Recorder and Streaming Media Player (TCD848000) (Electronics)
I've had TiVo for years and had good experiences with it, but the latest update with overlapping programs on the same channel using one tuner is horribly broken, and has been for months. The second program doesn't show up in the list of recordings until the first is done, leaving you to wonder whether it's actually recording or not, and sometimes it decides not to record it at all, saying "Not Available in Guide", when a few minutes before the recording, it's clearly there and set to record. When you're wanting to record shows like the Olympics, that won't air again, these problems are completely unacceptable for a service I'm paying for.

Until this is fixed, I can't recommend the Roamio. TiVo's known about the recording problems for months - there are posts about it on their forums - and done nothing to roll it back or fix it.
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1.0 out of 5 stars Dead on arrival. Took 2 hours to get a replacement. Replacement breaks upon installation of "Update"., October 26, 2014
By
allmarktup - See all my reviews
Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: TiVo Roamio Plus HD Digital Video Recorder and Streaming Media Player (TCD848000) (Electronics)
Dead on arrival. I hope I can save someone the headache of buying this to replace the Cable Company DVR. In my area serviced by Time Warner, they will come out and fix something if it's broken and you won't be stuck with a $400 brick.

After realizing the unit was defective, I called Tivo's customer service, which is terrible. If you are trying to return or get a replacement for a defective unit, they will take up an hour of your time switching you back and forth between people until you lose your patience, then you have to raise your voice. Then they'll make you wait another 30 minutes. Unfortunately, I was moving so I didn't get to install it until after the 30 day return period on Amazon or I would have returned it. Tivo has a 90 day warranty for parts and labor so they were willing to ship another one and give them another chance. I installed the new one and follow the prompts and did the update they suggested. Now, it says "Welcome! Tivo loading" for about 5 minutes then it reboots. My time and effort are worth more than what I gain with Tivo. I would suggest anyone looking at these to just go with the cable company's equipment. If something breaks, the cable company will take care of it.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars A big step back from the older TiVo HD for this user, December 10, 2013
By
Paul Kleeberg - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: TiVo Roamio Plus HD Digital Video Recorder and Streaming Media Player (TCD848000) (Electronics)
I have been using TiVo for years, since at least 2000 and have been very satisfied with the devices. I am very dissatisfied with the Roameo. Though when I called before purchase I was told it would transfer at high speed on a 1 GB ethernet network. It does not. I was told that Toast Titanium 9 and TiVo transfer would work with this device so I could transfer files to my Macintosh as it would with the 2 TiVo HDs I have been using (the Roamio replaced one of them). It does not. The Roameo can see the HD and the HD can see the Roamio, but TiVo Transfer can only see the HD. Multiple calls to the help line with hours of resets, reinstalls and reactivations did not change anything. Transferring video to a iPhone and iPad for off line viewing is unusable since the transfer time is so slow, the device needs to be on during the transfer and the TiVo app in the foreground. it will also not sync among my devices as it can when I transfer it from the HD and use Toast to place it in iTunes. The names of the music channels I get do not show on the Roameo as the do on my HD so I cannot use the guide to select music. Multiple reinstalls, reactivations and a visit from the cable company did not fix it. Finally, I wanted to use the TiVo to display photos from my Mac. The TiVo HD would (albeit low resolution) using TiVo Desktop v1.95a that I got from Tivo some years ago. Hoping there would be an improvement, I downloaded the version on the Tivo Website which turned out to be v1.94 which will not load on Mavericks MacOS 10.9. When I brought this to support's attention, I received the following: "At this time we currently support up to Snow Leopard on TiVo Desktop for Mac" That is version 10.6 which was replaced with Lion (10.7) in July of 2011. Are you kidding?

I will continue to refine this post as time goes on, but I wanted to get this out to warn others who plan to upgrade. I have hardly used it so I cannot attest to the "commercials" others have commented on here. Unless something amazing happens, I plan on returning the device when I have the time to jump through the hoops and find a replacement. Sadly, I gave my HD to my step-son and am not going to ask for it back.

Paul Dec 10 2013

+--

December 18th Addition:

I am getting daily e-mails to provide feedback requests to service calls and contacts I have not made. My last contact with them was an email I sent before December 10th. Am providing feedback via these feedback requests and asking them to stop sending these when I have not contacted them.

Still have not used the new Roameo. Still depending on the old TiVo HD to allow for movie transfers.

+--
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Record all of your Calls with TiVo Sales Support and Be Ready for Them to DO YOU WRONG!, October 9, 2014
By
Techno Geek "Techno Geek" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
This review is from: TiVo Roamio Plus HD Digital Video Recorder and Streaming Media Player (TCD848000) (Electronics)
Review Update (10/11/14): Note that TiVo Support finally provided me with a mostly satisfactory resolution. Not what they should have done, in my opinion, but close enough. If you have issues, send an email to the CEO of TiVo (Tom Rogers - trogers@tivo.com) and be prepared to file complaint with BBB.org, consumeraffairs.com, etc....if you do not get a response and a satisfactory outcome. Charles (tivosupport_charles) made contact and resolved my complaint. Still giving them 1-star for having failed in the first place, but kudos to them for the resolution.

***************************************************************************************

This is NOT a review on the device, but on TiVo Sales Support.

The following information represents my opinion of TiVo and its Sales Support personnel based on a situation in which TiVo, in my opinion, wronged me. This posting not intended to be malicious, demeaning, slanderous, or misrepresenting in any way. It is intended to communicate what I believe is a breakdown in integrity and to stress that it is important for any customer to record calls that are made to TiVo customer support so that you have a formal record of conversations. The following is accurate to the best of my memory, with the final call from TiVo having occurred a little over an 1 hour ago (09-Oct-2014: 8:22pm CDT).

I am very disappointed in TiVo. Last week, I chatted with a TiVo rep. Rep recommended that I call the Sales Support line to investigate a $150 discount for which I might qualify. Called the Sales Support number and the rep confirmed that I was eligible for a $150 promotion, and that the price of the Roamio Plus was also discounted by $50 and a $100 discount on Lifetime. I told the rep that I would consider it. Next day, I called Sales Support to order the Roamio Plus with Lifetime, but was told that no such promotions were available. I escalated to his supervisor and talked with ***** (withholding name, as my intent is not to get a specific Supervisor in trouble or cause her any problems, but I hope she reads this and learns...). She backed up her support rep and told me that these promotions were not correct. However, she agreed to research the previous call (kudos for that). Upon review, she called me back (she had to try a few times, so kudos to her for her persistence) and told me that 1) she understood how I "might" have understood that there were promos (sounds like perhaps a voice of reason), and 2) the original rep had been "counseled" (sounds like perhaps an honest mistake on his part), that there was no way the transaction would have gone through with the original rep (has no bearing on the current situation), and that only the "current" promos would be honored (that is where you crossed the line from explaining the situation to making excuses and refusing to do the right thing).

Given this history, here is my situation. I was quoted prices that TiVo WILL NOT HONOR. Perhaps these prices were offered in error, but the fact is that I was quoted very specific promo prices. TiVo refuses to honor prices quoted to me by one of their Sales Support reps. TIVO REFUSES TO DO THE RIGHT THING BY NOT HONORING THEIR PRICING TO ME. Are TiVo Sales Supervisors trained to refuse to do the right thing, or could it be that the Supervisors do not represent the best interests of the customer when a wrong is committed by a TiVo employee, or is there pervasive situational ethics within the TiVo Sales Support organization, or is this an isolated instance? Who can know? My opinion is that this is an apparent integrity issue that presents itself when a supervisor refuses to do the right thing for the customer.

So now I face the dilemma of whether I repair my Series 3 HD and continue to use it, buy a Roamio Plus while trying to ignore the apparent integrity issue of TiVo, or do I buy a competitor's product? I am not certain which route I will take.

But what I am certain about is that I am EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED that TiVo would permit its supervisors (very specifically...Supervisor ****) to act in a way where they feel it is acceptable to explain away an obvious error, instead of accepting responsibility for its employees and honoring the price, EVEN if it meant finding a high enough manager that could authorize a price override. Chances are that the only way that upper management at TiVo will even find out about this is from this posting. And then once you do, will you do the right thing for me...the customer? My only recourse now is in the court of public opinion... If TiVo has the character to do the right thing by me, then I will update my posting accordingly.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Cannot get through device setup - Tivo tech support was useless, April 25, 2014
By
Eileen Bennett (Waretown, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: TiVo Roamio Plus HD Digital Video Recorder and Streaming Media Player (TCD848000) (Electronics)
Got 90% of the way through device setup for my new Tivo Roamio Plus. Kept getting stuck on the Name this DVR screen, no option to save, no way to move forward or continue, all attempts to move unsuccessful. First attempt to call Tivo customer service ended up with them shipping me a new device. Well, the new device had the same problem. When I called the next time, they actually had the nerve to ask if I had a 'qualified family member' who could work the controls for me. Seriously? You plug the stupid device in and hit select, but somehow you think that I am doing something wrong and it must be my fault? Returned for a full refund, and thanks so much Tivo tech for being condescending, rude, and misogynistic.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Two tivos so far, zero have worked now with addendum, April 25, 2014
By
Josh Albrektson - See all my reviews
Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: TiVo Roamio Plus HD Digital Video Recorder and Streaming Media Player (TCD848000) (Electronics)
I ordered a Tivo Roamio plus to get rid of my time warner cable box. I loved what I thought it could do. The first one came and it said it wouldn't recognize the M-Card. I called Tivo and they told me the M-card was bad. I went to the cable store and got another one. I plugged that in and it didn't work. I called Time warner and they sent a guy over. He spent an hour before a cable card worked. He said he thought the tivo wasn't working good and not to move the card, since it was the only one of 5 that worked after a bunch of jiggling.

Three days later, the Tivo loses most of the channels. I turn it off and turn it back on. Doesn't recognize the card anymore. Then it starts shutting off. And then it doesn't even power up again.

I call Tivo, they send me another box. Guess what. Doesn't recognize the M-card and keeps shutting down repeatedly. Amazing.

So now I have the third box. It seems to work fine, but would load up my cable channels. I could only get local ones. Called TiVo. They said it was time warner. Went through three different cable cards. Got time warner to send out a cable tech. Got TiVo on the phone.

It turns out that in my zip code, the TiVo box doesn't pick the right channels. I have to pretend I live somewhere else and pick a different zip code in order for my cable to work. Here I am 1.5 months in and it has been TiVo that has been the problem all along.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Most frustrating product ever bought., May 5, 2014
By
Beth Olness - See all my reviews
Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: TiVo Roamio Plus HD Digital Video Recorder and Streaming Media Player (TCD848000) (Electronics)
It's been a month and I still haven't got it working. The Wi Fi is seen but is always blocked. Worked with Tivo support but they say they can't help me because they are not allowed to help you configure your ports. I have never had problems setting up any of my 4 computers, ipad or iphones on this network before. I was told at the end that the Wifi is broken, This was after I told them that I bought it from Amazon and not them. They didn't like that at all. My cable card will not work. It would only load to 50% and get stuck. It will hard wire in, but don't want to run a Ethernet through the walls. That's why I got wireless I guess I will stick with my old TiVo that only records 2 shows at a time till they get their act together. BIG WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY!
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4 of 7 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Buyer Beware!, December 1, 2013
By
WriteBrain (CA, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: TiVo Roamio Plus HD Digital Video Recorder and Streaming Media Player (TCD848000) (Electronics)
I have been a long-time customer of Tivo, and their service used to be very good. I ordered a new box last Christmas, and it didn’t even last a year. They sent me another box and it was dead on arrival. The next box worked okay for about ten days and now it’s doing the same thing as the first box (parts of most shows are corrupted and the software isn’t updating when I select “don’t delete” – it just keeps deleting my shows). Next, let’s go on to billing. They double billed me for the first four months and I had to keep calling them. Then they charged me the wrong amount each month and I had to keep calling them. To move my 300 saved shows from the old box to the new, I had to activate the second box temporarily. They said it would be easy to move the shows but it took 10 days, for a couple hours each day. So I just cancelled the second box, and I was assured that they would put notes in my account so that they wouldn’t upgrade the monthly pricing, but I just checked and they now have my monthly price WRONG yet again. And they haven’t refunded the $280 deposit that they insisted on taking just to ship me a replacement box. So they basically have been floating my money for 30 days so far. If you are thinking about going with Tivo this Christmas – DON’T! This product and company have become way more trouble than they are worth.
fposte
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Re: DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

Post by fposte »

That's an item with 637 reviews, though. Most good items with 637 reviews are going to have at least a similar percentage of one-star reviews. If you won't buy anything with one-star reviews, you're going to be limited to buying unreviewed or lightly reviewed merchandise.

If there's something consistent in the one-star reviews that's relevant to your particular setup and isn't explained or countered by positive reviews, that's something that could be worth thinking about, but right now it's just the fact that a very small percentage of reviewers didn't like their gizmo. I wouldn't worry about that.
dumbmoney
Posts: 2419
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Re: DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

Post by dumbmoney »

I just threw away a couple of VHS units because I haven't used them for 15 years.

Still have an analog Tivo that I don't use, and will probably throw away also.

What exactly do you want to record?
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CountryBoy
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Location: NY

Re: DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

Post by CountryBoy »

My wife and I enjoy watching '30s movies that we record from Turner Classic Movie channel on our Cablevison.

No one else likes these but we certainly do.
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22twain
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Re: DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

Post by 22twain »

Has your Cablevision service gone all-digital? I think I remember reading they did that in NYC a few years ago. In that case you'll still need to rent a CableCard from them in order to use a TiVo. The CableCard un-encrypts the channels that your subscription allows you to access, like a regular digial cable box does. The rental fee will be less than for a box, though.
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CountryBoy
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Re: DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

Post by CountryBoy »

well we have a card in the box at the moment...
Sidney
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Re: DVD-R, RW and VHS Player

Post by Sidney »

CountryBoy wrote:My wife and I enjoy watching '30s movies that we record from Turner Classic Movie channel on our Cablevison.

No one else likes these but we certainly do.
Aren't most of these available online now -- without the annoyance of commercials?
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