Remember those dual tuner units I broke the news on a few weeks ago? They’re here and Engadget had some hand’s on time with one…
Engadget says: So what’d we think? Well, it worked exactly as advertised, and that second tuner was totally seamless. So the question isn’t how good was the Series2 DT — it’s really no better than any other TiVo on the market right now, this isn’t like a tossup between a Series2 and a Series3 or Media Center PC. The question you is: how much is that second tuner worth to you?
TiVo says: The TiVo Series2 DT DVR is optimized for cable households, allowing you to record two shows at once, so now you never have to miss any of your favorite shows — even if they’re on at the same time. The TiVo Series2 DT DVR also incorporates built-in Ethernet and USB ports, making it easier than ever to add the TiVo box to the home network. “We’ve been hearing from our subscribers that they wanted a TiVo DVR that could record two shows at once,” said Jim Denney , Vice President of Product Marketing at TiVo. “With the TiVo Series2 DT DVR, we’ve delivered that capability to our customers at a very affordable price.” The TiVo Series2 DT DVR will join the existing TiVo product line, and is available in an 80-hour model priced at just $99.99, after rebate and service activation.
All in all good news for those with standard def and analog cable, but these units are about a year or so too late for me. Let me know when the Series 3 arrives. For those of you who are in the market, the 80 hour model can be ordered now and the 180 hour will be available next month — presumably once they’ve cleared the S2 single tuner stock. He who buys first, pays the most…
Related links:
Engadget review
CNET review
TiVo press release
80 hour unit on Amazon
80 hour at TiVo Store
Actually the Ethernet jack is more interesting than the dual tuners. Does this mean Ethernet-speed TTG transfers?
Even though I’m a satellite subscriber and wouldbe be able to use the 2nd tuner (or the Series3 for that matter) I think this is pretty significant, albeit a bit late to market.
The built in Ethernet is very nice and would be enough of a reason to get me to choose this over another unit if I were in the market now.
Likely there is more horsepower under the hood, maybe a faster processor or more RAM or maybe even both. Anyone who remembers the initial 7.x software rollout should be able to appreciate that.
They are also likely test driving some of the Series3 features & components in this, the 4th version of the Series2. More of a benefit for the initial Series3 adopters than for the buyer of this device.
What I’m most disappointed in is the lack of component outputs.
Joseph: CNET reports using the integrated Ethernet jack on the DT yielded similarly glacial transfer speeds that approached the actual length of the video.
Robert: Instead of test driving features for the S3, I think it’s more likely the TGC (TiVo Greater China) box was test driving new processing guts and Ethernet for the US market.
Rumor has it the boxes are running software 7.2.5 — any noticeable differences over 7.2.2? Bob Pony answered a question I had on the TCF and stated these new boxes will not decode MPEG4… which many think is necessary for a future movie download service.