Re: [edlug] Anyone want to give an edlug technical talk on PVR/DVB?

[Angus Rae <Angus.Rae@xxx.xxx.xxx>]

sxw@xxx.xxx.xxx wrote:
> In my case, because I'd like to do things beyond just video. However, I 
> must admit I'd written off the Tivo, because I was under the impression 
> that they were no longer marketed in the UK, and that subscriptions were 
> only available to existing customers. Is this just rumour?

No one in the UK is producing TiVo hardware at this time (TiVo doesn't 
make or market the hardware, they produce the hardware design, the 
software and the service data). Thompson was the UK company that 
produced the hardware, but due to a couple of bad decisions (teaming up 
with Sky for one thing - the instant that Sky decided to produce a hard 
drive recorder themselves Thompson were out on a limb) they ended up not 
making any money, so they stopped making it. Currently no manufacturer 
produces a UK TiVo (although there are several in the US, and always 
rumours of one of the ones with a more European bent perhaps releasing a 
UK model).

This has no effect on whether you can get a subscription or not. A lot 
of the ones on eBay already have lifetime subscriptions (which are worth 
£200, so factor that in to any pricing) and those that don't you can 
quite easily subscribe yourself in the normal way. Then you can take out 
the hard drives, stick in a couple of 200GB drives with the patched 
LBA48 kernel, add a network card...

I'm not sure how "subscriptions only available to existing customers" 
would work anyway - until you subscribe the box you aren't a TiVo 
customer, and if you're an existing TiVo customer why would you need to 
subscribe the box?*

Angus

* Yes, I know that in theory when I subscribed my second box I was an 
existing customer, but I was reducing the problem to the one box 
situation...

--
Angus G Rae                                  Computing Services
Science & Engineering Support Team      University of Edinburgh
The above opinions are mine, and Edinburgh Uni can't have them.

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