Hi all, I'm considering a pretty drastic change to our household TiVo usage and wanted to get the thoughts & advice of the forum before I pulled the trigger. So here goes... :)
Current setup is a pair of Premiere units connected to Comcast Digital Cable, one in the Media room and one in the Bedroom. Both wired into the home network and using HDMI for A/V. Both have been upgraded to 2TB HDs. Both use Streambaby to stream/pull content from our Media Server (A Mac Mini dedicated to the task). This Mac Mini also uses AirVideoHD to stream content to iOS devices (but NOT from the TiVos themselves, have to rip the content from the TiVo units to the server first in order to do that).
I'm considering the move to a Roamio Pro, primarily to get the built-in iOS streaming so my lady can watch native TiVo content on her iPad from anywhere, and not just content that's been ripped to the server.
To that end, I'm looking at getting a Roamio Pro to live in the Media Center, and a TiVo Mini to live in the bedroom. This has the benefit of a smaller footprint and more importantly, it's silent (a definite consideration in the bedroom). This would give us 450 hours of HD which is only a modest amount less than we have currently between the 2 Premieres, and the only impact I see it really having is that we'd get fewer suggestions (we have a LOT of free space generally since upgrading the units).
I believe this would give us the same basic features we have now of a TiVo in both rooms, but at a reduced monthly expense (I'd get lifetime on the Mini, monthly on the Roamio) since I don't intend to keep the Premieres active. And we'd get the added bonus of being able to stream content directly to our iOS devices.
So that's the general lay of the land. Now for my questions, in no particular order...
1. Does this generally sound right? Anything I missed or special considerations with the above scenario?
2. For those who have a Roamio/Mini combination, how do you like it? Any complaints?
3. Does TiVo still restrict the streaming functionality from working on Jailbroken iOS devices, even for legit paying customers?
4. Can I run HDMI video out of the Mini to the TV, but analog audio into the old receiver I use in the bedroom?
5. Is the Roamio storage capacity upgradeable via any standard external drive or is it restricted to just the WD MyBook that they sell through TiVo?
6. If we take the Premiere units off our plan, can they be used just to watch whatever is stored on them currently, like in a guest or spare bedroom? Or are they useless bricks without monthly service? Any suggestions on what to do with them if they can't be used as simple dumb playback devices?
7. Do I use the current CableCard from one of the Premiere units in the Roamio? Or do I need a new one? Does the Mini need one too?
8. Insert question I didn't think to ask here. :)
Thanks all, this is a pretty significant potential change to our setup so I want to make sure I've done some homework first!
Current setup is a pair of Premiere units connected to Comcast Digital Cable, one in the Media room and one in the Bedroom. Both wired into the home network and using HDMI for A/V. Both have been upgraded to 2TB HDs. Both use Streambaby to stream/pull content from our Media Server (A Mac Mini dedicated to the task). This Mac Mini also uses AirVideoHD to stream content to iOS devices (but NOT from the TiVos themselves, have to rip the content from the TiVo units to the server first in order to do that).
I'm considering the move to a Roamio Pro, primarily to get the built-in iOS streaming so my lady can watch native TiVo content on her iPad from anywhere, and not just content that's been ripped to the server.
To that end, I'm looking at getting a Roamio Pro to live in the Media Center, and a TiVo Mini to live in the bedroom. This has the benefit of a smaller footprint and more importantly, it's silent (a definite consideration in the bedroom). This would give us 450 hours of HD which is only a modest amount less than we have currently between the 2 Premieres, and the only impact I see it really having is that we'd get fewer suggestions (we have a LOT of free space generally since upgrading the units).
I believe this would give us the same basic features we have now of a TiVo in both rooms, but at a reduced monthly expense (I'd get lifetime on the Mini, monthly on the Roamio) since I don't intend to keep the Premieres active. And we'd get the added bonus of being able to stream content directly to our iOS devices.
So that's the general lay of the land. Now for my questions, in no particular order...
1. Does this generally sound right? Anything I missed or special considerations with the above scenario?
2. For those who have a Roamio/Mini combination, how do you like it? Any complaints?
3. Does TiVo still restrict the streaming functionality from working on Jailbroken iOS devices, even for legit paying customers?
4. Can I run HDMI video out of the Mini to the TV, but analog audio into the old receiver I use in the bedroom?
5. Is the Roamio storage capacity upgradeable via any standard external drive or is it restricted to just the WD MyBook that they sell through TiVo?
6. If we take the Premiere units off our plan, can they be used just to watch whatever is stored on them currently, like in a guest or spare bedroom? Or are they useless bricks without monthly service? Any suggestions on what to do with them if they can't be used as simple dumb playback devices?
7. Do I use the current CableCard from one of the Premiere units in the Roamio? Or do I need a new one? Does the Mini need one too?
8. Insert question I didn't think to ask here. :)
Thanks all, this is a pretty significant potential change to our setup so I want to make sure I've done some homework first!