TV & Home Theater

[SamHobbs]

Best Buy is sure clueless about Tivo. The people we spoke with do not even know what a Tivo is. Yes, I know they sell Tivo so it is so amazing that the people we spoke with have no clue what a Tivo is. We tell them it is type of DVR and they still don't understand.

The thing we want to know is if the Directv DVR is a Tivo. The Direct customer service person did not know what a Tivo is. I assume that if we were diligent we could find a Directv person that knows what a Tivo is but that will take time. I assume I can find the answer in the Directv web site but that is the type of thing they do not make it easy to find.

We were in the Porter Ranch Best Buy and there was a guy (not a Best Buy employee) selling Directv. He did not understand what Tivo is. We signed up but now we want to know if the DVR is a Tivo DVR that uses the Tivo software. We also want to get a card to go into the Tivo that we currently have so we can use that Tivo with Directv but of course no one has any clue to what we are talking about.

It is so amazing that everyone we talked with (at least a couple at Best Buy and a couple from Directv) have no idea what a Tivo is.

[Neihn Valued Contributor]

No its not a Tivo DVR. They were supposed to release one in late 2010 that got delayed to summer of 2011 which then got delayed again to late 2011. Given its almost December now at this point no one knows when we will see a new DirecTV Tivo DVR.

From DirecTV:

"Will DIRECTV offer a new TiVo HD DVR?

We continue our partnership with TiVo to develop a new TiVo HD DVR from DIRECTV. The launch date is still to be determined, pending production approval. Product development is a complex exercise, and TiVo and DIRECTV are jointly committed to providing our customers with the high quality products we are both known for.

We apologize that the process has taken longer than anticipated. Once the product is approved for production, we will communicate a target launch date. We are optimistic that the new TiVo HD DVR from DIRECTV will be available for purchase in calendar year 2011."

http://support.directv.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/77/~/directv-relationship-with-tivo---new-hd-dvr

[SamHobbs]

Thank you Neihn. I did some searching and what I found is quite consistent with what you say. It would help if the Best Buy people were better informed.

We had Directv a few years ago. We had (and still have I think) a Tivo that works only with Directv. Then Directv began making their own DVR. The software for it was so amatuer that I was very surprised that Directv would develop something like that. There are many thousands of software design people that could design better systems.

Then we switched to Verizon Fios for tv and their other services. I won't get into that here but the customer service we are getting is very poor.

So when we were in Best Buy my mother decided to switch back to Directrv but she was told (she says) that the Directv DVR is a Tivo. Apparently the sales person is just highly uninformed. My mother says she does not want Directv if the DVR is not a Tivo. I would not be so quick to agree with her except the fact that Directv is switching back to Tivo is an indication to me that the Directv DVR is still inadequate.

Another thing I do not know is if we can get a card to go into the Tivo Premiere that allows the Tivo to be used with Directv. We are currently doing that with Verizon Fios; our Tivo box has a Verizon Fios card in it. If there is a card like that for Directv then it would help for the Best Buy and Directv people to understand that.

[TechSavvyChick]

Was it direct tv that got in a lawsuit with tivo because they wanted to make there own version?? If I remember correctly the patent that tivo had wasn't up at the time and they had claimed that direct tv "stole" the software. I could be wrong that it was direct tv. I dunno, I can't remember. That all happened before I became a tech so I wasn't really paying attention to the whole thing.

[Neihn Valued Contributor]

That was Dish Network. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2010/03/court-gives-tivo-thumbs-up-in-dv...

[TechSavvyChick]

Ohh yeah, That's right. I guess I could have looked it up, just didn't feel like it. Thanks for the link

[Neihn Valued Contributor]

np. Only reason i remembered that so well is because after that ruling my Dish bill went up :-p

[SamHobbs]

At the time that Directrv originally split from Tivo the Directv software was so poor that I would be surprised if Tivo took credit for it.