October 20, 2003
Bob Hammer
NCMUG
Berea Ohio
TiVo will change the way you watch TV forever. First a little background for the neophites that aren’t familiar with the new product PVR or Personal Video Recorder. In July we had a demo of a Panasonic PVR that would also burn DVD Video. The TiVo, and its competitor ReplayTV, are PVR’s but don’t burn DVD’s.
The TiVo will replace your VHS VCR for recording and playing back TV shows faster than Jack Rabbit. The TiVo is a set top box that incorporates a small computer processor combined with a TV Tuner and MPEG-2 hardware encoder. It will record your favorite programs and hold them for you for weeks until you have a chance to watch them. Set it up to record “3rd Watch” and it will find any station airing the show and record it, regardless if the programming schedule changes the day before. The TiVo connects via phone or internet each night to download the programming schedule for your cable or satelite system. With the “season pass” ability never miss another episode again. TiVo allows you to pause live TV for any reason, like a refriderator or bathroom run, and pick up right where you left off. You even have the ability to “rewind” several seconds of live TV because someone sneezed and you missed an important line of dialog.
Now back to the book review.
The idea of hacking an electronic device to make it work better or to improve its functionality is appealing to many. Some view the warranty seal as a warning while otheres consider it an invitation. Not all hacks involve “popping the top” on your box, but many do. Armed with your remote control a screwdriver and a little knowledge and instructions you can change the way your TiVo works. The book is will make you dangerous and advises you to back up before attempting anything drastic. That prevents the $400 door stop hack. But many hacks are performed just by reprogramming the unit using some systematic key punches on your remote control.
A note of disapointment as the book points out, most of the hacks are only usable on series 1 TiVo’s. All you can buy today is series 2 TiVo’s. The series 1 units were open code and easy to hack. The series 2 units TiVo changed and added a lot of secret code making the units less hacker friendly.
The 100 hacks are mostly a set of instructions that rely on previous instructions. For example using a #10 Torx screwdriver from the hardware store to remove the screws to the case is hack #20. Yes the instructions also include warnings about electic discharge and recommend placing the unit between your knees for ease of removal. There are several similar to this.
On the plus side, some of the simple hacks could enhance the units value greatly. Little things like being able to program a “jump ahead 30 seconds” button. Note: Replay TV has one built in – and has been involved in numerous lawsuits because of it. More difficult hacks include adding or changing hard drives to increase storage time. Using your TiVo as a web server and more. I found the book useful but somewhat techie. I guess with a title of “Hacks” that is what I should expect.
.I found one hack quite intriging. You can program Caller ID to appear on the TV screen. You have to subscribe to caller ID first. Instead of running for the phone during your favorite thriller, a line of message is superimposed over your show with the caller indentification.
No soldering irons required. But, if have a working knowledge under the hood of a PC you can modify your TiVo, All in all, the book is useful just for the remote control commands that can customize your TiVo and making TV watching more enjoyable.
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