# Which should I Buy?



## dricci (Apr 6, 2002)

I've got an extra $400 to burn.

I'm stuck between deciding what I should spend it on: An iPod or a Tivo?

An iPod would be nice, an external 5 gig HD that plays music and stores contacts plus of course, most importantly, portable brickout.

A tivo would really help my TV viewing habbits. No more VCR programming and icky VHS.

I can afford one or the other. Which would you choose?


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## dlookus (Apr 6, 2002)

I have both.
The iPod is great, so is the Tivo. Keep in mind;however, that you have to pay $13 a month for the Tivo to download the tv listings. That's one CD a month (almost.) Also, who knows maybe they'll come out with an ATI all in wonder for OSX that has the same capabilities as the Tivo. You can always buy an older Tivo off of ebay as well for a little over $100.


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## Nummi_G4 (Apr 6, 2002)

I wish I had $400 laying around!  Buy the iPod. iPod. iPod.


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## BlingBling 3k12 (Apr 6, 2002)

TiVo

believe me, ever since my parents got it for me, i've used it daily and it's usually maxed out with all the shows i watch

if i had a mac and an ipod, i would probably recommend it

and the $13 (i thought it was $10) a month is just a small price to pay for such a convenience!


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## Bluefusion (Apr 6, 2002)

Since I'm not a big TV fan (in fact, I almost never watch anything except the old episodes of the X-Files, the once-every-Wednesday show the West Wing, and a few random episodes of Law & Order) I can honestly say that I wouldn't go for the TiVo. I'm a HUGE music fan, so the iPod was the obvious choice....*for me.*  I don't know about you, though. The main thing is that the iPod allows you to carry around all your favorite music wherever you are, and the TiVo allows you to record TV. If you spend a lot of time watching TV at home, get TiVo. If you spend a lot of time walking around outdoors and listening to music, get the iPod. That's as simple as it's going to get.


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## BlingBling 3k12 (Apr 6, 2002)

i'm a huge music & tv fan...

the ipod would be good but all i do is sit around and listen to my music at home... which is about 700 songs... 

so the tivo was good for me...

just wanted to clarify


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## ksuther (Apr 6, 2002)

Get the iPod, it's much cooler


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## dricci (Apr 6, 2002)

Well, I don't have a need to carry around my music as much. I watch more TV than I listen to music. But there are just some times when it'd be really convienient to grab all of my music and leave the house... and play brickout. Hmm.. Maybe I should find an old portable CD player and my gameboy that disapeared.

The TiVo would probably be more useful to me, but there are issues like how well it will  work with my satellite and rumor that some networks are implementing "scrambling" to confuse PVRs somehow.

It's a big decision. Maybe I should think it over for a little longer.


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## Bluefusion (Apr 6, 2002)

I say get an MP3 CD player and a TiVo. MP3 CD players are relatively cheap and can hold about 10 hours of music. They work very well for the most part, and for most people they'll be easier to justify buying than an iPod 

If you're not really a music person, this makes much more sense. They go for around $80-$120, not too bad.


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## vic (Apr 6, 2002)

isn't tivo tied with microsoft somehow?


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## Bluefusion (Apr 6, 2002)

Isn't everything tied with Microsoft somehow?


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## vic (Apr 6, 2002)

no. my apple pro mouse isn't, it's plugged in to the keyboard's usb port which in turn is tied to my mackintosh.


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## dricci (Apr 6, 2002)

Tivo's software is based on a small port of Linux. People can actually use Linux machines to haxx0r their Tivos.

Microsoft owns "Ultimate TV" which had some features that Tivo didn't have for a while, but does now, and does them better. From what I've heard, development on Ultimate TV has been haulted. Tivo is still going strong.


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## BlingBling 3k12 (Apr 6, 2002)

> _Originally posted by dricci _
> *but there are issues like how well it will  work with my satellite and rumor that some networks are implementing "scrambling" to confuse PVRs somehow.*



1) we have it hooked up to our satellite... when you want to watch HBO, you just hit Channel 501 instead of going to the vcr, turning on the aux. video chanel, turning on the satellite, and then going to 501.... plus i like it's menu and layout much better... so much easier to use...

2) networks may scramble those ReplayTV systems that can digitally remove the commercials and then share them over the internet, but i haven't heard anything like that about tivo...

3) UltimateTV is probably halted since they're working on some new technology (click the link to see what i'm talking about : http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/freestyle_mira.asp)

4) MP3 cd players are very good... my friend has 2 (don't ask why... i don't even know) and he uses them whenever he wants to take his songs with him... he gets around 110 songs on one cd...


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## Bluefusion (Apr 6, 2002)

> _Originally posted by vic _
> *no. my apple pro mouse isn't, it's plugged in to the keyboard's usb port which in turn is tied to my mackintosh. *



Wrong. The Pro Mouse is made in Taiwan, which is also where Windows machines tend to be produced, which means it's tied with Microsoft. The mouse is also plugged into USB, which is used by Microsoft.


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## vic (Apr 6, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Bluefusion _
> *
> 
> Wrong. The Pro Mouse is made in Taiwan, which is also where Windows machines tend to be produced, which means it's tied with Microsoft. The mouse is also plugged into USB, which is used by Microsoft.
> ...



isn't everything made in taywan


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## Bluefusion (Apr 6, 2002)

Yes! Exactly my point. See, everything's made in Taiwan, so therefore everything is tied to Microsoft. It's a fact of life 

Hehe


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## AdmiralAK (Apr 6, 2002)

I voted for iWalk, but since it doesnt exist get a factory original Newton 2100


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## xoot (Apr 6, 2002)

Buy the iPod... You could always get more songs *free*. But, with the Tivo, you have to pay $13 a month for the listings.

P.S.: Only two songs?! I have 6 GB of them! And, don't worry, all of my songs are not illegally downloaded mp3s


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## dricci (Apr 6, 2002)

I thought about a newton actually. Now that there's that iTunes sync plugin. Oh boy, 8 mono songs crammed in my pocket! It'd be a great PDA though.

A Tivo would probably be a pain to keep up with. I don't know if the $13 a month is really worth it. I wish they'd offer an ethernet port and just let me plug it into my network so it could get listings free 

An iPod would be nice to have if it supported more PDA features or like possibilites to add games or something. I think the brickout alone is enough to make me want to buy it.


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## xoot (Apr 6, 2002)

You know, if you like PDA features, buy an electronic handheld. You can also play games on it, only, of course, it doesn't have enough memory for songs. But it looks like you don't need songs on your mystery product. So buy one. It'll be worth the money. I promise.


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## Hypernate (Apr 7, 2002)

> _Originally posted by BlingBling 3k12 _
> *
> 
> 4) MP3 cd players are very good... my friend has 2 (don't ask why... i don't even know) and he uses them whenever he wants to take his songs with him... he gets around 110 songs on one cd... *



I can get about 163 average sized MP3s onto a CD if I burn with iTunes.


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## ksv (Apr 7, 2002)

For $399 I'd get a 25 watt FM transmitter, a stereo encoder and a large antenna


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## dricci (Apr 7, 2002)

> _Originally posted by ksv _
> *For $399 I'd get a 25 watt FM transmitter, a stereo encoder and a large antenna  *



Hehe, that'd be neat. But then I wouldn't have enough money for lawyer fees when the FCC came knocking on my door


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## ksv (Apr 7, 2002)

> _Originally posted by dricci _
> *
> 
> Hehe, that'd be neat. But then I wouldn't have enough money for lawyer fees when the FCC came knocking on my door  *



Oh, then just use the 25 W as a forwarder, and send the broadcast signals from a less powerful transmitter at your home to it. The 25 W could be hidden in a tower, office building, anything


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## dricci (Apr 8, 2002)

I've decided to put this decission off for a while.

I have a question to those of you with Tivos though. I have a satellite system now so I get info and auto-tune and reminders on shows. But I've noticed a lot of networks recently have began starting and stoping their shows several minutes out of their designated block. For example, one show may be listed officially as 10:00 to 10:30 but may start at 10:04 and end at 10:36.

Since these start and stop times are not officially listed, I was wondering if this has an effect on what the Tivo records? Because I don't think I'd want it if it cuts off minutes at the start and finish of a show.


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## dlookus (Apr 9, 2002)

The Tivo is not smart. If a show gets pushed because of a sporting event or something, it won't get the whole show. It's pretty disappointing actually. It's pretty good otherwise.

BTW I think Ultimate TV is done. I believe it was unprofitable so MS killed it.


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## BlingBling 3k12 (Apr 9, 2002)

> _Originally posted by dricci _
> *Since these start and stop times are not officially listed, I was wondering if this has an effect on what the Tivo records?*



you can tell it to keep recording after the listed time.... if it ends at 10:36, you can tell it to record 6 minutes after the program "ends"


and if you get a PDA... you can definitely use it as an MP3 player... at Circuit City yesterday I saw a 2 GB memory card (yes 2 GIGABYTES) that can go in certain PDA's.... i know that the Compaq iPaq & HP Jordana have Windows PocketPC 2002 (which i would pick over PalmOS in a second) which includes Media Player to play MP3's, WAV's, WMA's, certain video files. (see link here: http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/software/features/mediaplayer.asp)

just something else to look into if you want the power of a PDA but the greatness of an MP3 player (with video capabilities! just think if you're in the middle of a meeting and watching your favorite episode of a show that you captured onto your mac)


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## dricci (Apr 9, 2002)

If I got a PDA, It'd have to be a Newton. Possibly a 3rd party Palm. I refuse to use a PocketPC. It still runs Windows! Even I have standards


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## ksv (Apr 9, 2002)

Oh no, what has happened to BB?!
Can you repeat what you just said?
Did I recognize you correctly?


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## dricci (Apr 9, 2002)

He has an X-Box and likes PocketPCs. He doesn't have a Mac. My friends, I think we have an unauthorized intruder in our little community


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## vic (Apr 9, 2002)

ALARM!! UNAUTORIZED INTRUDER! STEVE! bring the holy water! QUICK!


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## TommyWillB (Apr 14, 2002)

Dude! Get the TiVo so that you can bend TV around your computer time... instead of the other way around.

(I know you have a TV and you watch it a LOT, otherwise you would not even be considering a TiVo...)


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