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Monday, February 11, 2008

TiVo and U-verse

Okay, now that I've gotten that rant off my chest, I'd love some guidance.

We have two TiVos. We love our TiVos. TiVo is the best invention since the television. So in other words, I want to keep our TiVos.

AT&T has been pushing U-verse in our neighborhood. The price seems okay. The customer service can't possibly be worse than Time Warner. But I'm concerned about its interaction with TiVo. Some sources tell me that they can play nicely together. Others tell me that it's difficult getting them to work. AT&T won't hook the TiVos up to U-verse and get the system working. It's up to me, I'm told, to make that work out after I get U-verse.

That's my main concern. What if I can't get them working right? I'd like to try out U-verse, but it's not exactly like taking a test drive. I'd have fiber optics hooked up to the house and (I think) my cable would be disconnected, so I'd be pretty committed to the whole thing at that point.

Anyone out there have great suggestions? Is the interaction easier than I think? Is there a knowledgeable service that would come out and handle my hookups for me without it costing me a fortune? Should I wait for some kind of agreement between TiVo and U-verse? I'd been leaning toward the last option, but I'm hacked off enough at Time Warner now that I'd like to make the switch sooner rather than later.

6 comments:

Spork Boy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Spork Boy said...

Found this with a quick Google. Hope it helps. I'm considering adding FIOS TV to my Internet connection. I don't have Tivo, though. Hell, I barely have enough time to watch TV. I'm too busy checking my mail for my copy of Devil's Cape.

Chris Maselli said...

Well, I'd be interested to hear what you end up doing. I'm in the same boat. I just received a letter from Charter that my rates are going up, so I thought it might be time to switch to U-Verse. But I can't live without my--much superior-TiVos.

My Internet research has shown the same thing. "Most" people seem to get their TiVos working, but they say the channel changing isn't always reliable.

In my case, Charter is only $10 more than U-Verse, but that is $120/year.

Rob Rogers said...

I appreciate the link, Spork Boy, although I'll admit it's pretty discouraging. I had some AT&T salespeople come to the door today hawking U-verse and sent them on their way--I'd had someone come by the house at one point who told me that the U-verse technicians could help me make the TiVo work with U-verse, but it turned out she was just trying to make a sale. Turned me off big time.

Chris Maselli said...

I ended up giving up on U-verse. I'd love to do it, but I just can't imagine giving up my Tivo, and I'm not willing to take the chance.

Luckily, I bargained with Charter who, once they realized I was leaving, was willing to give me a similar price. So in the end, I'm happy, but I would have switched if U-Verse could have figured it out.

Rob Rogers said...

Thanks, Chris.

I'd like to make the switch, and probably will someday. I'm not delighted with Time Warner and it seems like I'd be getting more channels and better quality with U-verse.

But I'm frustrated with both TiVo and U-verse that someone hasn't come up with a better solution for making the two technologies play nicely with each other.

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