TivoToGo - Anyone using?
 

So is anyone out there using TivoToGo? I got my version 7 upgrade over the weekend.

Loaded all the software. It worked straight out of the box for me. The only major thing missing is a fast forward button in WMP 10.0? Makes it hard to skip the commercials.

I think this is great. I am stock piling movies on the large external hard drive, then will load a few movies as needed on laptop for travel. No DVDs to mail back to Netflix.

It does require advance planning, but so does Netflix.

The transfers between Tivo and PC are lengthy - slightly greater than amount of time recorded. Other than that, I think it is pretty slick.

I'm using it, I take stuff with me to hotel rooms during the week.

My fast forward button does work, sounds like you have a problem with your codec, you might want to get your hands on a better one.

I'm also interested in the DVD-burning process. Besides keeping the movies on a hard drive this could be a reasonably inexpensive way of archiving Tivo'd programs. Does anyone have experience with this process (via Tivo-to-go, not via a DVR-DVD recorder)?

I'm among the un-assimilated so far...

It works, it just isn't very fun to do. I tried the TiVo offered SonicDVD but that application is terrible. I ended up burning them with Nero Vision Express.

As for the slow transfers, I have VNC on my desktop at home, so before I leave the hotel heading back home I start all the transfers. I'll usually transfer around 20 hours of stuff, that way I'll have a good selection when I get home.

Part of this problem is that TiVo, in their infinite wisdom, only enabled USB1.1 drivers on all of the TiVo boxes. Thus, even with a wired connection, you can't exceed 12 Mbps (1.5MB/sec) transfer to your desktop.

However, TiVo did actually include USB 2.0 drivers on most Series 2 boxes (if your Tivo service number starts with a 2, you should have USB 2.0 hardware). If you're enterprising enough to figure out how to get shell access on your box (it can be done in less than 30 minutes, unless you have one of the new "nightlight" boxes), you can get faster. I can extract video from my box at around 2.5 MB/sec (at that point, it's more a limitation of the TiVo's processor power) - but I'm also using third party tools, as opposed to T2G, since I've got one of the DVD-burning TiVos (Pioneer DVR-810H) that doesn't support transfers yet. The best I've heard of has been 3.0 MB/sec under ideal conditions.

If you're not so enterprising, TiVo's probably going to enable USB 2.0 at some point this year in an update (it's as simple as changing *one line* in the startup scripts).

I have actually been pretty pleased with the transfer rates over the wireless network - not super fast by any means, but not as painfully slow as I expected it to be. I queue up a few shows on Sunday night and just grab my machine and go on Monday. I have been a big fan so far. I like my battery will last longer than if I used the DVD player on the machine.

I am just plain happy they finally released it. Nice to know there is always something I want to watch on my laptop, with no worries about a "bumpy ride" making a DVD unwatchable. And sure beats having to catch up when I get home.

external hard drives with TIVO to go?
 

Is anyone using an external hard drive with TIVO to go and their laptop? I was just looking at a Maxtor external drive with 80gig for $100 (haven't really price shopped, so this is just a starting point). Rather than purchase a new laptop, could I just as easily store programs on that and bring it along? Looks small enough to just toss in the carry on bag. I only have 12gig free on my laptop, and this looks like a good workaround instead of buying a new laptop with a bigger hard drive. I could move programs onto the laptop as space clears (or I guess I could view them directly from the external hard drive if I'm parked in a hotel for the night). Is this workable?

Sure, I got myself a 40Gb 2.5" hard disk for my notebook. It powers off USB so I don't need any other adapters.

No reason it shouldn't work. I thought a lot of those external drives required some kind of AC adapter to operate, though, so you'd need to be at an outlet. I don't own one though, so I could be mistaken...

If it's a Firewire drive, it could draw power from the bus with a powered Firewire card (they've got a +12V pin, USB only has +5V).

nevermind, looks like ScottC beat me to it...2.5" drives can be bus-powered. I'm pretty sure a 3.5" drive needs a +12V pin, though.

External USB Storage: Better to roll your own
 

Tom, Keep and eye on Bens Bargains and build your own external usb storage system for less.

For about $20 you can get a light, quiet 3.5" aluminum usb 2.0 external enclosure like this one: http://www.bensbargains.net/ktalk/11...3,93261,.shtml

Then for $60 pick up a nice big 160 gig ide drive like this one: http://www.bensbargains.net/ktalk/11...9,47014,.shtml

So for around $80 you can get 160gb of light, quiet external storage. the key is quiet, as most prebuilt external storage units have noisy fans. I've got a 160gb drive in an aluminum enclosure like the one above, and it doesn't run very hot at all...

Ben's has deals on drives all the time, you can go as big as 300gb in that same $20 enclosure if you want...

Do you really need 160Gb? At 1Gb per hour you can't really have all that much to frab off the tivo...

160gb is a decent price point and can be used for other data (mp3's, pics, etc).

You can easily go 80gb for $30 or 120gb for $40

As Scott mentioned: a somewhat pricier route is to drop down to a 2.5" enclosure for $12 and a 2.5" notebook drive. Dell has a 80gb Toshiba 2.5" drive for $127 or a 60gb for $90. This option runs off of the usb port (no need to carry an extra power supply), and is tiny! I'd guess about 1/8 the size and weight of a 3.5" enclosure...

I don't think I'm tech-savvy enough to build something of my own, no matter what the price, so I'd be looking at something that I can just plug in. I hadn't thought about the USB powered idea (was just thinking of something I could plug in at a hotel or airline club to move programs from the external drive to the laptop if I was out of programs to watch, or wanted to just watch something on the external drive instead). Lots of ideas here. I'll look around and see what products out there might fit my needs. 160gig is probably lots more than I need to take on the road with me. The 80gig $100 model was just the first one I looked at, and I'm sure there's something out there better price wise. I can't see that I'd need more than that.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment. I think I'll try to get another year's use out of the laptop and get the external drive as a short term workaround.

The laptops I've been looking at with 80gig hard drives and 14 inch displays or less have all been over $1,100. I can see getting something down the line on sale with a smaller hard drive if I'm happy with the external drive to hold the TIVO programs.