uh how about telling your friend to adjust his DVR setting to not record suggestions automatically?

Never.

As mentioned, I have enough material I purposefully chose to record and watch as is. It's easy enough to change the machine's preferences to not record suggested programs. So do it. Then take maybe 5 minutes curate the To-Do list once a week to get rid of potential conflicts for live broadcasts.

Bang - problem solved. You're welcome America.

There are two options:

1) Turn off Tivo Suggestions
2) Record the game. From your description of what happened, it seems as though he was just watching the game live and not recording the game. With sports, I always record the game I'm watching. Tivo will recognize that you are trying to record a live event and will prompt you to add time in case the game runs long.

All the more reason not to invest in a TiVo. Too clever by half.

The main problem with my Motorola DVR is that half the time, it won't connect with my TV through the HDMI port. "Handshake" issues, I believe Rob calls these. And of course, RCN can't fix the problem without sending a technician over, who will probably just exchange the box and ask me to hope for the best.

The FiOS DVR will ask you if you want to change the channel to begin a scheduled recording with a couple minutes to spare, but that won't help if you're out of the room the entire time.

The problem is not TiVo. How can TiVo detect that a game has gone into overtime? Magic? It can't. So at the end of the SCHEDULED time for your show TiVo thinks it's free to record suggestions.

Fortunately, a few updates ago TiVo started prompting to add more time for live events. So if your friend's TiVo was up-to-date, it would have asked him to add more time to the live event.

Your cheapo single-tuner DVR isn't the issue. I have a Comcast dual-tuner DVR and I constantly have programs I'm watching kicked out because a 2nd recording starts. Yes, you do get a 2 minute warning on the screen but if you don't react fast enough to cancel one of the recordings you will lose the inevitable last 30 seconds of the game.

My biggest problem with my Comcast dual-tuner is the other users who'll set two simultaneous recordings for when they're not there. Leaving me with the TV's tuner.

A nice software upgrade would be an 'tuners occupied' warning when you set up the recordings so you know you're monopolizing the unit.

Verizon's DVR started good, got bad, and now has finally stabilized. I subscribed in late July. They rolled out the much anticipated new OS, and it was *awful*. The whole box would reset, inevitably when I was away for a weekend, and not start up again without user intervention.

But now it's more stable--I do go through and cull conflicts, but haven't had a lot of problems. It's not *quite* as intuitive as it should be (I test software/hardware stuff for a living.....), but it's getting more stable.

which model Tivo does your friend have? I thought Tivo had 2 cablecards to allow recordings in the background?

I love when the things we invent to ease our troubles cause us more troubles.

As a non-tv owner, I giggle myself silly over your complaints.

Of course, when I want to watch a game, I am forced into the company of *shudder* ... others.

So I guess there's a tradeoff everywhere.

We have the DirecTV HD dual-tuner DVR, unfortunately, if you tape a game, and it runs long, the recording ends when it was scheduled to end, not when the game really ends. Conversely, if we record Cold Case on CBS on Sunday night and it is delayed by afternoon football running long, the recording starts and end exactly when it was programmed to. I set the recording end time to run 15, then 30 minutes late, but even that isn't always enough. I wish the timer was smart enough to know when programs don't start or end on time -- this limitation makes it less useful.

Really, I get so upset at people who blame technology for their failure to use it appropriately. Either turn off suggestions or set up the game as a recording. It's all fine and good to have complaints, but direct your blame appropriately. How about at the TV stations or FCC who have been unable to come up with a common standard for data tags for > and of show. They could be in the VBI... but no, that would make it easier for DVR viewers, and we all know DVR viewers are not the most, um, "courted" segment of the watching public.

My COMCAST DVR has a very annoying limitation. You can customize the start/stop times for individual recordings, but not for weekly automated recordings. There are some shows that always run behind, so the end gets cut off every time. The only way to address this is to record the show that comes on next, which is a lot of trouble to watch the last 30 seconds of a show.

Comcast uses strict windows (i.e. 30 min for a 30 minute show), so there's no margin for error.

ps- For a sitcom, Just Shoot Me was a pretty decent show - much better than the stereotypical lame sitcom.

Whenever I record a sporting event on my DVR I always record the next program in the channel guide as well. Having lost the end of many OT events It finally dawned on me to do this. I do the same with TV shows that I really like that are on the same channel as a sporting events. I got tired of Shark being cut off midway through an episode during football season because a game lasted longer than the TV guide said it would. As a poster mentioned above, the DVR does not know that a game will last longer than the guide projects it to. We are smarter than our DVR - or are we?

I can't completely blame TiVo here, although it does seem odd that it would operate as described. Evidently, your friend has had the TiVo for awhile, based on it being described as "an older model with a lifetime subscription." So how is it that the TiVo would still be suggesting something like "Just Shoot Me" if his protests of "not something I'd watch" are true? Those thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons are there for a reason, and should be used if one is going to have suggestions turned on.

You want rage, ask me about the Comcast/Motorola POS I just turned in that would refuse to respond to the remote in a timely fashion, but would dutifully queue up every single button press and go through them all when it was good and ready. FiOS and TivoHD w/ 2 cablecards FTW. Not to mention the 50% cut in the monthly bill.

Always record things you are definitely going to watch. Always always always. You never know when you are going to get pulled out of the room. And if it is a sporting event, extend the recording accordingly to account for overtime and other delays. You can always delete it when you are done.

Well, I am a longtime TiVo owner, and I usually do record sporting events even if I'm going to watch them live. In this case, I didn't because I was running around all day and once I started watching the game, I figured I'd be glued to the TV (and besides, the last time I recorded a Georgetown game live, it was the Pitt game. So you can thank me for not jinxing the team.)

Turning off suggestions entirely is a possibility, although that's throwing the programming baby out with the bathwater. My wife occasionally likes to scroll through the suggestions folder. She's also the one who happens to like sitcoms. In the end, I blame her three-thumbs-up rating of "Friends" for this entire debacle.

See, I was trying not to throw Joanne under the bus with that vague "he wasn't the one tuning into that type of sitcom" line.

(BTW, thanks for not jinxing the Hoyas!)

- RP

Two more suggestions for recording and saving programs that don't conform to schedules:

1. Schedule recording by time and channel, with a little extra time to spare.

2. Pick two shows off the programming grid to cover any overlaps, esp. CBS on Sundays. To record all of 60 Minutes, I always pick 60 Minutes and the next show to record. I get an hour's worth of overlap without the hassle of manual scheduling or guessing how much time to add. Never missed an episode in past four years. Only downside is a brief disruption when the "60 Minutes" recording ends and I have to switch to the "Amazing Race" recording. Still a lot less hassle than missing shows or being stuck in front of the set waiting for a football game to end.

I'm with those who say the Tivo was performing as it was supposed to. Rob said "it should at least be able to detect when somebody's pressed a button on the remote in the last 15 minutes, and then ask if it should proceed with the scheduled recording". It already gives a warning, and then changes the channel if you don't respond. How is it supposed to know if you just left the room for a few minutes or if you've turned the TV off and aren't watching anymore?

I agree that it should assume that if the current program is paused that you are watching and not change the channel. But aside from that, it was working as intended.

Kim wrote "My biggest problem with my Comcast dual-tuner is the other users who'll set two simultaneous recordings for when they're not there. Leaving me with the TV's tuner.

A nice software upgrade would be an 'tuners occupied' warning when you set up the recordings so you know you're monopolizing the unit."

But what good would that do? The person setting the recordings won't care that they are using both tuners unless they decide they want to watch or record a third show at the same time. And in that case, they'll either get the warning when they try to record the third show, or they'll try to watch the third show and see the can't. Either way, they can fix it.

If someone else wants to watch/record a third show, then it's a matter of house rules. You need to decide who gets priority. There's nothing the DVR can do about it.

A simple solution to someone monopolizing both tuners and scheduling two recordings at the same time is to have two separate dual-tuner DVR/receivers. For a few extra dollars a month, it will also help save the marriage or relationship. My wife's DVR is always at least 90 percent filled (out of 100 hours) with non-HD comedy sitcoms, whereas I go for the police and intrigue-type dramas. We occasionally overlap with cooking recipe shows, or travelogues. But this way, we're both happy.

None of this compares to ESPN putting PTI's big finish in the middle of the 6PM SportsCenter. And while it's usually after the second CM break, when that is exactly depends on how much ESPN decides to devote to the Patriots/Yankees/Red Sox news of the day. It seems ridiculous that to watch an extra two minutes of Kornheiser and Wilbon yelling at each other, I have to skip through at least 15-40 minutes of sports news I don't need.

dgc,
I totally agree with you about PTI. My workaround was to tape the last five minutes of the replay on ESPNews. However, this technique does not have 100% accuracy.

>>My COMCAST DVR has a very annoying limitation. You can customize the start/stop times for individual recordings, but not for weekly automated recordings.

You can easily get around this when you set series recordings on the Comcast digital dual tune DVR. When you set the recording, there is an option that says "see all settings." If you click on that, you have the option to start or end the program early or late. If it's a show that I know runs long, I'll set the timer to stop 2 or 3 minutes late. If it starts early, you can choose that, too. Works perfectly.

Other than it typically being released the next day and having no video ... possible deal breakers ... the PTI podcast is very nice.

Can't wait till TV shows get released like podcasts ... Have a release date instead of a programming schedule. Many would watch shortly after release, others later. Kinda like on-demand. Sports and other must watch live events are a problem with this solution.

I have no TIVO - but think the comment about having the stations beam the show information alongside the show would solve this. Even several hundred lines of text is nothing compared to the information in an HD program. Show name, scheduled time, running time ... how hard is that?

His problem isn't his TIVO it's that he has kids. My wife and I married young and the kids are out before TIVO is even on the market.
Seriously though, settings, settings, settings. If he doesn't want to take the time to learn how to configure and use it, then it's his loss.

Verizon FIOS TV is great - but I finally threw in the towel after 8 months when the Verizon DVR spontaneously rebooted in the middle of that critical field goal in the last Redskins game. It was very embarrassing since I had invited family over to watch the game on the plasma. The software in the Verizon DVR is just plain flaky, with new glitches and interface muddling with each update. These spontaneous reboots happened at least once a week. So, because of this, I went back to good ole Tivo and its now-affordable Tivo HD box. I'm still working with Verizon to get one of the two cable cards to pick up all the HD channels, but the Tivo is like an old friend, with a vast improvement in user-friendliness and reliability.

Does anyone run into this problem: I set up a bunch of things to record over a week or so, and it all looks good. Some are even only 1 show at 1 timeslot (have Verizon FiOs, double tuner). Then I check "view schedule" and there appear those little yellow "warning/halt/yield/exclamation!" signs that say there's a scheduling conflict. But there isn't one (a conflict). I have to constantly check it to see that what I want recorded is STILL scheduled, or go into it and hit "reschedule recording" rather than "bump recording." Is this yet another software glitch and has anyone else experienced it? Thanks.

I've been having an extremely irritating problem with my direcTV DVR for a couple months now. It appears to be an intentional glitch / bug imposed into the hardware. The problem ocurrs when I try to record a favorite movie or episode from my DVR (MDL-R15) to my Magnavox DVD recorder ( magnavox MSR90D6). Seemingly at important points in the show, 1 or both of 2 events ocurr: every few minutes, the show is replaced by a black screen along with audio from some other channel, like an info-mercial or any other program; The other ocurrence is that a substantial segment (30 seconds to 2 minutes) of the show is skipped over, and permanently removed from the DVR, so that the viewer cannot go back with rewind and "fix" the problem. The glitch is irreversible and permanent. The services rep's, of course, know of a hundred other problems, but never have any knowledge about this "glitch". One feature that may trigger the glitch more, is the act of using the fast forward - type features to defeat commercials. I think that is a significant point. Perhaps the DRM greed-freaks are moving from glitching material to protect the material, and are advancing their way into coercing people to make them watch commercials too. I think one good countermeasure, in addition to people like us informing each other, would be to isolate the manufacturers and models affected and make sure as many people as possible are aware. I am currently seeking a technical countermeasure for my specific problem and will share. To confirm a detail, this glitch NEVER happens except when I am recording a DVD from a DVR recording. s kellyschlumberger@yahoo.com;