Tivo DVR Without Tivo

[silver-eagle]

I'm not so inclined to buy a Tivo subscription but I'm wondering if the device can be used without the subscription? My current DVR, a toshiba, can be programmed like a VCR. It just doesn't have much capacity nor does there seem to be an easy way to expand it.

 

[Areeda]

I'm pretty sure you can, but I have never let my subscription lapse.

You certainly can set a time/channel to record, I'm just nor sure what gets disabled without a current subscription and how much nagging it will do to get a subscription.

Tivo phone service (877-367-8486) was pretty good the couple of times I called or you could try the tivo forums (http://forums.tivo.com/pe/forums/displaymsgboardlist.jsp)

Joe

 

[nyoung]

Yes, I believe you can. I moved my old Tivo to my garage a few months ago, and have not hooked up a USB Wifi device to keep the Tivo on the internet. The system complains (a lot) that it has not 'called home' in X many days, but other than that it works fine. You can still record shows and watch them later...

Having said that - since the Tivo will not be on their network - it will lose all program guide data, which means the Tivo will not have program listings, nor will it know when programs start/end. This means that recordings need to be set by channel, starttime, and stoptime... kinda like a 1990s VCR.

I'm not so inclined to buy a Tivo subscription but I'm wondering if the device can be used without the subscription? My current DVR, a toshiba, can be programmed like a VCR. It just doesn't have much capacity nor does there seem to be an easy way to expand it.