RSSTiVo Upgrade Buggy, Customers Report
By Ed Oswald | Published February 15, 2005, 6:00 AM
An upgrade to Series 2 TiVo DVRs that promised to deliver new features such as TiVoToGo, which allows users to take their TiVo recordings with them, has also delivered unwanted problems. Users have reported several bugs in the new software and a glitch that may prevent the use of TiVoToGo over a wireless network.
Subscribers across TiVo fan sites and the company's own support forums are complaining of slowness in TiVo menus and in changing channels. Another issue causes a loss of signal quality and pixelization when watching "live" TV.
"I have two Series 2 TiVos. Ever since they both received the "TiVoToGo" upgrade, they have been EXTREMELY sluggish," one user wrote. "For instance, if I press the TiVo button, I hear the 'ding' but the menu doesn't show up for several seconds. Or, if I'm fast forwarding through a commercial, it will take a second or two before it actually starts forwarding."
Another TiVo customer complained of loss of signal quality. "Ever since the last software upgrade, I get 5-10 seconds of pixelization every time I change the channel. I've had my TiVo for over a year, and I've never had this problem before. It's killing my recordings," the user said.
What could be a bigger problem for TiVo, however, are reports that the TiVoToGo feature fails when using a wireless network. To the TiVo Desktop software, the DVR then drops off the network and the adapter must be physically removed from the unit and reattached in order to get it to work again.
TiVo did not respond to BetaNews' requests for comment on the upgrade problems, however it did say publicly that it is only "small group that is being affected...These are typical bugs, which are part of any software upgrade."
Hmmm... these problems don't seem to be affecting any of my VCRs.
Score: 0
|I am using a 10/100 LAN/Router with my Tivo Series 2. My Model is from AT&T Broadband and is not integrated with a cable box and I purchased a second HD (120GB) to upgrade it to a total of 160GB.
I have noticed no problems since my Tivo upgraded to the new v.7.0. Ever since my upgrade to 160GB, the unit has always paused for a second or two between the time that I press the Tivo button and the menu comes up. Considering the free release of the home media software as well as the Tivo To Go, perhaps normal Tivo2 users are now feeling the consequences of it having to work with less free space. The Tivo software itself probably requires more memory now to operate and so it is going to run slower.
Different Tivos are made by different companies with slightly different hardware. It will never be possible for them to test on every configuration. Mine, for example, is fine.
They DID seem to add one other feature to speed things up. Before the upgrade, if I chose an item to play and then pressed 'select' again, it would draw the whole screen before executing the 'Play' function. Now it seems like if I hit the 'Select button' a second time after selecting my show, it immediately starts...I didnt have to wait for the whole screen to come up (tv show info, options, etc..). It seems like most of the menu screens are faster also.
Hopefully they will find a fix for those affected by these bugs.
Score: 0
|I am one of these customers that they are speaking of...To this day Tivo is not doing anything to assure us that this is a problem, and that there is a fix coming soon.
It is VERY VERY ANNOYING and makes the TIVO something you do not want to use...
Amazing how well the BETA TESTERS did their job to check and make sure this software was worth the release and wait...
Score: 0
|My Tivo got the upgrade and it works great. It's on my wireless network and TivoToGo works flawlessly. I even have an older model Tivo.
Score: 0
|I'm in the same boat, the only problem i've had with the new upgrade is the fact that transfers are slower than death, and takes foever to transcode and burn to DVD,
But no problems with the unit itself. or the wireless connection
Score: 0
|my tivo is also being super sluggish. takes a second or two for the menu to show up after pushing the tivo button. the tivo to go feature kind of sucks anyway. it takes far too long to transfer video. a 5 minute clip took 15 minutes to transfer to my computer.
i'd prefer to revert back to the previous tivo software version, where my tivo actually responds immediately when i push buttons.
Score: 0
|Actually, I am a TiVo owner myself.. and have seen some of the problems.. mainly the TiVoToGo issues and every once in awhile the pixelation issue.
Score: 0
|I have had all these problems except for the pixelization.
Score: 0
|Mine is just as described above, bad quality since update, sluggish, and pixelization after changing channels, slow transfer with tivo to go and my goodness how long should it take to decode to a dvd.
Score: 0
|I also have noticed the delay between the "ding" and when the menus finally show up, as well as how they removed right-arrow navigation in places that only accept 'Enter' now (such as selecting a show in the program guide that is on later that day).
I have not had any problems with TivoToGo with my 802.11b wireless network. Transferring shows to my PC takes approximately the same time as the program length, and about 2 hrs to transfer a 1-hour program recorded at the best quality level.
Anyone have luck with 802.11g, and what kind of transfer times are you seeing for 30-min or 1hr recordings?
Score: 0
|You touched upon the one thing that really pisses me off about TiVo. They will NOT fess up to any problems with their system nor will they say much about any fixes coming down the pipeline.
Go to the website and all you find is sales pitches and very limited SUPPORT news.
Almost seems like once they get your money, they don't care about you any more.
Don't get me wrong, I love my TiVo. But, they are not making me a loyal customer to their brand.
Score: 0
|