SquawkRadio Comments

Connie… I never knew what I was missing.

I’m also, in a word--cheap, or is that “cheep”? meh, couldn’t resist.

But, bless their little techo hearts, our daughter and son-in-law got us TiVo and a year’s subscription for Christmas.

What bliss!! An entire season of Globe Trekker! History’s Mysteries anytime I choose! Hubby can keep up with Adrian Monk and his phobia of the week! Monday Night Football on Tuesday afternoon when I’m at work! LOL!

Yup, I’m a TiVo addict, and I love it.

I had a DVR (digital video recorder) through my satelite company, like TiVo but ghetto lol...I MISS IT!!  It was the only way I got to watch my prime time stuff...but we had to move to Japan and I have no TiVo!  WAAAAAAAA!!!  I miss it!  *off to sob myself to sleep*

I adore TIVO!  I’d give up my microwave, dishwasher and Pantene conditioner before I’d give up my TIVO!  We probably watch more TV now but we spend less time doing it

And did you miss the best moment of 24 this week when Jack Bauer told some evil guy to shut up, then kicked him in the head really hard?

I know what I am missing and I want one...however, like Cinthia, I too am cheep...so I nearly forget “Blood Ties” every week and haven’t watched a soap in years...and soon, Stargate is going off the air, so there goes the only other reason I would get a Tivo...lol…

Lil

We had a TiVo DVR for about 3 years.  We loved it BUT we went through about 7 or 8 of them because they kept dying on us.  Why, we’ll never know.  That part was very annoying and yes, we went through some serious TiVo jones in between receivers.

Now we have the other satellite provider’s generic DVR and so far, knock on wood, we still have the one we started with.  Ah, life is good when the DVR works properly. 

We don’t have either TiVo or HD yet.  Too cheap here.  Raising teenagers is expensive enough.  Besides we have a large screen TV so I don’t want to make it so inviting DH and I never get to watch our shows.  Since PS2 came into the house we have been limited in our TV viewing as it is.

My mom has TiVo and HD, so far so good but not enough to make me go out and spend the money.  I do envy the auto recording of fav shows, the fast forward thru commercials and all those bells and whistles.

Several more years til done raising kids, then maybe we will get it.  Can only image what will be the techno hit of the times then.

Oh, Connie, groaning for you! I love, love, love my big screen with the HD DVR we have through our cable company. I did see Planet Earth, both of them, on Sunday, and it was amazing! I’m so sorry your cable company jipped you. I think you’ll love your DVR when you get it...very clear, and you can watch what you want when you want and in HD! Very worth the money, IMO!

We have two DVRs… and I don’t know what I would do without them.  I never have time to watch live TV anymore (Heck… I’m finally watching the second season of ROME… cause I recorded them all.)

And my husband and I (and our HD TV) have been entranced with PLANET EARTH. 
He doesn’t understand why I cried over the baby elephant, baby penquins, and the polar bears.

I love my DVR.  I actually told my husband that it ruined television.  I was watching Entertainment tonight and yet another Anna Nicole Smith-saga was on.  I got frustrated and realized I had put it on pause.  As I zoomed by Howard, Virginnie and baby Danilynn, I realized how much I love technology.

Bad Idol performances - No more
Boring talkshow segments - bye-bye
Taping classical movies while the DH watches a HD sport - you rock my world DVR.

Deb

OH Connie, I’m so glad you are talking about this!

My dh is finally considering getting cable/satelitte. YIPPEEE! Other than the crap DVR are you happy with Comcast or did you prefer satelitte?

Ohhhh, Connie, I feel your pain! I’m addicted. I couldn’t live without TIVO.

During deadline weeks, it’s the only thing that keeps me away from the tv ‘cause I know I can watch it later, WITHOUT the commercials.

The problem I have is that it’s too easy to skip ahead and check out the ending, which is sorta bad. Every time the Packers play, I’d TIVO it, and then skip ahead to see the outcome. If it was really bad, I’d decide not to watch it.

Yes, I’m censuring my Football Pain and probably missed some great plays, but now for some reason it’s too AGONIZING to watch it in real time.

Thanks to TIVO, I’ve lost my Reality Mojo!

I must be living under a rock.  We have no tivo, we have cable.  We have a big screen tv - it is 21”, our old one was 19”.  Our small screen is 13”.  I’ve never seen any of the programs you are talking about....
On the bright side, my reading is going great.

Oh, Piper, me, too. Altho we do have a big screen, but for what reason, I don’t know. I don’t understand the point of TiVo if there’s freaking NOTHING ON TV!

Teresa said, “And did you miss the best moment of 24 this week when Jack Bauer told some evil guy to shut up, then kicked him in the head really hard?”

Is that where you got the idea?

Limping away ...

I have the perfect solution to programming your “DVR with an Attitude”, Connie.
Simply hand the remote at a teenager. Really.
Because Who is better equipped to understand something that has an attitude and is difficult to deal with…then SomeONE who has an attitude and is difficult to deal with?

Tell the teen, in a pathetic whiney (teenagers really understand whiney) sigh, that …”These darn buttons are so small. And I get so easily confused …My Gosh, I would let you watch your wonderful (ie stupid, insipid, retardo slop) show that you live for, I would BUT I have to stand here (right in front of the TV that THEY are trying to watch) and figure out how to Record…”. Then slyly wave the remote in the teenager’s direction. I Guarantee that they will grab that remote from your hands. And before you can say “Oh, please don’t bother yourself with my problems. I Know how busy your schedule is…” The Teen has programmed six months worth of YOUR shows into the DVR.
So there you have it.
DVR Programming made simple! And it’s not like you’re really being devious or manipulative in utilizing a teenager’s natural inclination to believe that they know how to do everything better than you. No. You are helping them to …um…develop leadership skills. And…uh…Empathy and Compassion for those who are less fortunate then they! 
Sort of makes you all teary eyed doesn’t it?

And for those of you who don’t have an access to a Teen. I am willing to loan you mine. She comes equipped with a cell phone, ipod, lip gloss, 26 pairs of flip-flops and Lots of Attitude.

I HATE Comcast! They have a monopoly on cable service here in Tallahassee and totally screw us. I just got basic cable, because I refuse to pay $200 a month when it would cost me a fraction to have a satellite installed (of course, I don’t have good position with my apartment, so that’s not an option.) It took me 20 minutes to convince the sales lady that no I did not want to sign over my soul for a few extra channels and On Demand. She seemed stunned that I refused. -_-

THEN, when I moved, I had everything transfered, and my cable internet wasn’t working. Now, I can live without TV, but asking me to live without my high speed is like asking me not to breathe for a few days.

After two weeks and 4 technicians, once suggested that I might need a new modem. Did they bring me one? NO!! Then they had the audacity to offer to send out another tech. Long story short, I stormed down to their office (which is a 20 minute drive for me) and told them where they could send their tech. They promptly gave me a new modem and I’ve not had any problems since.

...ok I’m done ranting.

So I’m not completely off topic. I desperately want a DVR!!

Ummm......

I wasn’t going to blog today, because, well, umm, I don’t know what Tivo is, we still have rabbit ears on our TV.  We’ve never known cable and just watch the standard 4 networks plus PBS (which we really like).

prudence~slinking away thinking, I really don’t belong in this group...~

LOVE my DVR!!!!  I don’t know what I did without it--pathetic, I know.  We just got back from a busy 2 week vacation--never watched TV while we were gone--so now I can catch up on Lost and Grey’s Anatomy.  Thank God for technology.

Aww poor Connie!  I think the thing I love most about TiVo is the awesome “badoop-badoop-badoop” sound.  And I can’t imagine watching Planet Earth not in HD!  That was magnificent!  Well, we recently switched to DirectTV satellite, and we had some crazy problems with our HD receiver.  And I don’t even want to go into its recording function, primarily because I don’t know how to use it, lol.  I’m sorry about only seeing 10 mins of 24.  I’ve been known to get quite cranky when I don’t get my Jack time.

...and Teresa, yes I did see when Jack kicked that guy in the head after telling him to shut up! It totally made my day, and that’s now the visual in my mind when I encounter someone really annoying. And what the &#%(!@ with Wayne!!! Argggg..!
....basically can’t wait till next Monday (can you tell?)

Connie said, “PLANET EARTH, in case you don’t know, is the most stunning, mesmerising, exciting, sensual visual experience to ever occur on television.”

Okay. I’ll cave. What is PLANET EARTH?

And Prudence, we never had cable until we moved up to WA. Here we can’t get the four networks and PBS without cable, so now we have, I don’t know, 45 stations WITH NOTHING ON.

Xtina, I feel your pain. We have it all. DH is a techno freak, so not only did he come home with a 50” HD tv last November (which is a very funny story in itself...), we then had to upgrade our DVR to a HD DVR, and of course subscribe to all the HD channels, the movie channels, the on demand channels.... We get 600 channels. And there is still NOTHING ON. Other than CSI in all it’s incarnations. The kids and I adore high def though - the national geographic channel and discovery channel are freakin’ amazing in high def. We haven’t watched Planet Earth yet though… I think we’ll have to add that to our “must record” list.

Aw come on, Xtina, there’s plenty to TIVO right now! There’s 24, LOST, HOUSE and a host of shows I haven’t even had time to watch yet like HEROES and GREY’S ANATOMY.

My husband has gotten hooked on the new BBC ROBIN HOOD and THE DRESDEN FILES in the past few weeks.

If I had time to watch them I’d TIVO more old movies.

Oh I agree with Christina - there is nothing on.....
Occasionally I’ll watch something really disgusting like “How Clean is your House”, and then I feel much better about mine, but that’s about it.  I guess anything worth watching is on after I go to bed.

And there’d be no PBS here without cable....

Hello!

I have a question, what is a TIVO? I know it sounds a bit strange, but I have to explain that I´m from Spain.

I have a DVR, which is more important at home than the refrigerator. Almost.

Hi guys! Popping in for a few minutes respite from revising. Thanks for finding the TiVo picture, terri!

We have sateliite now but from April through November we get many electrical storms here and that means no reception and that means temper tantrums because… NOTHING ON???

there’s 24, HOUSE, THE NEXT TOP CHEF, SCRUBS, 30 ROCK, PLANET EARTH, THE TUDORS and coming soon DRIVE

Like Terri, we probably watch more shows now and banked less time in front of the TV than before. 

Thanks for the commiserations. Back to the salt mines…

Why the hell is Connie using my name??? get a life, Brockway. And make sure it’s not mine.

I just wanted to say how wonderful Planet Earth is even if I have to watch it on regular tv lol. I’ve been telling everyone about this series. Maybe you can buy the whole series when it comes out.

I have to chime in here again.

I grew up without cable.  I didn’t get cable until college… because you really only can get two, maybe three channels here with rabbit ears.  (Unlike the 10 or so in Houston).

I have had a couple of different levels of cable (from basic 10 channel packages to currently - everything under the sun but sports and spanish channels).  And we have kept cable even though friends have dropped cable, gone to dish or satelite, come back to cable, leave it again… We are so grandfathered in, we are getting a pretty good deal for all that we have.  (like… the Food Network in HD… hehe)

(I know… I married with no sports package.  My husband just isn’t a game watcher.  But if you give him tickets, he will enjoy the game.)

Yes, there are times when there is NOTHING ON!  And we’ve watched everything we’ve recorded on the DVR.  But I like the fact that if I see there is a movie I want to watch coming on, I can schedule it to record to watch later.  I love old movies, so I’ll often record them to watch later. 

I also like the fact that I cause pause live TV to check on dinner or the laundry or whatever.

Well, Prudence and Christina, I too was not going to add in today, but since you all are brave, I’ll be too! We have tv and dvd so we can watch sports (dh), and movies (me) all else...well, I agree w/Christina! 

-I am however, slightly addidicted to my new Netflix account…

- I like the old movies, too, Sarah!

I just have the standard tv with a VCR and a DVD player.  We don’t have any plans to get cable.  We mostly watch movies and we buy a lot of tv shows on DVD.

We don’t have a tivo and the only dvr we have is a recorder that is a dvd/vhs recorder. I had cable growing up and they can kiss my......anyway, I love my satellite and they have the option of a dvr, but I’m too cheap to spend the extra money each month for it.

Oh, yes, ms mary. Netflix. I totally understand Netflix.

I have 118 movies/TV shows in my queue.

OMG, I will NOT live without TiVO.  I just WON’T.  We’ve had a DVR for hmm..6 years now?  Long before most ppl even had a clue what it was.  It saved my life.  I had 2 small children and I could watch Buffy or Angel or X-Files or Stargate or anything slightly scary for children (or anything I wanted to actually ya know, concentrate on or hear) whenever I wanted.  I didn’t have to miss anything. 

When I needed the tv to babysit so I could breathe I wasn’t forced to sit through whatever was on PBS (like Barney) I could turn on something entertaining and educational like Between the Lions or Sesame Street.  My kids don’t watch the programming I consider toddler garbage (Caillou-that kid just WHINES) and instead get to watch just the shows I enjoy too.

Btw, having a DVR has really freed me.  I watch only a couple hours of tv a day and when my TiVO list is empty, I go find something else to do.  No flipping through the channels for hours.  Plus I can go really fast through American Idol which is great ‘cause I can’t handle the 30 minutes of result show stress!

Ah, a subject near and dear to my heart. My younger brother was the first to experience the joy of DVR (in his own room at home, not that I’m jealous or anything). After seeing it for myself, I broke down and paid the extra money so I could get one, too. I LOVE it! I watch a ton of TV and it really does let you watch what you want, when you want.

The best part, though, is that I would always complain about it getting full, and my dad would laugh at me, tell me I watch too much TV and to just erase it. Recently, he and my mom got a DVR for the living room (with a huge plasma HDTV, not that I’m jealous or anything), and he called me the other day: “Laura, I went out of town for the weekend and my DVR is full and I don’t want to erase anything!” Luckily for him, I was kind and didn’t say I told you so too much. I bet he doesn’t laugh at me so much in the future!

And I agree that Planet Earth is awesome, even on a regular TV. I hope to get to watch it on the HDTV sometime when I go to my parent’s house.

Ok...I SO love Netflix.  I even get it here in Japan...it just takes forever to get a new movie, but it beats the cost of renting movies here.  So expensive...Well, one day, I had nothing to do...I was in between books and my son was at pre school and my house was actually clean (*gasp*) So I spent about 2 hours on the Netflix site and I now have 487 movies and TV shows on my Queue...I have no life.

Oh...and just in case you’re wondering Netflix will only let you have 500 movies in your Queue at a time.....again...no life.

Prudence, COME BACK!  We only have one TV in the house.  It’s in our multi-purpose room. (read havel in the basement).  My MIL and SIL who, bless them, are not technically savey have TIVO.  It’s a dangerous thing.  It’s been programed for them and they only use it to record old episodes of Becker because they found they couldn’t find it anywhere (they thought it was still on the air) and every Meg Ryan movie out there and Little House on the Prairie.

Now, if you’ll excuse me ‘Now, Voyager’ is on TCM and I’m afraid I’m going to miss something.

You abandoned your TiVo?  I would NEVER do such a thing.  I CAN’T miss 24....or Grey’s, or ...
I just can’t picture it.

Oh, Miss Annalee, I had to laugh.  I love the bloop bloop bloop too.

Teresa-- had to love the kick in the head thing.  TV Guide is really building up next week’s 24.  I know it’s the job they do, but what on earth could happen after the Fayed capture?  Because we KNOW Jack will get him.  He’s Jack.

Ok, Thanks Santa, Christina, and Ms Mary, now I don’t feel too out of sorts. 

I know it’s late, but my Easter company from the north is here and they all decided to go to bed because they said there was nothing on TV.  *sigh*

I just thought that if you really liked a show, you looked forward to that night and time and watched it at it’s appointed time.  If you missed it, you caught it on a re-run later in the season.  Now, everything gets TiVo’d, (dear God, is that a word?)

Hmmm… I’m totally out of this loop. I have a large screen tv (50”?) but no cable, because I don’t watch much tv.  Maybe a total of, I don’t know, five hours a week?  I’d much rather read.  Actually, I much rather read than do housework, when it comes to that....

I am a complete TV addict. There is no way I would give up my DVR.  I claim it is a waste of life to watch TV in real time.  I’ve got the timing down to a science.  It takes 45 minutes to watch an hour long show or 22 minutes for a half hour one.  Now I also watch shows on the computer.  They stream in the background while I am working on something else!  Of course it helps that I don’t actually watch most shows.  I listen while my nose is buried in a book!

I’m cheap, too...but...I do know a good deal when I run into it.

Hubby works for Best Buy and when TiVo was the thing you heard about but never saw, they were giving the units away to sales people for the cost of the lifetime service contract (a mere $200 at the time).

TV simply hasn’t been the same since.  We no longer “rewind”.  We “blooper”. 

“Bloop that back!  I missed what he said!”

“Did you see this?  I’ll blooper it for you.”

The remote is also known as the blooper.  I think the word needs to be added to the dictionary in reference to TiVo.

TiVo rocks!  We’ve upgraded the original hard-drive to get more room and are currently skimming e-bay for other units that come with lifetime subscriptions so we can TiVo both satellite receivers at the same time. (That new in-car channel for the races demands we do this).

It’s also a really awesome way to get through the results show of Idol without wanting to destroy Seacrest for one more “after the break”.

This may be late but I was curious and did a little digging around. Turns out Planet Earth on Discovery is an American hack version!! I had no idea…

According to wikipedia, we’re getting an abbreviated version with an inferior narrator. On the plus side, as soon as the series is over, you can get the original BBC version from Amazon.