I've been charged with replacing my parents' TiVo, but I don't have a TV or use anything like a TiVo - not my area of interest re electronics at all haha.
What can I buy these days that has similar functionality as a TiVo? Have zero knowledge of the market.
They want to be able to record the shows and have the programs/channels available to cycle through, and I guess rewind live TV and that sort of thing.
What's the go, wise folks of OzBargain?
Does that not need a subscription? Descriptions are a bit ambiguous haha
Doesn't require a subscription for Free to Air TV.
Only required a subscription, if you want Add-on Channel Packs.
Retail customers: Buy the Fetch box for $449 RRP and pay a $1 one-off activation fee. There is no ongoing monthly subscription for the Starter Pack. *Movie Box is an extra $1/month for retail customers.
Ah gotcha, thanks mate!
Fetch Mighty with quad tuners is great. We have been using one for few years now and love it. We don't bother with Netflix or any subscription services. You can set series to record and it automatically searches the guide to find them and record, no need to set specific times or change times if the guide changes. Also allows you to use catch up TV if you don't have a smart TV. We previously used Panasonic hard drive recorders and the fetch is far superior and so far more reliable.
Perfect thanks for the review mate - sounds like exactly what the TiVo did.
Many smart tv's have the inbuilt freeview functionality which, provided you have a spare usb (80gb+) lying around will replicate what the TiVo did.
However if you're not looking at upgrading the tv Fetch seems to be the way to go.
Oh yeah? How do you sort that? Any links for that sorta TV?
Not sure why the post has been negged, but hey Ozbargain's a democracy.
i have a TCL smart TV, but any TV with freeview will work with a USB.
Also if they have an internet connection they'll just be able to use the channel 7/9/10 app and watch everything on demand. Much easier and works with any smart tv - my recommendation is an Android TV due to app availability.
I've been charged with replacing my parents' TiVo
Unless you have been using a 'hacked' TiVo, the official Australian TiVo units stopped working/died many moons ago.
The best replacement for them is Fetch mighty. Quad tuners, big HDD, all the streaming apps and FTA catch up apps.
Costs are unit cost + $1 to create a fetch account. That is it, free FTA data etc.
If you like you can add streaming paytv channels. These are monthly/adhoc turn them on for the holidays, turn them off when done.
Officially, the TiVo service ended at the end of 2017. Thousands of units have been modified in Australia and New Zealand and continue to work in a similar capacity to that when they were released. Primarily it requires one chip to be removed and replaced and the operating system replaced. It is of moderate difficulty to do it yourself, but there are people around that can perform this service for you. If you are used to the TiVo environment and would like to continue using it, I'd recommend you look into it. Have a look here for starters: http://www.oztivo.net/twiki/bin/view/S3FAQ/WebHome and https://kingey1971.wixsite.com/tivorepairs
Interesting! I'll investigate.
The fetch box is ok, the interface isn’t as friendly as the TiVo, but better than any alternatives I have seen.
It has built in apps for Netflix, Stan, amazon and YouTube if they use any of them.
As mentioned above, it has the killer feature of TV guide integration to automatically record a series or every episode of a show.
You will need the mighty version, they often sell refurb models for around $300.
Thanks mate - where would I find a refurb?
FetchTV sell them on eBay, $299 at the moment.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/312516775109
I got mine from JB HIFI, but I think that was a special offer.
Legend, thanks!
I believe the TiVo in Australia was replaced by Fetch
If you have a Internet Plan with Optus, iinet, dodo, iPrimus or Aussie Broadband, you can add a Fetch Package to the plan
Deals for Standalone Fetch Box