In the past two decades, US digital video company TiVo has done quite well in the field of digital video recording. In order to enhance the competitiveness of its products and beat new competitors, TiVo has launched a set-top box TiVo Bolt to join Apple and Google. Companies such as Roku, Amazon, and other companies have competed with set-top boxes and Blu-ray players to get a share of the field in the living room. TiVo's new set-top box product, TiVo Bolt, breaks the conventional box design and uses a new curved design to easily skip commercial advertisements. The starting price is US$300 (equivalent to RMB1,908).
Hardware Configuration
The TiVo Bolt set-top box has a curved design in terms of appearance, which means that you have no way to place something on it, but in terms of size, it is much smaller than the previous TiVo product, so you want to put it in the cabinet. It is not a difficult thing to be in or anywhere else. In the living room, it is very quiet, and like the previous model, you can turn off the front lights. The TiVo Bolt set-top box has abandoned the analog audio/video output interface in order to maintain its slim size and small size.
Internally, the TiVo Bolt is equipped with a 2.5-inch hard disk drive, and many users are aiming for a massive 3TB storage space. In addition, users can also connect a hard disk via a SATA interface to further expand the capacity of the hard disk so that it can record more. More video data. However, in the choice of external hard disk, you must select the Western Digital hard disk certified by TiVo, but here it should be noted that if you remove the externally connected hard disk, then you will lose all of the two hard disks. The storage of data, so we must be careful when using, even if the external hard drive is removed, then the built-in hard disk information of the set-top box itself will also be lost. If DIY does not do so, then the third-party operator WeaKnee is selling a product with an internal storage space of 2TB and an external hard disk capacity of 6TB, which can provide up to 984 hours of HD video recording. Some early buyers complained that the bottom-mounted fan was too loud (in this position the design was radian so there was air coming in.) If this produced a vibration or echo, then it was noisier than the other videos. The recorder is a bit taller because other machines don't have this radian design, so there is no room for air flow to produce noise or echoes.
But from TiVo's new LOGO design, Bolt's curved design needs some people to adapt slowly. This shape design is very good, but people are more frustrating, can not put things on it, when a professional-grade video recorder launch next year will shock me, I hope it will no longer use the standard box shape design, but I do not want to see this.
Software settings
The TiVo Bolt set-top box software has been updated with a new style. It has a flat icon and a channel LOGO. It looks very nice, and the change is not as great as before. I'm not sure if Bolt has built-in new hardware, or an application that converts from Flash to HTML5, but this new box does a better job of passing pages than its predecessor. But these are not enough to prove that this style of video recorder can compete with Apple, Roku and Amazon products. Over the past few years, TiVo's interface has added a lot of stuff, but it seems to require extra clicks to enter and exit the application, create a new OnePass record, or just simply browse the guide. The TiVo Bolt set-top box is very versatile and much better than the Internet TV or cable TV box, but its interface is a bit complicated.
Next, let's talk about ad skipping and fast-forward viewing. Most of these features are still applicable. After spending a few weeks, I was surprised to find that what I liked to do most with skip mode was to skip the opening performances. In the beginning, you have to click on the green button to start skip mode. It starts working. You don't have to fiddle or click forward to skip the ad. We must also note that at some point, this skip mode will make minor mistakes and skip advertisements, so if you buy this product because you like this ad skip feature, then you may want it. The ad skip function has always worked, not from time to time.
A new feature for the TiVo family is that you can select non-TiVo products to view the recording: Amazon Fire TV. Some jailbreaking apps have already done this before, but now is the official launch of this feature. I downloaded an application from the Amazon App Store and installed it. It works but the picture quality is not ideal. It's enough to pass this test, but it can't be expected to meet the requirements of each family member, so you don't really need to replace the $150 TiVo Mini, you can choose another screen to watch TV. At the moment, when you leave home, it does not prepare for video streaming - this is expected to be implemented in future software updates.
The reason why TiVo is losing some of its loyal customers is not because of its software, but its cost. The price of Lifetime makes people feel uncomfortable. Regardless of whether or not it leaves, it has been an annoyance these years, especially since this kind of bundled service is always there, so it is no longer attractive. Bolt brings a new setting: With TiVo Bolt STB, you can enjoy TiVo's free service for one year. This is great, but with the addition of the Lifetime service, as long as it is working, keep this box valid. If you sell it in the future, you can switch from the original 400 US dollars to the current 600 US dollars. In combination with the most basic model, Bolt, you have added a MINI extension or additional storage. This cost is $900 and there is no rebate for current customers. TiVo offers a $150 one-year agreement and a $15-a-month plan (in some cases).
There is no doubt that this is a more expensive upgrade than usual, which also means that the differences between the purchase of Lifetime and the annual plan and the five-year original purchase balance (taking into account that the prices included in the annual service are unchanged) . This TiVo bundle is still relatively long. It is clear that TiVo is more inclined to promote its annual service plan to customers, and it can also optimize pricing for new customers. Given that TiVo's Lifetime service is relatively expensive, you may choose to lease a device from a cable or satellite company to be more cost-effective.
Compared to cable video recorders, I need to spend $26 a month ($10 for video recordings and two for $8 each) to rent Comcast X1 devices. The 24 months cost is 624 US dollars, TiVo 2 years cost is 750 US dollars (300 US dollars for 500GB Bolt, two Mini also have 300 US dollars, 150 US dollars annual service fee adds up to a total of 750 US dollars), compared to Below, TiVo is still very advantageous, because you do not have to restart the machine at 3 o'clock every night. After three years, the cable cost is 936 US dollars, while the TiVo's cost is 900 US dollars, so in the long term, using TiVo's Lifetime service is still relatively cheap.
to sum up:
Overall, the TiVo Bolt set-top box is smaller in appearance and faster in speed compared to its predecessor. But from the price point of view, we still prefer to choose Roamio OTA. Of course, if you are interested in its one-to two-year commitment agreement, then it is much better than the basic cable box. If you add its ad skip feature and video feature, then the price is not high. . TiVo tries to find its own way in the future, and as traditional resources, which are the most important for the viewer, and these are exactly what Internet TV did. We still hope that whatever it plans to do in 2016, it will be better able to apply to existing customers.
If you are part of the "Appearance Society" with a more product-oriented design, or if you have enough money to pay for TiVo's Lifetime service, or if you need a lot of space to record video, or if you need a tuner, then TiVo Bolt STB Not for you. But for those TV viewers who pass the time, they need a good wired box and the cost is not too high. The TiVo Bolt set-top box will be a good choice.
TiVo Bolt STB advantages:
You can easily skip commercial ads for ad-free viewing;
Fast forward mode is the best way to quickly watch in a short time;
It is much faster than previous TiVo products;
Includes one year of TiVo service.
Defects in TiVo Bolt STB:
Lifetime makes TiVo's services more expensive;
No outdoor video streaming, no six tuner and 3TB options;
Strange design is not something everyone likes;
Skip mode can sometimes not appear where it appears.
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