Comparing MySky HDi and Tivo

I love DVR technology. I rarely watch TV, and now I practically never watch live TV. Since my family has both mySky HDi and a Tivo unit unit I thought I would write up a small comparison.

In my view DVR's are a revolution they enable not only scheduled recording, but live pause, and convenient and rapid selection for playback.

I don't think the online content is a draw card for either right now because there just isn't enough content available to bother searching it for something to download.


The facts:

The subjective stuff:

Pros for the Tivo:

• The Tivo is cheaper (but you don't get the content)
• The Tivo is better for fast forwarding ads (once you get used to it)
• The Tivo interface is better to browse your content because it groups programs together by series
• The Tivo Network  software is cool, it can transfer material off the Tivo and back on again. It transfers about twice the normal play rate and you can watch the content while it is transferring. It will also automatically convert to portable format in the background. Sky content is encrypted and cannot be extracted off the unit.
• If you ever need to replace your box the Tivo content can be transferred off and then back on the new one via the network (I think this is the reason for the high retention Sky have on there units - customers don't want to loose their recorded content).
• If you are with Telecom (and most people are) The download content is free
• There is a free iphone/ipod app that controls the Tivo over the wifi (an Internet remote control)
• The rating system is intelligent and learns from what you choose to record
• You own the unit whereas with mySky it belongs to sky.
• You can upgrade the harddrive, or plug in an external one if you need more space locally.

Pros for the Sky Box:

• Sky has the best content and it is best consumed by the mysky box
• I think the sky interface is easier for kids to use (<8 years)
• The dvr box looks nicer and is quieter
• Doesn't need an Internet connection
• The Tivo EPG doesn't list the programing for sky's free channel "prime". Which means you can not conveniently schedule recording of Prime from a Tivo box (I think Sky is deliberately holding this back for commercial advantage).