BBC’s PVR: Just Half of Storage is Yours
Imagine buying a PVR that claims to have 100 hours of recording time, then when you take it home, you discover that you can only use 50 hours, with the other half only available for content chosen by the content provider. Sounds lame because it is. In this case, the BBC says it has the right to do this.
Imagine running out of space because of some programming that you don’t want to watch. Imagine not being able to record your favorite show because your PVR is recording something the BBC thinks you should watch.
Freedom to record anything you want is part of what a PVR is all about.
Hopefully the BBC is honest about what it labels this when it comes out from testing their new PVR set top box and service. Why not just call it a 50 hour PVR, instead saying you get “bonus” content? And 50 hours is just way too much storage for unwanted programming.
I think Tivo does a good job with its suggested recordings since they are first to be deleted and don’t take priority over your own shows.
Hopefully, the BBC will change its mind.
From: PVR Wire.
December 19th, 2006 at 1:29 pm
i’ve gotta say, Tivo is sort of as lame, in it’s own way. although i do like the Tivo Suggestions, it’s really infuriating that it won’t automatically abort one its dumb recordings when i want to change the channel to something i’m personally choosing to watch on live tv.
December 19th, 2006 at 5:01 pm
Yes, especially using a dual-tuner Tivo. Having to stop one of the recording channels when it’s just recording a suggestion show is lame.
Perhaps users should be given the ability to throttle down on Tivo suggestions, (like a maximum of 30 hours or shows) so it’s not constantly recording something.