Changing Course: Returning Tivo Edge OTA

We’ve had the Tivo Edge OTA device for a couple of weeks. I had hoped that it would allow us to maintain our Tivo infrastructure to at least provide local channels. Further, the latest Tivo hardware might be acceptable for access to some basic streaming services, like Netflix and Amazon Prime. But I was wrong. So very wrong.

While all the above was true, I failed to consider what version of the Tivo user interface the Edge device would provide. Our Roamio Pro runs what’s known as TE3, which means Tivo Experience 3. This is the menu structure that we’re comfortable using for a decade or more. It’s a bit stodgy looking, but it it’s familiar and works well enough. It’s the experience was wish to sustain.

Some years back we had the option to “upgrade” to TE4. This has a dramatically reworked menu structure. It makes more use of live video and animations, with semi-transparent menu overlays. I suppose the company thought it sexier, but many Tivo households thought it cluttered and awkward.

Further, TE4 “featured” ads. To increase revenue the company would insert ads into content that you had recorded. When you started to play a program you had DVR’d you’d have to sit through an ad.

Also, TE4 added the companies own service and other add-supported services that had a revenue sharing deal with the company. While free, these held little or no value to us. And they could not be disabled. All this lead to an interface that, while perhaps more refined, was cluttered with a lot of junk.

In short, TE4 was unacceptable. So many Tivo users, including ourselves, outright rejected the TE4 upgrade.

Also, it’s cumbersome to get our existing Tivo Mini’s & Mini LUX upgraded such that they can connect to a host running TE4. I had forgotten about this. When I bought the Mini LUX it came with TE4 firmware factory installed. It took me some effort, and time spent with support, to get it downgraded to a TE3 client that would connect to our Roamio Pro.

Alas, the newer Edge models of Tivo only run TE4. They cannot run TE3. The TE4 user interface is just too strange. It’s not the Tivo experience we know and love. That makes the Edge OTA unworkable in our home. So, I am returning it to ChannelMaster.

Maybe it’s just too much of reach to think we can keep using a familiar Tivo in some manner? Others have suggested we try to find a used Roamio OTA model. They have 4 tuners and can often be found on Ebay. Even when they’re sold as non-working, they most typically only need a new hard drive. That might be a nice project, for a day when there’s time to tinker.