Moxi's 500GB HD DVR went
on sale to a limited number of individuals back in December of last year, but after
pumping itself up at CES, we're finally seeing the real-deal, bona fide launch party. As of now, anyone with a CableCARD can roll over to Amazon and lay down $799.99 for the company's subscription-less MR-1500T3 HD Digital Video Recorder, which can hold over 75 hours of high-def programming or over 300 hours of SD material. So, are you taking the plunge?
Update: Moxi pinged us to say these have indeed been shipping beyond the limited first run.
[Thanks, ganjagadget]
Read - Moxi's website
Read - Amazon order page
posted Mar 25th 2009 at 9:04AM
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jason W @ Mar 25th 2009 10:29AM
Moxie isnt that bad of a deal. I never had a issue with it when I had it. Besides Tivo would always tell me some lame crap to watch because of my wife's 90210 and WE networt watching.
Xyzzy @ Mar 25th 2009 2:23PM
You know that you can turn TiVo Suggestions off, right....?
demon @ Mar 25th 2009 4:54PM
If suggestions are giving you bad content, you need to use thumbs up/down more. That's how it determines what you might like. Or you can (as mentioned) just turn suggestions off if it's a big deal to you.
Taz @ Mar 25th 2009 10:33AM
Will wait for the price drop...
Mark Cuda @ Mar 25th 2009 10:48AM
WHOA. Moxi is kinda blowing my mind! If only I could keep watching my Free ON Demand options that Comcast gives me with this. Dang I'd totally choose this bad boy.
NoAndThen @ Mar 25th 2009 10:57AM
I see no reason why you can't.
"As of now, anyone with a CableCARD..." the cablecard (in layman's terms) is essentially your cable box in a kick-ass little form factor.
What's really a shame is that you still have to use Comcast's UI from like 1985.
Comcast is pathetic; I wish I could leave them.
scyber @ Mar 25th 2009 11:08AM
Cablecard devices do not support Video On Demand.
Mark Cuda @ Mar 25th 2009 11:10AM
I wish, but Comcast told me I can't get ON Demand options without the Comcast box. Is this true? Also, if it's not true, how would I get to the On Demand programming section through this Moxi box?
scyber @ Mar 25th 2009 11:15AM
More accurately, 3rd party cablecard devices do not support Video On Demand. Many cable co. cableboxes have cablecards in them nowadays.
Pusta @ Mar 25th 2009 11:00AM
Anyone know if this can tune Clear QAM and provide accurate mapping and guide data without a Cable Card? TiVo cannot currently do this, and if the Moxi can and allow me to dump the cable cards, then I'm on board.
ESLKid75 @ Mar 25th 2009 1:29PM
TiVo actually allows you to do that. I have an "old" TiVo Series 3 without CableCARD and it gets Clear QAM channels and I even get the program guide data on it, can access my other TiVos in the home, and play recordings on this basically TiVo client.
Pusta @ Mar 25th 2009 1:32PM
My understanding is the TiVo cannot remap the clear QAM channels to their Cable or OTA equivs, and therefore TiVo does not supply guide data, nor can you schedule season passes against them. Please see this thread: http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=362736
nsfw @ Mar 25th 2009 11:14AM
what happens when they go out of business in 18 months? think you can use an alternate guide service?
Rich @ Mar 25th 2009 4:35PM
Actually, Moxi/Digeo has been around for a number of years. Mostly developing set tops for cable co's.
scyber @ Mar 25th 2009 11:12AM
One thing they do gloss over in that comparison is the fact that the TiVoHD XL has twice the storage space of the Moxi unit (1TB vs. 500GB).
I think the Moxi unit needs to shave around $200 off the price to be competitive with TiVo. That way there is the same upfront cost, but no recurring fees.
The price differences kinda remind me of the original ReplayTV vs. TiVo model. ReplayTV originally had no recurring fees, but the boxes started at $599. While TiVo had the subscription model, with boxes starting at $299, IIRC.
Justin @ Mar 25th 2009 11:55AM
Yeah ReplayTV where from a tech spec a much better product (heck they had support for component cables). But they lost out to Tivo's user interface (replay was more of a nerd's interface). I agree if you are going to go up against the leader why would you put your self at a price disadvantage up front?
Rich @ Mar 25th 2009 4:27PM
Actually ReplayTV lost out mostly because of crappy, ineffective marketing.
It's fate was sealed after being targeted for extinction by Hollywood because of the automatic commercial skip features.
demon @ Mar 25th 2009 4:47PM
That and that the TiVo has other features, like being able to record analog cable out of the box, being able to record analog and digital OTA, and currently several on-demand download/streaming services, TTG/TTCB, etc. Suffice to say, it's far from the straight-across comparison that Digeo seems to be framing it as.
scyber @ Mar 25th 2009 5:23PM
@Rich
Actually the true root of ReplayTV's demise was simply bad timing. ReplayTV was supposed to IPO not too long after TiVo did. Unfortunately, between the time that TiVo IPO'd and Replay was supposed to, the IPO bubble burst. So they cancelled the IPO. This means they didn't have the cash to pay for fancy marketing like TiVo's Joe Montana/Ronnie Lott Mascualine Itch Superbowl commercial.
That lack of cash also is what caused them to be acquired by SonicBlue. Sonicblue itself wasn't in the best finanical shape and could never get the cash influx it needed to stay afloat. Certainly the lawsuits exacerbated the problem, but aren't nearly the cause of the Sonicblue failures. The introduction of the iPod in '01 probably had a bigger impact (Sonicblue's other line of products was the Rio Mp3 players).
That said, IIRC TiVo did have the sales lead even before the IPO, so TiVo would have probably still won out in market share, but I think had ReplayTV IPO'd earlier, there would have been room for both in the market.
I still do miss Automatic Commercial Advance.
Ben @ Mar 25th 2009 11:33AM
I'm confused.
This thing has been for sale on Amazon since December.
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/12/11/500gb-moxi-hd-dvr-now-available-really/
It's not like it's a Best Buy or anything.
JChamberlin @ Mar 25th 2009 12:26PM
No, I have no plans on getting it until they get a Tivo Desktop-like program to move recordings over to a PC.
riverside_guy @ Mar 25th 2009 1:14PM
Anyone with one of these in a TWC controlled area?
One issue with cable-cards in general has to do with SDV I believe... which is why TiVO has a "tuning resolver." But this product also does need to migrate to a device.
No mention of a possible WiFi receiver, so one might HAVE to run Cat 5 (or 6) to the TV area...
demon @ Mar 25th 2009 4:48PM
You can use any WiFi "gaming adapter", you know. Or if your base station supports WDS, you can use WDS bridging to backhaul over WiFi. Just sayin'. It's not like "o noez must run cable".
Kingpcgeek @ Mar 26th 2009 2:49PM
No Tivo does not have a tuning resolver. Cisco makes a tuning resolver that you can get from your cable company that you may use on your Tivo for resolving SDV.
Dave @ Mar 25th 2009 1:22PM
Still waiting for someone to step up and create the modern day equivalent of the Beta/VHS recorder for us folks getting our HD content over the air... These guys seem to be a simple ATSC tuner away...
Why hasn't someone yet seen this void in the marketplace and jumped in to fill it?
ESLKid75 @ Mar 25th 2009 1:40PM
Actually, TiVo does have an ATSC tuner... You don't need to have a CableCARD...
Rich @ Mar 25th 2009 4:35PM
There were, at least several years ago. Tape as a medium in the consumer market is pretty much dead and buried...not likely to be resurrected.
demon @ Mar 25th 2009 4:50PM
D-VHS tried and failed. DVD recorders won't do (and it seems very few really want them). The DVR is the solution of the day. Not a cheap one, but (if you get a good unit), it's an excellent choice.
ESLKid75 @ Mar 25th 2009 1:28PM
This is not a good comparison...
For $199 more ($998), you get a TiVo HD XL that has DOUBLE the disk space...
Lame...
Also, does it give you?
- Netflix streaming
- Amazon VOD
- YouTube
C'mon!
musky @ Mar 25th 2009 1:48PM
Or another way to price TiVo:
TiVo HD $250 (amazon)
500 GB external drive $112 (buy.com)
lifetime for existing TiVo owners $299
or $674 total with more space than the Moxi and it works with OTA.
Jonded @ Mar 25th 2009 1:47PM
I don't agree with the Tivo pricing they have listed here. For $770, you can buy a regular Tivo HD for $250, a DVR expander for $120, and a Lifetime subscription for $400. That gives you 680GB of storage, netflix streaming, amazon vod, and youtube. And its cheaper than Moxi.
Or for the same price of $770 and some technical know how, you can expand the Tivo HD with a different external eSATA hard drive and bump the capacity up to 1.1TB
musky @ Mar 25th 2009 1:54PM
Or another way to price TiVo:
TiVo HD $250 (amazon)
500 GB external drive $112 (buy.com)
lifetime for existing TiVo owners $299
The Tivo is $674 total (or $125 less than the Moxi) with more space than the Moxi and it works with OTA.
Ogden2k @ Mar 25th 2009 3:23PM
Where can I get that background for a wallpaper? (purple and blue gradient)
t3yf5g @ Mar 25th 2009 4:11PM
you make one.
Rich @ Mar 25th 2009 4:35PM
Personally, I do like Moxi's product, and love the idea of not paying monthly subscription fees, not having Tivo push ads to me, and not having my viewing habits harvested.
That said, I do like my TivoHD and some of the features it offers.
There are two key enhancements Moxi should make:
1) Drop the price a couple hundered bucks.
2) Add tru2way capability to allow full access to the cable co's services.
Other stuff like YouTube, Amazon On Demand, Netflix, are all simple software upgrades that will likely come over time.
Rich @ Mar 28th 2009 2:23PM
Live TV Buffer
Moxi
Records and stores up to 3 hours of live TV so you can always back up to see what you’ve missed
TivoHD XL
Records and stores 30 minutes of live TV
External Memory
Moxi
Expandable up to 2 TB with any DVR-Ready external eSATA hard drive
TivoHD XL
Only expandable with Western Digital external eSATA hard drive (officially supported option)
chumley @ Mar 25th 2009 4:43PM
In addition to to the features that other people have listed, Tivo also allows you to move content to/from a PC. Tivo is capable of being much more than just a simple DVR. Moxi is not anywhere close to competing on features at this point.
cypherx @ Mar 25th 2009 5:09PM
I would so get this if the price was maybe $200 less. Heck, why not just make a USB cable card tuner and software for PS3?
Well the other thing that prevents me from a Moxi, is the lack of Cable's On Demand access. If they can't do that, then how about a Boxee-like internet grabbing platform with recommendation to friends"support?
The Moxi UI is very classy, after all it's in true HD. Tivo's UI is stretched, and Comcast's UI is just plain last century (think windows 1.0).
Jeff Meyer @ Mar 26th 2009 6:59AM
One thing in their comparison that is dead wrong is that you are not required to pay $24.95 for Tivo Desktop Plus in order to use most of the streaming features.
In fact, as far as I know, all that gives you is more conversion options to and from the Tivo (iPod, divx, etc). But anyone with half a brain can setup any one of the free Tivo streaming packages (pyTivo, Galleon are two that come to mind) and use that instead.
--Jeff
Scott R @ Mar 26th 2009 9:56PM
Oh dear. What kind of consumer electronics company shows you the price advantage after *4 years*!!! In 4 years, I'd like to think that something both better and cheaper would be along that I'd want to switch to. The reason they have to show you the total cost after 4 years is because it takes that long for them to show an advantage. This is especially sad since the TiVo's monthly service costs truly are overpriced. So this only makes it look like the Moxi is even *more* overpriced.
Also, I personally don't see why you need a 500GB or 1TB drive on these things. I set my shows to record, I watch them within a week, and then I let them go. My standard-sized TiVo HD works fine. I'd like to see the monthly cost decreased significantly ($12.99/month for a TV guide?!?). IMO, TiVo should set the monthly price at about $3/month, and then charge $50 (optional) for major software upgrades.
So, getting back to cost...I think this is how it really works out for someone like me:
TiVo HD: $200-300 (depending on whether you're happy with a refurb from TiVo)
annual service: $130 (you have to commit to a year anyway, so may as well pay for a year and save $26 over the monthly cost)
======
1 year cost: $330-430
2 year cost: $460-560
3 year cost: $590-690
4 year cost: $720-820
Richard @ Mar 28th 2009 3:24PM
While you might choose to upgrade to the latest and greatest every year, most people don't. I used my Replay TV for more than 5 years before retiring that unit in favor of a TivoHD with teh ability to record HD content. I will probably do the same with that unit. If I had the resources, I probably would get the Moxi for the appeal of no monthly service charges, better interface, and a better feature set. A four year comparison of cost is a valid for MOST people.
As far as the size of the HDD goes, the larger the better. Your usage patterns aren't necessarily the same as other people. I don't always have time to sit and watch everything I've recorded on a weekly basis. Sometimes it might bet three or four weeks before I can sit down and watch what I've recorded. That's the whole point of DVR's, I can watch when I want and have time. In addition, recording HD content on the high quality settings takes alot of space.
I do agree that Tivo's fees are ridiculous for what they offer. A program guide that isn't always up to date with new channels, occasional software updates, and a stagnant interface.