Tivo series2 work with HD cable?

Question

I currently have a Tivo Series 2 that is not HD recordable but just purchased an HD TV. If I use the Tivo Series 2 with an HD cable box, will I be able to watch HD channels on my TV while the Tivo is hooked in? I know it won't record HD channels, but I just want to be able to see the channels.

Answer 1

I went to the TiVo site and it says:

The TiVo HD DVR supports digital and high definition programming from cable and antenna. The TiVo Series2 DVR supports only standard definition from cable, cable with a box, or satellite with a box. Both DVRs can be connected to either a standard TV or an HD TV, but only the TiVo HD DVR can display in high definition on your HD TV. The TiVo HD has more than twice the recording capacity of the TiVo Series2 DVR.

So i guess this means that you will be able to watch TiVo is just wont be HD

Answer 2

The TiVo web site clearly states that the TiVo series 2 is not support HD.  The TiVo HD and series 3 do support HD.  You can even get high definition over the air for free without paying a subscription for HD.

Answer 3

The Tivo Series 3 HD and up are your only choice for HD recording.

The Series 3 HD has CableCARDs that will allow you to split the cable signal into 2 and record 1 show and watch another without a cable box.

The CableCARDs turn your Tivo into a cable box.

Answer 4

>will I be able to watch HD channels on my TV while the Tivo is hooked in?

That depend on how you hook up your DTV & Tivo.

You can use the Tivo's IR blaster to control your cable box and record it's analog output, but your cable box only outputs one channel at a time. To watch another digital channel while the Tivo is recording, you would need to get it's signal in another way.

Assuming that your DTV has a QAM tuner, then in most cases you could hook your DTV directly to the cable outlet and watch/surf any HD digital  channels that your cable company doesn't encrypt. Any encrypted channels or pay per view are going to have to go through your cable box.

Or you could just pay for a second cable box to provide the second HD signal to your TV.

Answer 5

We had the same issue. When we got an high definition cable box to go with our HD TV, we set up tivo on input 1 to the TV and the HD box on input 2. Cable goes from the wall to the HD cable box and then the cable box outputs to the TV (for HD viewing) and the tivo for recording. We CAN watch and record the HD channels through the tivo but the quality is not HD.

The new HD tivos are very nice but unless you decide to upgrade, this works fine. We just switch to Input 2 when we want to watch something on HD. Good luck.