Rating: 
Summary: No more hoping there's something good on TV!
Review: In the past, I would have a few minutes to watch TV and then would not be able to find anything. I would end up channel surfing through the same channels over and over.With TiVo, we just look to see what is recorded. We have so many great shows recorded that we can't watch them all. We like "Sanford & Son", so we always have a couple episodes recorded just in case. My husband likes motorcycle racing, so we set up TiVo to automatically tape motorcycle races. I like nature shows, so there are always several waiting for me. This week is the anniversary of JFK's assassination. We used the wish list feature and searched on JFK. Now we have a dozen shows on JFK waiting to be watched. We watch TV when we get ready, not when the TV moguls decide they want us to watch it. TiVo has improved the quality of TV that we watch. The only downside to TiVo is that when someone asks if I've seen some interesting commercial, I just say, "I don't watch commercials anymore..." (I think I can live with that!)
Rating:
Summary: I Love My Tivo
Review: This machine is loaded with super features...I've had it about a week and cannot imagine enjoying TV again without it.
1. It is worth the price just for the "Guide", easy to find programs you want to watch and much more useful than the one our cable company sells with their "Digital Cable".
2. It not only provides all the features described by the manufacturer, but plenty they don't even mention. It decides to record shows it computes you will like (based upon what you watch) and makes them available whenever you might choose to watch them.
3. The "Setup" procedure is easy to follow and it does all the work (you must provide it with a phone line or bradband connection).
4. Bleeping through the commercials is fast, and when you hit play it backs up a little to make up for your delayed response and it is not necessary to make adjustments to catch the beginning of the show.
5. Whenever you stop watching a recorded show it remembers where you left off and whenever you come back to it you have a choice to resume or start over.
I could go on but I think I have delivered my message. I purchased the lifetime service and I am satisfied with the product beyond what I expected!
Rating:
Summary: TiVo Service IS Required
Review: Contray to the review posted by "An electronics fan from somewhere that matters" the TiVo Service "IS" required for these Series 2 units to function. In fact it's required on all units that shipped with software version 2.0 or greater. Which includes all TiVo brand Series 2 units, all DirecTV with TiVo units, and some Sony brand Series 1 units. The only exceptions to this rule are the new Toshiba DVD and the Pioneer DVD-R/W TiVos. Both of these units come with a FREE minimal service called TiVo Basic. This service gives you 3 days worth of guide data, a live guide for setting up one time recordings and the ability to setup repeat timer like recordings without the need for any extra charge. They even come with a 45 day FREE trial of the full TiVo service dubbed TiVo Plus. Dan
Moderator TiVo Community Forum
Rating:
Summary: Money Wasted!!
Review: Tivo is very good
but it sucks that you have to pay $...for a box & then another $...a month for service P.S:VCR+ does the same thang tivo does.... and it's 100% FREE
the box or the service should be free
Rating:
Summary: Finally -- an intelligent way to watch TV
Review: TiVo has definitely changed the way I watched TV. I spend much less time "channel surfing" and more time watching what I like. Case in point -- last weekend my wife and I sat down in front of the TV without a plan. Instead of flipping channels until we found something interesting, we just looked at the list of shows the TiVo had recorded. The hardest part was picking which one to watch. Since we could fast-forward through commercials, we watch a 2-hour movie in less than 90 minutes. The "live-TV" options are just as cool. If the phone rings while you're watching a show, just hit pause. You can resume after you hang up, then catch up to real time during the commercial. There are two "negatives" that I want to mention (however, these don't change my rating...it's still a 5-star in my book):
1. The service does not adjust recording time if a show gets delayed (say when a football game runs long).
2. If you want to connect to a wireless network using a Linksys WUSB11 Wireless-B adapter version 2.8, you'll have to wait for the next software update (or sign up for the beta version). According to TiVo customer support (which was very helpful once I reached a real person), Linksys originally told them that version 2.6 and higher would work. However, when 2.8 came out, it didn't work with TiVo DVRs. They are working on a solution.
Rating: 
Summary: Changes TV and even your life a little bit
Review: It's gets a four from me - probably because I have had it so long I see some of the warts and/or things they could do better (how about a function that starts recording one show when the other ends - if they overlap - a bigger issue as I see more and more shows that start at 9:59 ER on Thursday for example - perhaps because of things like TIVO). But in the end it is awesome - easy to set up, generally works perfectly and lets you take control of your TV/entertainment viewing. Watch on your schedule, never have to worry about start times or getting home - watch live stuff and get up for thirty minutes to run an errand or jsut answer the phone. Have't found the reccommend function that useful - and I probably watch more TV as it ensures I never miss a program. But I watch far more programming ( stopped surfing, and don't watch ads) and it helped elminate the need for Netflix. Would like a bigger hard drive, a bit faster processor and it is time for an OS update. It is also pretty pricey given what some of the cable/satellite guys are charging when they have this piece of equipment (like 1/3 the monthly price). But would I buy it again? In a heartbeat.
Rating:
Summary: TiVo is king!
Review: TiVo is an amazing device, and like the previous reviewer said, the service fee is steep. It has gone up $100 since I bought mine 2 years ago. However the service is an awesome part of TiVo. The difference between manual recording and TiVo service can best be compared to your TV before you had a remote. How often did you change the channel without a remote? I'd venture to guess less than 10% as often as you do now. The same can be said about recording programs. To record every episode of your favorite program (ex: Friends) with TiVo you need to click about 5 buttons. To record every episode manually you need to click about 20 buttons and switch back and forth from your cable box program guide or get up and get the TV guide. Another thing that TiVo does, that you are very unlikely to do yourself is adjust the recording length. What happens when you've set NBC to record 30 minutes for Friends and it is a "Super Sized Friends" of 45 minutes. If you record manually you lose 15 minutes. If you let TiVo do it you won't miss the ending. (Those of you who have TiVo may disagree because of NBC scheduling trickery) My recommendation...get rid of the cable box. There is no need to have a cable box unless you have digital cable. TiVo can change channels for you, and you don't have to pay the cable company the monthly rent for the cable box and remote. The TiVo remote is better anyway. Truly though, if you want TiVo...go with a combo satellite system. The TiVo service is cheaper ($5/month) and you can record 2 programs at once...no other version of TiVo can do that. Good luck and enjoy your TiVo. You'll love it!
Rating: 
Summary: Warning - Tivo quality control problems
Review: I hate to write this. The Tivo service is great. Living without it is hard to imagine. But I have now had 2 Tivo Series 2s break in the last 14 months. This is an unacceptably high failure rate. And Tivo's return/exchange policies are weighted heavily against the consumer. The first time it cost $99 to replace with a refurbished unit. This time Tivo wants $149 to replace (again with a refurbished unit that only carries a 30 day warranty). Both times the problem appears to be the hard drive - once the entire unit just went haywire. This time the unit downloads program data but fails to load it properly into the unit's database. After 4 hours worth of calls to Tivo tech support both times, the engineering department decided the unit had to be replaced. Just a heads up to prospective buyers. I am going to purchase a 3rd party replacement drive (at least it carries a 6 month warranty) and keep my fingers crossed. Good luck if you purchase one - I hope you have better luck!
Rating:
Summary: Change your viewing habits for the better
Review: I always thought that Tivo would be way out of my budget until I talked to a friend of mine who had it. It's actually quite affordable, and totally worth the money. I watch a few shows religiously, so I was always setting my VCR--and that worked okay, but I would always find myself with a couple different tapes, not knowing what show was on which tape. Tivo has completely solved that problem. I set it to tape my shows, and it does, and then instead of piles of mystery tapes, my shows are catalogued on the hard drive, so I just click on the one I want to watch and delete it when I'm done. Or, if it's a must-have episode, I can record it to the VCR. That's why I love my Tivo--but there are a million other gret features: season passes, tivo suggestioned viewings, not to mention the ability to fast-forward through commercials and pause live-TV! Yay Tivo!
Rating:
Summary: I Couldn't Survive Without Tivo Now!
Review: OK, maybe I could survive without Tivo, but man, would it be hard! I loved my first Tivo so much that I bought a second unit for my bedroom. The ease of use of this great gadget is its best selling point. Just type in a name of a program or an actor or a director or even a keyword and a list of programs corresponding to that movie, etc. are presented. You can get Season Passes to record all episodes of your favorite shows, making the use of VHS tapes obsolete. You can tape several shows and watch them later and fast forward through the commercials, which will allow you to watch a one hour show in 45 minutes. The time saved adds up! One thing you do need to note is that the "40 hour" or "80 hour" devices signify the amount of time you have at the lowest quality setting. There are four different quality settings (normal, medium, high and best) with the higher quality settings reducing the amount of time you have for storage. The "best" setting, which I use as I transfer a lot of programs to DVD via my Sony DVD Recorder (read my review, it's great, too), reduces the 80 hours to less than 40 hours, but it usually isn't an issue as I watch, record and delete programs very quickly. As you no doubt know, in addition to the cost of the unit, you have to buy the service which downloads programs to the Tivo. You can pay a monthly fee or a one-time fee (I've done the latter on both). In addition. you can buy their Home Media Option, which allows you to, via your home network high speed internet connection, view pictures, play music, schedule programs remotely and transfer programs between Tivos if you have more than one. I bought this option as well, but for the price, I don't know if it is worth it as I don't use it much. If you get an 80 hour unit with the one-time service fee and the Home Media Option, you are looking in the high three figures, which isn't a cheap date, but it is so easy to use that it is well worth it!
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