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Philips HDR312 TiVo 30-Hour Digital Video Recorder

Philips HDR312 TiVo 30-Hour Digital Video Recorder

List Price: $299.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Still Waiting for the International version
Review: A really great idea, unfortunately taken only part way. The machine can only work in the USA. This is really frustrating for potential customers elsewhere in the world. Worse yet, an international version for a world market would only take some simple software changes. A simple user programmable function, much like that in existing video recorders, would allow anyone to set up a schedule of favorite TV/cable channels that could be recorded automatically. The stored shows could then digitally managed so that only the last say 10 shows of a program would be kept and new recordings would constantly overwrite older shows. This simple ability alone would make the TIVO unit usable anywhere in the world. Of course to take advantage of the present max 60-hour capacity the unit would need to be able to handle at least 60 to 120 program events. A lot to set up to be sure but this would be a one-time effort and based on the user interests. Just imagine when 100 - 1000GB hard drives become available. It may be posible to keep every episode of a favorite TV series online and immediately accessible.

If the TIVO schedule was desired as well, a few simple changes could take of that too.

1. Allow the unit to be able to dial up the data via the Internet or allow for international long distance dialing with support for 24-30 digit dialing.

2. Allow for a simple channel re-mapping function so that CNN on channel 25 on the TIVO schedule could be re-assigned to channel 33 for the users local TV/cable source.

I am very keen to have a unit.. once they become global-ready products. Maybe one day someone will build the Super DVR that would be just like a VCR but without the hassle of tape and with the plus of easy digital control of watching time-shifted shows... and work anywhere in the world.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Superb product, the wave of the future!
Review: I postponed buying a TIVO for several months because I simply did not believe it could be as good as the reviews stated. Finally, I broke down and brought one, and I am completely impressed. TIVO is definitely the future of television. You will no longer have to worry about programming VCR's, or even being home to watch your favorite programs. Simply click a few buttons on TIVO's remote, and each episode of your favorite shows will be automatically recorded to be watched at your leisure. You really must buy a TIVO, as it will radically alter your TV viewing patterns. The only word of advice is the buy the largest capacity (in hours) unit that you can afford, as you will rapidly fill up your system, and end up having to delete programs.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AMAZING!!!
Review: This is the most fantastic home electronics product in years. It will literally change your life. No longer are you confined to watch TV within the restraints of network programming schedules. You're in control now, and you can watch whatever you want whenever you want. Want to watch every episode of THE SIMPSONS that's ever on TV? Tell TiVo to do it once, and forget about it. It will automatically do whatever you tell it to for the rest of your life. A truly amazing product!!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: DO NOT BUY
Review: Look at web forums about this product they are crashing and burning at epidemic rates. I have had mine for 5 months and I loved it. Now it is dead as are many many others. They clam it is a hard drive failure and they will replace it for [price] plus shipping. What a deal right? I think not. Then if you do some research people, people who have done this had to wait a month the got a refurbished product that soon did the same thing. I think the company has some serious explaining to do. It is not a hard drive failure, it is a product that they will not stand behind because they know that they have people in a LIFETIME service agreement. This is a serious problem that I hope puts them out of business.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I rarely gush about a product ...
Review: Honestly, I'm pretty critical and particular about products. But I've had my TiVo for over a year and haven't watched live TV since getting it. Why would I? With TiVo, when I turn on my TV I can choose from among watching programs I know I want to watch. I can jump over commercials. I can instant replay something I've missed. TiVo even learns what I like and suggests other programs I'd probably enjoy ... all while keeping my data confidential.

I'm so keen on the product I've given two as gifts. We've had all sorts of gadgets in my home but NONE has taken over the way TiVo has. My daughters (7 and 11) and my wife are complete converts. The TiVo remote is the default for TV; we've stopped using our VCR. It's a killer product.

Next stop? I'm going to buy some TiVo stock! Travis

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Can't Live Without It Despite Flaws
Review: The TiVo is an incredibly addicitive invention. Once you have one, you won't be able to live without it. The ability to pause and rewind live tv shows, and a program guide that lets you record every episode of a partiular TV show, ensures that you will never miss anything on TV again. However, be warned before you pick up one of these gems. If you have or plan to get Directv, get a TiVo w/ integrated Directv or an UltimateTV system. Additionally, if you have a cable box, you might have problems getting the TiVo to work with the box. The TiVo needs to have full control over changing the channels in order to use all of its features. Additionally, you will need to pay a monthly fee to activate TiVo service. Despite these problems, you will find yourself willing to work a few extra hours a month to pay for the (...) monthly fee -- after all, you won't miss your favorite shows with TiVo at home.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Device I Ever Used
Review: TiVo Personal TV Receiver is the best device I've ever used to record my tv programs. I've told many other people about it, but have not seen any of them buy it yet. They don't know what they're missing! If they enjoy good, reliable tv recording's of their show's, then they should buy this unit. My favorite thing's about the TiVo Player is that I never miss any of my favorite tv show's any more and using the instant replay button and fast forwarding through all the commercial's. What more could a person ask for? It's the best device I've ever seen on the market for recording tv program's.

JS

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Control your TV: don't let it control you
Review: My wife and I just don't watch live TV at all anymore. Not since we got our Tivo. Whenever we're ready to watch TV, we sit down, look at what Tivo has recorded for us, pick the show we're most interested in, and watch it. Owning a Tivo is literally life-altering: we watch stuff on TV that we really want to see... not just the stuff that happens to be on when we sit down to watch.

Calling it a personal video recorder may make it sound complicated, but what a Tivo does is pretty easy to understand: it records the programs you want to watch when they're on, whether you're there or not.

The menu system that Tivo uses is much, much easier to understand than the typical VCR and - while it takes a little getting used to - installing and using a Tivo is simple, too.

Unlike a VCR, you won't have new shows to watch right away, but hang in there. In a week or so, you'll have so many to watch you won't have enough time to see them all! Tivo lets you set up "season passes" to record all your favorite shows, it has "wish lists" that help you find shows you want to watch {but didn't know were on) plus it will automatically find and record shows like the ones you've already said you like.

Wow!! We've had this gizmo for five months and we couldn't imagine living without it!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Take look at the competition
Review: I have owned a Tivo For about 4 months now. I absolutely love the concept and I feel I will never own a TV without a PVR in future.

However lately I have been dissatisfied with Tivo in general. In my version of the software there are few forms of advanced recording, and I end up recording a lot of shows twice. I am told that the next version of the software (2.0) fixes this issue, however have yet to receive it. After calling customer service, they refuse to push down the latest version to me and say I have to wait until I get randomly selected. The web site says users will get it during March or April but it is now May. This in not the type of customer service I am looking for.

Another feature I would like, but is only implemented by Tivo's competitor (ReplayTV) is the ability to make your recording selections through the web. This would be a great use of those dead times at work. Again, Tivo promised something similar months ago, but is seams to be an all too recurring theme that Tivo is late on delivery

Also Tivo's updates too their website are very infrequent, and they make little mention of new developments and enchantments for the future. I get the feeling that they are not paying as much attention to customer as they should. For this reason and the technical features mentioned above I wish I would have bought a Replay TV. That being said, I do not know of the imperfections of Replay TV, which could be just as bad, but I doubt it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Can't Live Without It!
Review: We purchased our first TIVO two years ago, and bought the smaller machine due to the cost at that time. Before the first week of ownership, we returned it and exchanged it for the larger machine! Within a year of owning that TIVO, we then purchased a second TIVO, one for the upstairs TV, and one for the downstairs TV as my husband's and my intrests differ. It was fairly simple to set the machine up, and once you do, you find that the television no longer runs your life. As with most busy families, there are so many committments today, that you hardly have time for TV at all. Now with TIVO, we watch our favorite shows at our convience. Also they take a much shorter time to view as you jump through the comercials very quickly. We rarely watch "live" TV anymore. Just TIVO. My husband acutally starts watching his sports a few minutes after they have started so he can avoid all of the comercials. Our appreciation for TIVO had us giving our parents one as a Christmas gift. They are older, and said they couldn't live without it, they set it up themselves, and use it daily. Which proves the simplicty of operation. We highly recommend TIVO, and have just bought another for gift giving!


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