Rating: 
Summary: Great invention, but a few flaws.
Review: First off, I have been very pleased with TiVo. I bought the unit a few weeks ago from Amazon as a Christmas gift to myself. Combined with a $100 manufacturer's rebate, a $50 Amazon coupon, a free shipping promotion Amazon was running, and of course no sales tax, I saved over 40% off retail price on it. Praises about TiVo: comes will all the cabling you will need (plus extras), fairly easy setup, TiVo remote can take the place of your existing tv remote, options to save recorded programs to VHS tape. Programming becomes super easy, and you will start watching a lot more TV than you used to! Here are some drawbacks: the Philips unit makes a very soft humming noise periodically (after all, it is essentially a hard drive unit) so if you have it in your bedroom and are a super light sleeper, you might notice it. Also, the quality of the recording, on regular mode (which is what you use to get the 30 hrs. of recording time advertised) is about the quality of a VCR tape- decent but not as good as live TV). I also feel the remote could have been better designed. There are other limitations, not with the Philips unit but TiVo itself. One, you can only record one program per time slot. Second, sometimes the beginning of recorded shows gets cut off. I'm sure these are features that will be eventually resolved by TiVo in the future. Despite all these comments, I have been very pleased with the unit and the service, and it delivers just as advertised. I would highly recommend this.
Rating: 
Summary: It's changed my life
Review: I received a great birthday present in 2000; the TiVo. I can honestly say it's changed the way I view television (however corny their ad slogan is).I set up my TiVo in late September, and I haven't looked back since. The setup took an extraordinary amount of time (at least 2 hours), but once I got rolling, everything else was pretty easy. I can't tell you how much I enjoy taking my time to do things instead of rushing home to catch my favorite program. I don't have to worry, because TiVo's got me covered. Not only has the TiVo recorded programs I like to watch, but it recommends show that I might watch (though the use of the Thumbs Up-Thumbs Down recommendations I give to specific shows), and I can say that some of the recommendations they've given have hit the nail right on the head. The recommendations can be a little weird though. I mean, I'm a guy who likes The Simpsons, but does that mean I'll like Rugrats as well? This is not a perfect unit, though. Drawbacks include missing recording cues (although not entirely TiVo's fault, but you'd think some networks would get on the ball here and standardize when they start and stop a show). You wouldn't know how many times I've said "Oh, the recording started late again," or "Why did you cut off the ending?!?!?" Also the unit, in a quiet room, can be a little noisy. When I'm watching a show late at night, I can hear the unit's hard drive churning. Maybe I'm nitpicking, but I thought you would like to know. Another drawback is the inability to totally skip over commercials. You can fast forward, sure. You have to be good at timing the fast forward right so that when you hit play, you'll catch the show just after commercial. Yes, the product has drawbacks, but I can look past that for now and say that this product is amazing. In a couple of years my tune might change, but for now, make mine TiVo!
Rating:
Summary: So far, better than I hoped!
Review: I just received my TiVo yesterday. From what I'd read here, I was really concerned about how the setup would go. To my amazement, it couldn't have been easier. So far I really like it. I wasn't sure it would even work with my digital cable service, but that isn't even an issue! I think I'm gonna love it.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Product
Review: I bought a TIVO 12 months ago, with some hesitation. But after a full year of ownership, I recommend it with great enthusiam. This is an absolutely wonderful product. It has totally transformed my TV watching experience. I now really never watch live TV, but rather the TIVO only. If I am in the mood to watch TV, I just hit the "What's Showing" selection and have a choice of 4 or 5 movies that I requested to be recorded (and have since forgotten I requested them); and perhaps one or two NOVA's, an episode or two of Seinfeld, maybe a "Great Performance", maybe a West Wing, etc. etc. etc. Because you can instruct it to record every showing of favorite programs, these shows are "now showing" regularly, and without any effort (or recall) on my part. (Even if they are on only occasionally, e.g. Great Performances on PBS). In short, there are always several program selections you personally can enjoy, now, on TV. Always. (And you can skip all the commercials.) Anp pause the show when the phone rimgs. Or dump it to tape for permanent storage, if you care to. Moreover, I have had zero technical problems. Once set up, it is very simple to use. Even if you don't watch TV much, get one of these things. There's some great stuff on TV, once you weed out the garbage (documentaries, news shows, science shows, movies, history, concerts, what do you like?) This thing does the weeding.
Rating:
Summary: The best thing since sliced bread
Review: I am amazed that more people don't own this product. TIVO is the next thing after the vcr, once it catches on everyone will want it. Basically TIVO is a really smart VCR. You watch TV and use the thumbs up and thumbs down buttons on the remote to tell tivo what shows you like and don't like. TIVO uses these suggestions and an internal TV Guide that it downloads everyday to figure out what shows you might like to watch. TIVO uses all this info to determine shows that you might like and records them. TIVO also has features to manually record and a Season Pass feature. The Season Pass is a feature where you tell tivo the name of a show and then TIVO automatically records this show anytime it is on. TIVO is always on 24/7 so it never misses a show. Beyond these features TIVO also lets you pause live TV, do instant replays of live TV and a ton of other features.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Product
Review: I wasn't sure if I was going to like the TIVO system, but I bought one anyway. I ended up really liking the system, the image quality is great (even on med quality) and it is nice to know that your faviorite shows get recorded no matter when they are on. The season pass feature which allows you to have the system record every episode of any show that is aired is a nice feature as well. Now instead of watching more TV, I watch better TV. They also integrated with HBO/Showtime/Cinimax and such so you can just see what new movies are playing this month an select the ones you are interested in seeing, if figures out the next time they are playing and records them for you - really simple. My only quam with the system is that it is slow in changing channels, forget about using channel up/down it is nerve racking. The way around this is to use the on screen program guide which is fine in most cases. So far I have not had any hardware problems described in the other reviews. I suggest it.
Rating: 
Summary: It breaks
Review: Great idea, and it is wonderful when it works. After 5 months, I have had two exchanges with no real hope I will ever have a working unit. Costs are mounting up. Service is friendly, but it doesn't help when the product is fundamentally not ready for prime time.
Rating: 
Summary: Tivo Just Tells You the Good -- Not the Bad
Review: 1. Tivo documentation and advertising does not say that you CANNOT watch a channel and record another channel simultaneously. This can only be done if you have a VCR attached and play or record through the VCR. Their docs and ads say "...VCR can be used as an archive device." Sure! 2. Probably, best answer to their problem would be to offer a second unit at a higher price with two tuners and tell the facts. 3. Their tech support is very polite but does not always follow through. You are suposed to get an update nightly; actually weekly is more like it. 4. After five weeks and 40 phone calls to Tivo, I still cannot get my channel lineup sychonized with what is showing. Yes, my cable company is not very cooperative, but Tivo should do what is necessary to solve my problem. They take my $9.95 monthly! 5. Good idea for a product but too early and TOO HYPED! 6. Thanks to Amazon for allowing me to vent my ongoing problem!
Rating:
Summary: Once you start using it you won't be able to stop!
Review: Its hard to put into words how great this product is, or how much time it has saved me. I now only watch TV at night, and I only watch what I want. I'll normally record five or six shows a day and watch what I want before I go to bed. You also no longer have to fumble around with confusing VCR recording instructions. The ease of use is the best feature, ANYONE can use this, it is that simple.
Rating:
Summary: Tivo is the best invention since sliced bread
Review: I am an early adopter of Tivo and it has completely changed the way that I watch TV. I'm glad that people are finally catching on to what I've been saying for over a year which is: TIVO IS THE COOLEST THING EVER. The main thing that I hear from people when I try to explain the benefits of owning a Tivo is "But I have a VCR - why would I want this?" I have put together a brief list of the benefits of owning a Tivo for you non-believers. 1. I, too, own a VCR. And with all the good intentions in the world of taping programs that I wanted to see - I NEVER DID. 2. Aren't you sick of missing your favorite TV shows? With Tivo you will never miss your favorite shows again - in addition, my little Tivo friend may help you find new favorite shows. 3. Don't you hate commercials as much as the next guy? With Tivo, you will never be forced to sit through another minute of those crappy commercials. You will not even know what people are talking about as they discuss the new Bud commercial...you'll merely shake your head and know that those poor, unfortunate souls don't have a Tivo at home. 4. Don't you ever have to go to the bathroom in the middle of watching something? I won't elaborate on that one - but wouldn't it be nice to pause your TV to jump up and answer the phone, grab a snack, etc... without having to worry about what you're going to miss. 5. You'll rent less movies. Which also means that you'll save more money. Forget renting. Just pay for the premium channels that you were always to cheap to pay for before because you figured that you'd never watch that many movies. Now you can watch them all. So, to sum up my little Tivo review - I have to say that you will completely streamline the way you watch TV when you get a Tivo. Stop torturing yourself with the network's schedule that doesn't fit your schedule and make up your own. With Tivo there is always something good on...what YOU want to watch.
| 
