TiVo HD

I purchased a Tivo almost 2 months ago. So far I am very happy with it. Here are the features that I really like: 1. Ability to schedule shows over the web, much easier than trying type with a remote… control. 2. The fact that it does not record the same show over and over when you select you only want new episodes 3. Tivo Suggestions - We have found programs that we like to watch based on the tivo suggestions 4. Ability to record Season Pass on Web Videos. It it much nicer to watch Web Videos on the TV versus the computer. Also much easier for multiple people to watch them on the TV. 5. Finding and recording programs through the Tivo is easier than the cable DVR. 6. The games on the Tivo, they are fun to play as a group. Although the person with the remote is in ultimate control 7. Web viewing like You Tube, Amazon, etc.. 8. I like the fact you can upgrade the hard drive through the external drive, I have not upgraded yet, but plan to. 9. Now you can purcahse a 3 year warranty for $40 from Tivo. I was quite nervous about reliability after reading many reviews, but for $13 per year I feel like it was a good investment. Things that I think need improvement: 1. With the cable DVR when you were searching for programs that you want to watch the TV program would show in the upper right. With the Tivo you only see the Tivo stuff. 2. The overall interface seems a bit dated, but still much better than the cable company box. I purchased a refurb unit (200), 3 year warranty (40) and lifetime service (400), so I am in for about $640. Saving about $14 per month on the cable company DVR, this factors in cable card rental, pay back is just short of 4 years. So does it make great financial sense, not really, but the features it has are quite nice and worth the upfront investment. If you don't like the cable company DVR, Tivo is a good way to go.

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When it works the Tivo HD is great. The picture and sound is much better than my old Tivo series 2. Unfortunately the HD is not as reliable as the series 2. I bought my series 2 about 5 years ago and… have never had a problem with it. The HD unit looses its picture showing only a gray screen and needs to be rebooted every couple of days to get the picture back. Tivo has admitted that it is a software problem with the tuner for analog channels. My first tivo was so reliable that I believed Tivo would send out a software update to correct the problem but I have owned the HD for a year now and still no fix and customer support is no help. I don't believe tivo is really working on the problem they probably expect the problem to go away on it's own with the switch to digital television. But the problem won't be going away that quickly my cable provider plans on continuing broad casting some channels in analog for at least 2 more years. I can't wait any longer what good is a DVR if I can't rely on it to record my programs. I'm now trying to decide if I just go back to a series 2 or use my cable company's DVR. I wish I could recommend this product because when it's working Tivo really is the best DVR's but right now the HD has too many bugs and they don't seem to be getting resolved check out the tivo support forms it's ridiculous how long the same problems have been going on with no hardware or software updates made to correct them.

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My husband and I bought this TiVO to replace our cable b/c it was cheaper. We usually watch the local channels most of the time anyways and with the TiVO we can record live TV and still watch our shows when… we want to. We also got TiVO because it has most of the same features as our cable (music channel and other features that are really neat!) and the TiVO will sync with netflix which has all the seasons on dvd that we watch and we can watch our shows by logging onto netflix and download it to our tv. We are able to watch all the latest movies for $10 a month and we don't have to leave our home where cable was costing around $80 a month and all we got was a bunch of channels we either did not watch or never had time to watch.

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A TIVO DVR like the TiVo TCD652160 HD Digital Video Recorder is useless without a TIVO service plan. There are some very nasty features of TIVO service plans that you should be aware of. If you buy a $300… 3-year TIVO service contract up front LOOK OUT! After three years you are back at square one on TIVO service pricing. You will then have been paying an average of $8.33/month over the last 36 months, but going forward, you will pay 12.95/month. Like a new customer, you can buy another three-year plan for another $300, but there is no month-to-month option to extend the price you have been paying. Suppose your cellular provider said your rate will go up more than 50% after your first 3-year service contract completes! Watch out for another major TIVO service plan problem. Currently, you can buy a lifetime TIVO service plan for $400, BUT it is for the lifetime of a particular machine. When that machine is no longer viable, you may forfeit your whole investment and be back at square one, buying a new machine AND a new service plan. If you start out with a three-year service plan, hoping to upgrade later to a lifetime plan, that will cost you an additional $400--that's right, there is no upgrade path to lifetime service! Your machine-specific lifetime contract will then have cost you $700. TIVO can be very expensive and the real cost may be difficult to predict.

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