Rating: 
Summary: good unit - if you don't mind the noise
Review: altogether, it is a very user friendly receiver with great menu layout and tons of features. one major problem, though - it is LOUD. the noise that this thing makes while it is running is pretty incredible - a constant shrill, whining noise. and since the unit never powers off, you are forced to endure this noise constantly. maybe in a family room ... maybe, but certainly not for a bedroom (. . .)you get what you pay for. my advice is to spend the extra money and go with the sony tivo receiver (with mail-in rebate) - or go to ultimate tv for the better service and better receivers.
Rating: 
Summary: THESE DON'T WORK
Review: Don't buy Hughes!!! I got one and it died within 48 hours. Hughes admitted that this is a big problem with their units: apparently a whole bunch of them got bad hard drives put into them, but Hughes never bothered to recall them. If you're unlucky enough to get a bad one, you have to send it back to Hughes (at your expense) and wait and wait and wait for them to fix it. I've been waiting six weeks and they still have no idea when it will be done.They send you a loaner directv receiver, but it doesn't have Tivo. And when you try to complain that you've been waiting over a month, they tell you there's no one you can talk to. I asked for a phone number for their corporate office and the rep told me that their corporate office didn't have a phone number. Hughes... what a joke. Save yourself some trouble and buy a Sony or Phillipps...
Rating: 
Summary: This is so awesome!
Review: I absolutely love this thing! I record pay-per-view movies in the middle of the night and watch them whenever. No more going to the video store and they are out of the movie I want. No more late fees because I waited too long to return the movie. I also never miss my favorite shows. And since I have two lines from my satelitte into the TiVo, I can record two shows at the same time. This is just awesome!
Rating:
Summary: LOUD? You betcha!
Review: I bought this unit as a second Tivo-DirecTV receiver for a really really low price due to the "echo" problem (if you have one Tivo unit and one non-Tivo receiver and both TVs are on the same channel---such as you're watching a sporting event and one person is cooking while the other entertains---then the sound comes out of the Tivo TV about one second behind the "regular" unit, which is marginally bothersome). I'm sorry I bought this model and it is going back. I love the Tivo service and my Philips brand unit is a dream. Luckily that's the one in the bedroom. This unit is identical in all respects but one: it has an el-cheapo hard disk with an audible hum. Audible over music. Audible 24/7. It's really annoying. Spend the extra bucks and get a real unit. You'll be very happy you did.
Rating:
Summary: They break
Review: I had mine for less than a year and it simply stopped working and would not get a signal. I bought it from a [local store] which did not help things at all. I had to wait about a month before I actually came to the conclusion that tivo/hughes is bad. BR>I bought an UltimateTV 35hr and it is much better. It has nearly all the features that Tivo does, plus a program guide that goes further ahead, noticably better picture, slicker and slightly faster interface, and it's cheaper.
Rating:
Summary: awesome!
Review: I have read the other reviews that say their Hughes died and all, and I can't say anything negative about it at all. First, there is no other way to go than DirecTV. If you think you can get the same programming anywhere else on cable or even Dish, you are fooling yourself. DirecTV is both a sports and movie enthusisasts dream... Second, you may have heard the phrase that says TiVo "will change the way you watch television..." Well, that couldn't be more dead on. It is wonderful to have the ability to pause live television, and it is so much easier to work with than a VCR. Lastly, there may be machines with larger hard drives and other features, but for [the price], this is a complete steal. Steal this one - you will be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: geoff cutcheon
Review: I held off for a year or so before getting in to a tivo unit and only when I was in a store inquiring about one did I actually decide to buy one. It was only because it was a little more than a 100.00 off the shelf , was I willing to give it a try. The advertising of this product didn't really sell it to me. I was however intrigued to see if it was worth it. I have been recordong movies for years from various sources with mixed success. I was extremely pleased with the results I had from the Hughes unit. What they didn't fully explain was how much or how long you could store information or how easy it was to use. I have had only one minor glitch and I was able to eliminate it. I had a recent power surge and it blew out my stand alone rca direct tv box but didn't affect my hughes tivo/direct tv combo unit. Another great benefit the hughes all in one system has is in being able to record from local tv stations using there call #s such as channel 4 , 5 7, etc, instead of 929 or 930. The other advantage is in recording pay per view. It can all be done on the combo unit, where as with a stand alone you have to go back through the direct tv box, and so on. It is much faster than the stand alone unit and it stores considerably more recordings. I am sorry that even sales people I have talked to in the stores aren't able to see the advantages of the combo unit over the stand alones. Some people do not like to even use a vcr for anything other than playback mode, and for these people no amount of gadgets would attract them, but for those who like to record and store movies for future viewing, this is the only way to go. Your vcr get's a better result and if something goes wrong with the transfer you can always redo it before you delete it from memory, It is a great system and I'm sorry it took me so long to get them.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty cool stuff...
Review: I just got my GXCEBOT today and am pretty impressed with it so far. Unit was well packaged, and came with every cable I could conceivably have used (even one to connect the VCR). I did have a weird problem during setup where the screen would go blank, and I'd get a 'Access Card has Expired' message, then the picture would come back for a minute, then go blank again, etc. A quick call to DirecTV (well, quick if you don't count the time on hold) fixed that problem - they just sent some kind of re-init command to the box. Picture is great, and I have no problems with noisy hard drives or fans. Love the TiVo features. The only disappointing thing was not being able to watch my local cable channels thru the TiVo interface - I know I've seen receivers that can do this, so maybe they'll offer a software upgrade soon. So overall a big thumbs up for this machine!
Rating:
Summary: Bad Waranty Service
Review: I purchased a Hughes TIVO in November of 2001. I set it up using the two receivers. On April 4, 2002, it stopped working. It could not find the satelite signal on either receiver. I hooked up a diferent satelite receiver to both lines and each worked fine. The service had been great. I called the 800 number in the guide which came with the unit. It referred me to a toll number which I had to call for technical assistance. They don't open until 8:00 a.m. I got in touch with a tech named Tax who told me that they were having that problem with some units. I was instructed to send the unit back and it would be replaced in about two weeks. I called today (4/15/02) and was informed by Alex that it would now be another 6 to 8 weeks for replacement because the units are on back order. The unit was great when it worked, but the service is quite frustrating. One would think that Hughes would pull some off the market to replace such a unit.
Rating:
Summary: HOT Product - literally!
Review: Love my new Tivo unit!! Great features, easiest interface I've seen, very little noise as indicated before but it runs so hot it melted my access card! DirecTV has another on the way, but yikes! Make sure the unit has plenty of ventilation, especially when recording. I am now watching about 80% recorded content and 20% live - just opposite of before Tivo. There is occasional pixelation and the DirecTV guide is a little slow (better than my RCA), but overall a great product for the price.
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