Rating: 
Summary: The tradeoff...
Review: To keep the cost down, this unit trades an mpeg compressor for the satellite receiver. This means it can't record anything but what comes in off the satellite receiver. The plus side of this is that it records the bitstream directly, so there's no loss of quality. The other digital recorders recompress everything, and even on high quality mode, there's a noticeable blockiness to fast moving detail (sometimes not-so-fast detail). So this unit will give you a better viewing experience for satellite channels.
Rating: 
Summary: beware Tivo lifetime service subscription
Review: I purchased a DSR6000R to replace my older 30 hour standalone Philips Tivo that failed after about twenty months of use (it was somewhat flakey over the last few months and then completely died). I had purchased a lifetime subscription from Tivo and fully expected to be able to transfer it over to the new receiver. I was informed that this was not possible and that I would have to return the original Tivo to Philips for service or replacement. As I had thrown away the old one, this was impossible, but they still would not allow me to switch over my subscription. In retrospect, I presume they expect most of their lifetime subscriptions to expire with the original equipment. Decided to return my new Tivo and try UltimateTV instead.
Rating: 
Summary: The ultimate TV accessory
Review: Vast improvement over my previous S-VHS VCR setup. Recording quality of integrated unit (Tivo + DirecTV) indistinguishable from broadcast; playback options (3 fast-forward/back speeds; slow motion, freeze frame, frame advance, etc.,) work flawlessly, without sound bars or other artifacts. Scheduling procedures are about as simple as possible while providing access to hundreds of TV shows. So far (5 weeks) have not encountered problems mentioned by some other reviewers - unit does not run hot, and is whisper-quiet - makes less noise than my computer hard drives. Speed of channel surfing and navigating program guides, etc., about on a par with my 5-year old Sony 32-bit satellite receiver. 2-tuner capability is a great new feature...One suggestion: price of unit varies widely from day to day and among vendors - pays to SHOP AROUND before you buy!!!
Rating:
Summary: ILoveItAndYouGottaGetItNOOOOOOOOOOW
Review: The combination of TiVo and DirecTV is awesome. Before I tried it I was skeptical about TiVo and whether it was really as good as the media hype. I was dead wrong. It is fantastic and is a great advance in the ease of use and convenience of Television. It's so good that I'd recommend TiVo even if all you have is an over the air antenna. It is that good. But the real benefits come with the combination of the high quality audio and video of DirecTV with TiVo. This Phillips unit was easy to setup and combines DirecTV and TiVo very nicely. My advice is to get it now.
Rating:
Summary: Tivo your life !!
Review: I own three tivos: a standalone, a Hughes GXCEBOT DirecTivo and now a Philips DSR6000. I have been pleased with all three models and love how Tivo lets me watch TV on my own schedule, not the networks'. For those who are switching from a regular Directv receiver or are new to satellite service altogether, a few caveats:1) All three DirecTivos (Hughes, Philips, Sony) perform the same. The only differences are external - the Hughes and Sony are silver and the Sony has a control link to control Sony VCRs. So buy the one that fits best with your home theater system. 2) The DTivos currently (as of 12/01) in stores have software ver. 2.01; to use the two tuner functionality, you need only force a daily call (or two) after you finish the guided setup - the installation manual explains this simple process - and wa - la!! Ver. 2.5 will download and a new message from Tivo will tell you how to activate the dual tuner functions. No sweat!! 3) The DirecTivo online guide is slower than those of the regular Directv receivers. Don't worry, you'll get used to it and as you begin to use the Tivo more and more, find that you surf less and less. Alot of your TV viewing will be recordings the Tivo or you have made. 4) The Philips DSR6000 runs hot!! (That's why I gave it four and not five stars). Don't stack it with another component and make sure you have adequate head and side room in any rack system you put it in. Otherwise, the fan will run continuously and might annoy you. 5) The DTivos, like the standalones (and unlike Ultimate TV) can be expanded to add additional hard disk storage. So, you can upgrade your 35 hour DTivo to 80 hours, 100 hours, 160 hours,... it's up to you. All you need is a little PC knowledge and some gall... 6)...you can only use the DTivos to record satellite TV; they won't work with cable or local broadcast TV (buy a standalone Tivo for that). But as of 12/27/01, nearly all your local channels are "must carry" for Directv. (Go to their website to see which locals you can get via the satellite). A final piece of advice: if you're thinking about buying this product...read the FAQs and discussion threads - it may save you some frustration or disappointment if the product is not what you expected and will help you with any setup questions you may have, like "do I need a multiswitch and which one should I buy?" It's also a great way to pick up tips and tricks about how to make your Tivo viewing more pleasurable. If you can't Tivo your life, then at least Tivo your television ;-) Good luck and enjoy!!
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: TiVo, it will become like your microwave or coffee maker. How's that? Well, after you own it for a few weeks, and the novelty wears off, you'll be unable to understand how you lived without it! I am not overstating the value you will attach to this device, trust me. Nasty networks schedule two shows you 'must see' all at the same time? No problem here! It will record two shows at the same time! Or watch one, record the other. A third show at the same time? No problem....simply click on "see other showings" and you can select to record that show or movie at another, future time and date! It is oh so easy to operate, even an adult can master it easily. I have had mine for a year, and no troubles whatsoever.
Like another reviewer so aptly said: "Just Get It!".
Rating:
Summary: Just get it!!!
Review: I've been using Tivo for about 2 years now. I can't imagine watching television without it. I always tell people, if I had to give all my home theater equipment up except one thing, I would keep the Tivo. Well, a Tivo alone wouldn't do me much good without a tv, so I'd have to go get a cheap tv after giving up my big one ;-) But, the point is, this is the best piece of equipment you can buy! Tivo is one of those, "just get it" items. Don't ask too many questions, don't worry about weather you "need" it, don't worry if you'll like it... JUST GET IT! I've told my friends about this and they always think I'm overexaggerating how good it is. A few put it off saying it wouldn't do much for them or they wouldn't like it. Well, as soon as the caved in and bought one, they tell me that they don't know why they waited and they couldn't imagine watching TV without it! I like Tivo, but I'm not a brand bigot when it comes to things like these... so, even if you don't want the Tivo personal video recorder (PVR) look at the Microsoft UltimateTV... either way get a PVR!!! I've never tried the Microsoft Ultimate TV, but I can say that I am very happy with Tivo and would be very surprised if I could be wooed away from it. They are probably pretty close in features/specifications and now Tivo has dual tuner available, so there is not likely any great advantage of one over the other. Some of the drawbacks for me are:
Image quality. With the DirecTV model this isn't as much of an issue since it records everything at the highest quality possible. But, there still is some picture degradation. No HDTV support yet. I have a HDTV set but I don't have an HDTV decoder yet... the reason I don't is because I couldn't use it with the Tivo. Hopefully it won't be too long before they have an HDTV model. Like I said, just get it!!
Rating:
Summary: I love my TiVo!
Review: NOTICE: This review relates to TiVo, not this specific hardware device. I have a Sony SAT-T60 DirecTV/TiVo combination receiver.
My wife and I became addicted to TiVo within 1 month after installing it. We have gone from watching 90% live TV/10% recorded (VCR) to 90% Tivo/10% live TV! We hardly watch anything anymore at its regular time. We simply pull up the "Now Playing" menu, which lists all the shows I have previously recorded, and watch whatever we're in the mood for - drama (Law and Order or Once and Again), comedy (Friends, South Park), reality TV (Survivor, Fear Factor), or sports (Illinois basketball, cliff diving). There are so many cool things about TiVo, but these are my THREE FAVORITE things:
1) Season Pass, which once you set it up, allows you to record a particular show EVERY time it's on or all shows with a particular actor or subject,
2) Easy to record (simply choose the show, not the time and channel) and easy to find and play (scroll through "Now Playing" list of prerecorded shows and choose "Select" to play),
3) Record two shows at once (like Survivor and Friends, which both start at 8:00 on Thursday) with a DirecTV/TiVo combination receiver, which we have. We started with the monthly subscription and moved to the lifetime after just a month (it's good for the life of the box, not you). We have a Sony model, and I've found Sony to always be reliable (two TVs, one VCR). I bought a 4-year warranty as a safety precaution (new technology and insurance against the lifetime subscription). DirecTV customer service is decent, but not great (they handle the TiVo side as well). The BEST resource for TiVo is the TiVo AVS forum, which you can link to from the Buzz section of the TiVo Web site. It's a "must read" prior to buying this unit. But I am not exaggerating when I say that this is the coolest, most liberating invention to come out since the World Wide Web. No joke! You will fall in love with your TiVo too. UPDATE (1/13/02): I've just discovered that DIRECTV/TiVo combination units rarely hold the number of hours suggested. Note that this unit advertises "up to 35-hour recording capacity." In reality, the data density of the DIRECTV signal is variable and you will rarely have even 30 hours of capacity. I have been maxing out at around 25 hours before things get deleted involuntarily. You can control the recording quality on stand-alone units and therefore, you can tell exactly how much capacity you're using. Recording quality is not an option with the combo units, but you should assume that you will NOT be able to retain more than 22 to 25 hours of programming before shows must be deleted in order to make room for new recordings. This doesn't change my enthusiastic view on TiVo or the combo units one bit. But I might need a second one now.....
Rating:
Summary: Unexpectedly Wowed by TIVO
Review: This product is GREAT! I don't really watch a lot of TV but purchased this product to record the nightly news so that my kids could watch cartoons at 6:30. Now I NEVER want to watch the news during the live broadcast! I save 10 minutes watching the 30 minute news show in 20 minutes by zipping by commercials. Not only that but I can program TIVO to record all episodes of Scooby Doo or The Rockford Files or anything with Patty Duke in it. My only problem with this product is that I never thought I would come anywhere close to filling up 35 hours of recording time....I just wish that I bought the one with the larger hard drive!
Rating:
Summary: Would gladly pay 3 times the cost
Review: This receiver is absolutely amazing. After owning and using it daily for about 5 months I realize that I would gladly pay 3 times the current going price. Though there has not been one instance when the unit has failed or hiccupped I am concerned that as hard as it works it will wear itself out before my Lifetime TIVO Service fee pays for itself (as opposed to the recurring monthly fee option).
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