Rating: 
Summary: TiVo is *the* way
Review: First. To people who are sitting there saying things like 'it's just a glorified and expensive VCR' or 'I'm gonna wait until...' WAKEUP!! This thing will change your life. I bought my first one before they were released and just got this one. I recorded mostly news shows and documentaries with my old one but with the dish version, I'm getting movies too. The capacity does seem far greater. Also, the local channels work fine (in LA) complete with directory listings so ignore all the other reviews that claim that that's not ready for primetime. This is an amazing product. I've been giving them to friends and family and everyone loves this thing.
Rating:
Summary: If you work nights you NEED this.
Review: Many of the other reviews has said already just how great TiVo is. Let me just add this: If you work any kind of night shift, this will allow you to once again have a normal tv experiance without the hassle of a vcr. TiVo has changed the way we watch tv so much that we are going to buy our second unit soon.
Rating: 
Summary: One Major Shortcoming
Review: If you're receiving your local channels through a 3 satellite oval dish, don't buy this unit (yet). It's on-screen menus will not provide any local programming information,thereby making it necessary to manually record these programs. We record a LOT of local shows so this is a real PAIN. Tivo has been aware of the problem for monthsand has not done anything about it.
Rating:
Summary: Not just for TV addicts.
Review: I had an older RCA DirecTV unit and just upgraded to the DirecTV/Tivo unit. I was able to install it in about 30 minutes (should have taken 15 minutes but my 2 year old was "helping" me). I called DirecTV and they were able to quickly activate the new unit and my TIVO service. I've used it for several days and am now convinced that these units are the greatest improvement since color TV came out. It really does change the way you watch TV. I won't repeat all of the great features of this product that are covered in other reviews. One thing that I want to point out is that this unit is not just for TV addicts. I work fairly long hours, have a lot of outside interests, and have a toddler in the house. My wife and I are lucky to watch 30-60 minutes of TV a night. When I do get a chance to relax and turn on the TV, I want to be able to see something worthwhile, not channel surf through a bunch of crap. I can have this unit constantly recording programs that I like throughout the day and night. When I have some free time, I can bring up a list of programs and pick the ones I'm in the mood for. If my daughter has a nightmare and needs consoling -- no problem. "pause" the program and come back later. Another nice feature: Unlike VCRs, the saved program is just as good as the original broadcast. One negative comment that I have that other reviewers have not mentioned: When you pause a program there is no "screen saver" mode like you find on a DVD player or VCR. If you have a projection TV like I do, you run the risk of burning an image into the screen (in theory). If you need to pause a projection TV for a long time you probably want to turn your TV off until you get back. Despite this shortcoming I think the unit is worth 5 stars. If you have DirectTV, you should definitely consider upgrading to this unit. It's wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: TV Freedom, at last !
Review: My favorite thing about TiVo is that YOU are in control. YOU decide when to watch your favorite shows. YOU decide whether or not to watch commercials. YOU don't have to wait for a commercial to use the bathroom. YOU don't have to miss a funny line just 'cuz the pizza delivery-man is ringing your doorbell. It's really TV freedom! At first the thumbs up/down wasn't doing much but now it's picking some good stuff for me. It's great to turn on the TV and find a 'surprise'. Since the other reveiwers have already described the features... I would add: (1)With auto-filtering and the TiVo channel guide, channel surfing speed isn't too bad. (2)The remote is ergonomic, light, and VERY easy to 'memorize' so you can use it without looking at it. (3)The menu is so easy it only takes me about 5 seconds to start watching a recorded show. Bottom Line: Very high fun/price ratio, BUY it.
Rating:
Summary: Not quite there yet.........
Review: all of the reviews and features offered in this section are correct, except perhaps the most needed feature has yet to be made availalble. That is, can you record a program while watching another program? No you cannot, unless you have multiple boxes. Directtv is attempting to address this issue. Adding dolby digital sound compatibility was a giant step forward.
Rating:
Summary: An outstanding product!
Review: First, I have to admit I am an electronics freak. That said, this integration of DTV and Tivo is really outstanding. First, it delivers better video and audio than a standalone dish. Second, the quality coming off the Tivo is the same as the original signal quality (I play it off a Mitsubishi HDTV). Third, the setup was a snap (and yes, you can use a wireless phone setup) with the documentation clear, simple and graphically interesting. Fourth, the Wishlist feature as well as various browse features simplifies the sorting and management of the multitude of channels DirectTV delivers. Fifth, those Wishlists and other features, such as Season Pass, makes recording what you want virtually bulletproof as far as never missing something. The offload, if you wish, to VCR is simple and foolproof. The intelligent use of icons (once you learn them) constantly gives you notification of pending events as well as information to manage what you've already recorded. The few quibbles I have are limited, such as the setup of the "universal" remote (has anyone ever really had one that commanded all their components??) and some minor counter-intuitive button presses to access certain features). Finally, as Consumer Reports says, the one-time Tivo payment of ... for a "lifetime" subscription is the most cost effective Tivo/Replay buy.
Rating: 
Summary: I love my TiVo, but...
Review: Well, I've had this unit for a month and definitely cannot live without it. There are a few quirks that I had to get used to, however. I list these quirks in order of annoyance. 1. The channel surfing is very slow. I have owned 32 bit RCA receivers and you could channel surf with pretty much no delay between channels. There is an agonizingly long delay between channels with the Philips box. I have since gotten used to using the TiVo channel guide (not the DirecTV channel guide) to surf. It works pretty well. 2. The modem is very finicky. If you are planning on using this unit with a wireless phone jack, good luck. I have used my RCA units with a wireless jack for years, no problem. I actually set up the Philips box with the wireless jack and used it for about a week and then... poof, it didn't work anymore. Tech support told me (off the record) that the modems are very susceptible to line noise. So, I had to run a phone line to the TV. It now works fine. 3. The unit runs hot. I had this box inside an entertainment center behind a glass door. The system info screen said the internal temp. ran between 48C-52C (118F-125F). Well above the recommended operating temp. If you have the same setup you may want to think about relocating the box. I have. There are few more very minor issues with this product not worth mentioning because as I stated in the title, "I love my TiVo!" This product is so cool that I am very willing to put up with its little quirks.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Direct TV only!
Review: Our Direct TV looks even better through this unit than through our VCR!! Why? The best we can tell the color saturation is better. I thought TiVo would be handy. Well I soon discovered it's more than handy! Sort of like discovering search engines on the Internet. I particulary, love the season pass feature which grabs all the shows of X-files! I had no problem getting it activated at DirectTV like one of the other reviewers. I look forward to making my TV viewing time more useful!
Rating:
Summary: A great device.
Review: This is just a great product. I've had directv for a couple years, so I'm going to focus on what tivo added when I replaced my old receiver with this one: (1) the ability to interrupt live programming without missing anything. Say you're watching a show, and you get a phone call. Just pause (it is always recording what you're watching), complete your call and then resume. (2) No wrong tape/missing tape/wrong tape speed/over-record problems. A problem with VCR recording is making sure the tape is in and set up properly. It's a nuisance at best, and can cause the recording to mis-fire completely at worst. (3) Leave town and record. If you need to leave town for a few days or a week, you can still record the shows you want without having to worry about tape capacity. (4) Record by program rather than time/channel/code. (5) Multiple search options for locating programs of interest. Title, description, cast names, category are all options. You can locate programs easily, two weeks in advance (no hunting through program grids). (6) Season pass. Once you find a program of interest, if it is recurring, you can subscribe by "season-pass", which will record all the episodes of a show (and you can choose first-run only if you want) even if it changes time, day, or length. (7) Watch-while-recording. If you are recording a show, you don't have to wait until it is over before you can start watching it. Suppose there is a show you want to watch that starts at 10:00. Just show up at 10:20, and you can start watching from the beginning, skip the commercials, and still finish at 11:00. (8) Manage old recordings. If you've got a significant amount of back-logged recording, managing it with tape is a mess: which tapes have what on them, avoiding over-recording, finding the programs, etc. With this device, however, you have 35 hours available by title presented in a simple menu. To be sure, you can't permanently archive this way, but if you want to it will play to VCR for you - without your having to make sure you get clean, labeled tapes set up in real-time. (9) Quality. Because you're capturing the over-the-air pre-compressed signal, the recorded version is as good as the live version. This is a significant advantage that this has over the standard tivo. (10) Easy to set-up. I already had my dish set up, so this wasn't difficult - the only thing was that the regular directtv people don't know all the steps on transferring my account from my old receiver over to the tivo box, but they have dedicated support people who know what to do. Overall, this is just a very wonderfully well thought-through product. There were quite a few times when I first got it when I thought of something that would be convenient if it would do for me, and each time there was a way to do it.
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