Rating: 
Summary: Your TiVO is Spying on You. TiVo Sells Your Viewing Habits
Review: TiVO barely tells you in their user agreement that unless you opt out, they are collecting information on your viewing habits and reselling it. They "insist" that it's all harmless and anonymous, but there's no verification of that, and when money's involved (they sell your information) I think TiVo users should be cautious. You supposedly can opt out, but it's offensive to think that you are opted in to their data collection unless you choose otherwise. I wouldn't let my refrigerator tell Kraft Foods what I'm eating, and I won't let my video players tell anyone what I'm watching in the privacy of my own house. There's other DVR's that record programming and don't report back to the mother ship.
Rating:
Summary: This product is a dead end all non-digital Tivos are
Review: This product does a fairly good job of recording over the air or satellite analog programming, except for some of the strange problems you can run into using a dish receiver I have had little problems on Dish or DirecTV with standard programs. But this device will NOT control an external receiver for anything but Satellite reception and it will never support HDTV reception regardless of weather you wish to record at the lower level of recording. It will never support digital local stations at all. All local stations are handled thru it's local receiver and it doesn't do Digital. While there is support for Satellite based digital coming, regardless of what they name the DVR it will not be support directly or indirectly by TiVo. Because of that there is no upgrade from TiVo for digital. I own one of these and it's not worth much now that I have more local digital stations then analog stations and I can only really get a reasonable signal on digital because of my location. In fact I haven't been able to find any supporter of local Digital Recording on any receiver or DVR. I made the mistake of buying a really good receiver and I can watch them but no programming to schedule recordings with so the feature is useless.
Oh, and don't expect the Digital TiVo to work with local Digital stations on a local Antenna, it probably won't even list them and it certainly won't record them because it will be maintained by some provider like DirecTV that has no interest in supporting their competition, and they have stated they will not support any channel not transmitted over their satellite.
Rating: 
Summary: A Must-have
Review: If you don't have HDTV yet, and don't have a Tivo yet, then you're truly missing out!
Rating:
Summary: Tivo - worth every penny
Review: The best consumer electronic product I have ever bought. I have used standard Tivo for more than 2 years and yes it does change the way you watch TV. You notice this most when you do try to watch TV live. You then realize how crazy the commerical breaks are especially on many cable stations like Discovery and A&E. We see more programs we are interested, we have far less hassle with unwanted junk. We take advantage of recording many cable programs at off hours like 3AM. Finally, one thing I like best is the ability to pause the program (like when the phone rings) and replay the last 8 seconds (like when the killer is named just as your spouse asks if you fed the cat). I don't know why people are not lined around the block waiting to buy this product.
Rating: 
Summary: TIVO Will Change the Way You Watch Television
Review: When I was first considering TIVO, I wondered if it was just a glorified VCR. I mean, after all, its basic function is to record television shows so you can watch them when you want. But that's really just scratching the surface... First of all, you can watch a pre-recorded program while recording something else. Try doing that with a VCR... However, where TIVO shines is its menu-driven programming. TIVO does what every cable programming guide should do -- you can sort programs by date, channel, title, time, actor, director, sports team, and so on. The season pass can be set to catch programs you know you want, but also programs you didn't even realize were playing. (For example, I'm a Nebraska football fan, and TIVO has caught replays of previous games on sports channels in the middle of the night -- I would've never known about these unless I spent my day reading TV Guide.) Brilliant! For those of you terrified by the blinking 12:00 on your VCR, be warned -- TIVO definitely isn't "Plug and Play", particularly if you have a cable box. Likewise, you won't be able to watch other live programming while recording unless you have multiple inputs in your TV (preferably a coaxial and a component input) and you split your cable or antenna signal. TIVO does offer a directed setup, but be prepared -- the first update takes several hours, so you technophiles can't just "play" with the equipment immediately. You also can't record two programs at the same time, which you can do with Scientific Atlanta's new cable boxes. I've tried the SA boxes, though, and while you can record two shows at once, you don't get the intuitive menus like you do in TIVO. You'll need a telephone jack near the TIVO for programming updates, and you'll shell out for a monthly (or lifetime) programming fee in addition to the cost of the box. When all is said and done, though, I'm absolutely hooked. If you watch at least a modest amount of television, this is a "must have" piece of equipment. This is highly recommended, despite the difficult setup and modest shortcomings.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Product - REALLY BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE!!
Review: Tivo is a lot of fun, we have thoroughly enjoyed it for the 4 weeks that we have had it; until it broke. It would not have been a big deal, sometimes you just get a lemon, but the customer service at Tivo is horrible. Extremely long wait times for Tech support (my husband was on the phone for almost 3 hours), then they finally decided to send us a new machine - they made us pay for it in advance, shipped it UPS ground, and sent a refurbished machine. They said their policy is only to ship new machines if it breaks within 14 days of purchase. So, just keep this in mind when ordering.
Rating:
Summary: "40 Hour" is misleading, but it's still a fine DVR
Review: Sure, the Tivo Series-2 40 hour unit will record 40 hours of
programming, but the quality of playback at that setting (the lowest quality-setting) is intolerable. To somewhat enjoy the playback you'll get - at the most - 20 hours. Shame on TIVO for marketing their units in this manner. Much like hard drive manufacturers that sell "30 gigabyte" (or whatever size) drives that are actually only 27.? in size. Here are some Pros/Cons: PROS
-Record your favorite shows for later viewing -Home Media Option is pretty nice (but limited) for listening to music and viewing digital photos over your network
-Supports many wireless USB adapters without having to do anything but plug them in to the TIVO's USB port, and a little configuring. Tip: Microsoft's MN-510 Wireless USB adapter works great!
-Search feature is great for finding shows/movies by genre/title.
-Digital music plays beautifully through the TIVO using the Home Media Option CONS
-Video quality...as described above
-Home Media Option is not cheap, but less expensive than
alternatives that provide the same functionality
-Kind of a shoddy setup if you have DirecTV, get the DirecTIVO if you can afford it.
-Channels switch very slow...Directv box does not receive remote signals efficiently.
-Recordings often start too early, and sometimes are cut off too soon, subsequently. We've had it hooked up for about a month now, and we're slowly getting over some of its limitations. The best thing the TIVO allows you to do is watch your programs WHEN YOU WANT TO. That way you can do more important things that don't involve TV, and not worry about missing your favorite programs.
Rating:
Summary: It will change your life
Review: I think most of the other reviews have the details of the system covered. Simply put, I love my Tivo and have had no problems with it at all. The one thing I'd like to add is the recommendation to purchase the 40 hour model (this one) instead of a larger version. If you want more recording time, just do the upgrade yourself. Companies (such as weaknees and others) make kits that contain everything you need to add capacity to your Tivo and give you much more recording time for your money.
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Summary: If you want/need good customer service DON'T buy tivo!
Review: I purchased tivo as a Christmas gift for my Parents in early December. The tivo website states that tivo will 'work with everything-from a simple TV and antenna, to cable, digital cable or satellite'. Therefore, since it was a gift, I also pre-purchased the first month of service and a 3 month gift subscription. On initial purchase of the gift subscription, I never once thought tivo wouldn't work on the satellite system. Now I know you should NEVER PRE-PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM TIVO!! Unfortunately, after a full day of attempting to setup the system, we came to the conclusion tivo would not work with my Parent's satellite box. We attempted contacting tivo customer support multiple times throughout the setup process and were placed on hold for over 30 minutes each time and never actually spoke to a customer service rep. After doing further research, we found it easier and CHEAPER to purchase a DVR either through a satellite provider or DirectTV rather than tivo. I was able to return the tivo box to the distributor no problem, but when I attempted to contact tivo customer support again to cancel the first month of service and the gift subscription I was placed on hold AGAIN for more than 30 minutes. Calling back later wasn't an alternative as each time I received the same amount of hold time, over 30 minutes. Emailing customer support provided equal frustration as they responded 4 days after my initial email only to inform me they couldn't help me via email and I'd have to call their customer support again. When I was finally connected to a customer support rep, she was abrupt, rude and defensive when I requested a refund for the services I was unable to use. I spoke to her manager who, after 45 minutes, finally agreed to give me a refund for the first month of service activation but I was out of luck on the 3 month gift subscription. He told me the website 'clearly states in black and white' they do not provide refunds for gift subscriptions and it was out of his control to help me further. I asked to speak with someone who could in fact help me, to which his response was 'his supervisors are very, very busy' and he would leave a message for them to call me but he couldn't guarantee a call back from them. My recommendation, DON'T BUY TIVO! It's not worth your time or money. There are other alternatives out there that will provide much more satisfaction.
Rating:
Summary: Dissappointed with Tivo - there are options
Review: I bought a TIVO when they first came out and had nothing but trouble. The machine didn't record properly and power would go off and on. Customer service was not satisfactory, as others on this board have indicated. Frustrated, I switched to Brighthouse. They supply the equipment. Customer service is terrific and the machine works much better. I can record 5 programs with up to 200 hours of recording time. Tivo may have been first, but are they the best? Answer: NO!!!
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