Rating: 
Summary: fantastic
Review: I don't know how we lived without it! The functionality and features are very, very cool - and the remote and learning menus are intuitive and very easy to use. Phone and internet tech support is excellent. Instal was easy - I was up and running, performing all sorts of cool searches & wish list recording in mere minutes. I actually watch less TV now, but NEVER have to watch something I don't really want to see.
Rating:
Summary: This is a life-changing product!
Review: I had investigated DVR's from afar for a quite a while and I ultimately decided to purchase the TIVO for the "Season Pass" capabilities and the WISHLIST features. All I can say is try it and you will be hooked like you wouldn't believe! My wife and I watch less TV than before but we watch more QUALITY TV. We only watch the shows that we like now and we can blow past the commercials. We can watch two hours of sitcoms in 1 hour. We watch maybe twenty hours of programs we like a week and before we had to be home at the exact time our shows were on or we missed them. And because we have a life, we missed them quite a bit. Needless to say that was bad for shows like 24 where if you miss an episode it gets harder to follow. How twentieth century! Now all our shows are recorded and we watch when we want. Usually later at night between ten and eleven, when we want to just unwind and watch the latest Friends or 24 episode! This is an AWESOME product. Just get it and try it! You will NOT be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: A TiVo Fan
Review: When I first got my TiVo I didn't know what to expect from it, I've read many review stating that it has changed that persons life. I though that those people were just TiVo sales people hyping up what looked to be just a VCR on steroids. But when I started up my TiVo and got the 299.99 service lifetime fee I notice right away that TiVo would make a major difference in my life. Instead of rushing home to watch a show I could take my time knowing that TiVo had everything covered. Plus the feature that allows you to pause rewind and fast forward is worth the fee itself, imagine skipping through any irritating TV commercials or the boring parts of baseball and basketball games, or how about rewinding and using slow motion to watch that NASCAR crash again and again, or that dunk over and over. Imagine never missing your favorite shows and having quality entertainment in your TiVo 24 hours a day. All you have to do is watch it before it gets deleted for space. (Space is the one drawback, if I knew how many shows I would want to record I would have gotten the 80 hour TiVo)It is the greatest thing out there and is so simplistic anyone could use it. The thing that separates this DVR from all the others are the Season Pass Manager(It records an entire season of episodes such as all of Friends, Survivor, or The Daily Show), The constant service updates that makes sure the show gets recorded even if the TV schedule changes, The View by Actor/ or Actress Feature, and once again the simplicity of the TiVo separates all the poorly made dvr's out there. If you are thinking of buying a dvr don't make a mistake and buy something other than TiVo. The only bad thing about the box is that there is a small delay when you change channels, and the 299.99 lifetime service fee or 12.95 monthly service fee may seem way too much but after you start using it you'll see that it is worth it. PS. The remote control in my opinion is like the frosting on the cake. It is very easy to use after the small learning curve.
Rating:
Summary: Addictive / Time Saver
Review: I've had the Tivo about a week and it looks like this is going to save me from alot of frustration. I am not a patient person and used to typically just go round and round changing channels because it seemed like every five minutes you got commercials. So tired of running laps trying to find something to watch I finally decided to go ahead and get a Tivo. So far, love it. I get the shows I love, the things I miss because of work, school, or because they come on around 3 or 4 in the morning. I get my sports, reality t.v., news, education shows and watch them as I want, in the order I want, and fast forward through the commercials. I bought an 80 hr Tivo. This has worked well so far. I watch my shows, delete them, and haven't run out of space yet. I probably have about 15 shows waiting for me to watch. One of the few things I have a problem with is the round dial on the remote is kind of tricky and doesn't always go where I want it to. Also, about that picture degradation thing, I use the second highest picture quality level, its good enough for me. So overall, if your a busy person, and can't always sit down during the day to watch the t.v. shows you love, this is pretty good.
Rating:
Summary: Wouldn't be without it.
Review: I love my Tivo! There is a small amount of picture degradation even at best quality recording, but I can live with that. With the Home Media option, I can program my Tivo through the internet while I'm at work, so if I find out there's a show going to be on before I get home and I'm going to miss it, I can tell my Tivo to record it without leaving work.
Rating:
Summary: Cannot watch TV anymore without TiVo! Can't go without it!
Review: So you don't watch much TV you say? Always working or travelling, or have children? TiVo is the solution to ALL your TV problems - I PROMISE!!! My husband and I are both technology professionals, so we jumped on the TiVo bandwagon when it first came out. Too technical of a product for you? NOT! Grandmother operates one, parents operate one, and a 10 year old child can run the thing too! I must tell you this device will FOREVER change the way you watch TV. Always miss a favorite show? Not anymore! Want to tailor what your children watch (and when) - they can watch that favorite show after homework is done AND only when you want them to watch it (it's recorded in there - so you can make them wait - diciplinary measures not included with product)! OTHER devices will say they are LIKE TiVo & they LIE! Only TiVo can follow a SHOW (not a time-slot), and even if the premiere or finale is an hour longer - it will get it all! Even has an "overtime" AND a "record earlier than scheduled" feature for sports fans! This product is SO EASY and in another few years, no one will buy VCR's anymore because of this little TiVo! Like having a personal TV assistant there for you 24 hours doing what you tell it to! Want to record any movie that ever comes on with "abc-actor" in it? EASY & possible with this device! Want to record any home improvement show with specifically "abc-craft" in it? CAN DO!!! Want to record a program AND watch a previously recorded program at the SAME TIME? No problem! TIP: the Directv TiVo ("DVR with TiVo" as they call it) can record 2 programs at once! That also means record 2 live shows at one time AND be watching an earlier recorded show at the same moment! WOOOOOW! Buy a TiVo & you'll never regret it! Actually GET WHAT YOU are paying for in cable or satellite costs! NEVER watch TV on thier schedule again!!!! Enjoy! I know you will!!! :o)
Rating: 
Summary: Don't do it with Tivo
Review: The idea is great. The execution from TIVO is just that, an execution. It would have been less painful to be shot quickly than to go through dealing with their "service" issues. Dial in and get an "expected wait time 25 minutes". Please. Then the pitch about "if you had gone to our website". Well I had already. Everyone I spoke with was rude and condescending. This company won't be around long because other companies provide better DVR's and service.
The warranty is the next biggest joke. You have to give them either $99 or $149 if your unit breaks, which it did, and they send you a rebuilt with a 30 day warranty. You can't buy a brand new one for $150, that has a warranty, and use your current subscription service.
Don't use their product our service. I suggest you use another provider or your cable service.
Rating:
Summary: Life-changing
Review: There's a reason that "TiVo" is fast becoming a verb: it encapsulates all that a personal digital recorder should be. Simple to use, yet powerful/flexible enough to do what you want. Setup a SeasonPass, and you'll get every episode of a program automatically. Create a Wishlist, and you can come home to everything Julia Child, or Will Smith, or (god forbid) any of the half-dozen "Law & Order" franchises. TiVo (the company) has recently been expanding the capability of TiVo (the device) to position it firmly in the center of the "digital entertainment" space. Home Media Option allows the device to display photos and play music from any other storage device on your home network, all through the smartly designed TiVo user interface; and a recently announced extention called TiVoToGo will soon allow you to securely copy your recordings to your PC/Mac for burning to CD/DVD. It really does change the way you watch TV. No matter when you sit down to watch, there's always something on that YOU want to watch. Once you get one, you'll wonder how you lived without it. Really.
Rating:
Summary: Pray you get one that works Part 2. The nightmare continues
Review: Well no sooner did I post my original review, I found my Replacement TIVO waiting at the UPS office.
I took it home, hooked it up, set it up, and lo and behold... They sent me another one that does not work. This time the thing makes a horrible noise and the picture freezes up. It skips parts of the program it records and seems to get worse the longer you attempt to watch a recording. Looks like I will be doing another 2 hours on the phone. If you buy a TIVO you are nuts, this is a true peice of junk.
Rating:
Summary: Pray you get one that works.
Review: 2 hours on the phone for technical support to exchange it for a Tivo that *might* work. I have no confidence that it will. A friend who ordered one at the same time I did, just threw his non-working-out-of-the-box TIVO thing in the garbage. He wouldn't wait on the phone to talk to the tech support people. I guess he can afford to toss 300 bucks worth of TIVO garbage out without fretting too much. But you will realize why his decision to throw it away was actually the logical thing to do. Seriously, if you are thinking of buying a TIVO please read this whole review. My TIVO worked great for 48 hours, then died. I still haven't gotten the replacement I labored on the phone with these TIVO people for 2 hours with in the mail. 2 hours is no exaggeration. Here is what you can expect if you are unlucky enough to recieve a TIVO that does not work... First you will call customer service. You will then talk to a recorded voice who cannot understand a word you say, and doesn't like it when you push buttons. If you push a button while she is talking, you will be sent back to the beginning of the annoying voice activated menu, where you will not be understood. After 5 to 10 minutes of trying to convince the mechanical voice that cannot understand you, that you really truly need to speak to a human, you will have to hold for about an hour to actually talk to somebody. The message that cuts into the elevator music when you finally make it to the waiting for a person stage of the call, will say that you can expect a 15 to 20 minute hold. The messenger is a liar. You can expect an hour wait. Once you get through to a human, (who will be rude), you have to explain to this person that your TIVO does not work. This will take some doing, as the person will insist you jump through a few hoops, plugging, unplugging, waiting, doing it again, then when you finally convince this person that your TIVO really is broken they will give you a number to call for Tech support. Remember, this first call was to CUSTOMER support. Customer support people can't work an exchange, you have to talk to TECH support. SO you call that number, and I swear on my grandmother's grave, you will repeat the process I just described, in it's entirety, exactly as it is written including the 1 hour wait and the rude person. The rude person who is really just trying to get you to lose your temper so that they can hang up on you. Then you might very well do what my friend did, tire of the frustration and throw the thing away. This seems to have become a new sales strategy in today's business. Be as impolite as the law allows, and you won't have to refund or exchange stuff that doesn't work. Brilliant.
I hope you are a patient person if you have to deal with TIVO people.
I felt compelled to post my story here, because I feel I owe this to the TIVO folks and those who are considering buying their products. People should know about this aspect of a company.
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