Rating: 
Summary: So far --- GREAT!
Review: This unit took 5-10 minutes to install; of course the system set-up time took longer, but this was done while I slept. I've had the unit for 2 months and so far have not had any problems at all. The only function my VCR now has is as a playback unit for prerecorded tapes. I don't anticipate using the VCR for anything else for the forseeable future. I've read a great deal about how Tivo will change your viewing habits and this is entirely true. Two very small recommendations (I should note that these may already be available. I haven't had much need to read the manual, so I haven't searched these out too well): 1. It would be helpful for the system to tell you how much recording time you have left. i have a 30-hour unit which ought to be plenty, but 2. the default for recording is "best" quality, which uses a great deal more space than "normal", which works fine for me. Perhaps the default can be set for "normal" to maximize the available time. Again, these are very minor considerations.
Rating: 
Summary: You may want to wait to see how long these units last
Review: I was an early adopter of the TIVO technology in December 1999. I agree with the positive things that other reviewers in this space say about it. It greatly enhances TV viewing. However, my unit only lasted about a year or so before it died. I guess there's something wrong with the modem inside it. It no longer downloads program information. Without that, it will not function. After several go-rounds with TIVO "customer service" (they say there must be something wrong with my phone line, but I say my phone line still works fine and nothing has changed), I've just decided to stop using it rather than replacing it. The "lifetime" fee I paid when I bought the unit apparently only applies to my unit's lifetime, not mine. I don't want to pay another "lifetime" fee and buy another box, which might also die after a year or so. You may want to wait for a while to see how well made the units are.
Rating:
Summary: Great Product
Review: I have had this for about a week, and already I have noticed that my TV habits are changing. No longer do I find myself in front of the TV at the time a show originally airs. TiVo will record it for me, and I can watch it when I have the time.Pausing of regular TV is great too. If the phone rings, and its someone I want to talk to, I just PAUSE the show I was watching LIVE and can pick up when I am done on the phone. With a Season Pass, I can have TiVo record FIRST RUNS shows, reruns or both. The suggestions TiVO records are sometimes lame, but every now and then TiVO will record something I wanted to watch. With the thumbs up/down rating system TiVo learns alot. It is a great product. I have heard about problems with the modem frying easily from power surges though. Which is why I only connect the phone line once a week or so. Also, make sure you use a GOOD QUALITY surge protector. Enjoy not having to watch TV on the networks schedule. Watch the shows you want on your own time. Its great!
Rating:
Summary: TV Will Never Be The Same
Review: I bought my TiVo system in October and it was the best thing that ever happenned to my TV. I can't imagine TV without it. It's great, because I'm usually not home to watch many of my favorite shows, but with TiVo, I can get a Season Pass to them and they will be recorded every time they're on. Another great feature of TiVo is the TiVo suggestions. As you rate yoour favorite shows TiVo decides other shows which you might like and records them for you if there' room on your recorder. This has been a way for me to find new shows which I like a lot. I believe that the people who wrote the reviews that are anti-TiVo because their sytems have crashed, etc. just haven tried hard enough. TiVo provides MANY ways to help out with whatever problems you may have and their Customer Service people are very helpful. And even if your TiVo system did fail doesn't mean everone else's will. There are very few that have problems. All in all, this is a wonderful product which everyone should own.
Rating:
Summary: My unit has been replaced three times!
Review: I have to say, in general what the unit does and the service is pretty incredible. Set up wasn't too difficult ( dish network ) just a bit time consuming. Problem is after 2-3 month the units modem fails to work. It cannot dial into tivo central for programming data. It has been a real frustrating situation - setting up 3 units, having my tv majorly distubed after sending back the damaged unit and waiting for a replacement. and the fact that you are so spoiled with this that when you dont have it it drives you crazy! :-) Im giving up on the phillips unit at least in my case and going to try out a sony unit. perhaps Ill have better luck.. Also have to say the 50 minutes on wait for a tivo troubleshooter is a bit irritating to say the least - try doing it 4 or more times....
Rating: 
Summary: 1 in 33 failure rate
Review: My husband gave me a Tivo for Christmas and we loved this product. However it turns out that the technology is still in a developing stage. The Tivo died this week with a green serious error screen. Phillips has a 90 day labor 1 year parts warranty so for $99 plus shipping they will send a refurbished unit. This is very expensive considering what we paid for the unit just a few months ago and considering that the refurbished unit will carry the same very limited warranty. I would not buy this product without an extended warranty because these units have a 1 in 33 failure rate in the first year for the hard drive and also a high failure rate for the modem. Otherwise wait a few years for a new manufacturer, more developed technology, or better warranty.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent product, questionable hardware
Review: I've had this Philips box for the past six weeks. Actually, I've had THREE in the past six weeks. I love the product... but the modem inside is not of good quality. Three units, all three modems died. ...even with reasonable electronic filtering (surge/spike). The modem is a critical part of this equipment, and is used to update the television schedule. Be warned... should the modem die once, it will probably die every single time, and you will NEVER be able to use it unless you purchase a a separate, third party "wireless modem jack" for about [$].
Rating:
Summary: Neat, but a lot of bugs.
Review: We hooked up TiVo about six months ago. It took a few hours to set up and download all the info, but then it was working great. Our one problem initially - sometimes it doesn't like to communicate channel changes to the cable box. So you'll put channel 4 into the remote, and TiVo says you're on channel 4, but you're still watching 36. Very annoying. Don't know whether that's TiVo or Philips, so there's a chance that Sony may be better. Second problem, sometimes TiVo can't display a channel. You'll flipping along, and suddenly, sometimes for hours at a time, it just won't show one or more channels. Very irritating, and as far as I know, there's no way to fix it. Other than those two occasional things, we were very happy with it. I love being able to pause live TV, rewind live TV, and record things without having to remember that day to leave a tape in. It's also great to be able to watch stuff later without all the commercials. But then three days ago, I turned on the TV and there was no sound. We unplug TiVo, plug it back in, and everything's fine. So it's done that about 15 times over the last three days. So we call them last night and we are told it's probably the sound card. Send the unit to Philips and they'll either fix it or send you a new one for .... Are you kidding me? So right now, I'm about ready to throw TiVo out the window.
Rating: 
Summary: Great unit! Unless,
Review: I bought a 35hr DSS/Tivo box a few months back. Works great with a few exceptions which some I new about going in, and some I didn't. They include. 1. Slower channel surfing than DSS alone. 2. Hardrive is audible when TV is not on. 3. Tivo's suggestions records all kind of stuff I'm not interested in viewing. 4. Even though it is set to only record one showing per season pass, it will often record re-runs. There are other little glitches, but in my opinion they are worth dealing with for what Tivo offers. One big problem. I liked my unit so much, I bought a stand alone unit for my parents. They have digital cable with a set-top box. This was a nightmare trying to setup compared to the DSS/Tivo box. You need to get the Tivo to control the cable box, and if your cable box does not have the correct connections on the back,(most don't) you are limited to using Infra Red sensors taped on the front of the cable box to sync the two units. After messing around with this set-up for hours and spending another few hours on the with Tivo CS and the cable co. CS. After all that, finally got a hold of the Cable Co. Tech that said their cable boxes don't have a good record syncing to Tivo via the infra red sensors. I would give the DSS/Tivo box a thumbs up and thumbs way down for syncing to a set-top cable box.
Rating:
Summary: Say Goodbye to your VCR...
Review: I hesitated before buying a TiVo, because I wasn't sure if it was the best option for me. Now I can't believe that I ever lived without it! I've only had it for a month, but now whenever I watch TV somewhere without TiVo, I get so frustrated because I can't pause, rewind, have an instant replay, etc. I can't imagine living without the TiVo-- I hardly ever use my VCR anymore. Setting up the TiVo is not as easy as they make it out to be -- if you have cable box you may have to spend countless hours fiddling around behind your TV before you can get the TiVo to work, because it's meant to work with either Direct TV or a Satellite. Nevertheless, it DOES work with almost ALL TVs and set-ups, and after you first get it all set up, it's effortless to use. The interactive menu is intuitive and easy-to-use, so you'll be setting up Season Passes to record your favorite shows as soon as you start. You can search for shows to record by Time, Channel, Name or Genre, and you can get a "Season Pass" in order to record the show whenever it's on. I love always having a selection of shows I like ready for me to watch, instead of having to channel surf endlessly to find something. Though there may not be a full 30 hours of recording time on the TiVo (30 hours is only with "Basic" sub-par Quality picture-- and Best Quality you can only record 9 hours), I still find that I always have extra room left over to record my favorite shows. I've actually found that I don't watch MORE TV now that I have the TiVo, I just watch TV shows that I actually like, at times when I am available. I get more homework done now (no joke). If there is extra room available, the TiVo actually records TV Shows that it "thinks" that you would like, since you are able to rate TV Shows and Movies, it can choose similar ones that you might enjoy. For example, if you give "Friends" 3 thumbs up, it may record "Seinfeld" for you if you have extra room. If you don't want the shows it it records, you can simply delete them or give them a "Thumbs Down" rating. The more shows you rate, the better TiVo understands your personal tastes. The only thing I wish it could do is record on one channel while I watch another, but it is understandable that it cannot. Also, TiVo comes up with "updates" now and again to improve on its features, so if something isn't perfect now, it may be improved in the future. For example, some reviewers complained that while recording sports, TiVo would fail to record if the game went into overtime, but now TiVo has a feature which lets you "cushion" your recordings by however much time you want, to ensure that you don't miss anything. One of the best features by far is a the "Live TV Guide" -- if you just press the "Live TV Guide" button while watching TV, a menu pops up on top of the screen giving the name of the show or movie, a brief plot summary, who the actors are, when it started, when it ends and what's on after it. Watching TV was never so easy. Whenever I show my friends how TiVo works, they are amazed by how we can pause, go get a drink or go to the bathroom, then come back and fast forward through all the commercials. You'll also never have to say "Wait! What happened?? I missed it!" because you can simply rewind backwards in the program and watch it again. I know that I am gushing about this, but TiVo seriosly has changed the way I watch TV-- as many other reviewers have said, TiVo lets YOU control your TV, not the other way around. I think that I'll be using it for a long, long time from now, and I have no regrets about buying it.
| 
