Rating: 
Summary: Amazing .... my own personal TV channel
Review: Quite simply this box has changed the way I watch TV. Once you start using TiVo you'll never be able to go back to the way it was before.In the old days, lets call it .... before TiVo, I could never find anything to watch when I sat down at the end of the day. I was paying a small fortune for cable TV only to hop between the reality shows that litter the airwaves. Now, in the year of TiVo, I have more good TV to watch than time to watch it. Yes, good TV!!!!! Not a reality show in sight. After a few days TiVo learnt my tastes and now it auto-records shows it thinks I will like. I am able to fine turn the auto-record by giving shows the thumbs up if I like it and the thumbs down if I don't. It's uncanny that it has my tastes pegged. Setup of the box is easy and the additon of a (LinkSys USB) wireless network device enables it to use my home network instead of dialling in over the phone line. I would however suggest protecting your investment by putting it on a UPS (battery backup). I paid the $$$ lifetime (life of the box) subscription rather than the $$$ per month. I'll be ahead after two short years. In summary ...... what a great piece of technology. Buy it and enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: TiVo rocks.
Review: It has changed my leisure time. The only "live" TV I watch anymore is Fox & Friends and the Weather Channel. The way it fast-forwards through the commercials then knows where to start again when I hit the play button is fantastic. I save several segments of favorite programs then watch them in succession during one evening like a couple of movies. I think that a better set up than this, however, would be to get it integrated with your satellite box so that you could watch one program while recording another. (You can do it with cable and non-premium channels but not with satellite.) Set it up to find your favorite actors or actresses and you'll see them in lots of stuff "before they were famous." Jack Nicholson on Andy Griffith? (Played the role of a 19 year old on trial, Aunt Bea was on the jury.) Wow, what a hoot. I find the quality to be more than adequate but I might not feel that way when the plasma screen gets installed. On my current old 23" I can't tell the difference between recorded and live - picture or sound.
Rating:
Summary: Super-expensive TiVo Service subscription is NOT required!
Review: First of all, let me say that TiVo is the best thing that EVER happened to my home theater, and I would not want to live without it. It deserves 10 stars! However, contrary to what reviewer Alan Hamilton states in his review dated April 7, 2003, the TiVo Service is NOT REQUIRED to use the TiVo as a basic digital video recorder with timer features similar to a VCR. The statement "it won't function at all without it" is utterly false and misleading. TiVo simply strongly suggests that you have to have the Service for what they refer to as "Basic TiVo functionality". Basic functionality includes things above and beyond manually initiated timer recordings. I guess that most people don't take the time to research and find the real truth, and thus agree to pay TiVo loads of their hard-earned money for what, in my personal opinion, is unnecessary functionality. That's why TiVo hides the real truth in tiny fine print. What can you do with a TiVo without the Service, you ask? You still have all the coolest features, like pausing live TV, backing up live TV by 30 minutes, 8-second instant replay, 30-second skip ahead, slow motion, and all 3 of the fast-forwarding speeds while watching previously recorded program material or when watching the 30-minute live TV "buffer". Finally, you can watch a recorded program while another program is recording. Also, you can schedule manual timer recordings. From the TiVo Central main menu, you can go to the Pick Programs to Record menu, and then Record by Time or Channel, then Manually Record. From there, you can schedule one-time or repeating programs with a wide variety of scheduling options. TiVo calls a manual repeating program a "Manual Season Pass". You can schedule far more events than a typical 8-event VCR. NONE of these many basic features requires the TiVo Service. I have been using my TiVo series 1 recorder for the past two years without the super-expensive monthly subscription or the mind-bogglingly expensive lifetime payment, and it works just fine without it. I have fully reviewed all of TiVo's documentation regarding their Series 2 product, and this requirement remains the same. For my specific situation, I already have an electronic program guide with my digital (VDSL) cable service, and the TiVo can't change the channel of my cable company's set top box, so the TiVo's program guide information is simply redundant, and if I did use it to schedule a recording, it couldn't change the channel anyway, because my cable box's remote control is RF (radio frequency), not IR (infrared). For me, the Service is simply a complete waste of good money. The TiVo all by itself is a stunningly awesome home electronics product!
Rating:
Summary: I get to Watch TV NOW thanks TIVO! NO MORE COMMERCIALS TOO!
Review: Like most people, we work and hard so we dont have much time to watch tv. I find time late at night when everyone is in bed. I hate watching Info mercials so I thought about it and got a TIVO!
It was the Best Investment I could of made. I now can watch my programs when ever I want to plus its so Easy to use! Its easier then a VCR or a DVD player!Plus I like the shows TIVO picks out for me. It learns your tastes and records what you think it may like. I dont waste paying Cable for nothing just to watch INFO Mercials at night now!
I really enjoy it. Now I dont ever watch LIVE tv (Even though you can and SKIP through commercials!) I watch only what I want and not have to waste time. Its amazing and I am now not feeling quilty about paying cable for nothing. Plus I can record shows just for my son and he doesnt have to watch Live TV and see shows I dont want him to watch.
I cannot say anything negitive. Well the quality of the recordings could be a bit better but on the High setting its great!
One more thing,, I dont watch commercials anymore. Now a TV program thats 30 minutes is like 15 minutes so I dont have to waste time watching commercials. I just skip right through them and you can record the shows that way without commercials onto your VCR. Its so simple to use. I am not a gadget person and I learned in less then 5 minutes how to use it!
Thanks for making a great product!!
Rating:
Summary: You won't want to watch regular TV anymore!
Review: If you like tech toys, you'll love this. TiVo allows you to digitally record programs and watch them whenever you like. I haven't bought a video tape in the two years that I've had TiVo and I can't say that I miss them. TiVo also allows you to fast forward through the commercials if you want, or maybe the best feature it has is the pausing live tv option. Say you have to go the little girls (or boys) room but the Green Bay Packers (yep - I'm a CheeseHead!) are on the one yard line and it's 4th and goal with twenty seconds left in the fourth quarter. You don't want to move, but you gotta go! What do you do?! You push pause, and TiVo holds the football game right where it is until you're ready to watch! Amazing! The program guide that comes with TiVo is great too - very intuitive and easy to use. You can search for your favorite programs by actor, director, genre, keyword, you name it. There's more. Let's say you have to watch Friends every Thursday like I do. You can set up a Season Pass that will automatically record every episode of Friends that comes on Thursdays. If you want to only record the new episodes but not the reruns, TiVo allows that as well. You can also record every episode regardless to whether it's a new episode or a rerun. Believe me, the couple things I've mentioned about TiVo are only the tip of the iceberg; there are truly too many options to discuss here. You would think with a product so advanced that it would be hard to use, but the opposite is actually true. The interface is so user-friendly anyone, even the most tech-challenged, will have no trouble tooling around in TiVo-land. The only drawback is so small I almost forgot to mention it, but I would be remiss if I didn't. There is a $12.95 monthly service fee to cover the cost of the program guide and the updates you constantly receive. You also have to have a working phone line in your home to receive the TiVo program data and all the features I've mentioned, but it is a small amount to pay for the product (in my opinion). You can also pay a one time fee to avoid the monthly service charge, but I don't know what that is. I have two TiVos and frankly find it hard to watch television on regular tvs. Hope this helps convert you to a TiVo user!
Rating: 
Summary: judge it for yourself and see
Review: Of course, if someone has a problem with something they are going to complain about it. The few people that have had a problem with their TIVO are no exception.
I myself just got one and i think it is absolutely great. Contrary to what others are saying it doesn't degrade picture quality! I use the video jacks it came with instead of the cable wire. It's the use of the cable wire that will degrade the quality because the signal has to go from the cable box to the vcr to the tivo to the television. If you use the video the signal goes directly from the cable box to the TIVO. Also you do not have to pay the monthly service. If you just want the pause and rewind live tv function and if you want to set your own channel and time then you don't need to pay for the updated tv grid which allows for the season pass function. The setup itself was very easy and straight forward. The only confusing part may be the ir probes, which i mention later. It didn't take 10 hours or 2 days to set up like some have said. For me it took about 2 hours to format the harddrive, but it's not like you can't start using it right away. You can use the pause live tv function while it's formating. You just have to wait before you can pick shows to record. The basic setting, which gives you the maximum 40 hours, is indeed very tolerable unlike what others are saying. It looks like a streaming video off of the internet on a CABLE MODEM, it gets pixelated at a few points. But the best setting is still what I chose it leaves me with 11 hours of time, which is plenty. The only thing i hate about it is the way it changes channels. You have to attach these probe-like things to your cable box. When you change the channels the signal goes from the tivo to the cable box via a wire attached to the back of the tivo that goes to the cable box by way of the probes. This can get annoying at first because you have to find the right codes and settings. Once you find it about 10 minutes later you should be alright. Channel surfing can become stressing though because of this long delay to change the channel, so i suggest you use the guide. I timed it and it takes 7 seconds to switch a channel. If you are worrying about the daily call and if they are free, you can check tivo.com and they have a list of the numbers the device calls to. I live in an area that isn't too major and i had two numbers to pick from. They've added new numbers since then. Also if someone calls or uses the phone while tivo is on it, it will automatically hang up and you wont know the difference, tivo will just make the calls later. All in all it's money well spent. Remember someone is going to have a problem, it's that way with anything. And if it's a headache for them they will nitpick everything about the system and most likely exaggerate it.
Rating:
Summary: you gotta get this
Review: Tivo is simply the only way to watch TV. You don't have to be a technophile geek, or an avid TV watcher to use and appreciate this device. You only need to appreciate that you will never miss a program again and you will never sit through endless commercials again. If you live with this for a week, you will wonder how you did without before!
Rating:
Summary: Beware---Tivo Addiction
Review: It sounds ludicrous and insane to say that a piece of electronic equipment can be life-changing. But I'll run that risk and say that TiVo is one of the best inventions of our time! No longer will scheduling and commericals stand in your way---watch only what you want and skip the rest! Plus, just wait until you're using the "Search" feature and TiVo finds re-runs of your long-cancelled favorite show playing at 2 am on some obscure channel. Absolutely worth the money. My system is great, I've had no problems, and I don't ever want to give it up.
Rating: 
Summary: BEWARE: Tivo has a TERRIBLE warranty policy
Review: This item has only a 90 day warranty- after that, there is a $100 "exchange fee" within the first year. This is despite the warranty stating that parts are covered within the first year. After only 4 months of use, my TIVO hard drive has frozen permanently. It is on a grey screen, saying "Almost there, a few more minutes..." The "few minutes" has lasted three days. Upon calling Tivo, I was told that the $100 "exchange fee" is for labor of "opening boxes, and servicing the broken parts". Charging the customer to fix broken parts that are clearly defective is wrong!!!! After the first year, the "exchange fee" changes to $150. This does not make any sense. The customer service rep says the hard drives usually break after 2 to 3 years. Well, I must say, after 4 months, I am very unhappy. I admit, the first 4 months of Tivo were fantastic.. but beware-
if you are one of the unlucky few with issues after only 90 days, you are...out of luck!
Rating:
Summary: I love it.
Review: My Tivo Series2 has changed the way I view television. I am no longer held hostage by schedules or commercials, and I am very happy with the picture quality. Obviously, if you record in the basic mode the picture will not be the best (good for cartoons) but if you use the higher settings you will not be disappointed. I have gone the extra step of purchasing the home media option and I must say that I am very impressed. I use a wireless Linksys adapter (WUSB-11) to connect to my broadband router and therefore I do not need the phone line attached to the Tivo. The setup was very fast (after downloading version 4 of the Tivo software) and even entering the WEP password was easy since. The Tivo connected to the network quickly. I have also started using the Tivo server software on my home computer, and it is very easy to send music or image files to the Tivo. I have a ton of MP3 files on my computer and I can now play them all through my Tivo onto my home theater system. There is a lot that you can do with the new Series2, but what impresses me is how easy it all is to setup. Everything is very straightforward and logical, and I have not yet needed to sit and read thorugh the manual. Tivo does an excellent job of making everything intuitive.
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