Rating: 
Summary: Your TV viewing *will* change - for the better
Review: I have had my TiVo for approximately two weeks. I cannot imagine being without it and am already contemplating the purchase of a second.The 60 hour system has room for two hard drives (HDs), but ships with one 60GB. The HD is a standard computer version, preconfigured with a customized version of Linux and custom TiVo software. The 60 hour holds approximately 62 hours of shows on Basic quality (more about that in a minute) using v3.0 of the TiVo software (after subscribing, your system will be updated to the latest version of the software during one of the nightly calls). There are four quality levels - Best, High, Medium, and Basic. The Basic level provides 62 hours, while Best is about 17 hours. For most shows, Medium or High quality is sufficient. If the signal is ultra-clean (no static) and you can stand a little pixelation, Basic would suffice. After a simple guided setup, where TiVo downloads information about where to call each night (you have several thousand phone numbers to choose from - in most places it will be a local call) it then downloads two weeks of guide data. The guide data is the key to TiVo's excellent features - Season Passes, Wishlists, searching, and more. After four to eight hours while the guide data is indexed, your TiVo is fully operational. (During indexing, you can still pause and rewind live TV.) Some of the key features:
- Pausing live TV: Press the pause button while watching your favorite show, then go get a snack or take the dog for a walk - do whatever, for up to 30 minutes. When you return, simply press play to pick up right where you left off.
- Catch *every* episode of your favorite show: Set up a Season Pass for a show, and TiVo will automatically find and record every episode of it (or only first-run episodes, your choice), even if the show changes timeslots, days, or channels.
- Record a timeslot manually: Use a manual Season Pass to automatically record a certain block at the same time every day, once a week, or just Monday through Friday.
- Just record one show: Find a show using the Title, Channel, or Timeslot searches and record a single episode with two button presses.
- Account for early (or late) shows: Does your favorite show always start a minute early? Or are you trying to catch the end of the Oscars? Tell TiVo to record up to 10 minutes before a show's scheduled start time, or for up to three hours after the scheduled end time.
- Record a show while watching another: Check in with "Now Showing" (a list of the shows that have been recorded on your TiVo) to watch one show while TiVo records another in the background. Or watch the beginning of a show while TiVo records the end!
- Find a show, even if you don't know its' name: Set up a wishlist for a title, actor, or director, and TiVo will go about recording everything it can find with your criteria. Even try a more advanced wishlist - set up a Title wishlist for "Friends Yeti" to catch the episode where Ross moves in with Emily.
- Find shows that you didn't know existed: Have TiVo find and record suggestions based on your Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down ratings of shows that you watch or record. TiVos are also relatively easily upgradable. Since the TiVo service relies on a serial number embedded in the CPU, upgrading your TiVo won't cancel your service (though it *will* void the 90 day warranty). Many sites provide HDs that are "pre-blessed" (the term for readying an HD to be used in a TiVo) for quick installation. You can also buy an HD off the shelf and follow instructions posted online to upgrade. The original 60 hour Series 2 units had room for two hard drives - newer 60 hour Series 2 units will have the single-drive architecture of the rest of the TiVo line. Overall, TiVo will change the way you watch TV, for the better. Skip ads, record with a single click, or catch every episode of a show. You can offload shows to tape at any time to free up space, or keep shows indefinitely. A great gift for mom or dad who can't program their VCR!
Rating:
Summary: Happy long term Tivo user
Review: I have owned Tivo for over 3 years and I love it!!! I work really early hours so I don't get to watch prime time tv live. Tivo takes care of this....It records my shows and then I watch them when I want to....I even fast forward thru the commercials.
Now keep in mind that you can't forward commercials in live tv, since no product has been invented to see the future (yet)...As far as the hookup goes, if you can hook up a vcr, you can hook up tivo. Co-ax cable in, then co-ax cable out to tv/vcr, you can even use RCA cables and SVideo too...Only difference between Tivo and a VCR is that there are no video tapes to use, unless you want to transfer something to tape...This is a great product and I am thinking of buying a second one...Keep in mind that a subscription to the Tivo service is needed (monthly or a lifetime purchase is available)...
Rating:
Summary: The Power TO Plan Your Hours
Review: Often I am not home, working over time, spending time with friends and family and the like. What makes TIVO so great is it helps you to compress your TV watching time by allowing TIVO to record your TV shows while your out, when you do get home and have time finally to sit down and watch your favorite TV shows, for me this is late Friday or over the weekend I can power watch my shows, fast forwarding past all of the commercials and garbage news updates right to the part I want to watch and if I happen to want to keep a copy of any of the shows I can tell my TIVO to save the program to tape. TIVO also makes it easy to track and record all of you favorite TV shows, the options seem endless with this awesome DVR. To get more out of life and your time you need a TIVO.
Rating:
Summary: I love my TIVO
Review: I don't know how people survive without one...really. Besides all the benefits of easily recording stuff you usually miss, it does indeed make it easy to skip commercials. Here's the secret... do something else for awhile. Either wait till the recording is done or wait till 10-15 minutes after the program has started, then start watching. Soon as you get to a commercial, go to double or triple speed and blast past it. It becomes second nature. I even find myself getting irritated when I'm listening to the car radio because I can't pause or instant replay it. If you have some arcane hobby like railroads you can set up a search and it will record programs with that in the name or description. Worked great during the Tour De France, I clicked on season pass and they were recorded for me while I slept. I set up a schedule for America's cup and it is busy working away without any further attention from me. Great product that I use more than anything except the TV itself.
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Summary: TiVi compatibility with Sony A-50 receivers
Review: This product has great recording properties and is easy to use real time, but trying to connect it to my Sony A-50 Direct TV reveivers proved impossible. We have two receivers lashed together with a modulator to send two sattlite channels to all the TVs in the house. They are located remotely and we use an RF remote to control them. With this lashup the TiVo would not change the channels on the receiver using the TiVo remote. Also, the TiVo remote was IR line-of-sight causing us to run long serial and/or IR lines to from the receivers to the TiVo unit, and we could not get it to change the channels on the receivers. Even when we placed the TiVo unit right next to the receivers we were unable to get it to change the channels. After working in this for almost two straight weeks we gave up and are returning the TiVo to Amazon.com.
Rating: 
Summary: TIVO Review
Review: I agree with the positive comments about how TIVO allows you
to see the programs that you want to see. However, I want to warn those who do not have a great deal of familiarity with electronic items of the difficulties I have had. I have been unable to find a service that is familiar with TIVO. Most TV repair and satellite experts are not familiar with TIVO and therefore they are not very much help in integrating its operation with DIRECTV. As I am not adept on electronic matters, I have been frustrated with the difficulty of getting it work as it should. I have placed it back in its box until I find someone who has one and knows how to install it. Jane
Rating:
Summary: The single greatest piece of technology I've ever purchased!
Review: I bought a 14 hour TiVo nearly 3 years ago. I recently upgraded to the sixty hour model. I never watch commercials and I watch only my favorites all the time. I never miss episodes of my favorite shows despite a heavy travel schedule. For the reviewer who gave it only three stars because of a whistling sound - I had that problem at first as well - I replaced the cables connecting my A/V devices with new Monster cables and the sound disappeared. If I could, I would give it SIX stars
Rating:
Summary: tivo review
Review: Owning my Tivo has been really fun and convenient. Its not that I watch more TV its just now I watch the shows I actually want to see. It is excellent taping shows and not having to stay up. I usually tape music videos that only come on at night. Perfect. The only dissapointment was that you can't skip commercials with TiVo which I thought you could. I guess I should have checked that before I bought it. Oh well. They also advertise a little bit? what's up with that? Hopefuly that goes away
Rating:
Summary: I love TiVo!
Review: If you have doubts about getting a TiVo, find a friend who has one! To use it is to love it. To own one is divine.
Rating: 
Summary: Dead on Arrival, Bad Customer Service, a Waste of Money
Review: The Tivo arrived DOA. After waiting 24 minutes on the phone on a call I had to pay for, the customer service rep was rude. I was then told I had to box up the unit and ship it at my own expense to the service center. Instead, I returned it to Best Buy and got a ReplayTV.
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