All About Tivo Part 1/3
Sep 08 '00 (Updated Oct 09 '00)
Ah the year 2000, flying cars, moon colonies, underwater cities, personalized TV.
Ok well the flying cars didn't quite happen - damn the Detroit Automaking Conspiracy! After Challenger and Skylab, the Space program's more visionary ideas died from lack of funding. While I still hold out hope for underwater cities (Hey california COULD sink this year), we at least now have personalized TV. Even better still - we have Personalized TV running the Linux OS in the form of Tivo!
At first glance, a Tivo unit is at heart a glorified VCR. Instead of casettes it uses a hard drive, but the ability to play and record television is essentially what it does. Unlike the VCR however, you won't have problems setting the time (look no more blinking 12:00)and still less effort involved in taping shows.
Tivo also comes with what I consider to be a killer-app, the ability to learn what you like and record shows that you might want to watch. Think of it as having a personalized assistant which scans all the shows playing and make sures to record those nifty Babylon 5 movies playing at 2am because you really liked watching Star Wars the night before. The more you interact with Tivo by 'rating' the shows you watch, the more accurate Tivo becomes in recording shows you will like. [Ed. Note For more discussion on how this works, review Macromedia's LikeMinds technology at www.macromedia.com].
Unfortunately with any first generation product there are a few flaws.
First, while you do have the ability to pause, rewind, and fast-forward through shows - there is no '30-second skip-forward' button. Skipping past the commercials is not as easy as it could be. (Damn the Entertainment Industry Conspiracy). Second, the standard model shipped (through vendors Phillips or Sony) comes with 14hrs storage capability on the lowest picture quality setting. For the best quality viewing however, your storage capacity drops to around 4.5 hrs. This is due to the size of the hard drive shipped in the unit, and the level of compression used when recording each show. Newer more expensive units are now shipping with 30hr capacities. Third, configuring the unit on startup takes a very long time. Expect to wait at least 3hrs while Tivo connects through your phone line and downloads guide data for the first time. Broadband aware this machine is not.
Still, where this is a will there is a way. And the fine people who brought you Tux the Penguin have found a way to 'modify' the standard Tivo unit in order to release its maximum potential. [Blatant Plug: Look for my complementary review on my experience with hacking Tivo coming soon to an Epinion url near you!]
Using the machine is simplicity itself, although its taken me some time to get used to the presentation of the guide data - the Tivo interface is very intuitive. If you can use a web browser, you can use Tivo.
Unfortunately it takes an inordinate amount of time to switch between channels using Tivo. This is due to the relatively slow CPU (a PowerPC) that comes with the machine. Additionally for some reason I am unable to program the remote to recognize my Kenwood reciever; Hrm that ultimate universal remote still hasn't been invented yet. Minor quibbles aside, the picture quality contrary to reviews on C-Net is stellar, but only when recorded on the 'best-quality' setting.
Slightly larger than a VCR, the machine looks like the precursor to Hal; the mad AI in '2001: A space odyssey'. Its IR port is shaped similar to an eye in the middle of the unit, with two lights on either side.
Green on the left shows the unit is on, Red on the right means its watching you..er I mean recording for you. The phillips unit comes in fashionable 'it never clashes' black metal, while Sony breaks the mold with a shiny silver number. I myself chose to buy the Phillips.
Speaking of buying, the 14hr unit sells for $300 dollars. However there are rebates (expiring Sep. 30) which will knock 200 dollars off the price,
letting you have it for the low low price of $99. The 30hr unit sells for $699 and really as I'll explain in my follow up article, you are better off with the 14hr model.
In addition to the greenbacks you hand over at the store, the Tivo service itself has a monthly charge of $10 per month. For the price of saving 1 1/2 kids in sub-saharan Africa, the unit automatically dials Tivo's Servers to download new guide data, magazines, previews, recommendations as well as system updates. Updated menu selections include movie reviews as well as feature showcases such as MTV Video Awards. While it is possible to use the Tivo without signing up for service, the intelligent recording/recommendation feature will not be available. Different pricing programs of $99 per year, and $199 lifetime are also available. The $199 price however is limited to that particular reciever, buying a new one two years from now will require a new service contract. I've chosen to go with the $10 per mth deal.
Overall the standard Tivo is a great product, if you are a huge 'couch-potato' type person you will quickly find the need for more storage space and the ability to change channels and skip past commercials more quickly. As far as fast-forwarding/rewinding goes however, the Tivo has an ingenious feature which shows pictures '1,2,or 3' seconds ahead/behind where you have moved, depending on how fast your are skipping. This allows your thumb to hit play just as the program actually gets to the point where you wish to watch.
Overall I'm very pleased with my purchase, especially after I modified the unit to do most of the things I wished it did have. The hacking of my Tivo unit will be written in a separate review..along with the results of adding rockets to my new and improved 'flying' car.
Update: My followup review is now available at
http://nightfall.epinions.com/elec-review-19B3-824FD52-39BA89E9-prod1
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Epinions.com ID:
nightfall
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Member: Knight Fall
Location: Totalitarian, Nirvana
Reviews written: 30
Trusted by: 38 members
About Me:
Hacker, Writer, Geek
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