The Bottom Line: This is the finest HD DVR available. Look no further if it's in your price range. If it's out of your price range, get another job. It's that good.
wolfeman314's Full Review: 300-hr TiVo® Series3â„¢ Video Recorder
A Little History
About two years ago, I purchased a Series 2 TiVo but later had to desert it when I upgraded to an HDTV (which I remain very happy with; review here: http://www.epinions.com/content_223611227780_). Soon after, I purchased a Windows Media Center computer and told myself that all DVR functions would be sufficiently handled with my dual tuner setup and convenient over-the-air HD. Unfortunately, it looked much better on paper. While the computer could handle these tasks, it performed them with little grace. At the end of the day, it just wasn't the dedicated DVR I was looking for.
So, it came time to make the leap back into DVR-land and I, of course, considered my cable company's HD DVR. The obvious benefits include no upfront cost and reasonable monthly rental fees. However, after having a TiVo (and using cable company DVRs elsewhere) I just couldn't bring myself to get one. My only remaining option was the TiVo Series 3. Long hyped as the TiVo that would launch the company forward into HD programming, the Series 3 debuted with much fanfare, but the cost. . . oh, the cost: $800. That's tough to swallow, especially considering TiVo requires a monthly fee to keep the box updated.
I waited a bit for the price to come down and finally purchased one for $630 and subsequently coughed up $299 in a lump sum for 3 years of service (about $8.30 per month) instead of opting for more expensive plans that could hit $19.99 per month. Throw in a couple bucks a month for each CableCard (you need two for dual tuner support) and I was all set. So, I got one, I played with it, and here are my thoughts:
What's in the Box?
The box arrived at my door - black, with the memorable little TiVo man proudly emblazoned with "HD." Finally, the day had come. Inside the box, I found nicely prepared materials, the TiVo unit beautifully wrapped in a soft cloth, and cables galore. Amazingly, TiVo is thoughtful enough to provide every cable you might need (HDMI, component, composite, telephone, etc.) except Ethernet and optical audio cables. I had both of those on hand, so this wasn't a bother, but take it into account if you need to purchase these things separately.
The Unit
So there was the TiVo, out of the box. Gorgeous, piano black finish all around, with brushed metal gracing the front panel. The Series 3 will look right at home with any other fancy A/V equipment.
Setup. . . oh, Setup!
I won't hide anything from you in this area. Setup was a nightmare. The Series 3 (S3 from now on, I'm getting tired of typing Series 3) boasts an Ethernet port that can be used to communicate with the Tivo mega-computer for updates and, of course, guided setup. If you're unfamiliar, guided setup establishes your region and configuration so the TiVo knows exactly what it should be doing. A series of data is transferred between the S3 and TiVo servers to provide local guide data and other setup information. Well, when I went to get the S3 working, I received an "N13" error. This leads me to TiVo customer service. . .
Customer Service/Support
I'm not sure I've ever been so dissatisfied with a company's customer service. After attempting to research the N13 issue myself, I resorted to calling TiVo customer support. Suffice it to say, I spent about 2 weeks trying to get my TiVo to go through guided setup. Every time I called TiVo to explain my issue (or a subsequent one), they blamed it on someone else. Surely it was the cable company, the router manufacturer, or my apartment complex that was at fault. No, no it wasn't. By never taking accountability for their own error, TiVo couldn't solve my issue. I was therefore left to fend for myself.
Setup: The Vonage Edition
After extensive research, I discovered a way to get my Vonage phone to play nice with the S3 (Vonage review here: http://www.epinions.com/content_227619344004). For those unaware, Vonage, being a VOIP provider, dissects your phone call into unnoticeable digital packets. Unnoticeable to you, that is. The TiVo's modem, however, gets confused and thinks the call is being terminated, so setup never completes. Using a series of convoluted codes, the S3 can be tricked into using a Vonage phone line. So, I pushed on through guided setup (it takes about a half hour) and soon found my TiVo to be working perfectly with the Ethernet connection. How mysterious these things are. . . I then contacted TiVo to tell them of this, and no one seemed to know why I experienced what I did. Thanks, TiVo.
Usability
By now, it probably seems like I'm frustrated with my purchase, and you'd be correct in thinking so. But read on. As I learned from my experience with the Series 2 TiVo, there's no better TV experience than a TiVo TV experience. The S3 does everything with unrivaled excellence. Menus appear quickly on the screen, the user interface is vibrant, and options are logical and easy to use. Quite simply, I forgot about all of my problems with the S3. The interface is that good.
Wacthing Live TV
As with all DVRs, live TV can be paused, rewound, etc. This isn't terribly exciting if you had a DVR before, but it's quite freeing to a new user. The dual tuner functionality of the S3 lets you hit the "Live TV" button on the fantastic remote (more on it later) to easily switch between tuners. This is handy when, for example, you're watching one show but want to flip to a sports program during a commercial. If you linger on the sports channel too long, you could have missed some of your other show, but not on the S3. Just hit "Live TV," and the handy 30 minute buffer has been watching the show even when you weren't. Just rewind and you've missed nothing. Which brings me to another fun thing about TiVo. It knows how slow you are. With other DVRs, fast forwarding through commercials can be an arduous task, as it's nearly impossible to time the return from commercial. TiVo anticipates your sluggish reaction, so when the show has already returned on-screen and you're still fast forwarding, a tap of the play button backtracks a bit, often right to where you wanted it to stop in the first place. Very, very clever.
Another feature uniform among all TiVo's is the Thumbs Up/Down system. While watching TV, simply press the Thumbs Up button if you like what you're watching or the Thumbs Down button if you find something you don't like. TiVo keeps track of your interests and, in its free time (meaning it will never interrupt a pre-scheduled recording) records shows it thinks you will like. This is very handy for those Saturday afternoons when nothing good seems to be on. Just flip over to "Tivo Suggestions" and there's a wealth of TV just waiting to be watched.
Network/Internet Features
Like some Series 2 boxes, the S3 boast an Ethernet jack. In this implementation, you can access features from Yahoo! like weather, photos, and real-time traffic. You can also play some stupid games or buy movie tickets from Fandango all from your couch. The additional benefits of the networking shine through in music playback. If TiVo Desktop software is installed on your networked computer, just select specific folders for the S3 to monitor, and you can play all of your favorite digital music through your TV or home theater sound system, right from the TiVo. Unfortunately, CableCard certification on the S3 forced TiVo to remove the much loved TiVoToGo functionality from the unit, which allows users to transfer TV shows to their desktop, laptop, or smartphone. If this is the price to pay for an HD dual tuner TiVo, I'll deal with it.
Also fun is the ability to schedule recordings remotely. Stuck at the office? Don't worry. Log onto the TiVo website, where you can view your customized TV listings and tell your TiVo to schedule a show. As far as I know, no other DVR has this feature, and it's really quite nice.
Remote
Beautifully designed in the same piano black finish that covers the box, the remote sports amber back-lighted buttons for nighttime use, a touch of metal, and a half-ribbed bottom to prevent confusing the ends of the ever-loved peanut shaped remote. In all, I am very happy with the remote, and I have programmed it to control TV power, TV inputs, and volume (volume needn't be on your TV; it'll do a separate speaker system).
Front Panel
While far from necessary, the S3 sports an OLED display on its front panel, which always displays the time. If desired, the display will list what show(s) is/are recording. Also able to be toggled on or off are two red lights that indicate when a tuner is recording a program. Note: recorded shows are displayed on the OLED, while automatically recorded "TiVo Suggestions" shows are identified only by the red light.
Concluding Thoughts
For all the trouble I had setting up my beloved S3 TiVo, I still can't give it less than 5 stars. Quite simply, this DVR is in a class all its own. Even though it's lacking a handful of features that previous TiVo units boasted, the S3 is as close to perfect as an HD DVR gets.
It's interesting to note that this summer, cable companies will be forced to provide CableCards to their customers, who will be able to buy set top boxes from other companies. I speculate that TiVo will then have some interesting competition on its hands, but until then, there is no better alternative. Everything the S3 does, it does with unrivaled excellence.
This and That
- Cable, Satellite, or Both? Cable only.
- Multistream or CableCard 2.0 support? It looks like we might be permanently stuck with CableCard 1.0, but no worries from me on this point.
- How many hours of HD content can it hold? 32 hours of THX certified uncompressed audio and video. In this regard, the TiVo is unmatched; no other DVR provides true uncompressed copies of recorded content.
- How many hours of SD content can it hold? TiVo likes to advertise 300 hours, but if you record it in "Best" quality which is pretty much uncompressed (at least to my eye), expect about 50 hours.
As always, if you have any further questions or would like me to cover something in greater detail, don't hesitate to ask.
Thanks for reading. I'm off to watch some TV!
Update: November 2007
Ok, I have had my TiVo Series 3 for quite a while now, and I love it just as much today as I did the day I wrote this review. It's a terrific, reliable device that dramatically improves my daily TV routine.
Recently, TiVo finally released TiVoToGo with support for the Series 3 unit. Many people had been asking for this, and it's nice to see TiVo listening to its customers. First of all, it's interesting to note that all recordings on your TiVo can't be transferred to your computer. "Protected" files must remain on the TiVo. Though unintuitive, HD recordings, in general, do not seem to be protected, while everything I record in standard definition is stuck on my TiVo (protected). Transfer time is obviously lengthy due to the large file sizes for the HD files (about 35-40 minutes for a half hour show), but it's definitely worth the ~$25 to buy the software from TiVo. A final note: TiVoToGo allows the transfer of files from your computer to your TiVo. Unfortunately, much like the TiVo menus, the software hasn't been re-engineered to support widescreen video. . . so don't expect great quality.
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