Pros: Watch TV on your terms, not those of the advertisers.
Cons: Will cost you much more per month if you buy a standalone unit.
The Bottom Line: This Review is about the advantages of TiVo and things to consider. It is not about this particular TiVo device. I would not buy this unit.
glenhamilton's Full Review: TiVo Series2â„¢ (80 Hours) (80 GB) 80-Hours Video ...
This review is really about TiVo in general, and not about this particular product. Since TiVo is incorporated into so many different products, and the features are all the same, I decided to just put the review under this product. So keep in mind that the review is targeted strictly at TiVo functionality. This should help you decide whether or not it is right for your needs if you are not currently a TiVo user.
WHY BUY TiVo?
To start out, I’ll say that when I first researched TiVo a couple of years ago and decided to buy one, the initial experience reminded me of purchasing a microwave oven 30 years ago. Friends told me I needed one, and it is something they can’t do without. Microwave ovens were a new concept, not widely sold, no one really knew much about them, they were expensive, although I understood the general principle and how it might help me with the cooking. So I bought one to try and to see what all the hype was about. Within 2 weeks of using it, I wondered how I ever got along without it.
The same goes for TiVo. Once you get it, you won’t ever want to go without it again. Simply put, it will make your TV watching time much more productive and enjoyable whether you are an occasional TV watcher or a couch potato TV addict. I still remember the comedy TiVo commercial of Joe Montana selling a jock itch crème. After TiVo, I never saw that commercial again. (Didn’t have to)
All TiVo’s ARE NOT THE SAME (cost wise):
One of the biggest misconceptions I ran into was that the cost for TiVo was the same regardless of whether you have a standalone unit or TiVo built into a receiver. This could not be further from the truth. I was seeing that if I bought a receiver with TiVo built into it, I got the whole unit (the one I chose) for $250 and the monthly fee for the TiVo would cost $4 per month (slightly higher today). However, if I chose a stand-alone unit and attached it to my existing satellite receiver, it was going to cost me $300 for the unit plus $13 a month for TiVo alone. Huh! That didn’t make sense. Even the dealers were confused and telling me that the $13 a month was an upgraded service with more features. They were wrong. The features and service was identical. Thus, I opted to throw out my old receiver and by a new one with TiVo built-in. Even though I only wanted to add TiVo, this was the cheaper solution. I wonder how many people are out there still paying $13 a month for TiVo alone and using it with DirecTV instead of buying a built-in one and paying 1/3 the price per month. This is one of the main reasons I got DirectTV instead of a separate TiVo to use with my cable. I don’t use cable now. It would have cost me much more on a month-to-month basis because the TiVo fee would be $13 a month instead of $4.
FEATURES:
RECORDING: The feature that is most useful of course is playing back programs that were previously recorded. With other technologies like VCR recording, you’d have to remember to set the time and channel. Some products have built-in VCR+ ability that allows you to type in a simple 4 digit code from the TV listing that will set the recording time and date for you, yet it on helps you with TV broadcasts. TiVo goes light years beyond that by allowing you to simply select the name of the program from a menu list. It will then take care of the details of determining when the program comes on and setting the recording parameters. Furthermore, you can ask it to record shows by type (comedy, drama, etc), actor/actress, director, or where the description contains a particular word/phrase. I especially like the feature to create a “Season Pass” that finds all shows of the same series and records them as they become available. It is smart enough to not waste space by recording the same show twice. You will want to hook up two cables from your dish to get the capability for recording two shoes simultaneously. There are a lot of times when you want to record two shows that come on at the same time on different channels. Most TiVo units have that ability. Here’s another feature that sometimes comes in handy: Let’s say you turn on the TV and the channel that is showing will be something interesting, but you already missed 20 minutes of it. Quick… press the record button. TiVo was already recording the most recent 30 minutes of the channel that you are watching live. Thus, you can always go back and see the last 30 minutes worth of programming on that channel. Yes, there are even more recording features I haven’t mentioned here. However, this should be enough to peak your interest.
PLAYBACK:
This is where the real fun comes in. I love going home to pull up the menu and see what it has recorded for us. When playing back the shows, you’ll want to have the remote handy to skip passed those commercials in one of three speeds. You’ll use the slow speed at first, but as you become more comfortable with how it works, you’ll use the faster speeds. When the TV show start playing again, hit the play button. The unit backs up a few seconds from when you pressed the play button if you are in one of the two fastest forwarding speed. This is so you won’t miss the first few seconds of the TV show after the commercial. If you need to go back further, the quickest way is to press the ׆ second” button that walks back 8 seconds every time you press it. This button is also good for sports replays. A competitive unit “Replay TV” brags about a “commercial skip” button. It isn’t what you think. It is not smart enough to know when a commercial ends. It only jumps forward 30 seconds each time you press the button. Unfortunately, not all commercials end on a 30-second boundary. I’ve had and used Replay TV. Frankly, I don’t think it holds a candle to TiVo. Apparently the market thinks so as well. TiVo is gobbled up the lion’s share of the market. So back to the features: Don’t watch live TV again! Even when we want to watch something live like the Olympics, we let it start recording for a while as we eat dinner or do something else. Then we start watching the program while it is recording. Yes, you can watch the same show while it is recording. Since the show is several minutes ahead of you (depending on how long you wait before you start watching it), you can skip the commercials as they come up. Slowly but surely you will catch up with the recording because you are fast-forwarding past the commercials. Usually, that doesn’t happen before the end of the show.
DISK SPACE:
Be sure to think about the size of the hard disk that comes with the TiVo you are buying. They come in various sizes. When I bought my first unit, it came with an 40GB hard disk. This was enough for about 20 hours of shows. I ripped it out and put in a 200GB hard disk to increase my space to 100 hours. It might sound like a lot, but you fill these things up fast with shows you want to keep around for a while. I’ve got all the Cirque du Soleil shows that I like to save for a few months. If you are buying an HDTV unit, look out… you need a lot of space. An HDTV program consumes 4 times the hard disk space compared to a regular broadcast. In general, you will probably want a unit that records at least 30 hours of programs. “Your mileage may vary”.
CONS:
We’ve been using TiVo for two years and I can’t really think of any disadvantages. The only one that comes to mind is that I wish they had put in a faster processor to allow faster display of menus. It often takes a few seconds to display a fresh page of programs.
Sometimes there is an inconvenience that you don’t have a telephone line handy where your TiVo and TV is located. This is a requirement as TiVo needs it to call a local telephone number (usually in the middle of the night) to get updated program listings, occasional software updates, and report purchases that you may have made for special pay-per-view events.
SUMMARY:
TiVo is not just for the TV junkie, in my opinion. We really don’t watch that much TV because we value other times more. We don’t watch hardly any sports, no news programs at all, watch occasional comedies, and mostly watch HDTV nature shows, events, or specials. TiVo allows you to use your time more effectively. Note: I DID NOT say you will watch less TV! You will enjoy TV more without the nuisance of commercials. In a two-hour movie, there are usually 20 minutes of commercials. That is 20 minutes you can spend doing something else… like playing games with your children, or watching something else they like instead of you just being the remote control hog.
See my other review of one particular Hughes HDTV unit. Many of the comments also apply to any TiVo.
I suggest you re-evaluate whether or not you buy a separate TiVo unit to use with cable, or an integrated one with DirecTV. That's where the real power comes in.
Update: March 3, 2005. It still works like a charm and we have not had any problems.
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