Nlion79's Full Review: TiVo Series2â„¢ (80 Hours) (80 GB) 80-Hours Video ...
I've been a TIVO owner for three months now. In an effort to add to your "knowledge base" prior to plunging into the "TIVOlution," I'm going to offer up a few items which I haven't seen mentioned in other reviews. First, I'd recommend anybody considering buying Tivo (or any other brand of DVR, for that matter) visit the following website:
You can easily spend an entire Saturday morning at the above site just reading about folks' experiences, frustrations, and, of course, delight, with their Tivos.
Next is the important issue of IR Blaster vs. Serial Control. Put simply, this is the matter of how you change channels on your Tivo. The majority of Tivo owners today have to change channels through their cable box using a Tivo-supplied IR Blaster (you pick up your remote, press the channel button, and it signals the Tivo box to send another Infrared signal to your cable box). Herein lies Tivo's biggest shortcoming. The IR blaster method is slow and not 100% reliable. As evidence of their problems with this, the Tivo site even has directions as to how to build an "IR tent," a Rube Goldberg type of device using tin foil (no kidding!) to help direct the IR signal into the cable box.
Now, the good news--if you have the right kind of cable box (DCT2000-series digital cable box) running the right kind of software (7.54 version of microcode) and you have a Series 2 Tivo, you'll soon (they're saying April, 2003) be able to use Serial (a serial cable running between your Tivo and your cable box) control to change channels.
Now, for some more not-so-great news: until recently, only AT&T-branded Tivos could perform serial control channel changing. I have a family member with an AT&T Tivo who uses the serial control feature. The channel changing using this supposedly superior method is also slow and clunky. You definitely CANNOT channel surf with any speed at all. You see the Tivo screen trying frantically to enter in the channels it receives from you and it seems to get confused and enters channel numbers as fast as it can, while you sit and wait. Sometimes, you end up at the channel you wanted, and sometimes you don't. To change channels with the serially controlled Tivo, you have to slowly and deliberately punch in the digits on the remote, then wait a few seconds, and then Tivo will get you that channel.
Bottom line--in our experience Tivo is a wonderful product--however, its channel-changing abilities still leave much to be desired.
Now, record two shows at once! Record from two basic cable channels, or one basic cable and one digital cable channel, at once. Does not support recor...More at TiVo
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Have no fear if you're the active type and aren't around to catch your favorite shows. This dual-tuner digital video recorder captures up to 80 hours ...More at Best Buy ®
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