OK...awhile back I asked if Tivo was all it's cracked up to be, and within hours had dozens of you swearing that indeed it was. A common theme was "I don't know how I watched TV without it."

Well, you've never steered me wrong before. The better half has expressed an interest in Tivo as well now. So I'd better jump quick before he changes his mind!

The question now is...which model to buy? Where to buy it? Are there any "upgrades" etc I need to know about?

Thanks!

You should check on some of the TiVo boards to see which models are easily hacked (to add a second drive, etc.). The Series2 60 GB was easy to do, but you have to buy additional hardware (beyond the new cabling) for the 80 GB and the 40 GB models.

I got my Series2 directly from TiVo (they seem to control the price to some degree) and don't forget the lifetime subscription. I'd say that with their DirecTV contract they'll be around for awhile.

Also, if you have DirecTV, go with what they've got.

What about a Tivo/DVD burner? Is Pioneer the only company that makes that? An added $500+ seems awful steep just to be able to burn the program to DVD, no?

spiff,

Are you cable or DirecTV now?

DirecTV has a deal now with 3 rooms, one being TiVo for $99.

Also, as much as I love my TiVo, I know many cable companies are offering DVR set top boxes.....TiVo like functionality, but not as good.

I understand Dish has also come a long way with their DVR implentation.

Some cable companies even offer TiVo like functions without having a DVR in your home. These limit storage though for around 24 hours.

Of the non-HD implemetations right now, I think the DirecTiVo is the route to go. All the TiVo functionality with two tuners. Everything is done in the digital domain until the output stage. Digital audio out too....so you can get the DD 5.1 signal from movies that are broadcast that way.

I have Adelphia "digital" cable. (The box has no digital outputs, so I don't even get 5.1 sound out of it.) It pretty much sucks.

The "lifetime" Tivo subscription is for the life of the unit...they only have a 1 year warantee. At $299 you'd be paying up front for 23 months of service. If the unit fails at 13 months, you're out one unit, AND $130. I think I'll be opting for the $12.95/month plan. I don't trust the units to last more than two years before failing.

Call Adelphia...I think their units can send the DD5.1 signal...you just have to ask for the right STB.

I know in my area Adelphia is offering a DVR and also has the online DVR functions. My friend is Los Feliz also got a flyer with those features as well.

With what seems to be coming down the pipe with cable companies, I am not sure I would buy a TiVo to use with cable. I would have to check the features and functionality first.

One question you need to figure out is: stand alone Tivo or DirecTivo?

Stand alone can be treated as a VCR. You can also find Tivos w/ the DVD, as you've mentioned. These are good options, but as you'll see w/ DirecTV, the combo unit is much more powerful.

I have the DirecTivo unit. Has 2 DirecTV tuner so that you can record 2 shows simultaneously and then watch a 3rd previously recorded show. Why is this important? (Since you like tennis, if I remember correctly...) Let's say Wimbledon is on at the same time as the Summer Olympics men's singles finals. W/ DirecTivo combo box, you can watch both. Watch Wimbledon, when a commercial is on, pause. Flip to Olympics, when commerical is on, pause and flip back to Wimbledon and FF thru commercials. AWESOME! No more commercials. You can't do this w/ the standalone because it only records one input. Also, the combo box records in native format, so there is no compression when it's recorded. The next (and much bigger step), is to belly up to the HD DirecTivo w/ 2 DirecTV tuners (HD) and 2 over the air tuners. The Tivo Holy Grail... This is out now, but expensive at $999 MSRP. The key here is if you are willing to go DirecTV. If not, then standalone is your option. DirecTV's been running deals for new subscribers to get the Tivo and DirecTV for $49 or $99 depending on who you go w/.

For either Tivo, you can get upgrades for bigger hard drives at weakknees.com or 9thtee.com. I have a 120GB drive on my for 110 hours, great for summer when all the reruns are on and I can catch up on Sopranos, 24, and Deadwood. AND, if I can get a discount on HD DirecTivo this weekend, my existing DirecTivo will be for sale soon...

I've called Adelphia numerous times, and have yet to get someone who has a clue what I'm talking about. I guess I just have to keep trying.

TV is not a big part of our entertainment. I don't want to get anything too expensive just because it has 100 different features. (We'll likely never use them!) We just want something that'll tape tennis programing (as it's rarely on at a decent hour), and maybe a few different tv shows per week.

It all starts out innocently enough... My biggest recommendation if you do get a Tivo, is to tell it NOT to auto-record recommended programming. You'll end up watching one of the recordings and then getting hooked. Don't become a slave to the Tivo!

TiVo is my master. You need TiVo. Everyone needs TiVo. Worship the TiVo... Must go watch TiVo... Ooh, look, 40 hours of MASH. Must watch...

Why don't you build a HTPC which will record whatever you want just like a TiVo, burn to DVD's with no restrictions on it, not have to pay for the TiVo "monthly cost" and feel like you accomplished something in the process by doing it all yourself?

I did this last year sometime and I have used it more than I thought possible. It costed me ~$400 since I already had some of the stuff laying around, but I record what I want, burn it to DVD, have all of my music in one central place, and have a pretty darn good DVD player all in one quiet, compact little box.

Worth looking into in my opinion, but hey its only my opinion Just playing Devil's advocate here I suppose.

I don't know anyone whose TiVo has failed before the 23 months of service was up. I didn't even mod mine until the warranty period was over. I even know a guy who has had one since the very beginning (probably about 4 years, now) who has modded it with a pair of 80 GB drives. No problems.

One thing nice about the standalone TiVos is the media option. It allows you to stream music, pictures, and video from your PC via your home network to your TiVo. Also, the standalones allow you to remotely program something to record from the web.

Although there are other DVRs and HTPC's out there that can do a lot of what TiVo does....none of them can do the "Season Pass" functionality as well as TiVo.

A friend of mine just built one for $600. It's pretty nice, plus it obviously has mp3/jukebox/etc functionality!

What is "Season Pass?" Does it record a teams games that are on TV for an entire season?

yes...you can set it up to do that...no matter what channel the team is playing on.

Season pass allows you to record a given show...no matter what time it is on or what station. Also works with keywords.

I can set it to record all episodes of "ER", and it will do just that...no matter what station or time. I can tell it I just want first runs...and it will do that. If a re-run is on twice or more in one month...it will just record it once. If I do not watch a recorded program before it is aged out of the system...it will record it again when it comes on(not really a season pass function). You can also tell him how many episodes to keep at one time. If the time of the show changes...TiVo knows and will record it at the proper time.

Also, if a show goes longer than normal, it (if you haven't tinkered with the settings) catches that. For example, the "Singing Buffy" episode was originally aired at 70 minutes, and those with TiVos got it, those with VCRs (who didn't look at the schedule carefully) didn't.

Thats pretty darn cool. I had never heard of that before. Thatnks for the heads up. There has to be some variation of that for PC's by now. Any leads on that by chance? I havent tinkered with my HTPC for a couple months now, but you just gave me the itch, darn you!

Sorry! I have no leads on that, having firmly resisted the pull to build an HTPC.

Actually, I would think that you would need some way to get program data into the thing. If there's a service that provides that, you should be home free.

From everything I have read, there are some things that approach what the TiVo can do...but none that can match it.