On my TIVO!

[SnackyStacky]

So I just joined the "revolution" and got TiVo. I hooked it up to my broadband connection with that little wireless adapter?

And I can get the podcast on my TiVo!

Am I the very last person on earth to get a TiVo?

 

[TY31088]

I love my tivo. Interested in hearing the answer to your question.

 

[Soccermom-Cheri]

We don't have one (or a DVR either). I was told we needed to plug it into a phone jack. Is it worth the $$ to have someone come dig into your walls to find phone wires?

 

[mom0299]

We don't have one (or a DVR either). I was told we needed to plug it into a phone jack. Is it worth the $$ to have someone come dig into your walls to find phone wires?

I love Tivo! We tried the wireless jack, but it didn't work so we had to use a phone line. We don't have a line near our tv so we actually had to get a long cord and every two weeks we have to plug it in and update the Tivo. I know it sounds like a pain, but it is worth it to have Tivo. It's the greatest.

 

[DisneyKevin]

TiVo ranks up there with air conditioning and chocolate on the list of the world's greatest inventions.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

I personally don't know what I would do without TiVo. I got my first one in 1998 and still have it. We now have 3. We're a little TiVo obessed.

If you have a wireless network in your house you can buy an adapter for the newer models (must have an ISB port in the back) and connect to the internet wirelessly and that will update your programming guide as well as give you access to other cool stuff like pictures from your PC and pod casts - not to mention the ability to update your TiVo recordings from any computer that has a web browser.

I have one TiVo (my original) that can only use a phone line. I bought the phone adapter that plugs into any wall outlet and that seems to work great for that one.

TiVo lets you watch TV on your schedule at your own time. We never watch shows as they run now - we wait until it's convenient for us and watch them then, without commercials. We can cut a one hour show down to 40 minutes when you take out credits and commercials.

There are alot of other cool features - like the ability to search for show, the fact that TiVo will go out and get a whole series for me and know if a line-up change occurs and the way it 'guesses' what I might like to watch.

I know I sound like a TiVo salesperson but I love TiVo.

John

PS My 'favorite' TiVo is the one that allows me to records shows onto a DVD. We can record a show and share it with folks that may have missed it.

Edited to Add: I see Kevin already posted on this thread. When we first met he was a 'TiVo-phobe' - he would actually call me in to change the channel for him. Now he can't live without it either. When we go on vacation he says he misses the dogs, our recliners and TiVo in that order.

 

[jpeka65844]

We don't have a Tivo; we have a DVR from our cable company. Overall our cable sucks (Comcast) but the DVR has changed the way we watch TV. It now takes WAY less time to watch our week's shows (Grey's, House, Heroes, Lost, Torchwood, Battlestar, Scrubs) and I can fast-forward through filler and commercials. YAY!

And not to mention, I have all the Samantha Brown Disneyworld specials AND the Travel Channel specials on the parks and DCL saved! We watch those whenever we need some pixie dust!




Denice T.
Olathe, KS

 

[hthrbells]

After hearing all the positive abot the TiVo I think that might be a great gift for my dh. How much is the one that lets you record onto a dvd. Do you pay a monthly charge? How is it diffrent than the one you can get through your cable company? Thanks.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

My TiVo with DVD recording was VERY expensive (Thanks Kevin!!) but that's because I had to be the first kid on my block to get it.

I have seen them range anywhere from $300 - $800 now and many are available on eBay for a very reasonable price.

There is a monthly fee for using the TiVo service and that can vary depending on if you choose to commit to a certain contract length. They used to offer a lifetime contract which was sweet. I have the lifetime on all my TiVo's. Considering I still have my first TiVo and then the lifetime service only cost $99 I think I did pretty well

Anyway depending on the length of service contract you purchase it will cost between $17 and $20 per month.

Whether they are better when compared to a DVR you can get through the cable company is really personal opinion. It used to be that you could only get certain functionality from the ones offered by the cable company like HD and dual recording - but TiVo offers those now too.

I think the biggest difference is that with TiVo you purchase and own the box and with the cable DVR you 'lease' it from the cable company. In most cases the box itself is free but if you move or don't want it anymore it goes back to the cable company.

Again - I'm partial. I love my TiVo's and hope to never have to give them up.

John

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

This is a copy/paste from my local cable company -- another difference between TIVO and DVRs is that TIVOs can offer a bigger variety of hard drives - my cable company only uses one box - no choices:

DVRs are EASY to use! With a touch of a button you can:

• Record your favorite programs without tapes or timers, up to 120 hours of standard digital TV or up to 30 hours of HDTV;
• Pause and rewind live TV - create your own instant replays;
• Schedule to record a whole season of your favorite show with your DVR right from your programming guide;
• A dual-tuner lets you record up to two shows at a time while you watch a third;
• You can even record shows in full High-Definition!

A Digital Video Recorder, or DVR, lets Antietam Digital Cable customers record television programs directly onto a hard drive inside the cable box. No tapes, no timers, no VCR. You can play your stored programs as often as you like!
DVR service costs just $9.95 per month - with no additional equipment costs for digital customers!* There is no equipment to buy, and no long-term contracts to sign!

But I will say this - if money ever got tight and something had to be cut from the budget, we would stop eating before getting rid of our DVR!!! There is something to be said for not having to deal with those stupid vcr tapes to tape tv to just missing your favorite shows. And it makes going away on vacation a whole lot easier because all of your shows are already being recorded - you don't even have to think about it!

 

[Dodie]

We have DirecTV and I've heard lots of complaints about the DirecTV DVRs (are they even Tivos?). I'd love to have one - but I'm scared.

Anyone with DirecTV have the DVR?

 

[aprince&princess]

We just got a Directv DVR last week and are loving it. Now its a race to the tv to see who can have their show recorded first.

And so nice that you can pause the show and catch up during commercials.

And I love the fact that you can set it up to tape a whole season and never worry about forgetting to set up the vcr when you aren't going to be home.

 

[mickey&minnie04]

We have DirecTV and I've heard lots of complaints about the DirecTV DVRs (are they even Tivos?). I'd love to have one - but I'm scared.

Anyone with DirecTV have the DVR?

We have DirecTV also and we have an actual Tivo brand box. We bought it from Best Buy and then just called DirecTV and told them we wanted the tivo service and that we already had the box. I had heard bad things about the DirecTV box also.

 

[Annette_VA]

We have DirecTV and I've heard lots of complaints about the DirecTV DVRs (are they even Tivos?). I'd love to have one - but I'm scared.

Anyone with DirecTV have the DVR?

We recently gave up one of our DirecTV/TiVo boxes because of something to do with HD. We had the HR10, but had to get rid of it for some reason - local channels, I think.

I was dreading having to give up my Tivo and using the DirecTV DVR. I must say, I have been pleasantly surprised by the DirecTV DVR. I really haven't found anything that I used to use the TiVo box for that I can't do with the DVR. I can still do season passes, I still have all my Disney wish lists. The DVR has quite a few features that TiVo did not that I love:
- In the guide, there will be an R in a circle on programs that are going to be recorded
- When you're doing such things as setting up programs to record, you can still watch TV - either live or something you've recorded
- When you reorganize your season passes (rearranging priorities), it doesn't take forever like TiVo does

The only thing I don't like is there's no way to sort the now playing list alphabetically. It's always sorted by what was last recorded. And it may just be that I need to actually read the manual to see how that is done.

 

[SnackyStacky]

I actually have DirecTV!

I thought about the DirecTV DVR. It was the same price for the unit, but the service would have been cheaper. But what cheesed me off is that for $100, I'm only LEASING the stupid thing! I own my TiVo!

I don't like about it is channel surfing. When you hit the channel up or down button, it LOOKS like the channel has moved - but it just stays on the same channel and a second or two later it flips to what you REALLY want.

I get around that by just using the guide feature.

And also - the new TiVos have the ability to record 2 programs at once, which can't be done with DirecTV. You also have to watch whatever is recording. Which isn't a huge deal because I'm usually taping something cause I'm not home.

 

[TSWJan78]

We have a TIVO and a Comcast DVR and I love them both for different reasons. We have an older TIVO and it will only allow us to record 1 show.. our DVR lets us do 2. I love my wishlists and the fact that TIVO will record stuff it thinks I might like but my DVR holds double and tells me when I am getting low on space. they both work for what need them for (TIVO in the bedroom and DVR in the living room) but I would love a TIVO like John's where I can record to DVD... but for now I will save the money and use it toward our next Disney trip!!!

 

[SnackyStacky]

My TiVo with DVD recording was VERY expensive (Thanks Kevin!!) but that's because I had to be the first kid on my block to get it.

Aw MAN! I didn't even know they had those! I went to 4 stores and all I saw were the plain old TiVos.

If you have a wireless network in your house you can buy an adapter for the newer models (must have an ISB port in the back) and connect to the internet wirelessly and that will update your programming guide as well as give you access to other cool stuff like pictures from your PC and pod casts - not to mention the ability to update your TiVo recordings from any computer that has a web browser.

It's alright though - because with the wireless adapter, you can download free software from TiVo that allows you transfer your recordings from the unit onto your hard drive. If you've got a DVD burner on the computer, you can then burn them.

And now - we can save a quarter of a tank of gas on Tuesdays and listen to the Podcast on the TiVo. But it's sort of like a family bonding thing. Download the Podcast, upload it to the iPod, get a Starbucks beverage and go for an hour and a half ride and listen!

 

[disneycruise05]

Download the Podcast, upload it to the iPod, get a Starbucks beverage and go for an hour and a half ride and listen!

That's one tradition I love!

We have a DVR at my house (we have Time Warner Cable), but would love to get a TiVo for my apartment here at school. There are too many times I miss something I want to watch because of class or studying or whatnot. I looked at the TiVo page to do some research, but I need to go to a store to see them in person.

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

Hey - totally OT, but I just wanted to say to Dan - it just hit me who the OP was (recognized that beautiful baby of yours!) - Dan, our travel agent from Dreams who made our last Disney vacation last week a real success! So, Dan!!! Enjoy that TiVo!

 

[Annette_VA]

...

And also - the new TiVos have the ability to record 2 programs at once, which can't be done with DirecTV. You also have to watch whatever is recording. Which isn't a huge deal because I'm usually taping something cause I'm not home.

You can record two shows at once with the DirecTV HD DVR. I do it all the time