TiVo HD Digital Video Recorder: Good DVR with a Few Flaws
Written: Feb 12 '09 (Updated Feb 12 '09)
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Pros: Record two shows at once, fast forward commercials, never miss shows, stream netflix, good capacity
Cons: Slow start-up, slow interface, no built-in wireless, needs cable cards for some
The Bottom Line: I highly recommend this DVR to anyone looking for an HD upgrade. It has a few flaws, but nothing too detrimental to its functionality.
noangels's Full Review: TiVo HD 180-Hours Video Recorder
A high electricity bill and cramped living room led to a recent television upgrade. My husband and I just purchased our first flat panel television. Until this point, we had been using an early generation high definition tube television. We purchased the Samsung 40” Class 1080P 120 Hz Flat-Panel LCD TV as a replacement and have been very pleased with it. We decided to upgrade a few other components to get the best performance out of our television. We had previously owned a standard definition 80 gigabyte (GB) TiVo. High definition (HD) and added functionality were important to us so we purchased the TiVo 160 GB HD Digital Video Recorder. We are loving the benefits of this upgrade.
Design This TiVo is a bit larger than our older box. It measure 3” high by 12 1/2” wide by 16 1/2” deep. The exterior is black with silver accents. I was happy about this change as all of our other components match this color scheme. The unit weighs 8.8 pounds. I’m not sure about whether this would be considered light or heavy for such a component, but it doesn’t matter to me as it doesn’t move from our television stand. The large size of the new TiVo was mitigated by the removal of our cable box. Since this TiVo accepts cable cards, we no longer required our big Time Warner digital cable box. Functionality and Features
A step up from our previous model, this TiVo is capable of HD recording in resolutions up to 1080i. Even though our previous television was HD, we were subject to the limitations of the standard definition TiVo. This DVR allows you to record, pause, fast-forward, and rewind live television. I love being able to watch shows according to my crazy schedule. It’s great to being able to watch commercials on my terms (which most of the time means not watching them at all). I also love that we don’t have to be slaves to the TV Guide – TiVo knows when the seasons start and it catches special airings. We were pleasantly surprised to find Psych on our TiVo a few weeks ago. We didn’t realize the show had returned already!
My favorite new feature is the ability to record up to two live shows at a time while watching a previously recorded program. My husband and I watch a number of shows that record simultaneously. Supernatural, The Office, and My Name is Earl all air on Thursdays. Our old TiVo left us watching television on our tiny bedroom tube television to catch all of these shows. Now we can watch all of the shows on our home theater system without worrying about missing the first ten minutes if I get home late from work!
The dual recording functionality requires cable cards to work with our digital cable. This was an inconvenience as the box was not very forthcoming about the need for these cards. Upon opening the box and reading the documentation, we realized we had to contact our cable company to inquire about the necessary equipment. Time Warner required that the installation of the equipment be performed by one of their installers, forcing us to wait two days for an installer to finish our TiVo installation. If you plan to purchase this TiVo, I recommend calling your cable company beforehand to find out what you need and set up any necessary appointments
This TiVo has a 160 GB capacity, allowing it to record up to 20 hours of HD programming and up to 180 hours of standard definition programming. This capacity is double what our old TiVo had. We found it sufficient for our needs, even though we do record most programs in HD. We restrict the TiVo from recording suggestions because we often find it records a lot of old and unnecessary episodes of shows for which we already have season passes.
Our new TiVo has significantly better audio than our previous model. The old one was misbalanced with the other components. Now switching from our DVR to our Xbox doesn’t prompt one of us springing up to twist the audio receiver’s dial faster than the remote will toggle the volume down. The picture is quite good too, though it is limited by the incoming cable signal. Occasionally our digital cable locks up a bit, but this is not the fault of our DVR. This TiVo is compatible with analog antennas, digital antennas, analog cable, and digital cable television.
There are Ethernet and USB ports on this TiVo, allowing connection a home network and media-on-demand usage like streaming video. I was disappointed that they did not add built-in wireless to the unit. Luckily, we had our wireless adapter left over from our old TiVo. This allows us to interact with the unit through our network and even transfer videos from my husband’s desktop. We also use this connection to stream movies and shows through our Netflix account. For some reason our Xbox has a better signal and we mostly use that component for this purpose, but it works well on our TiVo too. It’s nice to not have to switch components and audio channels when we want to go from watching television to streaming a movie.
I have a few complaints about our new TiVo. Start-up times are still too slow. When our DVR needs to reboot, it takes approximately ten minutes which is unacceptable by today’s standards. It feels like I’m booting up a Windows 95 Packard Bell machine with 8 megabytes (MB) of RAM. It’s even more irritating when the screen says, “Almost there… just a few more minutes.” Today, I consider “almost there” to mean 20-30 seconds. Perhaps I’m part of an impatient generation, but this is something that really irks me. I will admit that they have made the booting up sequence much more enjoyable than the old one, complete with a video with a dog (smart move, try to distract me with puppies!), but it’s just a ploy to take your attention off the fact that it is still booting. The slow theme continues with the interface as the TiVo has a less-than-lightning response time to the remote when scrolling through the menus. A programmable remote control is included with the TiVo, but we use a Harmony remote. I’ve experienced this problem with both.
My other complaint about the interface is that it’s as impatient as I am. If a show isn’t paused, the unit reverts back to live television. Often my husband will cue up a Netflix title while we finish making dessert, so we can enjoy our food to The Office. If we wait too long (which is not an inordinate amount of time – maybe ten minutes), it will go back to live television and we have to go through the whole process of cueing it up again. It’s not a deal breaker, but it is certainly an annoyance.
The included inputs on this unit include 2 CableCARD slots, 1 coaxial, and 1 coaxial antenna. As mentioned before, we are using the former. There are a number of outputs to choose from. We use the TiVo’s HDMI port to connect it to our receiver. It also supports component video, composite video, S-video, digital audio (optical), and analog audio.
Ease of Use The TiVo is very easy to use with a very small learning curve. If you have used a DVR before, you’ll pick this up very quickly. Most of the menus are self-explanatory, and those that aren’t are easy to learn with a little bit of exposure. Scheduling season passes is very easy on the unit. You can also use their website to schedule programs to record. Even though we've now disabled it, the suggestion function is very easy to use as well. Price This TiVo 160 GB HD Digital Video Recorder is priced at $299.99. We received a $100 off discount for purchasing it with the television. TiVo service is required to use the unit. This can be billed monthly or you can pay a lifetime fee. We opted for the latter, paying $299.99 after a $100 multiple TiVo discount. I feel like the DVR is very worth it for us.
The unit comes with a warranty covering it for 1 year parts and 90 days labor. We purchased an extended service plan for our own piece of mind.
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