TiVo TCD648250B Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder by TiVo
|
List Price: Our Price: $139.99 You Save: $360.00 (72%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Receiver or Amplifier See more digital camera details and other models |
|---|
Digital camera reviews of TiVo TCD648250B Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder
Digital camera Review: Best DVR on the planet bar none
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a long time Tivo user. First had the Tivo series 1. Then had the DirectTivo unit. Switched to cable company and got their dreadful motorola box. Couldn't take it. The motorola was buggy, slow, quirky and the interface was dreadful. Having used Tivo before and still using my Tivo 1 on another non HD set I had to jump for the Tivo Series 3.
The Tivo Series 3 is just awesome. Got it for $650 and took advantage of the Lifetime special transfer from my Tivo series 1 unit to avoid monthly charges forever. The interface and features are the best out there. Setup was a breeze as seems to be always the case with Tivo's. My wife says it is the best $650 we ever spent. We are both so glad to get rid of that horrible Motorola DVR.
We just got a new HD set for our bedroom so I will be purchasing my 2nd Tivo Series 3.
I highly recommend this to anyone thinking of buying a DVR. Even if your cable operator gives you theirs for free the Tivo Series 3 is well worth the money.
Digital camera Review: Best HD DVR on the market!
Summary: 5 Stars
I switched from my Scientific Atlanta HD DVR provided by Cablevision to this Tivo Box. The SA DVR was a dumb machine that didn't know to keep a "resume viewing" marker for each saved program so every time you stop watching a show and come back to it, you have to fast forward to the point you left off. That's really inefficient. It also did not know to change the time to start recording if there was a program change.
The Series 3 will soon have a "distribution" capability that I am looking forward to which allows you to share programming among multiple Tivo boxes and also Tivo to Go where you can burn the stored shows to DVD and take it with you when you go out of town.
Digital camera Review: Best HD PVR Available
Summary: 4 Stars
I took the plunge and bought an HD TV. Of course, this means replacing everything else (PVR, DVD, etc.). The Series3 is a quality product and has worked well with my setup (basic analog cable and HD over the air). Occasionally, I'll see a brief pixilation, but it is a non-issue.
The only gripe I have is the lack of a 30 sec skip and commercial advance. My old Replay 5040 had both and made for a much better experience. I know there is a hack to enable a 30 sec skip, but I have not been able to make it work, so far. Even if it does, the necessity to have to perform a hack to get important basic functionality is problematic. However, Tivo didn't have any choice, since Hollywood ran Replay out of business over these issues....
Enough ranting: if you have HD then get this box. It works and is the only game in town.
Update: there is an unoffical workaround for the 30-second skip feature. Just Google "Tivo HD 30 second" for more info or read the comment posted below.
Digital camera Review: Best HDTV Option - throw away your cable DVR with a smile
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had the new HDTV Tivo for a week. As with other reviewers I previously had a Comcast provided Motorola/Microsoft DVR (Microsoft did the software/guide in the Seattle area at least). The Comcast unit was slow to respond, awkward to use and frequently missed recording programs partially if not completely. It is a terrible device and I went through several. I switched from my old Tivo Series 2 to the Comcast HD recorder only to get HD recording.
So far the Tivo Series 3 is an HD capable and otherwise improved machine to the series 2. For some reason, you need cable cards even if you don't subscribe to non-basic content. Although local HD channels are not encrypted, the HD content schedule won't work without the cards. Not too big of an issue since the cards are free at least with Comcast. The device has a few notable improvements from the Series 2.
Improvements:
Silent Operation. The series 2 was easily audible in a quiet room. Not so now.
Enhanced Remote. It's now backlit and has controls for your TV's input, power up and aspect control as well as your audio receivers volume. Nice !
30 second skip !! I missed this on the Comcast box perhaps more then any other single feature and it remains with the HD box. Thank goodness !
Downgrades:
This is only minor but switching channels is a bit slow. I believe this is common for HD tuners but you definitely can't flip quickly between channels.
Expensive ! $800 is kind of steep for a DVR. Within a year or two, media PC's may superceed this kind of device.
Missed one program so far in a week. I'm not sure why but the Tivo missed about 1/2 of the evening news. I'm unsure as to whether this was a cable outtage or a software failure so I can't blame Tivo for certain.
Summary: Same great features of the original Tivo plus HD. Exactly what I wanted. The interface alone is worth the price. I will never miss wrestling with the FF RW buttons on my Comcast nor just about any other thing about it. You don't know what you're missing till it's gone. If you have a Cable provided DVR, you'll be absolutely thrilled with the Tivo. If you don't have one, then just get the Tivo and be content to know it's worth the money.
Digital camera Review: Best OTA Option
Summary: 4 Stars
I have dropped cable and gone with over the air only. I tried an LG LST-3410 and the tivo is definitely worth the extra money. I can record 2 over the air shows at once, schedule online, view pics stored on my pc, listen to radio, etc. Two things that I would like to see are tivo to go and external SATA hard drive enabled. The ease of setup and use definitely makes it worth the extra dollars.