TiVo TCD648250B Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder by TiVo
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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 |
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Digital camera reviews of TiVo TCD648250B Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder
Digital camera Review: Best PVR on the market
Summary: 5 Stars
Sadly, most people will experience their first DVR/PVR via their cable company. Those devices are extremely cheap imitations of Tivo. The best analogy that I can think of is the difference between a generic MP3 player and an Ipod. Apple dominated the MP3 market by focusing on software, user experience and great industrial design. Tivo has done the same thing for PVRs that Apple did for MP3 players.
I was a DirecTV subscriber for four years, using the built-in Tivo and it was fantastic. When I upgraded to a plasma HDTV, I moved to Comcast for HD channels. I used the generic (Motorola) box from Comcast for about a year and it is just plain terrible. Hard to use, non-intuitive, buggy and average picture quality. It doesn't handle subscriptions well, it's very hard to make changes, it's hard to find shows, and (worst of all) it continues to record the same shows over and over again, filling up your box with stuff that you've already recorded, watched and deleted. I could go on and on, but if you've used an Ipod and some other crappy imitation, then you already know what I mean.
At the time of this review (Nov. 2006) the cable card installations are not the easiest thing in the world but the cable companies are largely to blame, not Tivo. Mine took two visits from Comcast (free of charge) and the second visit got everything working fine. (The problem was a defective cable card, which by the way are manufactured by Motorola...) It's hard for me to describe how superior the experience is on the Tivo box, relative to everything else on the market. Tivo's just so simple to use that a 3-year old can figure it out. You owe it to yourself to try it out. The Comcast installer basically said, "that HD picture blows away the picture on our box." I find it difficult to say definitively but he's seen many more installs than I have, so I take his word for it.
The Tivo is pricey but if you've dropped $3,000 on a TV, why would want your content delivered by some crappy imitation PVR?
Digital camera Review: Better than your cable DVR
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been a Tivo subscriber since just about day 1. We had the series 1 with the lifetime, then upgraded to the series 2 from there. Unfortunately we missed out on the upgrade to the Series 3, but for only $7 it was too hard to pass up.
We turned in our Scientific Atlanta 8300HD to Comcast and got this unit. We use it on a Sony 52" LCD and I have to say the picture quality is so much clearer. Sports show don't pixelate so much. The HD channels are even more so. You will have to rent cablecards (2, dual tuner) from your cable company. Unfortunately they will have to install them to get them turned on. Make sure your tech knows what he is doing.
All the TIVO options are still there with a few extra gadgets and such.
A $[...] mail in rebate didn't hurt either. Amazon was the lowest price around by far. Excellent product.
Digital camera Review: Beware Tivo
Summary: 1 Stars
I enjoyed Tivo for over two years and would have called myself a satisfied customer, until now. My Tivo broke and I could not afford to get a new one or pay the replacement fee they demanded from me. Therefore, I canceled the account. A few days later I saw that they charged for me for the next month of service. I called and politely brought this to their attention and they said the cancelation was not processed before the bill was. A refund? No. I quote: "We have a policy against giving refunds or credits for any reason." Excuse me? What ype of business has a policy against refunds for any reason? Be wary before signing up for Tivo, be alert to this business practice. I will not go back to Tivo now that I know they value the customer this low. I will choose one of the other, more affordable options out there. They charged me for a month knowing the service had been shut off. Oh, I asked about just having it turned back on for that month and they said I'd have to pay a reactivation fee. A reactiviation fee for the month they had already charged me for!Digital camera Review: Beware the HDCP
Summary: 3 Stars
I purchased the Series 3 to pair up with a new Samsung 46" HD Television and Onkyo SR604S A/V receiver. The plan was to connect the TIVO via HDMI to the Onkyo and hook the receiver to the TV also via HDMI. This worked for about a day and looked great; unfortunately, the Tivo stopped outputting via HDMI. I have an Oppo DVD connected through the receiver to the Samsung via HDMI for both connections and it works, so there is nothing wrong w/ either component. In discussing this w/ Tivo help, the 3rd person I spoke with (the first to seem to have a clue about the problem) suggested Tivo is not receiving an HDCP signal from either the receiver or TV and so will not output via HDMI. And, indeed, a review of system specifications on Tivo indicates "HDCP not ennabled".
So I'm stuck. The person at Tivo said that even if I returned the box, a new one may very well not pick up the signal. I tried connecting the Tivo directly to the TV but that didn't work either.
So I connected using component cables and an optical audio cable. Picture and sound is a vast improvement over standard, but it is annoying to no end that DRM issues seem to be preventing me getting optimal use from my fairly significant investment. Subsequent reading at Tivo forums show this to be a fairly common complaint. My one hope is that this may be corrected w/ a later update.
Digital camera Review: Bought, haven't used
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't say much about the product as I bought it for my company but we have yet to use it because you need a cable card to watch tv with this and RCN does not supply them. I'm giving it a 5 because I can't give an N/A. If you're in Boston and want to get TiVo, make sure you check that your cable provider can supply you with a cable card.