38 out of 38 people found this review helpful.
Got TIVO?
Date of Review: Nov 8, 2002
The Bottom Line: TIVO is a great product that makes life (at least the TV watching part of it) a whole lot easier and more enjoyable
This review is based on the TIVO Series 2 80 hour unit with internal software version 3.2. I broke up this review into 4 sections explaining the initial setup, TIVO's functional highlights, Video Quality, and finally ending off with a summary of the pros and cons I've found while using TIVO.
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Initial Setup
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Hardware:
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Attaching the TIVO unit to the TV was just as easy as attaching the VCR. The instructions provided great pictures and a multitude of scenarios.
Software:
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The setup process was easy to follow and took about one hour to complete. Here we basically determine which TV lineup you are using and download the appropriate guide information. I did not have my TIVO service activated yet, and it still allowed me to complete this initial setup. It looks like you get one week of service for free to try it out.
Once complete, TIVO required an additional four to eight hours to organize the guide data that had just been downloaded. During this time you can use the "Watch Live TV" feature, but you are prevented from setting up any recordings, Season Passes, etc.
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Functional Highlights
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Without TIVO service:
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Without the TIVO service, you basically bought a really expensive VCR, with the added ability of pausing "Live TV". You can manually set TIVO to record a certain channel, at a certain time, for a certain duration.
Live TV:
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From reading other people's thoughts/reviews about TIVO before I bought mine, it sounded like the majority of people did not watch "Live TV" anymore. Although I've only had my TIVO for a short time, I still find myself watching "Live TV", especially for sporting events. I feel a little weird cheering my team on when the outcome of the game has long been determined.
Anyways, TIVO automatically records the action on the current channel in a thirty minute buffer. Changing the channel causes that buffer to be cleared and filled with the current channel's program. It is this buffer that effectively let's you pause, rewind, and fast forward "Live TV". So, you can only have "Live TV" paused for thirty minutes before it starts playing from where it was paused.
Season Passes:
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Recording an entire season of a particular show is a piece of cake with the "Season Pass" feature. For example, I want to record every Thursday night episode of "Friends" on NBC. So, I would search for "Friends" by title, pick the right time/channel, setup a few options (I'll get to them later) for the "Season Pass", and about one minute later I'm all set to record the entire season of "Friends".
Now, I picked "Friends" as an example because NBC has been adjusting the duration of the show now and then. Normally running for thirty minutes, NBC sometimes "Super Sizes" the show to run longer. The TIVO daily call downloads these schedule changes and automatically adjusts the recording, so you won't miss those last few minutes of "Friends". :)
The "Season Pass" options allow you to change the video quality, how many episodes to keep, and other stuff, but most importantly allows you to tell the TIVO how to record the episodes. There are three options:
First Time Runs - Records only new non-repeat episodes. This option is good for when you're away on vacation and are afraid of running out of space on your TIVO.
Repeats & First Time Runs - Records new and repeat episodes without any duplicates.
All (with duplicates) - This is the setting I normally use. The TIVO service uses something called the "28-day Rule". This means that if a duplicate show runs within 28 days, that show will not be recorded. Now you're asking yourself: "Why would I want to record a duplicate show?" :) Sometimes networks change which episode they air at the last minute and the TIVO daily call might not catch this. For example, the 2002 World Series this year went to a Game 7, which aired on Sunday night on FOX. ABC planned to air new episodes of "Alias" & "The Practice", but decided to air repeats instead. If TIVO is not set to "All (with duplicates)", TIVO would record the repeats of these shows, then the TIVO daily call would eventually update the information to show that the actual new episodes of "Alias" & "The Practice" would be airing next Sunday, and TIVO would not record these new episodes because the TIVO thinks they are duplicates of what was already recorded the previous week. Hope that made sense to everybody! :)
Finally, you also have the ability to prioritize all of the Season Passes you have created. So, if two or more of your shows overlap the higher priority one will be recorded.
Wishlists:
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Wishlists provide an easy way to search and/or record certain programs. You can create wishlists based on actors, directors, titles, keywords, or just a plain category. With the first four options you can also apply a category to them. For example, I can create a wishlist for Cruise, Tom and apply the category "Movies" or if I want to be more specific "Movies/Action". With the keyword wishlist you can specify a favorite sports team, use quotation marks to bunch a few words together into one keyword (like "Star Wars"), and also have a wildcard (*) (like "auto*" might give matches of automobile, automatic, etc.).
You can use these wishlist purely as an easier way to search for upcoming shows, or you can have TIVO automatically record all shows found through a wishlist.
Guide:
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Subscribers to digital cable, Direct TV, or anything like that already are provided with a "TV Guide". TIVO also provides you with a similar guide to show you what's on which channel at what time. Depending on your preference,
you may like TIVO's guide more or less than the one your cable/satellite service provides.
Since I only subscribe to basic cable currently, it's hard for me to compare TIVO's guide to others. But, I'll mention some of the good and bad things I've noticed about TIVO's.
Positives:
- easily shows you the next ten or so shows on the currently selected channel
- can have guide show all channels or your own favorite pre-selected channels
- can apply a filter to just show movies, sports, etc.
- gives nice short description of show including the actors and year made
Negatives:
- seems a little slow sometimes when navigating through it
Suggestions:
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TIVO implements a "Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down" rating system in an attempt to record shows that TIVO thinks you will like. So, while watching a particular show or while searching through the "Guide", you can give a show 1-3 Thumbs Up or 1-3 Thumbs Down. The more thumbs you give a show translates to
the more you like/hate that show.
So, for example, giving a Thumbs Up to "Entertainment Tonight" will probably make TIVO think you might want to watch "Access Hollywood" and some shows on the E! Network. On the other hand, giving a Thumbs Down to "CSI" will probably make TIVO think you won't want to watch "CSI: Miami" as well.
As I haven't had the TIVO for too long, the suggestions TIVO provides range from being way off to right on. Hopefully after spending more time rating shows the suggestions will be a lot better.
These TIVO suggestions can be turned off, will not record a show that conflicts with an already scheduled recording, and will be automatically deleted after a certain amount of time.
Commercials:
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Whether it be a new movie trailer or an entertaining commercial, I personally like to watch some commercials. But, I wouldn't mind skipping most commercials. By doing the following key combination on the TIVO remote control (Select-Play-Select-3-0-Select), this toggles the "Advance"
button between skipping to the end and skipping ahead 30 seconds. This enables me to skip all commercials by hitting the button a few times, while also being able to easily catch a commercial I might be interested in watching.
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Video Quality
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According to the TIVO:
Basic Quality = 87 hours
Medium Quality = 51 hours
High Quality = 38 hours
Best Quality = 24 hours
Basic Quality is a little grainy to watch, but actually not as bad as I thought it would be.
Medium Quality only seems a little better than Basic Quality.
High Quality is much sharper than Medium Quality and only a little worse than Best Quality.
Best Quality seems to be the same quality as watching normal TV.
My recommended recording quality guide:
Action shows = High/Best Quality
Cartoons = Medium/High Quality
News programs = Basic/Medium Quality
Sitcoms = Medium/High Quality
Sports = High/Best Quality
Talk Shows = Basic/Medium Quality
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Pros & Cons
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Pros:
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- records entire seasons of shows I like
- records shows from personalized wishlists
- ability to pause & rewind "Live TV"
- ability to skip through commercials easily
- gets daily schedule changes so I don't miss a show
- sets clock during daily call so the time is always correct
- remembers where I left off watching each one of my recordings
- easy to use menu interface
- easy to use "Guide" with nice filtering features
- can watch my shows whenever I want, not when networks air them
- can watch a recorded show while TIVO is recording another show
- can watch, pause, rewind, fast forward the current show TIVO is recording
- no more setting the VCR weekly & sorting through all my VHS tapes
- can transfer recordings to a VCR if needed
- can change advance button to skip ahead 30 seconds
- 3 fast forward and rewind speeds
- quick instant replay button
- TIVO service provides occasional upgrades to try and improve itself
Cons:
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- cost = $399 (80 hour box) $249 (lifetime subscription)
- no dual tuner with standard TIVO so can't record two shows at once
- really doesn't have 80 hours worth of space
- no buttons on TIVO box itself (if remote breaks, can't use the TIVO)
