TiVo TCD652160 HD Digital Video Recorder
by TiVo
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List Price: Our Price: $39.98 You Save: $210.01 (84%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home Theater See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of TiVo TCD652160 HD Digital Video Recorder
Customer Review: Good integration of home network, internet, and TV
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought a refurb unit direct from Tivo with a one year subscription and the HDMI cable. It works great with my antenna only connection to my HDTV and a Cat5 wire from my router which I recommend for a fast internet connection.
The advantages over my old vcr are amazing since I could not find reliable TV guides on the web. The Tivo's subcription price is well worth the advantage of the accurate schedule guide information for TV and internet video's. I am finding more free antenna programming that I knew existed. The ease of recording one or a "season's" supply of a program is such a joy.
Then I downloaded the Tivo "Desktop" (free) software which allows you to put nearly any photo and music files from your computer on your TV screen. This works so well that I later purchased the "Desktop Plus" version that adds video transfer. However I had to find a conversion program to mp4 for video files that are jpeg from my Cannon camera. With my wireless wifi laptop connection in my home it is so nice to throw any picture or video from my computer on the TV screen for the family to watch.
I must admit that I initially had problems getting the Tivo "Desktop" software to connect until I reset my Linksys WRT54G wireless router back to the original firmware. Then it connected via plug 'n play with no special settings.
Tivo does connect direct to photo sharing web sites from Picasa and Photobucket. If others send you pictures on these photo services then you can view them easily on your TV. But if they use other photo services, most of them don't allow batch downloading to photo files; I haven't found a way to get their pictures on the TV via Tivo. I hope Tivo can add many more photo services soon.
The next big advantage is the Tivo internet connection to Netflix and Amazon Unbox for movies. I've used both and the picture quality and sound is as good as the average rental DVD. I tend to use my $8.95/mo Netflix subscription the most since I can download an unlimited number of movies (at no additional charge) for "instant watch" via the Tivo. With Netflix I select many more movies even if I'm unsure that I saw it before, or I can take more chances on unknown films since I can delete and move on to the next movie in a minute.
Also there are a bunch of internet video programs that Tivo can connect to for special interests and you can schedule them for download just like TV programs. I expect this will expand greatly in the future.
The "365" web radio programs was a disappointment since I like talk shows and none of my favorite national talk shows are available. I was hoping to listen to past shows on demand.
Customer Review: TiVo is Great!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had my TiVo about a month and I absolutely love it! I replaced my Time Warner DVR with the TiVo. With Time Warner I had to pay for digital cable service to get a DVR. Now that I have TiVo, I receive over-the-air HDTV with an antenna, and I still have basic broadcast cable (the kind that doesn't require a box) through Time Warner. Note: TiVo requires a CableCard if you have digital cable, but not if you have broadcast, like I do. When all is said and done I'm paying a lot less for television, even including TiVo's monthly service charge, and I own my TiVo rather than renting it.
One of the big selling points for me was that, in addition to basic DVR duty, the TiVo can also play streaming Netflix, Amazon VOD, YouTube, and MusicChoice music videos. Also, the TiVo allows me to transfer recordings to my Mac and burn them to DVD (or convert into iPod videos) with Toast software, and it will stream music and photos from my Mac to my television. All of these features work well and I have been quite pleased so far.
My only complaint is that the search features for some of these services (YouTube and MusicChoice especially) are tedious with the TiVo interface, as you have to use the arrow keys on the remote to type letters into the search boxes. It would be faster to use a text message style keying input. But this is a very minor complaint.
What has impressed me most is the TiVo Suggestions. TiVo uses a rating system to make educated guesses as to the kinds of shows you like. It is not right all the time, but it's usually pretty good at finding shows of interest to me. And if it records a show I am not interested in, I simply rate it accordingly. TiVo learns. The best part is that, when nothing is on, I can always go to the TiVo Suggestions folder and find something to watch. At first I was worried that the TiVo would fill up its memory with the amount of Suggestions it was recording, but then I realized that it only keeps these recordings until space is needed for something else.
The TiVo software is also much smarter than Time Warner's. It knows if a show is a first-run or a re-run, it understands that some shows air on more than one channel, and it also allows for shows that run long (like Lost, which Time Warner would always cut off). Best of all, it allows you to prioritize recordings, so it knows which ones to delete (and more importantly, which ones not to delete) if it needs space for new recordings.
All in all, I'm incredibly pleased with my TiVo and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a smarter, more versatile alternative to a conventional cable company DVR.
Customer Review: I love my TIVO HD
Summary: 5 Stars
I know most cable companies have started offering DVRs with their service (including Charter, which I have), but there is just something I love about my TIVO. I upgraded to the HD unit so that I could use both cable and an antenna, since Charter doesn't offer HD service for all of the local channels. So far it works great!
Be aware that TIVO HD does NOT use a cable box!! If you have digital cable (usually channels 100 and above), premium channels, or HD cable, you need to call your cable company and lease a CableCard. You cannot hook your cable box to the TIVO HD - it will not recognize the signals for anything beyond the basic analog channels. Also, if you use digital features like Video On Demand or pay-per-view, those won't work without a cable box. It is best to contact your cable provider to verify what you will need if you get this TIVO HD.
Moving on to the unit....I like that I can set it to change the output resolution automatically (based on the video source) or set it to static resolutions. The remote also allows you to change the aspect on the fly without having to use your TV's display controls. It displays hi-def resolutions fantastically, but remember that you have to have HD signal for it to display in HD (not just digital signals).
When I first hooked it up and got everything setup, it seemed to have a few problems when changing channels - it would display a brief "searching for signal" message (usually just a few seconds). After about 4 days, the service downloaded the latest update and now everything seems to be working correctly, with no delays.
Another caveat...I'm using it with an HDMI cable and when I set the TIVO to allow low sounds (the little 'doodoop' noise it makes when you use the DVR functions on the remote), it causes an interruption in the audio for whatever I am watching at that moment. I believe this has to do with the way HDMI cables handle audio signals and is not related to the TIVO itself, so it probably wouldn't have been a problem using component cables. I just set the TIVO audio control to silent and it doesn't interfere anymore.
The other reason I wanted to upgrade to HD is for the new Netflix streaming video feature. It hasn't started yet (it launches in December), but I can use both Amazon and Jaman to rent movies, TV shows, etc. I prefer this to the cable company's Video On Demand, which requires a cable box and doesn't offer as much variety. When the Netflix is added, TIVO will completely smoke the cable company offerings in this regard!!
Overall, I am very happy that I upgraded to the TIVO Series 3 HD!!
Customer Review: The way TV was intended to be watched
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been a TiVo customer for over 6 years. When I bought a new LCD TV, I decided to make the jump to a TiVo HD. I have not been disappointed.
1) Everything you love about TiVo is still there are much more.
From Season Passes, WishLists, TiVoToGo, web-based scheduling through TiVo.com, etc. The basic features are all fully functional.
2) Versatile for HD, whether you go through your cable company or OTA
I have an antenna for OTA digital broadcasts and use basic analog cable for a couple of other cable channels and to have back-up broadcasts of my network TV in case bad weather knocks OTA off the air. With dual tuners, TiVo can easily record two HD programs off my antenna without any problems. The device internally splits the signal, so you don't need any fancy splitters or extra equipment coming from your antenna or mast. I haven't tried Cablecards, but if I do move and decide to use digital cable, it has the versatility to work well with cable as well. With the increased use of SDV, there will be a solution for that as well in the near future.
3) Product lifetime is back!
As of right now, you can get lifetime subscriptions on your new TiVo purchases. If you're an existing customer, this cost is reduced by 25%!
4)The real advantage of this product: the true TiVo experience
If you think your cable DVR is a "TiVo", don't be mislead. Cable DVRs are a shoddy imitation and lack a lot of the features that really revolutionized TV. With TiVo, you pick the Season Passes you want, prioritize them, and forget about it. Everything is recorded for you and you can watch your programs on demand anytime you want. If you like a specific type of program (or say, movies by Hitchcock), just fashion up a Wishlist and your TiVo will record every program that fits your description. Bored and want to watch something you didn't plan to record? Check out the TiVo Suggestions and browse through 10s to 100s of shows (depending on your hard drive space) of shows that TiVo intelligently thinks you'll like! Want to watch a show on an airplane? Download it (even HD programming!) to your laptop and watch it on the go! TiVoToGo also supports portable devices like iPod/iPhone and Zune. The list goes on and on.
Anyway, this device is worth every penny!
Customer Review: Don't watch more TV, watch *better* TV.
Summary: 5 Stars
I seriously would have canceled my cable by now if not for the Tivo. There are shows I like, but I simply can't bring myself to schedule the time to sit down at 8pm to watch something and then sit there through all the commercials.
I had an old Tivo for a while and just recently upgraded to this one so I could get dual tuners, which is great. Now I can watch one channel and record another, or, more importantly, record two channels at the same time (while watching something else on playback).
I don't watch more TV, really, but I watch better TV. There is always "something on" now. I record science and history shows I would otherwise always miss along with my favorite shows and if I ever just want to sit down and "see what's on", no worries; there's going to be something worth seeing there. I don't have to worry about what time or channel something comes on. I just tell it to record "Battlestar Galactica" and there you go. It'll go find the time and channel and it'll keep up with changes if the time or channel moves. I tell it to record all episodes of "Family Guy" and it gets the new ones on FOX and the old ones on Cartoon Network automatically.
I know it's cool to "kill your television" and "television rots your brain" and all that, but perhaps more people just need a Tivo so they can easily watch the good programming that IS there. Yes, at any given time of the day, most of your cable channels are going to be filled with trash but over the course of a week you can find plenty of actual good stuff to watch, and Tivo helps you do it.
Also, the ability to tie the Tivo in to your Amazon account and rent movies online is genius. I can be at my desk at work, select a movie to rent and have it ready to watch by the time I get home. I can also hear about some new show from my coworkers and log in to tell my Tivo to add it to the recording schedule so I don't have to worry about remembering to do it when I get home. How cool is that?
Tivo also gets internet radio stations, which is actually pretty nice.
I'm basically a Tivo fanboy now. The cable company's DVR simply doesn't have the same features. I seriously would not watch TV anymore if I couldn't use my Tivo.