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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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of TiVo TCD652160 HD Digital Video Recorder
Customer Review: Tivo HD rocks
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been using this for only 3 weeks so can't say much about long-term reliability. But functionally, I've been extremely happy with the unit. The FF function works like reviews I'd read - it automatically rewinds a little when you stop FF. With a little practice, it puts you right where you want to resume play. The box is in general reliable, much more so than my earlier Comcast box. I haven't seen any freezes and reboots that I've read about. One problem I've had though is the "HDMI Not Permitted" issue. Every now and then, the CP handshake with my TV fails and I just get this verbiage plastered on the screen. When it does this, you have to switch from HDMI to Component. Of course I don't want to do that. After a little googling I found that others who have had the same problem fixed it by unplugging (not turning off) and plugging the TV back in. This resets the HDMI CP handshake. That technique worked for me. I've had it happend three times so far. It's annoying but not as bad as some of the stuff I had to endure with the Comcast box.
I also like the Tivo Desktop software. It's nice to be able to archive recordings from the Tivo to your PC via your home network. The software isn't great but it does the job, and it's free.
Customer Review: The "Mac" of DVRs
Summary: 5 Stars
Recently I discarded my 12 year old big screen TV and the original Tivo unit that I had from when DirectTV started offering the service (the hard drive still was working after all these years!). I replaced my old Tivo box with the new HD unit and a Comcast cablecard. Also, being a Mac user for 23 years I couldn't help see the parallels in the quality of the "out of the box" experience in setting up the new Tivo. They've done an excellent job of making a complex set-up process easy enough for even the most non-techie user. The tweaks to the Tivo menu system were also very appreciated.
I have several friends who got the Comcast Motorola DVR who find it hard to understand and use. When they saw our Tivo in operation that clinched the deal that the Motorola's were going back and Tivo's were getting ordered. For the few bucks a month difference, the Tivo's ease of use, ability to schedule recordings remotely over the net and intelligent scheduling are well worth it.
If you want to enjoy watching TV and quickly searching for and playing back recorded shows -- get a Tivo. If you like reading manuals and creating cheat sheets on how to work your electronic gear -- rent the Motorola DVR.
Customer Review: Works great!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had a Series2 Tivo for about 4 years, but when Comcast forced everyone in our area to upgrade to an all-digital delivery system, it became more difficult to use. Also, we had purchased a great 62" DLP Mitsubishi set a few years ago and the difference between SD and HD was enormous. Time to upgrade.
With the current deal, we could get a TivoHD box for $200 and lifetime service for $300 more. They also threw in a WiFi USB adapter for $30. I saw a deal on a 750GB drive for $55, and got that also.
Everything arrived about the same time last week and out went the clumsy Motorola/Comcast box. Putting in the cablecard took 1 minute, though the Comcast guy had to wait around for 15 minutes for the Tivo box to reboot.
So now we have a TivoHD setup with a 750GB drive (100 hours) that works beautifully. No glitches anywhere, and the dual-tuner feature is especially handy, since we always record shows with an extra minute on each end, just to account for timing issues. Very happy with the setup, which also feeds a SlingboxPro unit. I'm watching TV right now on my desktop via Slingbox.
The old Tivo Series2 we just sold on eBay for about $200. Life is good.
Customer Review: Well engineered unit, but disk too small
Summary: 5 Stars
Love my new Tivo HD DVR! Very smooth installation, but it does take a while to fully understand all of its functionality. Only disappointment is the disk drive capacity of only 20 hours in HD mode. Nearly all digital stations seem to broadcast in HD these days and the recorder automatically records in the format the station broadcasts - ergo, most recordings are made in HD mode whether you want it or not. Hence, the disk drive space limitation becomes an immediate problem. To solve this, I ordered a "Western Digital WDG1S5000VN 500GB My DVR Expander eSATA" from Amazon for only $119 to give me 93 hours of HD recording capacity. A bit expensive for both the DVR and disk drive, but a great solution overall. Would highly recommend the purchase of the external disk drive when ordering the HD DVR unit! Too bad Tivo undersized the drive in its HD DVR unit, but I'm sure they were trying to keep the price low. This is a great solution for me, as I did not want to pay for cable or satellite TV, but am happy with the 2 digital tuners that work with just an analog antenna connected to it (and also negates the need for a digital TV converter box). Great and lower cost alternative to cable TV!!!Customer Review: TiVoHD Is Worth Every Penny!
Summary: 5 Stars
I received my unit through an Amazon merchant (6ave) a couple of weeks ago. This is a fine piece of work. It has replaced my Series2 DT box (in the bedroom now) and I couldn't be happier. The day I got it I called my cable company and set up an appointment for a CableCARD, without which you get no encrypted digital channels (premiums) or non-local HD channels (TNT, TBS, etc.). The TiVoHD has a built-in ATSC tuner if you watch OTA HD channels. Picture quality is fantastic. TiVo's intuitive on-screen guide makes it easy to scan channels and get up and going in about half an hour. It comes with component cables, but HDMI would be better. If you're upgrading from a series2 DT box the most important thing I can stress is do your homework first. Call your cable company and ask about CableCARD availability. If you don't watch OTA channels then 2 S-Cards or 1 M-Card are/is required. Repeat that: *required*. Satellite users cannot use TiVoHD.
Overall TiVo has knocked this one out of the park. I may even upgrade my Series2 DT box on my SD bedroom TV with another one of these. The CableCARD replaces the clunky space-hogging set-top box. I highly recommend this unit.