Anyone got Tivo?

[ead79]

To answer your question, I hardly ever watch live TV anymore. I have the first version TiVo, and that's the one that I need to get the splitter for (I think some of them don't require a splitter, but I'm not sure). I don't think TiVo will record the show on time (it downloads it's own programming guide and goes off of that), but you can set it to start recording late and record longer (so you can estimate and get the whole program hopefully).

 

[Sharon A.]

adam, it won't do it automatically, but if it's a show you really don't want to miss you can change the recording option to start recording earlier and stop later. That way no matter what time it starts, you're covered and no matter how long the football game goes you won't miss the end of your show.

 

[mrsstats]

We have had Tivo for about 1 month and love it. We record almost all our shows and then watch them. Because of commercials, it saves you 15 minutes per show. I like the feature that you tell it what you like and it picks shows for you.

 

[kbeverina]

Originally posted by Sharon A.
KBev, I just about wore my Tivo out on World Cup games.

I think my husband and son wore the remote out doing slo-mo on all the cool moves they were thinking they could replicate themselves!

Another neat thing I was reminded of with the question about football running long--the TiVo calls in at 2am or so and downloads the next day's schedule. If a show you have on the "To Do" list to record is on at a different time or even a different day that week, the time or date change is noted by the TiVo and it will record.

And sometimes there will be a movie coming on cable I want to watch, but can't watch it at that time or am recording something else--you can display what other times that week it will be showing and pick one to TiVo.

I wish now I would have gotten the newer version, more space and features, but I didn't realize how much we'd use it.

 

[adamak]

Can someone recommend me the model / hours I should get? At first I thought 30 hr is enough. But then I read somewhere that 30 hr = 3 hrs in BEST quality in reality.

Is that true?

This Tivo thing is getting overwhelming.

 

[DonnaS]

We record in the lowest quality and it does fine for regular viewing. If you were recording something like sports and might want to slow mo it, then you'll want to use a better setting.

BTW kbeverina mentioned how it updates the schedule. On ours we can actually tell it what time to update. Additionally, we got something that allows us to update it using our wireless internet connection so we don't have to connect it to a phone line.

 

[dmadman43]

If you have DirecTV I recommend getting the HDVR2..this will allow you to record one satellite show and watch another..or record two shows on at the same time (like, for example, I had a problem deciding between Law and Order-Criminal Intent and the Sopranos on Sunday nights). With Tivo, no problem. I could watch (and pause) the Sopranos while recording CI. this model will record up to 35 hours of content These models are currently very popular and are usually sold out within days of stores receiving shipments.

http://www.orbitsatellite.com/Product.asp?PID=HDVR2D

The Sony SAT-60 is the most popular model. http://www.audiorevolution.com/equip/sonydsstivo/

 

[WDWguruDH]

We have had TIVO for several years. LOVE IT! No worry about if ER is new tonight or not, it just records it if it is. No more commericals, it is actually painful to travel and have to watch stuff live in the hotel.
We were worried about the increased TV watching as well, but what we found is that we watch TV at a certain time for an amount of time. The difference with TIVO is that we are watching what we want to watch during that time. No more just watching something to watch TV.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

We do and we love it... best thing we ever did.. while we were in WDW for DisCon.. Tivo was recording Survivor and other programs.. Love it.

 

[Claudia1]

We have had it for over a year and love it, with one big reservation.

We live in a rural area and don't have a local dial-up number. TiVo discontinued the "800" toll-free number months ago and we have to pay for a daily long-distance call for the updates. Additionally, they rotate their calling times evenly throughout a 24-hour time period. We pay for random calls at any time of the day, even high-cost peak times. It comes out to be about $15-18/month. Some of the downloads are over 20 minutes.

I like being able to replay a missed scene or dialogue. DS like the auto-recording. DH likes the updated schedules.

BTW, you can program it to record favorite types of shows. If it senses that you routinely watch war movies, it will record one that you are missing without you programing it. Caught our DD in watching Mtv. It is not allowed in our house and she was sneaking around to watch one of the shows. When she missed a day, TiVo recorded it for her. Busted!!!!!

 

[caitycaity]

we've had tivo for about a year and a half and i wouldn't ever go without it again.