Tivo Or Is There Something Better?

[SanFranciscan]

I have wired my television, DVD player, and VCR together in a manner that I admit is a bit of a Frankenstein system. It is time for an update, but I am a rather low-tech and not exactly loaded with money. I am thinking about getting a Tivo system though. Does anyone here have one? Do you like it? Why, or why not? Would it work with a television made in the 1990's, or would I have to replace that as well?

 

[candykisses]

Do I like Tivo?

Put it this way..if Tivo were a man I'd marry him! I loooove Tivo so much that I have two of them. I'd recommend Tivo to anyone.

 

[lovemygoofy]

We have 2 running tivo's and love them! I honestly didn't want it at first but now if I had to choose between my husband and the tivo who would win


Our first tivo was hooked to an older model German tv(first language was German). If you don't have HD cable then get a regular tivo not one of the super duper tivo as you won't get full use out of it. One bad thing I've noticed is that depending on your cable company you may need some kind of cable box to help with the tivo. I can't explain it in techinical terms because I'm just not that highspeed. All I know is that in the last house we didn't have to have a cable box with the old tivo and tv but now we do in this house.

The tivo is very user friendly and the set up isn't that bad. I can almost set it up by myself, well on the old tv but not a chance on my husband's fancy entertainment stuff they also have great customer service. You can either buy a lifetime plan or a monthly contract plan for something like $12.99 a month.

 

[su_A_ve]

yeah, but a $12 a month for the subscription only...

BTW, I had Tivo with my old Directv receiver. It was great, and not yet surpassed by any of the provider's versions yet, but getting close. I'm familiar with most (Directv, Fios, Comcast, Dish).

Question for the OP: What is your TV source? Antenna, Cable, Satellite?

Why I ask? because it might make better sense to get a DVR thru your provider if you have one. And if you are not on a contract, maybe it's time to consider the alternatives. You do not need to get an HD DVR as you don't have an HD TV, so the per month prices are lower with a system from your provider. If you do have antenna service only, the TiVo is pretty much your only choice.

There are tons of options for new subscribers though that can offset your monthly costs. But it depends on your other needs as well as the best discounts are based on other services as well, ie, triple play packages (phone, internet, tv). For example, you can get a $200 rebate if you sign up with comcast for their 3x package for $99 (actually closer to $120 after taxes and fees) a month, with no commitment.

However, if you are considering an HD set, that's another story as now you need to consider HD-DVRs and HD subscriptions...

 

[bonoriffic]

BTW, I had Tivo with my old Directv receiver. It was great, and not yet surpassed by any of the provider's versions yet, but getting close.

Tivo for Direct TV was never a "full" Tivo experience. It is limited in what it can do. Any comparison used with a Direct TV Tivo is not fair to Tivo.

 

[gregokdisney]

I had to convince my husband, but now he is addicted to the TIVO. It will change everything about the way you watch TV. We've had our TIVO (with one upgrade) for almost 4 years. We pay about $125 per year for the service. We are thinking to upgrading to the TIVO premiere in a few months.

I LOVE TIVO!

 

[CLEO Z]

I also LOVE my TiVo. Watching live TV now drives me nuts. I'd give up almost any applicance in my house before TiVo -including the microwave. I've had the lifetime subscription for 6 1/2 years. Our old TiVo went bad at 5 yrs, but they sold me a reconditioned one for less than $100 and transferred my lifetime subscription.

My son & daughter only know TiVo and don't watch live TV. It helps me control what they watch. I'm thinking about buying another one for the TV upstairs that doesn't have cable. I'd connect the two TiVos using wireless, record programs only on the downstairs and transfer the kid's shows to it. Make sense? That way my husband & I can watch CSI while the kid's watch their show!

You can also get online while you are away from home and set your Tivo to record a program.

 

[lovemygoofy]

I also LOVE my TiVo. Watching live TV now drives me nuts. I'd give up almost any applicance in my house before TiVo -including the microwave. I've had the lifetime subscription for 6 1/2 years. Our old TiVo went bad at 5 yrs, but they sold me a reconditioned one for less than $100 and transferred my lifetime subscription.

My son & daughter only know TiVo and don't watch live TV. It helps me control what they watch. I'm thinking about buying another one for the TV upstairs that doesn't have cable. I'd connect the two TiVos using wireless, record programs only on the downstairs and transfer the kid's shows to it. Make sense? That way my husband & I can watch CSI while the kid's watch their show!

You can also get online while you are away from home and set your Tivo to record a program.

Being able to access scheduling online is a great thing! My husband and his soldiers can schedule the tivo online and then I record from the dvd recorder and just drop them the dvd in the mail. This way they can watch their tv shows, movies on HBO or the big game even if a bit late.

 

[LuLuO]

We have a DVR through our cable company, Charter. I love it. It is the first DVR we've had so I can't compare to other services. We pay $10/month for our DVR.

 

[tinkrebell]

I have On Demand, a free service through Comcast Cable, that has pre-recorded all of the current primetime TV shows on nearly every free cable and broadcast channel (everything except Fox, sadly--so no SYTYCD!) --if you're not adamant about being able to pick and choose which programs are recorded, I'd highly recommend it! It's free with their cable subscription and has free movies to watch cycling through each week.

 

[pixiewings71]

We have a DVR with our Comcast (as well as On Demand), we love our DVR. It's $10 a month for the service.

 

[uk_wildcat]

We have been using Tivo for quite a few years now. We still use the our first one which was purchased in 2004. At that time we paid for a lifetime subscription on it, which has worked out well, because we now own a total of 5 of them and the monthly fee for each is cheaper because of the lifetime on the first one. We have them spread throughout the house in different rooms, but they can be accessed in any room and shows transferred back and forth. This allows us to record quite a bit of stuff, including movies and kids shows.
We had a DVR from Time Warner for a while and I hated it. The interface was not as user friendly and transferring shows was not an option. We got rid of that thing and the monthly fee was about $1 more than a Tivo.

 

[michael's mom]

yes yes yes! DH had a TIVO back when we were dating and bought me something similar. Since then, there have been a few times when I was DVRless and it was aweful I love watching TV with the TIVO. We now have the DVR through our provider and in some ways, it's even better. But, if it's not an option through your cable provider the TIVO is definitely worth the money.

But it doesn't change the need for a VCR or DVD player. It's just for TV.

Our DVR is through Verizon and we have the recorder in our family room, but we can access all recorded material on the box in our bedroom! It's really great. I've been trying to convince my parents to get one!

 

[JB2K]

I had a TiVo a few years ago -- it was a simple SD (Standard Definition) model, but it had lifetime service which enhanced the resale value.

Since then, I made the jump to HD and like the PP, I am now using my local telco's (AT&T U-verse) DVR (as TiVo is not compatible with those systems operated by the nation's phone companies).

 

[JB2K]

Would it work with a television made in the 1990's, or would I have to replace that as well?

The SD model that I mentioned would work perfectly with older TV's such as yours as you could use a simple RCA A/V (Red/White/Yellow) cable or a coaxial cable.

 

[secretpantssam]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my tivo!! I wouldn't use anything else! The cable DVRs are no where near as good. And if you can get a lifetime subscription, I would. I've had mine for I think 6 years now and I seriously could not watch tv without it.

 

[abmitch01]

you'll have to pry my tivo from my cold, dead hands

can you still get the one-time lifetime subscription? I did those instead of monthly bills. we have 3 tivos, the oldest is from '02 and still going strong

 

[michael's mom]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my tivo!! I wouldn't use anything else! The cable DVRs are no where near as good. And if you can get a lifetime subscription, I would. I've had mine for I think 6 years now and I seriously could not watch tv without it.

I suppose that depends on who your provider is. We've had several TIVOs, another one that they don't make anymore and for the life of me I can't remember what it was called, and DVRs through Comcast and Verizon. As far as cable provided ones, I liked the Comcast one better, but find that they were both as good as the TIVO...and don't have to be updated like the TIVO did through a phone line. (the new ones may be different, but ours needed a phone line). Our updates required us to do it manually because we couldn't dedicate a phone jack to it (long story). I liked Comcast better than Verizon because of it's set up only. I like Verizon better than both because I can watch recorded shows on any of our boxes but only one is a DVR box.

 

[TallyTutter]

I have wired my television, DVD player, and VCR together in a manner that I admit is a bit of a Frankenstein system. It is time for an update, but I am a rather low-tech and not exactly loaded with money. I am thinking about getting a Tivo system though. Does anyone here have one? Do you like it? Why, or why not? Would it work with a television made in the 1990's, or would I have to replace that as well?

TiVo all the way!!

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

I love the Tivo - I know that regular DVR's are cheaper but Tivo has given me so much more time to do other things. The only downfall is that it is so difficult to watch live programming! I find myself wanting to fast forward through commercials. Sometimes, I will even rewind the program a bit just so that I can eventually fast forward through the commercials!

We have Comcast and Tivo will not work with Satellite TV's so that is something to keep in mind. We have the HD version with two tuners so it can record two programs at a time. Every once in a while we run into issues with three or more shows being on at the same time. So, we just prioritize!