TiVo R24008A 80-Hour Digital Video Recorder

The TIVO works great. I like everything about it -- EXCEPT the TIVO rebate process.As could be predicted, along with about 75% of all other Rebate offers, mine got "Oops!" -- REJECTED.Why? I don't know. I looked over the forms again. I looked over my Model number and dates of purchase and receipt and EVERYTHING and it all looked great. When the date (12/1) came and went and I didn't receive my $50 rebate checks (yes, I bought two) from TIVO -- I finally decided to do some research.I looked on the form, and you are told to go to: [...]to check on your status. I got an error message saying that mine had been "Incorrectly Submitted."I then called the Tivo Rebate phone number (800-352-1075) -- and provided them with all my information and VOILA! Suddenly my rebates are on their way again -- but with an additional 4-week delay.The jury's still out on whether I'll really receive a rebate check without more hassles. I'd just like to submit this comment as a FAIR WARNING to Tivo Purchasers to: * KEEP A RECORD OF EVERYTHING * MARK YOUR CALENDAR AS A REMINDER * WRITE DOWN THE TIVO REBATE PHONE NUMBER (800-352-1075) 'CAUSE YOU'RE PROBABLY GOING TO NEED IT.My Conspiracy Theory: Big Companies offering "rebates" know that most people forget they are due a rebate check -- and OOPS! somehow consistently mess things up (seemingly as a matter of policy). Don't be a sucker and get tricked out of your money -- and, in this case, by TIVO.

I bought and installed the Tivo last December as a Christmas present for my parents. Their overall experience with it has been positive, but there have also been a number of problems, which I will go into in this review for the benefit of those trying to make an informed decision.First, after Tivo made its initial dialup connection, it crashed. A green screen appeared on the TV announcing the crash and saying that if the system did not recover within 5 hours to call customer service. It took considerably longer than that, but eventually it did recover. Two days later, another crash occurred. Over time the crashes became less frequent and recovery time was faster. As far as I know, crashes no longer occur. (Perhaps Tivo downloaded patches to its drivers.) Crashes are very frustrating, because not only can you not record during them, but you can't even watch TV at all without disconnecting the Tivo from the cable. Television should not be subject to crashes. VCRs never do this.One reason I bought Tivo for my parents is that according to the hype, it is so easy to use that anyone can quickly learn and become comfortable with it. My parents are not very tech-savvy and never mastered the VCR that they have owned for over 10 years, so I thought Tivo would be an excellent solution for them. It's been a struggle, but they finally know how to use the basic features and are no longer angry with me for turning their television-viewing into such a stressful time.A seldom-mentioned fact is that Tivo does not give you the ability to watch live TV and record a separate program simultaneously (although you can watch an already recorded program while another is being recorded). So if you just want to turn on the TV and channel-surf, you won't be able to if Tivo is already in the middle of recording another program (unless you tell it to stop recording that program). Even more infuriating is when you are watching live TV, and in the middle of the program a message pops up saying that Tivo is about to beginning a scheduled recording, giving you a few seconds to decide whether you want to abandon what you are in the middle of watching or if you are willing to not do the recording. Sometimes this can be a very stressful dilemma, particularly if the scheduled recording was requested by another member of the household. My father was often not quick enough to tell it to cancel the recording, and as a result, recording would begin, and the program he was watching would suddenly disappear from the screen and he wouldn't know how to get it back. When this occurred during major sporting events, his level of stress was unprecedented.Tivo doesn't work well when shared by multiple members of a household. Besides the aforementioned problem of different viewers canceling each other's conflicting recording schedules or even deleting other people's yet-to-be-viewed programs to free up space on the drive, there is also the problem that the program recommendation feature becomes hilariously inept. It works something like this. Tivo keeps a database on their servers of what programs each Tivo records as well as viewer ratings, and then it looks for corelations. For example, 95% of people who watch program A and program B also record program C. So Tivo if you regularly watch both A and B, Tivo will recommend and record C for you. Of course if A and B are recorded by separate individuals, the correlation means nothing. If I record Spongebob and my father records Meet the Press, and 95% of people who record both also watch programs on the golf channel, that correlation is meaningless. Tivo has definitely made some weird choices.Also, there is an occasional stutter in which a program will freeze for a second or two. This is particularly pronounced when it is recording one program while displaying another. The problem is not serious, since it restarts where it left off with no gap in the sound (and you can always rewind). But it is moderately annoying to me and extremely disturbing to my parents. Also, if you choose to copy important programs to videocassettes, you would record all the stutters as well.One disadvantage of VCR programming that Tivo has yet to overcome is the problem of preempted programs. If a show is delayed by a sporting event or that crazy Bush fellow, Tivo will not know this. It will begin and end recording at the scheduled times. In other words, the system is still not foolproof. There will be times when the ending of your program is cut off. Perhaps now that Tivo is making the jump to broadband, it will have access to constant scheduling updates.Overall this is a very good product, and I do recommend it for most people. I chose to concentrate on the flaws in this review, since the advantages (which are quite significant) are detailed exhaustively in the other reviews. It definitely deserves all four stars, and future versions of Tivo will probably do much to remedy the current problems.

I have had my TiVo for approximately two weeks. I cannot imagine being without it and am already contemplating the purchase of a second.The 60 hour system has room for two hard drives (HDs), but ships with one 60GB. The HD is a standard computer version, preconfigured with a customized version of Linux and custom TiVo software. The 60 hour holds approximately 62 hours of shows on Basic quality (more about that in a minute) using v3.0 of the TiVo software (after subscribing, your system will be updated to the latest version of the software during one of the nightly calls). There are four quality levels - Best, High, Medium, and Basic. The Basic level provides 62 hours, while Best is about 17 hours. For most shows, Medium or High quality is sufficient. If the signal is ultra-clean (no static) and you can stand a little pixelation, Basic would suffice.After a simple guided setup, where TiVo downloads information about where to call each night (you have several thousand phone numbers to choose from - in most places it will be a local call) it then downloads two weeks of guide data. The guide data is the key to TiVo's excellent features - Season Passes, Wishlists, searching, and more. After four to eight hours while the guide data is indexed, your TiVo is fully operational. (During indexing, you can still pause and rewind live TV.)Some of the key features:- Pausing live TV: Press the pause button while watching your favorite show, then go get a snack or take the dog for a walk - do whatever, for up to 30 minutes. When you return, simply press play to pick up right where you left off.- Catch *every* episode of your favorite show: Set up a Season Pass for a show, and TiVo will automatically find and record every episode of it (or only first-run episodes, your choice), even if the show changes timeslots, days, or channels.- Record a timeslot manually: Use a manual Season Pass to automatically record a certain block at the same time every day, once a week, or just Monday through Friday.- Just record one show: Find a show using the Title, Channel, or Timeslot searches and record a single episode with two button presses.- Account for early (or late) shows: Does your favorite show always start a minute early? Or are you trying to catch the end of the Oscars? Tell TiVo to record up to 10 minutes before a show's scheduled start time, or for up to three hours after the scheduled end time.- Record a show while watching another: Check in with "Now Showing" (a list of the shows that have been recorded on your TiVo) to watch one show while TiVo records another in the background. Or watch the beginning of a show while TiVo records the end!- Find a show, even if you don't know its' name: Set up a wishlist for a title, actor, or director, and TiVo will go about recording everything it can find with your criteria. Even try a more advanced wishlist - set up a Title wishlist for "Friends Yeti" to catch the episode where Ross moves in with Emily.- Find shows that you didn't know existed: Have TiVo find and record suggestions based on your Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down ratings of shows that you watch or record.TiVos are also relatively easily upgradable. Since the TiVo service relies on a serial number embedded in the CPU, upgrading your TiVo won't cancel your service (though it *will* void the 90 day warranty). Many sites provide HDs that are "pre-blessed" (the term for readying an HD to be used in a TiVo) for quick installation. You can also buy an HD off the shelf and follow instructions posted online to upgrade. The original 60 hour Series 2 units had room for two hard drives - newer 60 hour Series 2 units will have the single-drive architecture of the rest of the TiVo line.Overall, TiVo will change the way you watch TV, for the better. Skip ads, record with a single click, or catch every episode of a show. You can offload shows to tape at any time to free up space, or keep shows indefinitely. A great gift for mom or dad who can't program their VCR!