To connect the laptop and the TiVo together for the purposes of TiVoToGo transfers, you'll need:
- A crossover ethernet cable. This differs from a standard ethernet cable, in that several of the wire pairs are swapped, to allow direct transfer from one device to another without a hub or switch. You can pick one up at a store or online (or make your own if you have a crimper, etc).
- A wired USB ethernet adapter compatible with TiVo.
http://www.tivo.com/adapters/ has a list of adapters that are known to work.
However, if you want to connect the TiVo to your DSL connection permanently, you might just want to invest in a broadband router (as cheap as free after rebate at times).
To transfer / watch the recordings, you'll need TiVo Desktop 2.1, available at
http://www.tivo.com/desktop/.