Is TIVO worth the $$?
 

I went to bestbuy the other day to buy a TIVO box with a DVD burner and the guy at best buy told me that it wasn't really worth it to pay for TIVO service when the local cable company will give me a DVR for like $6 a month.

I called the cable company but they're out of DVR's and have no idea when they'll be getting them in.

Would it be a colossal waste of my money to go buy the TIVO box and the lifetime service deal for $299? Or should I just wait (god knows how long) and get the DVR from charter?

If you own a TIVO or a DVR I'd be interested to hear about your experience and whether or not you think it's worth it.

Considering every tv show is available for download usually 30mins before air. I'd say no.

Then again thats not for everyone.

I had the same problem and did not know which way to go... glad I got the DVR from charter and it works great... I love it...

id get that tivo over a dvr... its got a dvd burner, dvr doesn't i don't belive

Yes, I love my TiVo. How did I ever live without it?

I have TIVO and love it, I had DVR through my cable company prior, but the cable company here (mediacom) sucks, I did not like their DVR or the format of the cable guide so switched to directtv. Some DVR's can only record the one channel that the TV is on, you cant watch one show and record another (thats what mediacoms did) but with TIVO I can record 2 shows and watch a third at the same time is why I changed to it.

I have Tivo and love it .. just the pause feature alone is worth it. I know people who have the cable company DVR and they like it also ... I just like the menu better on the Tivo

a big plus on the cable DVR is that you can record a show while watching another. on the tivo you can't do that...:2 cents:

I'd say wait for the DVR if they said 'a month at the most' or something.

Call them back and talk to a MANAGER and ask when they'll get more DVRs. Someone there may be like "we have a shipment arriving monday". My experience with cable companies is the first person to answer the phone is an idiot paid minimum wage, ask for a manager.

i suggest going johnny mnemonic style with the brain implant
http://www.reeves-dogstar.com/pics3/johnny01.jpg

I didn't know you couldn't do that with the TIVO. I'll have to look into that.

On the charter DVR they say you can record two shows at once while watching a 3rd recorded show (not live though)
That's a nice bonus when you want to watch 2 football games or 2 TV shows that air at the same time.

I have TIVO and can watch a show and record 2 at the same time.

Cox cable here in san diego put a DVR into thier cable boxes for $10 a month, im lovin it

It's definitely worth it. Just be prepared to watch a lot more TV. ;)

Actually, I added it up the other day because it seems like I watch a ton of shows now, but it's still only a few hours a week since a 30 min show takes 15 mins and a 1 hour takes 30, without all the commercial bullshit. I refuse to watch anything now unless it's TiVoed.

Why would anyone pay a monthly fee for TIVO or a DVR when you can just hook up a Windows Media PC to your TV and store a hell of a lot more and do more with it for free. Also, a PC can wirelessly send recorded video to all of the other tvs in your house if you set them up with receivers.

A 30 minute show is usually 22 minutes with 8 minutes of commercials. An hour show is 45 minutes with 15 minutes of commercials. On the premium channels like HBO and Showtime, an hour show actually lasts an hour.

This is how I do it- If a half hour show comes on at 8:00, I start watching it at 8:15 and I am able to fast forward through every commercial and finish at 8:30. If it's a one hour, same thing- start at 8:30, go through every commercial and finish around 9:00.

I don't have any movie channels. And it's convenient as hell to hit one record button anytime you want to record, set season passes, or just rewind any live TV you're watching if you don't catch what someone says or you want to see something again. It doesn't cost that much and is well worth it, to me.

I have TIVO and DVR from the cable company.
There is absolutely NO COMPARISON. TIVO is a fucking bazillion times better. DVR sucks ass. TIVO is well worth the price

Interesting responses.
I may have to go buy that TIVO tomorrow, if for no other reason than I want it right-fucking-now and don't want to wait for charter to get more DVR's...LOL

There's a bunch of shows I like to watch and I always forget to setup the VCR when I'm not going to be home, so I really like the season pass idea, so I won't miss my favorite shows.

Does TV even have an HD version yet like the cable and sattelite DVRs have?

move out of the ghetto

Get your head surgically removed from xxxjay's ass and quit stalking me jizzmop.

stalking you? who the fuck are you anyhow??? lol

beat it noob.

DVR sucks...it is just fast forward, rewind, pause...

tivo is SOOOO much more

We have the Dual Tuner Directivo and I won't ever buy anything else again...it is like have two tivo units in one, you can record 2 channels at the same time...and the tivo service is only $4 if you have it through directv

standalone tivo unit - shitty
dual tuner tivo with directv - the best thing ever

But does it record in high definition?

I really didn't want to get TiVo for a long time. But that thing is amazing. It'll save you a lot of time and hassle. It's very cheap for what it is. I'd get the HD box though so it can record in HD.

get a tuner card and windows xp media center edition(or some other tivo like software)

then stream the recordings to your tv or watch on puter..

hmm i need one of those tivo's ...

they have a new hd directivo, sure

directv.com/DTVAPP/imagine/TiVo_HD.jsp

tivo sucks..... damn scammers

I LOVE my TiVo. Had one since they first came out. I never watch TV unless it's through the TiVo. I've found most 1 hour shows are actually 40 minutes, not 45. And it's funny how some of the more popular shows seem to have longer commercial times ;)

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh jizzmop :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

what Tivo do you have ... I have a version 1 and a version 2 ..neither one can record and watch something else at the same time. they don't have a receiver in them like the DVR does ( it has 3 ) .. I set up another cable box to the TV so I can just switch over to the other video2 and watch something else while the tivo tapes on Video1 ... If you have 2 tivo version 2 set up on different tv's then you can have one record and it will show both Tivo's play list in one place because they're on the same network ..

You can also network the tivo to your PC and pull vids and pic / mp3's off the pc ... I can also put stuff I record on the Tivo on my laptop and take it with me .. that's pretty cool

I have version 2 with DirecTV (it's about 3 years old I think) and I can record one show and watch a different show, but I can't record 2 different shows.

I use the Charter DVR.
It can record two shows at the same time and allow you to watch something that was previously recorded.
It does record and have HD ability.
With record once, and record series options at the touch of a button kicks ass.
Ability to have it record a show every time it airs or just first runs is very convient. Used with certain shows if the time overlaps two other shows you wish to record it will still grab the third show when it airs again and not count it as a repeate.
Option to set it to begin and end recording a couple minutes before and after the show.
The built in games can be a good distraction.
The on screen ticker option is a nice addition.
Ability to set show priorities in the event of overlaps. So it knows which shows you want before other shows.
Ability to hide assorted channels you could care less about in the onscreen channel menu. AKA remove all christian, MTV clone, and shopping channel option.
Has either a firewire or usb2 plug (have not checked into it yet).
Can store and play photos you load into it. Useless to me but its a new feature.
Show deletion options are nice. Ability set it to delete only when you want, after x number of days, or when space is needed.
Of course fast foward, rewind, and pause.
And lastly it is only 6.00 a month.

Downside is I could use more storage space. Need to find out more about that firewire or usb2 outlet.

If you value your time don't do it.

If you have a spare computer, definitely check out http://www.snapstream.com/. Can do about everything a TiVO can do and much more

ANY directv with tivo can record 2 shows at the same time, plus you can watch something from the tivo list

all directv with tivo built in are Dual Tuner

our directv with tivo has almost all that and then more

I upgraded mine and it now has a 200gb drive in it, i have about 200 hours of recording time now

I had Tivo through directv and loved it! I was thinking about getting it at best buy now that I have cable and I'm not sure if Charter offers it in my area.

Mine has a bunch of other features as well I just do not utilize them so I do not use em. What usable features does your Tivo have that I did not list. Aside from the drive space which I do agree is a pain in the ass.