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Folks, it's been maybe 8-10 months since TiVo was introduced, on the heals of Replay TV. At least Replay was advertised as " Coming" , some time before I had heard of TiVo. Actually, I think the first I heard of TiVo, was the night I bought mine. How's that for a spontaneous decision? lol. TiVo was only part of what I did that night, but I would sooner forget the 800 bucks I need to pay off soon to avoid interest on that other stuff, ooops.
TiVo, to me, regardless of who came up with the idea first, is an ingenious invention. How many times have you just had to either get up and yell at kids, answer the phone, get the door, take a leak, whatever and you just hated to miss part of a show your watching. Well, no more. With TiVo, you get a continuous 30 minute buffer, so that you could actually pause it the entire length of a TV show. Keep in mind though, that if you want to watch a different show, you would need a dual LNB dish and 2 receivers to accomplish this with DirecTV. The reason being, is that TiVo is linked to DirecTV via a special serial cable, so that it can both access and change channels on DirecTV. But DirecTV receivers are only capable of displaying one channel at a time. How ingenious right?
TiVo is not only just as capable with cable signals, it can actually combine BOTH DirecTV and cable into one programming package. Pretty cool stuff. In fact, I personally have both combined, using local network channels from Cable, and a basic package from DirecTV to receive a somewhat more robust selection.
TiVo, of course, is linked via a phone line to TiVo headquarters, or some other remote number. It does this to get the programming information. Without the service, which costs 200.00 for a lifetime deal, or 10.00 bucks a month, TiVo is not much more than a giant paperweight. The reason I say this, is, it can't make intelligent decisions about your programming, to do recordings that " he" things you will like. You also get lots of messages that state " your service is expired, blah blah" . Trust me, don't even plan on going there. Yes, you could still do either timed recordings, or press the instant record button, but it's just not worth it without the service. Better off with a good VCR.
But with the service, TiVo will really change the way you watch television. No longer will you avoid making plans because you would miss your favorite TV show! Just set TiVo up with a " Season Pass" , and your good to go. TiVo will ALWAYS record that show if it see's it on, no matter the time or day. Of course, there is the freedom to watch a TV show, taking much longer than what the show actually is. As long as you start at the beginning of the buffer in a currently recorded show, you can keep going until the show has quit recording, and til the end of what was previously recorded, and the show is in fact, over.
So, TiVo, featuring thumbs up and thumbs down buttons, allows you to give it 1, 2, or 3 of either, allowing TiVo to intelligently make decisions based upon what he KNOWS you like best. Of course, you can get season passes to shows, as I mentioned earlier. When you want to view programming, just press one button, and navigate the simple menu structure.
TiVo, is not really designed to be a long term storage mechanism. For the most part, it's record it, view it, and delete it technology. Of course, you can download to your VCR, favorite programs recorded. But if you squeeze TiVo's programming room with permenantly saved shows, TiVo will begin to not be able to record either everything you want him to, or everything he wants to, trying of course, to please you! So, keep that in mind should you choose to make the TiVo jump.
Also, I pulled a neat trick using TiVo in reversing some cables, and ARCHIVING special video clips of my daughter's cheerleading competition where she won a National Championship in the Jr. All Star division! To me, I would be willing to sacrifice the space on TiVo, to put these shows at fingertip access! My TiVo, being among the first, is only a 14 hour unit. 14 hours is figured at the lowest quality though. TiVo's today are going 30 hours, and some people are even " hacking" their TiVos to get up to 90 hours out of them. I would love to do this, but currently lack both the knowledge, and Linus equipment and experience. Some expert users are saying it would be wise to wait until TiVo 2.0 release comes out. I think it's 1.5 now.
TiVo, of course, gives you full text information, much as your directv system does, but put's it in a much more friendly user interface. In short, TiVo was one of the best audio video purchases I have ever made. That's the primary reason I started a PTR forum. I want you guys to learn about the benefits of them. If you at all watch TV, you will really appreciate what TiVo does to make your life more comfortable, as well as convenient. Rates well on packaging, cabling, as well as product innovation.
I give TiVo a 4 star rating, and highly recommend it. It seems that Philips, has not only one superstar in Pronto. But also another in TiVo.
In short, TiVo will revolutionize how you watch Television.
Enjoy!
Lex
<A HREF="http://www.catcables.com" <IMG SRC="http://www.htguide.com/lexman/other/sm_logo.gif"
TiVo, to me, regardless of who came up with the idea first, is an ingenious invention. How many times have you just had to either get up and yell at kids, answer the phone, get the door, take a leak, whatever and you just hated to miss part of a show your watching. Well, no more. With TiVo, you get a continuous 30 minute buffer, so that you could actually pause it the entire length of a TV show. Keep in mind though, that if you want to watch a different show, you would need a dual LNB dish and 2 receivers to accomplish this with DirecTV. The reason being, is that TiVo is linked to DirecTV via a special serial cable, so that it can both access and change channels on DirecTV. But DirecTV receivers are only capable of displaying one channel at a time. How ingenious right?
TiVo is not only just as capable with cable signals, it can actually combine BOTH DirecTV and cable into one programming package. Pretty cool stuff. In fact, I personally have both combined, using local network channels from Cable, and a basic package from DirecTV to receive a somewhat more robust selection.
TiVo, of course, is linked via a phone line to TiVo headquarters, or some other remote number. It does this to get the programming information. Without the service, which costs 200.00 for a lifetime deal, or 10.00 bucks a month, TiVo is not much more than a giant paperweight. The reason I say this, is, it can't make intelligent decisions about your programming, to do recordings that " he" things you will like. You also get lots of messages that state " your service is expired, blah blah" . Trust me, don't even plan on going there. Yes, you could still do either timed recordings, or press the instant record button, but it's just not worth it without the service. Better off with a good VCR.
But with the service, TiVo will really change the way you watch television. No longer will you avoid making plans because you would miss your favorite TV show! Just set TiVo up with a " Season Pass" , and your good to go. TiVo will ALWAYS record that show if it see's it on, no matter the time or day. Of course, there is the freedom to watch a TV show, taking much longer than what the show actually is. As long as you start at the beginning of the buffer in a currently recorded show, you can keep going until the show has quit recording, and til the end of what was previously recorded, and the show is in fact, over.
So, TiVo, featuring thumbs up and thumbs down buttons, allows you to give it 1, 2, or 3 of either, allowing TiVo to intelligently make decisions based upon what he KNOWS you like best. Of course, you can get season passes to shows, as I mentioned earlier. When you want to view programming, just press one button, and navigate the simple menu structure.
TiVo, is not really designed to be a long term storage mechanism. For the most part, it's record it, view it, and delete it technology. Of course, you can download to your VCR, favorite programs recorded. But if you squeeze TiVo's programming room with permenantly saved shows, TiVo will begin to not be able to record either everything you want him to, or everything he wants to, trying of course, to please you! So, keep that in mind should you choose to make the TiVo jump.
Also, I pulled a neat trick using TiVo in reversing some cables, and ARCHIVING special video clips of my daughter's cheerleading competition where she won a National Championship in the Jr. All Star division! To me, I would be willing to sacrifice the space on TiVo, to put these shows at fingertip access! My TiVo, being among the first, is only a 14 hour unit. 14 hours is figured at the lowest quality though. TiVo's today are going 30 hours, and some people are even " hacking" their TiVos to get up to 90 hours out of them. I would love to do this, but currently lack both the knowledge, and Linus equipment and experience. Some expert users are saying it would be wise to wait until TiVo 2.0 release comes out. I think it's 1.5 now.
TiVo, of course, gives you full text information, much as your directv system does, but put's it in a much more friendly user interface. In short, TiVo was one of the best audio video purchases I have ever made. That's the primary reason I started a PTR forum. I want you guys to learn about the benefits of them. If you at all watch TV, you will really appreciate what TiVo does to make your life more comfortable, as well as convenient. Rates well on packaging, cabling, as well as product innovation.
I give TiVo a 4 star rating, and highly recommend it. It seems that Philips, has not only one superstar in Pronto. But also another in TiVo.
In short, TiVo will revolutionize how you watch Television.
Enjoy!
Lex
<A HREF="http://www.catcables.com" <IMG SRC="http://www.htguide.com/lexman/other/sm_logo.gif"
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