What is Tivo, and is it worth 13 bucks a month?

[pepper*sans*salt]

Originally posted by LabelsDC:
  Pepper:  I have a crazy idea..  Check out www.tivo.com I have a hunch you will find all of your answers there.  not sure though     :cool:  

I know about that site. I wanted real suggestions about it though, not a bunch of fake testimonials like "I don't know how i lived without it!!" That's why i decided to post the question here.

[markie]

Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
  Judging by the lack of people standing near you at the Liz Phair concert, it seems like you already invested in them.      

I think my loud groans aimed at her insipid lyrics and my facial grimaces at her lack of vocal ability kept people away. Actually I think the sensible people left after the cardigans.

[LabelsDC]

by the way... u can check out replay tv.. a cheaper version TIVO.. they are all DVR's  Digital Video Recorders.
 
 It plays everything in a delay, so u can pause live TV, go back to something you missed (or didnt hear).   Its actually really cool if youre a couch patato.
 
 TIVO is like a nagging spouse.  It gets to the point if it see that you record certain shows, it will start suggesting things you should watch/record.. Guess that could get annoying..

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Well then put your money into cd's, of the music variety. And buy the cd's at shows, so the artists get more money.
 
 Sorry, I just hate tv.
 
 
 

Originally posted by mark e smith:
   

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
  Instead, put the money into an account to buy a home or put it into some other investment account.

But if everyone did that the economy would crumble and millions of Chinese workers would be out of a job.... [/b]

[sonickteam2]

the TiVo itself would probably be cool, if you didnt have to buy a new TV and the "tivo box" isnt $300 or something.
 
  how much is that TiVo box anyway?
 
   i only watch sports on TV and i dont watch old games, so i would have zero use for it.
 
  I have Netflix  

[ggw]

Countdown to vansmack......
 
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[punkfarmgirl]

It's better than a VCR for many reasons. 1. If the electricity goes out, you still get your program recorded (assuming it comes back on in time). 2. You can schedule it to record a certain show and it will pick it up no matter when it's on. For example, say I set it to record Scrubs always. It will notice if they switch nights and times and record it for me. And I only have to set it once and it will record it week after week so I don't have to remember every morning what to record and then try to find a blank tape. 3. The newer ones allow you to go online and set it via a webpage. So, if you're at work and hear about something good coming on in an hour, you can record it without running home. (this is assuming you have it plugged into a router or your wireless network at home) 4. It will save your shows for you until you run out of room or want to delete them. And then, if you want, you can record them from the Tivo to a VCR.
 
 Really, it's mostly people who really love TV that like them. A lot of cable and satellite companies have their own versions of them, too, that don't require a subscription fee *and* the price to buy it. I used a fake one from my cable company and only paid $20 a month for it- no $200 - 300 right at first jsut to buy it, plus the $13 a month after that. And when I was done with it, I just turned it back in. Pretty handy.

[kosmo vinyl]

smackie luv his tivo...
 
 personally i'm taking the plunge to get the comcast digital video recorder (dvr), which kosmette will continue to call a tivo.  kinda like kleenex.
 
 the biggest advantage of a dvr over a vcr is the ability to have several hours of tv at your disposal without having to worry about changing tv.  it will be nice for instance to be able to have several episodes of Malcolm in the Middle on hand.  Plus it nice to be able to setup it up to tape those BBC America shows that come and go like the wind.
 
 personally, i'm loathed to give comcast more money, but the comcast dvrs have a couple advantages over tivo.  instead of two devices its combined into one, you can return it when done using it, plus some come with dual tuners which is important with digital cable.

[Bombay Chutney]

Originally posted by pepper*sans*salt:
  I know about that site. I wanted real suggestions about it though, not a bunch of fake testimonials like "I don't know how i lived without it!!"

I wouldn't be so sure those are fake.  Everyone I know who owns one practically worships it.  They're like a cult - similar to those iPod fanatics.

[sonickteam2]

Originally posted by punkfarmgirl:
  1. If the electricity goes out, you still get your program recorded (assuming it comes back on in time). 2. You can schedule it to record a certain show and it will pick it up no matter when it's on. For example, say I set it to record Scrubs always. It will notice if they switch nights and times and record it for me. And I only have to set it once and it will record it week after week so I don't have to remember every morning what to record and then try to find a blank tape. 3. The newer ones allow you to go online and set it via a webpage. So, if you're at work and hear about something good coming on in an hour, you can record it without running home. (this is assuming you have it plugged into a router or your wireless network at home) 4. It will save your shows for you until you run out of room or want to delete them. And then, if you want, you can record them from the Tivo to a VCR.
 

none of these things have EVER come up in my lifetime! wierd.

[keithstg]

Originally posted by pepper*sans*salt:
   

Originally posted by LabelsDC:
  Pepper:  I have a crazy idea..  Check out www.tivo.com I have a hunch you will find all of your answers there.  not sure though       :cool:    

I know about that site. I wanted real suggestions about it though, not a bunch of fake testimonials like "I don't know how i lived without it!!" That's why i decided to post the question here. [/b]

I have a tivo, and enjoy it. Now that the prices have come down they are much more affordable as well. I have enjoyed mine, but don't pay $13 a month, just pay the lifetime service fee and be done with it.

[Herr Professor Doktor Doom]

watching TV is bad for you... take a class or go to a museum instead.

[suede]

we got both a first generation tivo on our downstairs tv and a comcast DVR on our upstairs tv so here are my thoughts if you are interested:
 
 1.  Tivo is fantastic, my wife and I both love it.  allows us to watch the daily show every night during dinner and watch everything else we tape when we want to watch it, plus its insanely easy to use.  we've had one for about 3 years now and i can hardly remember watching tv before we got it.  we also did two things to it that made it really nice.  one we got a lifetime subscription to it when they were $199. and two I added a 2nd hard drive to it so that we get 120 hours of recording rather than the 20 it originally had.  this is why we've never upgraded it.  but it works like a champ and we love it.
 
 2.  comcast DVR is terrible compared to tv.  features suck, software sucks, ff sucks and its hard to record programs.  why do we have it you ask.  one reason and one reason only, it allows us to record in HD while tivo does not.  and recording sopranos, and movies and other stuff in HD is worth $10 a month basically.  
 
 so depending on your situation, i'd totally recommend tivo.  its a great gizmo and even if you dont watch a lot of tv, you'll never aimless surf channels looking for stuff to watch.

[kosmo vinyl]

Originally posted by suede:
 
 
 2.  comcast DVR is terrible compared to tv.  features suck, software sucks, ff sucks and its hard to record programs.  why do we have it you ask.  one reason and one reason only, it allows us to record in HD while tivo does not.  and recording sopranos, and movies and other stuff in HD is worth $10 a month basically.  
 
 

this is good to know... although given comcast reputation of providing different set top boxes in different areas it hard to say which model is going to show up in the concrete manse.  if they can actually get me one...  if it sucks it goes back lickety spit.
 
 i'm dreaming but i'd still rather  get a stable Microsloth or OS X DVR solution

[Bags]

Originally posted by Bombay Chutney:
   

Originally posted by pepper*sans*salt:
  I know about that site. I wanted real suggestions about it though, not a bunch of fake testimonials like "I don't know how i lived without it!!"

I wouldn't be so sure those are fake.  Everyone I know who owns one practically worships it.  They're like a cult - similar to those iPod fanatics. [/b]

I agree with Chutney...you'll note the folks slagging on it also state outright that they do not like t.v.  So, their input may not be all that valuable to you.
 
 My sister might well give her first born up for tivo.  She loves t.v., but doesn't have time to watch much.  She only watches tivo (or some version thereof).  You can prompt it to tape any show you love, and it will always catch it.  You can also prompt it to record anything with Nancy Sinatra on it, or Buckethead or Regis Philbin.  If it's programmed for Regis, it would have recorded Late Night with David Letterman last night, for instance.
 
 Also, t.v. watchers fall in love with the ability to rewind a show that's actually on, and skip commercials.  Don't ask me how, but it records up to a half hour in real time at all times, so you can pretty much 'move around' within the show you're watching...
 
 So, if you watch t.v., it may be great for you.  I don't have it, nor do I have premium cable -- just doesn't make sense to me to pay over $80/month for t.v.  But that's my issue.  I do NOT hate t.v.