tivo

.... or, if you love something, set it free!

I have two children and only one TV. Tivo was the perfect answer for getting to watch the shows I wanted to see, when I wanted to see them -- namely after the final clip of Dora the Explorer was done and my kids were in bed. Imagine getting to watch the rest of the game (interrupted by bath time) or the Sopranos or Meet the Press, etc., at your leisure. You mocked us for years, TV, but now we are in control!

The good news... The unit was fairly easy to set up, the directions were clear and the service people very helpful. In fact, I was surprised to read of other reviewers' problems in this department. So far, I love Tivo.

So why am I returning it? (That is, as long as I can cram it all back in the box.) Well, the bad news is picture degradation. Tivo is hooked up to my very nice, new flat screen TV. DVDs look awesome on the new TV. Unfortunately, my digital cable, which goes through Tivo, looks pretty bad. Worse than it did on my dearly departed 27" Sony "round screen" TV. Tivo technology added in some very noticable loss of picture quality. The support person I spoke to said that this might be a slight problem, particularly with video that has movement. Of course, that covers pretty much all TV. Otherwise, it's called a still picture. When I want that I read a newspaper or one of those books where you flip the page and the image in the corner looks like it's moving.

So, for us, Tivo wasn't worth the overall loss in picture quality to get those few shows. Curses! Foiled again....

Another issue to bear in mind is the fact that Tivo adds in a slight delay when changing channels on your cable box. Tivo is not like another component that hangs off the TV, a la your VCR. It becomes kind of the central nervous system of the TV. Cable and your VCR must go through Tivo. This wasn't a problem, with the exception of the video degradation and the channel changing delay. My delay was not too bad but could be a problem for others.

If you can deal with those issues, then you will love the product. Hence my 3-star rating on a product I'm returning!

It has changed my leisure time. The only "live" TV I watch anymore is Fox & Friends and the Weather Channel. The way it fast-forwards through the commercials then knows where to start again when I hit the play button is fantastic. I save several segments of favorite programs then watch them in succession during one evening like a couple of movies. I think that a better set up than this, however, would be to get it integrated with your satellite box so that you could watch one program while recording another. (You can do it with cable and non-premium channels but not with satellite.) Set it up to find your favorite actors or actresses and you'll see them in lots of stuff "before they were famous." Jack Nicholson on Andy Griffith? (Played the role of a 19 year old on trial, Aunt Bea was on the jury.) Wow, what a hoot. I find the quality to be more than adequate but I might not feel that way when the plasma screen gets installed. On my current old 23" I can't tell the difference between recorded and live - picture or sound.

Seriously folks, who wants to spend this much money on a device that turns you into a couch potato, doesn't work right, has a horrible guarantee and reduces your income and mental stability by watching crap like soap operas and other junk

Tivo should rename this product and call it The Automatic Income Reducer.

WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY.