jenL Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 If any of you use TiVo, can you tell me the pros & cons? We're considering this for our home. TIA! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujsky Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 There are no cons. I was so dead-set against getting one of these initially because I thought it was a waste of money. Now I can't live without it. It is so incredibly convenient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Zero cons. I heart my TiVo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cougarmom4 Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Well, we don't have Tivo, but we have a DVR through our comcast service. I think it's the same thing--you just record whatever shows you want/can set series recordings...and then watch them at your convenience. That right there is the biggest pro--being able to have something to watch when you have the time rather than being on someone else's schedule. And when you set up a series recording, you don't even have to think about what night it is or time it is...you just know that it will be recorded for you. I'd also say that our favorite part about it is that we can fast forward through all of the commercials. It drives us crazy to watch things 'live' now simply because we have to sit there and watch the dumb commercials. We love our DVR...and recognize it is an expensive luxury we have gotten very used to. We also love Comcast on Demand...which has television series on it that you can watch any time. I've gotten extremely spoiled with this. In other words, there are tons of shows that you don't have to record, you just go to the on demand screen & click a button and you can watch them whenever you want to. Kids shows, football games, tv series, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolally Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Zero cons. I heart my TiVo! I wouldn't even bother with TV without it. You wouldn't believe how many great educational shows come on in the middle of the night, or off hours--we can use the tivo to watch them whenever we find the time!!! My favorite example is that we've been able to enjoy every Drive Thru History with the tivo, even though it is only played in my area in the middle of the night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIN Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 I love our Tivo! You can go in and browse "holiday, kids" and pull up all the Christmas movies that will be on, etc. My kids have shows that I approve of available to them when *they* want to watch, not when the show is broadcast. We fast forward through all commericals, football games are much quicker, LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindy in NY Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 There are no cons. I was so dead-set against getting one of these initially because I thought it was a waste of money. Now I can't live without it. It is so incredibly convenient. Same here. Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 No cons. We're another household that can't stand live TV unless we can pause it to skip commercials. We also prefer watching taped things - on our own schedule - not theirs. We don't have TIVO by name, but have a VCR - same thing. I would ditch TV if we couldn't have our VCR. We're spoiled with it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Tivo is amazing. I loved ours. When we switched over to AT&T U-verse, we couldn't use Tivo anymore because it doesn't work with fiber optics. AT&T's DVR isn't nearly as versatile as Tivo's. Things I miss that Tivo could do, but other DVRs can't: (1) prioritize shows (so shows higher on the list are the shows chosen when there's a recording conflict) (2) wishlist (so you can type in titles or actors that aren't actually on the schedule and it will automatically record them when they do come on) (3) category search (can search by actor or genre, not just by title) A DVR in general is worth having, but Tivos are the cadillacs of DVRs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Love, love, love my TiVo. Don't have cable, but TiVo rocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertDweller Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 We love ours! We have a DVR with Directv. We did get rid of it for awhile when we were needing to cut corners. We hated not having it. With a DVR you can automatically record your favorite shows and watch them at YOUR convenience. We save time in front of the TV because we zip through the annoying comercials. You can save all the episodes of a show into a file. Watch one or several at a time. Love to have an afternoon or evening marathon of a favorite show. Love the search features when trying to find a favorite show or needing to schedule things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Country Mouse Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 I used to have TiVo and loved it. I decided to switch to DirecTV DVR because they had HD DVRs and that is the best thing ever. In terms of ease of use and nice features I really preferred TiVo. Being able to record programs and watch them when I want is very valuable to me. Lately, my mom and I have been watching The Closer together. I record it and we'll start watching about 15 minutes after it starts and then we can skip all the commercials :). You can also pause and rewind live tv, so if you are in the middle of watching something and you need to answer the phone, run to the restroom or whatever you can pause it and then come back to it. It also comes in really handy if there are two programs on at the same time that you really want to watch. You can record one and watch the other, or record both and watch them at another time. It's great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanda7 Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 My DH recently built us a "DVR" using Windows Media Center that comes with Vista. It has the features of Tivo and no monthly fee. I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meet me in paris Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 Love, love, love my TiVo. Don't have cable, but TiVo rocks. :iagree:Us, too. We ditched the cable last year and bought a TiVo. We also bought a Roku box for Netflix streaming and between the two, I haven't missed cable for a minute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan25 Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 There are no cons. I was so dead-set against getting one of these initially because I thought it was a waste of money. Now I can't live without it. It is so incredibly convenient.[/QUOTE]:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree: Same here. I didn't want one. Too expensive, we have a VCR, etc. Now we have two!!!:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenL Posted December 24, 2009 Author Share Posted December 24, 2009 Thanks for all the replies everyone! Dh and I have some decisions to make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 I wouldn't even bother with TV without it. You wouldn't believe how many great educational shows come on in the middle of the night, or off hours--we can use the tivo to watch them whenever we find the time!!! :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 I can't even tell you what nights most shows are on now because I just record it all. I hate live TV, just hate it. I hate to admit this, but we actually have 3 DVRs hooked up with Directv. I don't have any TVs hooked up with a regular receiver. I just have no desire to watch life TV. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RegGuheert Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 1) You pay a monthly fee for the service. 2) All of your viewing is communicated to their servers. Here is a *very* detailed description of all aspects of the TiVoHD. If you are viewing off-the-air content only, there is an alternative which includes a full program guide, but has no monthly fees. Here is an equally detailed description of this DVR from the same poster as above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2abcd Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 :iagree:Us, too. We ditched the cable last year and bought a TiVo. We also bought a Roku box for Netflix streaming and between the two, I haven't missed cable for a minute. We've been eyeing the Roku/Netflix combo. After having U-verse's ability to record programs and go back and watch them whenever we want (and be able to fast forward through commercials!), we are a little spoiled. So we would need some sort of DVR like TiVo to record the news, etc.? Roku doesn't have that ability. Correct? Is that about $12/month for Netflix and $12/month for TiVo (plus initial purchase of the TiVo)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenL Posted December 24, 2009 Author Share Posted December 24, 2009 We've been eyeing the Roku/Netflix combo. After having U-verse's ability to record programs and go back and watch them whenever we want (and be able to fast forward through commercials!), we are a little spoiled. So we would need some sort of DVR like TiVo to record the news, etc.? Roku doesn't have that ability. Correct? Is that about $12/month for Netflix and $12/month for TiVo (plus initial purchase of the TiVo)? This is exactly what we are trying to figure out. We have the DVR with cable right now, and Dh doesn't want to give up his ability to watch shows later, ff through commercials, etc. But, we are tired of paying the ridiculous price of cable. So, we began looking into Roku. We like the idea of it, but not the inability to dvr things. Then we found TiVo which is the dvr part and it can also stream live from Netflix - at least that is what we were finding - is this true? Then we realized we'd need to pay a monthly fee on top of the Netflix fee. It all begins to add up again. Which is why we are unsure as to where to go. I really think we could completely get rid of cable, but dh is not so sure :tongue_smilie:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RegGuheert Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 This is exactly what we are trying to figure out. We have the DVR with cable right now, and Dh doesn't want to give up his ability to watch shows later, ff through commercials, etc.If that is your goal, then the DTVPal DVR that I linked to is the free solution to the problem. We've had this for the past year and it works quite well (though I will not say it is as refined as a TiVo). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RegGuheert Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 Here is a cool chart showing quite a few DVR options. Click on the name of the DVR at the top of each column to learn more. Pretty cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2abcd Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Here is a cool chart showing quite a few DVR options. Click on the name of the DVR at the top of each column to learn more. Pretty cool! Thanks, Reg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan25 Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I don't have a TIVO, but we do have a DVR through cable. Dh's sister gave us a TIVO and $200 toward the subscription for Christmas. I decided I didn't want the TIVO because the box said it only recorded 20 hours of High Def tv or 40 hours of regular. I record everything in HD and use up 20 hours really quickly. That was the main reason I decided to not go with it. The reason my sil gave us the TIVO was for recording and streaming of Netflix. If you add a wifi adapter to the TIVO - you can use it with your Netflix subscription and skip the ROKU box. My question for those that have an actual TIVO - does it really only record 20 hours of HD TV? DH and I have been hanging onto the Christmas money trying to make the best decision. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyK Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I have a nonHD TiVo (actually have the HD one on the way) but at least on mine there are 4 different level of recording quality, and the lower ones give you more hours of recording time. With our current TV I haven't been able to tell the difference, so I record things at the lowest quality so that we have more room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 My question for those that have an actual TIVO - does it really only record 20 hours of HD TV? We don't have an HD one either (we use a converter box), but I think it came only with 20 hours at "high quality", 40 at "medium" and 80 at "low". Medium seemed fine, so that's what we use. Then we upgraded the hard drive, so we have way more space. Ours also has a DVR, so I record a lot of stuff onto DVD to make space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan25 Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I have a nonHD TiVo (actually have the HD one on the way) but at least on mine there are 4 different level of recording quality, and the lower ones give you more hours of recording time. With our current TV I haven't been able to tell the difference, so I record things at the lowest quality so that we have more room. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 I have a nonHD TiVo (actually have the HD one on the way) but at least on mine there are 4 different level of recording quality, and the lower ones give you more hours of recording time. With our current TV I haven't been able to tell the difference, so I record things at the lowest quality so that we have more room. So, does that mean if I record Discovery Channel HD on my cable to the lowest quality on the TIVO that it will take up less space? I guess I am confused! I thought that if I was recording an HD channel, that it would take up more space vs. recording a regular cable channel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyK Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Well, I don't have an HD TiVo (yet). But as matroyshka kindly explained above, nonHD TiVos come with 3 or 4 levels of recording quality and when you choose the lowest one (as we have) you get more hours. I was really just offering that to show that the stated number of hours is not fixed, and was hoping that someone with an HD TiVo could explain how it works for those -- i.e. how many hours would you really get? I looked at TiVo.com, where I've bought our TiVos (one for us, one for my parents) and it says: Save up to 20 hours of HD programming (or 180 hours of standard definition) at one time So it sounds to me as if you will get more hours with non HD programming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.