TiVo TCD540040 Series2 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder
Some limitations, but very well done overall
There are several customer reviews in here trashing this product for its monthly subscription fee.  They are misguided.  I guess some folks get offended if you try to sell them something; money is a touchy subject.  Don't get me wrong, if TiVo lowered the monthly fee then my feelings wouldn't be hurt, but it's not like you aren't getting something for that money.<br /><br />Without the monthly subscription, the TiVo works like a fancy VCR, so you don't really have to buy one; but I wouldn't do without a subscription, nor would anybody I know who has a TiVo (quite a few friends and coworkers).  The monthly subscription buys you a specific service: scheduling.  If you subscribe, then the TiVo periodically downloads the program schedule information for your cable/satellite/air service, and suddenly becomes a whole lot smarter.  That schedule info is how it knows which shows are coming on and what channel to turn to.  With this feature enabled the full potential of a DVR is unlocked and the TiVo becomes a must-have household item.  You no longer think \\"channel 6 at 8:30 for 30 minutes\\"; you think \\"Jeopardy\\" (or whatever).  The unit is smart enough to automatically change its recording time if the channel's lineup gets rearranged.  Once you're able to pick shows based on title, actor, genre, or whatever else you want, without ever worrying about what time it's coming on, you will wonder why you took so long to buy one of these.  It really is hard to describe the benefit.  I had to try it to be convinced, but I'm a believer now, and I don't want to go back to watching TV without one of these things.<br /><br />Without that schedule information, the box still works, but since it doesn't know what's on or when, you have to program the thing manually (e.g. start recording at 3:30, stop at 5:30), like you would a VCR.  Easier than a VCR, but still the same approach.  Nice but not earth-shattering.  I have chosen to pay the monthly subscription fee and do not regret the decision.  I'm sure somebody's making a tidy profit over all the subscription fees, but then again, they aren't going to be able to maintain all that information from around the country and host it for everybody to download for free.<br /><br />I do suggest paying the monthly fee as opposed to buying a lifetime subscription.  That way you can cancel, upgrade your box, or make other changes at any time.  The lifetime subscription is pricey and takes a long time to pay for itself -- you may want to replace your TiVo with a newer model before that happens.<br /><br />The user interface is geared towards ease-of-use and it really is just about as intuitive as it gets.  I have yet to find anybody who can't figure it out quickly.  There are a lot of little touches, anticipating what you are trying to do.  This seems like one of TiVo's biggest selling points.  There are other DVRs out there (ReplayTV?) that are targeted more at computer-savy or tinker-happy people.  If you want your DVR to be able to do absolutely anything you can imagine, you'd be better off spending a lot more money to turn a real computer into one.  All I want to do is watch what I want, when I feel like it; and this unit gets the job done.<br /><br />Being able to play my computer's mp3 collection in my living room is a nice bonus.<br /><br />The 40-hour version only gets me about 10 hours of best quality video, but that's still quite a bit of room.  There are independent vendors who offer disk drive upgrades for good prices if you want more space but don't want to replace the unit outright.<br /><br />The reason I gave this four stars instead of five is that you can't turn the unit off without unplugging it, so it emits a subtle-but-noticeable fan noise at all times.  Apart from that, I'm very happy with it.cision.  I'm sure somebody's making a tidy profit over all the subscription fees, but then again, they aren't going to be able to maintain all that information from around the country and host it for everybody to download for free. <br /> <br />I do suggest paying the monthly fee as opposed to buying a lifetime subscription.  That way you can cancel, upgrade your box, or make other changes at any time.  The lifetime subscription is pricey and takes a long time to pay for itself -- you may want to replace your TiVo with a newer model before that happens.  <br /> <br />The user interface is geared towards ease-of-use and it really is just about as intuitive as it gets.  I have yet to find anybody who can't figure it out quickly.  There are a lot of little touches, anticipating what you are trying to do.  This seems like one of TiVo's biggest selling points.  There are other DVRs out there (ReplayTV?) that are targeted more at computer-savy or tinker-happy people.  If you want your DVR to be able to do absolutely anything you can imagine, you'd be better off spending a lot more money to turn a real computer into one.  All I want to do is watch what I want, when I feel like it; and this unit gets the job done.   <br /> <br />Being able to play my computer's mp3 collection in my living room is a nice bonus. <br /> <br />The 40-hour version only gets me about 10 hours of best quality video, but that's still quite a bit of room.  There are independent vendors who offer disk drive upgrades for good prices if you want more space but don't want to replace the unit outright. <br /> <br />The reason I gave this four stars instead of five is that you can't turn the unit off without unplugging it, so it emits a subtle-but-noticeable fan noise at all times.  Apart from that, I'm very happy with it. <br />