TiVo TCD540040 Series2 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder
Doesn't play well with others?
Have had TiVo for about 2 and 1/2 years, it brought my time-shifting (3 vcrs) to a new level of convenience. The on-screen abstract of every show you surf over (so you get to see what's playing even while on commercial breaks which they all take at the same time!), the ability to see a listing of every show on \\"right now\\" or in the immediate future on any channel you choose are great. the pause and rewind enrich the viewing experience whether for political debate or reviewing the beach babes on North Shore or clarifying stepped on dialog on dramas. <br /> <br />As to the channel changing hesitation, the fix, to the extent there is one, is to fine tune the communication between the cable box and the TiVo box(there are encoding options in the set-up menu). The hesitation is the \\"fault\\" of the cable box having a difficult time decoding the channel change command from TiVo. I am cable box free at the moment and channel changing is instantaneous: that particular concern (and it IS annoying to experience) only applies if you have a cable box and with TiVo I have more than enough stuff always ready to watch that I don't need premium channels (or premium cable bills!). <br /> <br />4 stars? I'm about to need my second hard drive replacement (it's working 24/7/365 so I understand but it IS a pain) and while I begrudge the expense ( first was warranty, this one is likely on extended warranty but I had to buy the extension) I begrudge losing the unit for six weeks or more even more: don't throw away those VCRs! Even after you've hooked up the extra to archive shows directly off the TiVo, which frees up space and gives you permanent copies of the shows you really want to save: as with everything TiVo just a click or 2 away, set the VCR to the line-in port coming from the TiVo, hit record and select \\"record to VCR\\" from the show's menu.