TiVo TCD540040 Series2 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder
Pricey, but worth it ....
Like so many other reviewers, I found that TiVo simply *completely* changes the way we watch TV. We just schedule what we want to watch, give \\"thumbs-up\\" or \\"thumbs-down\\" ratings to live or recorded shows and within a week or two we're really only watching what we want when we want to watch it. If it had a direct \\"commercial-skip\\" feature I'd give it 5-stars, but it can be programmed as a hidden feature, as many reviews have mentioned. <br /> <br />We have the 40-hour model received as a gift; I'd buy a MUCH larger version if we were purchasing our own, as the 40 hours recording capability is really only if one records at the so-called \\"Basic\\" setting, which is barely watchable. For shows with much action [sports, etc.] only the medium level is usable; that gets about 20 hours before the hard drive is full. The rebate ONLY happens if one connects to the paid TiVo service for at least one month. <br /> <br />Setup took about three hours, including running a branch of our current phone line; absent that, expect to spend two hours getting everything lined up at first, but after that, the daily service is truly intuitive and impressive. Our favorite shows get recorded once whenever they are first presented, and the list of TiVo suggested shows gets better as it \\"learns\\" what we like and don't like. We've discovered some real gems by categorizing some detailed areas we are interested in and letting TiVo make some suggestions over a period of a few weeks.  <br /> <br />We've had no occasion to use TiVo customer service; setup was direct/straightforward, though it took awhile to complete, and requires that the TiVo machine have access to a phone line, whose usage will *not* interfere with one's phone usage. Overall, TiVo is a most impressive addition to a household that really only watches 10-20 hours of TV a week, often as a background activity while doing something else. To write the epilogue, we can only repeat that it has totally changed the way we watch TV ... much for the better.