TiVo Series2 Digital Video Recorder (*TiVo Service Fee Not Included)
Note: UP TO 40 hours of recording
Tivo degrades the picture quality slightly on the &quot;best&quot; (highest resolution) option for recording and at this resolution you will get about 11 hours of recorded material. Lesser quality (lower resolution) settings will record more material but, in my opinion, are unacceptable.  If you want to transfer Tivo recordings to videotape, &quot;best&quot; quality is a must.  Even if you're only a moderate TV watcher, you may want to consider the upgrade or you may find that 3 hour football game you intended to watch, deleted to make room for other programs.<BR>Unless you're a hacker, the monthly subscription is a requirement but it's worth the money. The ability to scan program titles up to a week ahead or let Tivo search for your favorite movie, actor, or show by title, name or keyword is a great feature - especially for shows that occasionally run at odd times.<BR>Also - three cheers for Tivo tech support.  During the set up process, Tivo didn't match some channel numbers to the correct programs.  The Tivo instruction manuals and online guides provided no clues, so with great reluctance I called tech support.  After less than 30 seconds on hold, a cheerful rep lead me down a series of menus to &quot;rebuild&quot; the extended basic cable listings.  Problem solved.