TiVo Series2 Digital Video Recorder (*TiVo Service Fee Not Included)
You won't want to watch regular TV anymore!
If you like tech toys, you'll love this.  TiVo allows you to digitally record programs and watch them whenever you like.  I haven't bought a video tape in the two years that I've had TiVo and I can't say that I miss them.<br />TiVo also allows you to fast forward through the commercials if you want, or maybe the best feature it has is the pausing live tv option.  Say you have to go the little girls (or boys) room but the Green Bay Packers (yep - I'm a CheeseHead!) are on the one yard line and it's 4th and goal with twenty seconds left in the fourth quarter.  You don't want to move, but you gotta go!  What do you do?!  You push pause, and TiVo holds the football game right where it is until you're ready to watch!  Amazing!<br />The program guide that comes with TiVo is great too - very intuitive and easy to use.  You can search for your favorite programs by actor, director, genre, keyword, you name it.<br />There's more.  Let's say you have to watch Friends every Thursday like I do.  You can set up a Season Pass that will automatically record every episode of Friends that comes on Thursdays.  If you want to only record the new episodes but not the reruns, TiVo allows that as well.  You can also record every episode regardless to whether it's a new episode or a rerun.<br />Believe me, the couple things I've mentioned about TiVo are only the tip of the iceberg; there are truly too many options to discuss here.  You would think with a product so advanced that it would be hard to use, but the opposite is actually true.  The interface is so user-friendly anyone, even the most tech-challenged, will have no trouble tooling around in TiVo-land.<br />The only drawback is so small I almost forgot to mention it, but I would be remiss if I didn't.  There is a $12.95 monthly service fee to cover the cost of the program guide and the updates you constantly receive.  You also have to have a working phone line in your home to receive the TiVo program data and all the features I've mentioned, but it is a small amount to pay for the product (in my opinion).  You can also pay a one time fee to avoid the monthly service charge, but I don't know what that is.  <br />I have two TiVos and frankly find it hard to watch television on regular tvs.  Hope this helps convert you to a TiVo user!