Sony SAT-T60 DirecTV Receiver with Tivo
Dream Machine
We finally ditched digital cable and got our DirecTV installed.  Wow!  We also ditched our VCR and got TiVo.  Double Wow!  And the Sony SAT-T60 integrates your DirecTV with your TiVo.  Wow wow WOW!!!<br />Positives:  the picture quality and sound quality are perfect.  About 1 million times better than what we had with digital cable, especially on your local channels and others that aren't truly digital on digital cable (but are digital on DirecTV).  There doesn't seem to be any picture quality degradation when watching a recorded show via TiVo versus a \\"live\\" show via DirecTV.  The quality is perfect.<br />You can easily transfer shows from TiVo's hard drive to your VCR.  TiVo has a neat \\"Save to VCR\\" feature if you want to view it on a different TV.<br />There are 2 satellite inputs, so you can record 2 shows simultaneously!  I didn't think I would do this too much, but with all the channels that DirecTV offers, it seems like we are recording two shows at once all the time.<br />The Sony user interface is very easy to learn and use.  It's downright fun.  Live TV pause is amazing.<br />This model is less noisy than some other TiVo models.<br />The remote control is easy to use.<br />Negatives:  I bought two of these and 1 experienced problems with the hard drive on day 4 of owning.  I replaced it and now have 2 that are working great.<br />The system is always on, which means that there is always a small amount of noise coming from the system (the hard drive and fan).  While the Sony SAT-T60 is quieter than most TiVo systems, it might bother some people who like a completely quiet room at bedtime.<br />This model is discontinued and hard to find.<br />Other:  You'll definitely want to take advantage of the S-VIDEO connector in order for the on-screen displays to be crisp and clear.  If you already have a DVD player that uses S-VIDEO, you may not have enough S-VIDEO inputs on your TV.  You'll want an A/V receiver or a [...]A/V switcher from Sony that lets you switchbetween multiple S-VIDEO connections.<br />If you have more than 1 TV hooked up to satellite, you will likely want this system for each TV.  Once you get addicted to TiVo's features, TV is quite frustrating without it!