Philips HDR212 TiVo 20 Hour Digital Video Recorder
Tivo rocks!!!
I've owned a Tivo now for about 3-4 weeks and it has totally changed my TV viewing habits. I used to have to search around for tapes and remember to program my VCR and set everything up but it was such a hassle. My VCR only held 8 timer recordings at a time which was also frustrating because the way I watch television, I have a lot of favorite shows and they are on so many different times of the day so I can't normally fit all my shows in when there's only 8 recordings as well as making sure I have enough room on the tape left after all is said and done. With Tivo I don't have to worry about all that. All my favorite show's episodes are all recorded automatically under season passes and it is so much better now because I don't have to tend to my programs and to make sure there is room on my tape since after all, I do have 21 hours to use!! None of my shows have been missed and I know everything that is on the hard disk I've taped under Now playing instead of going through the hassle of writing what's on each tape with index cards!!! Also, even if the schedule changes, Tivo will recognize those changes and still record my shows which I couldn't do with a VCR. (I've had instances where the schedule changed on me and my favorite daily show didn't record on my VCR) I also like the network showcases on the main menu, I have recorded a lot of excellent programming off of there and will expect to keep doing so in the future. Especially helps now that I have the NFL icon on Network showcases so I know every NFL game on TV for the next 2 weeks on the program guide!! I actually got a chance to compare both the Tivo and Replay and after about 3-4 days I had with both of them, I believe that my winner is Tivo simply because of the software. I found it a lot easier to use than Replay and despite the subscription costs of Tivo, I've been very happy with the unit, especially since the software upgraded to 2.0 (from 1.3) which now includes Season Pass Manager (a chance to record 2season passes that sometimes overlap each other and will prioritize which season passes are more important to you to record over others, but you can still record one that has a lower priority over another one if you wish) Also they added parental controls which is helpful so when I'm channel surfing I don't have to see all the violence and junk I shouldn't be seeing on other channels. Also they added wishlists. Let's say you have a favorite sports team or a favorite actor or director. You can have Tivo automatically record or let you see all upcoming episodes that match your favorite actors or directors or sports teams. This has been useful since I've wanted to see all the games San Francisco Giants are playing since Barry has been pursuiting Big Mac. Really beats trying to find it all in the TV guide. Well, as you can tell I absoulutely love this thing, and if you have someone or you yourself are thinking about getting a unit, get it. I had doubts, but my TV viewing habits now will never be the same.