Philips HDR312 TiVo 30-Hour Digital Video Recorder
TIVO is Great, Phillips takes more patience
Let me first start off confessing that I am addicted to the TIVO service.  I bought the TIVO lifetime membership...and it is the best investment I have made in the home entertainment area.  I had problems with the Phillips TIVO player about 7 months after I bought it; it just completely crashed.  Unfortunately, the way Phillips structures the warranty, after 6 months you can get free parts, but have to pay for the \\"labor\\" of shipping you a replacement.<br />It took a lot of time to get the replacement.  I had multiple (>10) interactions with customer service and ran into the same headaches time and again, until I found one good representative. Long story short, I got my replacement.  Additionally, I wrote a complaint letter to Phillips and had my...labor fee refunded which was great, so I won't knock them too hard on the customer service.<br />My new recorder has been working great.  I am very busy during the week, without the opportunity to watch much TV, and there is nothing better than having all of my favorite shows on tap every Friday night.  <br />One note about the rated hours...this model does not have a 30 hour capacity if you record on \\"best quality\\" (which, trust me you will want to do), it is more like 10.  And 10 hours goes quickly, because your shows tend to pile up until you can really sit down for a nice, long, TV marathon.  And that's what its all about, isn't it.