Toshiba SD-H400 Combination Progressive-Scan DVD Player and TiVo Digital Media Server
Love it.
First, a summary of key points:<BR>1. You need Tivo. No, really, you do. One week of Tivo and watching old-fashioned TV will make you angry. I only watch the TV I really like, and I watch it when it's convenient, as opposed to missing good shows because they're at inconvenient times and then settling for dreck those times when you want to watch but nothing's on.<BR>2. If you're also in the market for a DVD player, get the combo unit and simplify your life. Yes, of course you can watch a DVD while Tivo records.<BR>3. The DVDivo, as I like to call it, includes free basic Tivo service. The free trial of Plus service will probably suck you in, but still, if all you want is to be able to manually record your favorite shows, this is Tivo without a subscription cost.<br />Now, to address some of the issues mentioned in other reviews:<BR>1. Noise. If I'm sitting near the TV, and I'm watching a very quiet show, I can sometimes hear the fan, but it's very very faint. I don't have my Tivo in an enclosed cabinet, and I can honestly say noise is never an issue for me - the Tivo is certainly far quieter than my computer, the heating/cooling system, the refrigerator, or all the other background-noise sources in my apartment.<BR>2. Image quality. I'm using pretty shoddy coax cable lines, and the live image through Tivo is still fine - just as good as without the Tivo. Unless you have a huge TV or HDTV, image quality is probably more dependent on your coax cables than the Tivo. With Basic service, your only option is to record on best quality, which is equivalent to seeing it live. If you upgrade to Plus, you can choose to record at one of four quality levels. I nearly always record at the lowest or second-lowest setting - yeah, it gets a little grainy, but for most shows, it doesn't matter.