TiVo Series2 Digital Video Recorder (*TiVo Service Fee Not Included)
The best investment I ever made
Like other reviewers I once considered TiVo to be a \\"glorified\\" VCR that instead of recording on tapes, digitally recorded onto a hard drive. However my eyes were opened dramatically when two years ago I moved to the DC area and met some people who not only used TiVo, but wondered how they had survived without one for so long.<br /><br />That was 2002 and I picked up my first TiVo just last Saturday (two years later to the day). Just three days later I am also left wondering not only how did I manage to get by so long without a TiVo, but also what took me so long?<br /><br />I always thought I never watched enough television to warrant purchasing a digital video recorder. I would watch and marvel at some of the features that a TiVo offers, but calculate that my viewing habits of DVDs and `Buffy the Vampire Slayer' hardly warranted the investment.<br /><br />The fact is that TiVo not only allows you to make television fit into your schedule (instead of the other way around), but it also opens your eyes to other shows that you may have never come across without the features included in a TiVo. It's far, far more than just a glorified VCR. To compare a VCR to a TiVo is akin to comparing an abacus to a modern PC. TiVo really does revolutionize the way you watch television.<br /><br />Features like Wishlists, two types of guides, TiVo suggestions, season passes and a number of other features make it an invaluable tool..<br /><br />For example, with a VCR you can only record from the moment you decide to record something. With TiVo it is constantly recording so if you are 15 minutes or so into a show and you think \\"This is cool, maybe I should record the whole thing\\" then you can record from the start.<br /><br />Alternatively if you come into the room and the show has already started then you can rewind the television and watch the show from the start.<br /><br />One feature I really like is the Wishlist. TiVo calls in every week to get updated schedules for all your channels for the next two weeks. Therefore you can do searches for shows with a certain actor (e.g. Pierce Brosnan) and it will come up with all the TV shows and movies etc with that actor in it. There are also searches for directors and keywords etc etc....I already have about five or six wishlists saved.<br /><br />Season Pass is VERY cool. Say you love the show ALIAS. Well you can tell TiVo to record every episode of ALIAS and it will store that information and record every episode of ALIAS that it finds until you cancel the season pass. Of course you don't want it recording repeats so there is a setting where you tell the TiVo to only record first-run episodes.<br /><br />Say for example that ALIAS is on a Sunday and then repeated on Wednesdays (hypothetically speaking), the TiVo will know it recorded that same episode on Sunday so will not record it on the Wednesday. You see the TiVo has detailed information on each episode of every show on television (as well as movies etc) [that you can of course view through the different guides].<br /><br />Of course you may have some shows on Season Pass that clash (on at the same time). Not a problem for TiVo. You prioritize the shows in order of importance. For example I have ALIAS higher that STARGATE: ATLANTIS. So, if there is a clash then the TiVo will record the ALIAS episode.<br /><br />You can of course search manually for shows/movies etc through different genres.<br /><br />Of course there are different types of onscreen guides that you can use that are similar to the types of onscreen guides that satellite and digital cable provide.<br /><br />But there's more. You can pause, rewind and fast forward live TV (very cool). Say the phone rings in the middle of a show you are watching on TV. Just hit pause and the TV screen pauses at that point. Then when you get off the phone hit play and you can start watching from the point at which you paused it.<br /><br />You can also set shows to record from your office. You aresitting in your office and a colleague tells you about a show that sounds interesting, but it starts before you get home. Simple, sign onto the TiVo website and you can schedule your TiVo back at your house to record that television show.<br /><br />One feature I particularly like is the ability to watch a recorded show while TiVo records a different show. This is so particularly great because you never have to deal with commercials EVER AGAIN! By the time you have watched the show you were viewing you can switch to the show in progress and fast forward through all the commercial breaks - while the show is still being broadcast!<br /><br />TiVo is simply put the best investment I have ever made. No more flipping through channels trying to find something interesting to watch. I only watch what I want to watch and when I want to watch it.sounds interesting, but it starts before you get home. Simple, sign onto the TiVo website and you can schedule your TiVo back at your house to record that television show. <br />One feature I particularly like is the ability to watch a recorded show while TiVo records a different show. This is so particularly great because you never have to deal with commercials EVER AGAIN! By the time you have watched the show you were viewing you can switch to the show in progress and fast forward through all the commercial breaks - while the show is still being broadcast! <br />TiVo is simply put the best investment I have ever made. No more flipping through channels trying to find something interesting to watch. I only watch what I want to watch and when I want to watch it.