TiVo TCD540040 Series2 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder
Good for SOME
I bought this unit for my girlfriend and she's had it for about a week. Now, the first thing that comes to mind after working with this machine, is that it's really only for people who like watching a lot of tv (those loyal to a good handful of tv shows) and lead busy lives as to where they don't want to be checking in with a VCR to tape something everyday.  <br />If you don't mind setting up your VCR and continuously buying blank video tapes, then I really wouldn't recommend this to you.  <br />Now, I purchased the 80 hr version (and I'm glad I did) because the 40 hrs really has almost no time to record on it and the 140 hr version was too expensive. For those absolute TV junkies who've got about 4 handfuls of shows they'd like to watch, I would HIGHLY recommend the 140 hrs version.  <br />Let's get one thing straight about the times here though. 80 hrs on this machine isn't really 80 hours UNLESS you mind a crappy looking picture. There are 4 quality settings you can set any show on: Basic, Medium, High, and Best. Basic gives you a little over 81 hours of recording time, BUT the picture comes out pretty pixelated and ugly for small objects and most people will surely mind it. The Best setting gives you about 40 hours of total recording time and it's the only setting that most closely resembles watching just regular TV (i.e. clear picture). I also had to purchase a signal amplifier ($40 from RadioShack) to hook into it because the Tivo was blocking a good signal from coming in (I don't have a cable box, just a cable wire coming in from the wall), so if you're setting it up the way I did, be prepared to spend a little more on a couple of extra wires and accessories (examples: about 2 or 3 cable leads, an RF splitter so you can watch something while taping something else, and a signal amplifier). I got a good deal from Amazon b/c i signed up for a credit card and they have the $100 rebate.  <br />The learning curve is kinda scary when first operating the Tivo, only because the instruction booklet is so thick,but don't let it get to you, just play with the menu, it's pretty self explanatory.  <br />Ok, so on to the good and the bad.  <br /> <br />The Good:  <br />-you can tape whatever you want if you live a busy life and love tv. <br />-You can create a season pass and let the Tivo worry about when the shows will be on and it will tape them, it will tape them all and keep them as long as there's available space (first runs, repeats, both, whatever you set it to) <br />-You can rewind and pause live TV (live doesn't mean Live like watching a football game, but just means actual regular television viewing, from MTV to NBC to the discovery channel to whatever) <br />-You can set it to any actor, director, guest, subject or movie title and Tivo will find it and wait till it's on and record it.  <br />-The price is a lot cheaper than spending about $700 to whatever on another brand DVR recorder w/ built in DVD player. <br />-Tivo has a built in TV guide, so you can see what any channel is going to be playing for about the following week or two.  <br />-if you see a good preview or commercial for an upcoming show or movie, you can press the \\"Thumb up\\" button to record it. <br /> <br />The Bad: <br />-Tivo CANNOT record 2 programs that are being played at the same time. There will be a conflict notice and you have to set a priority depending on what you'd rather watch. for this, i recommend using an RF splitter so that you can at least set your VCR to record whatever show is being conflicted. This becomes tiresome when you have shows like American Idol or The Apprentice whose times change a lot, you may miss the show cause the priority is set on another show being played at the same time. <br />-The times are misleading, like 80 hrs not really being good quality 80 hrs. Most people will want to only use the Best setting b/c the others have many pixles and can become distracting.  <br />-Tivo's warrenty is pretty short, so i recommendbuying from Best Buy where you can get a good deal on a warrenty cause they have a deal with Tivo. with tivo, if you send it back to them for repair, YOU are responsible for shipping costs.  <br />-Tivo's customer service phone number has long waiting times, and they don't have direct email.  <br />-Channel changing isn't as fast as regular tv. <br />-Tivo never turns off, so you'd have to set it on standby when not using it.  <br />-you may need to buy extra accessories depending on the quality of display output. <br /> <br />One hint of advice, i recommend NOT getting the $300 lifetime subscription, instead get the $12.95 a month for Tivo service, because the $300 lifetime is JUST for the lifetime of your Tivo box, so if it breaks, you're out $300.  <br />Again, this is fun to have, but if you're picky about spending lots of money and getting very good, exceptional quality customer service and tv viewing, the tivo may at times urke you. I recommend getting it at Best Buy, at least there you can go return it and not have to worry about shipping it back.