Perhaps One of the Only Pieces of Electronics We Will Never Stop Using - TIVO!

I love my Tivo!

If you’ve never heard of Tivo it is basically a new way to record and keep programs recorded from either television or cable (or another source) similar to a VCR. If you've never heard of a VCR – I pity you fool!

Tivo is one of the simplest pieces of electronics in modern day history inside and out. Inside, it is basically a really large hard drive (for non computer users it has the ability to keep a large amount of medium in this case audio and video) with built in software that allows consumers to easily pick and choose programs on television or cable (or satellite) to record.

Tivo is basically a device that is recording television all the time in 30 minute blocks allowing users to pause and/or rewind live TV. Similar to a lot of consumer products, Tivo looks more complicated than it is but that’s just because it offers functionality for a wide group of users (and it seems to have no buttons – do not ever lose the remote!).

Why we bought one initially?
We didn’t, it was a Christmas present. I do apologize but you’ll have to fend for yourself in determining the answer to that question, but read on and maybe I’ll give you a few nudges and enticing looks to convince you to pull out that Mastercard and buy something priceless.

How Easy Was it To Install?
With any new piece of electronics especially one that inserts itself into your home theater system (if you have one) for me there is an automatic queasy feeling I get in the bottom of my stomach.

* Will I understand the instructions?
* Will it work with what I already have?
* Will it mess up how things are currently configured?
* Do I need to call the tech guy in my family and entice him to come help me with promises of a good home cooked meal!?!

Tivo does its best to answer all those questions.

The included installation guide gives three primary ways to install Tivo. The instructions are color coded (as are the jacks on the Tivo itself color coded) plus they are clear and simple to understand. There is a lot more one could do but Tivo doesn’t cover that in fear of confusing you.

The first way to install Tivo is to basically screw in the cord coming from your cable jack (or antenna) into the Tivo and then screw the cord coming from the Tivo into your TV.

The second way is much the same but this time you have a cable box. In this case you screw a cord coming out of the cable box into the Tivo and then screw a cord from your Tivo into your TV. You also have to install the included RF cables so that when you hit channel up on your Tivo your cable box knows it should also channel up.

The third way allows you to connect the Tivo to your VCR and perhaps your cable box (and maybe even your DVD player) which then would allow you to dump shows from your Tivo into your VCR or DVD-R if need be.

There are additional inputs in the Tivo including several RCA outputs for audio used for a home theater system, a S-Video output jack for better video, and USB ports for hooking the Tivo up to your home network which opens up a whole another bag of tricks Tivo can do.

Important: One thing I ignored when I was reading the Tivo installation manual is that it asked me to first visit their website or call their customer support line before putting the device together. I didn’t do that. I was too excited. But soon I realized why.

After I got everything hooked up and good to go (which means Tivo was powered up and I could see the welcome screen) I went online and started to purchase my $12.99 a month subscription to the Tivo network (you can also purchase a lifetime subscription for like $249 or something but it is only for the life of the machine – not your life!). After going through a few screens, Tivo accepted my credit card and then stated – “it will now take approximately 2 hours to set up your Tivo account, you may be unable to use your Tivo until this process is complete.” Oh, so that’s why I should have done this first. Not that it takes 2 hours to set the device up…but I could have done this part first and then had Tivo waiting for me. Instead all I had was 2 hours of waiting for Tivo.

Once installed, how easy was it to setup?
After my account was finally activated, Tivo took me through a few welcome screens. The first is to choose a list of phone numbers that Tivo will need to connect to several times a week – to download both new schedules but also little advertisements it deems interesting to you. Yes, this means that Tivo must be constantly connected to a phone line. Once that is complete, Tivo needs to download some system information. This is the longest process, for Tivo connects for about 20 to 30 minutes tying up your phone line and then takes even longer to process the information. Once complete, Tivo is up and running and now it is time to read over the “How to Use Tivo” manual included in the box.

How do you use Tivo?
I thought Tivo was going to be fairly complicated to use. Not for me, but for my wife. But, right from the start I found Tivo easy to use and so did she for it came included with a perfectly designed remote. The top button which looks like the Tivo icon brings you to the main Tivo menu no matter what Tivo is doing. At the main menu you can select to watch a previously recorded program, watch live TV, or catch up on a little maintenance determining how programs you have already selected are to be recorded or search for new programs to record.

The “What’s Playing on Tivo” is main menu where all saved programs go. Pick one and then select it to start watching. At any time you can click the Tivo button and stop watching (or pause it by hitting the pause button) and Tivo will remember where you left off allowing you to come back and pick up where you left off. Plus, Tivo can remember these “hot spots” on multiple programs. Even better, you can watch a program Tivo has recorded while it is recording yet another program. What you can’t do however is watch another television channel while Tivo is recording another channel – that requires another fancy hookup and a whole mess of extra cables.

The “Watch Live TV” takes you to, well Live TV. If Tivo isn’t being told to record something it is always recording the last channel it was left at. It records 30 minutes and then proceeds to record another minute while at the same deleting the first minute it recorded. Basically Tivo always has 30 minutes recorded of the channel it was on allowing you to rewind and watch a program from perhaps the beginning. However changing the channels resets the whole equation and you go back to being only able to pause the current channel. Sometimes we purposely pause a channel that has a program that we like and go off and do something else and then come back to it for the sole purpose that by pausing our current show we can now fast forward through the recorded commercials.

Besides the first two, the only other feature worth mentioning is the “Season Pass”. This allows you to pick up a season pass on a show you really like. By doing so Tivo will record every episode of that show no matter when it is on. Tivo can even be configured to only record the first run (not a repeat) shows, shows that it hasn’t recorded before, or all shows regardless if they are repeats or were just recorded a few hours ago.

In the background is the “To Do List” which shows you what will be recorded in the future and “Tivo Messages” which holds the technical and setup options which may become important later down in the road.

What about recording quality?
Tivo advertises that it can record up to 42 hours of television programming. This is true – but what it does not advertise is that the quality in which in can record 42 hours of programming isn’t that good. The picture can at times be very grainy and suffer “video blocks” where the pixels become really big and blurry. The only programs I even consider recording at this level are soap operas because they don’t have much movement. Characters stand around and talk a lot – they don’t drive in fast cars, run down streets, get into brawls, or have explosions covered by multiple cameras.

* Basic setting is best used for still or almost still images, and allows up to 42 hours of recording.

* Medium Quality isn’t that much better – I use it for shows I like but not as much as others. Good for older television programs like Night Rider or Matlock. You can record about 25 hours at Medium Quality.

* High Quality is a good for most television programs. It tops out at 19 hours. I use it to record Angel, Charmed, Friends, CSI, etc.

* Best Quality is, well the best quality good for movies and such, but it only allows you to record up to 11 hours. I’ve never used this setting and probably would only consider doing so if I had a digital connection like HDTV or Satellite.


What else can you tell me about Tivo?

Automatic Deletion:
Tivo automatically determines after it has recorded a show how long it will keep the show until it deletes it to make room for another. If you keep up and watch the shows it has recorded Tivo should never have the need to automatically remove a program you recorded. Not a bad feature at all, but it does seem a little odd that Tivo says it will start considering to delete a show just 48 hours after it recorded it. Ego?

Recommending The Worse:
I heard from other reviewers that Tivo has a tendency to record “Recommended” programs. Basically the device learns what you watch and then recommends similar programs and records them when there’s time and room to do so. I honestly have never liked programs designed to “read me” – I can stand coupons being given to me based on my purchases at a grocery story – but when it is in my own home, in my own living room – that’s it. Before Tivo had the chance I programmed the device to not recommend anything to me. I still however can view the list it recommends and boy am I glad this feature was turned off. Some of things are down right insulting!

Ads!:
I was a little upset to see that my Tivo will record certain advertisements and even worse I can’t delete them. I got more upset when I realized it wasn’t recording certain advertisements that Live TV had shown – it was downloading it through the phone line. It was tying up my phone line that I pay for in a monthly subscription to entice me to watch a movie or check out an album. At times the commercial is only 19 seconds long but the advertisement for Along Came Polly was a whopping 2 minutes long and clearly it wasn't recorded in basic quality.

Home Network (updated 12/23/04):
After having Tivo now for the past year we decided to hook it up to our wireless home network. We purchased a wireless router and a wireless USB modem from Linksys but only after attempting to hook it up did we realize that Tivo Series 2 is not compatible with 802.11g Tivo Series 2 is only compatible with 802-11b It is still possible to hook Tivo up to 802-11g but it may require a technical wizard. Check your local website listings for assistance.

At times Tivo tries to be too smart:
Once you start programming Tivo a lot, whenever you change something Tivo pops up that what you are about to do may influence future programs. Such a feature is not bad – but there are times where Tivo gets too smart. Once I changed a program from Medium Quality to High Quality. Tivo then chimed in that by doing so several programs may not be recorded as planned. It then continued to list out programs for the next several weeks that apparently won’t be recorded. But it was forgetting that I could watch those shows and then delete them or dump them to my VCR and there would be no harm or foul.


Overall we love our Tivo. My oldest brother has one (actually I think he has a Replay a competitor to Tivo) and he loves it for he can record shows during the day and evening so he can spend time with his young kids and then watch shows when he has a free moment. As of yet my wife and I are not as busy as home as he is but when that day comes soon Tivo will be there almost as part of the family.

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Note: This review is based on Tivo Series 2 DVR - 40 Hours Digital TV Recorder