Tivo

[absolut_blonde]

Is it worth having? I''d really like some sort of DVR to record shows as my yoga is going to interfere with... uh... Gossip Girl

this fall.

As I understand it, you can buy Tivo and a subscription to the Tivo service and it should work on your television? I''m in Canada, if that makes any difference. Currently we just have digital cable. Seems the best option would be to buy the Tivo unit & the buy the lifetime subscription outright, correct? Rather than paying monthly, that is (I hate making payments on things).

Any experiences? Our cable company also offers a DVR but it''s more expensive, has fewer features and entails extra fees per month.

 

[aliciagirl]

We just have DVR with our regular digital cable. But I couldn''t live without it!! I''m so used to it now that when I go to someone''s place and they don''t have it I''m like, "Wahhhh, why can''t I pause so I can make something to eat!?"

 

[wishful]

Yeah we don''t have Tivo..but we have a DVR and I agree....I don''t know how I got along with out it! It''s sooooo convenient.
Definitley worth looking into.

 

[fleur-de-lis]

Hi Absolut_Blonde,

We have both a DVR via our cable company (Time Warner) in one room and an old top-of-the-line DVR, circa 2001, made by Tivo's main competitor back in the day that has no monthly fee (ReplayTV) in another. Generally speaking, getting one through your cable company is the most painless and satisfies most basic needs; I think ours is an extra $3 a month for box+service combined. To briefly sound like a techhead, though, the interface of the Time Warner provided service (a Moxi box) is *vastly* inferior in features, programming logic, usability, and capability than our old ReplayTV unit.

Getting a DVR is *definitely* worth having. In addition to recording a show on a different network, the ability to pause live TV (to grab a snack, answer the phone) and jump-back on live TV (to see a great sports play or play back a joke on The Daily Show for your significant other) is worth a modest fee. If you've never had anything better, the basic DVR that comes from cable provider will sate you and the fee is nominal enough that you won't notice the difference.

If, however, you already have had Tivo or ReplayTV, the limitations of the basic DVR which comes from the cable company (like not being able to do a 30-second jump over commercials with a single button press, keep 50+ hours of programming on the hard drive, or smart program your machine to seek out programs you might like but didn't even know were going to be on) might drive you batty from time to time. It sometimes frustrates me that our old ReplayTV with its 2001 technology is a vastly better unit than the one we added from the cable company in 2008, but it's not so bad that I'd rather buy an HD Tivo + larger monthly fee instead of the cable company's easy option.

Hope this helped!
f-d-l

 

[Amandine]

I don''t have much to add other then after living with someone with Tivo, I fell in love and when we moved out we bought our own. I love it! Other then recording the shows you like to watch, its great for things like when you start a show, get hooked and want to go to bed or something, you just hit record and finish it later! Love it!

 

[meresal]

"Bloop, bloop, bloop!!!" [translation: I LOVE TIVO!!!]

It would be a serious strain to live without.