Record Live Television With TIVO, Cheap Service, Free DVR
Written: Jul 09 '08 (Updated Jul 10 '08)
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Pros: I don't miss my shows any more, cheap, free DVR box. record live TV
Cons: Warmup takes a few minutes, Home network was not explained
The Bottom Line: Something that I have no idea how I lived without! Now I never miss my favorite primetime shows.
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| pablothegreat's Full Review: TiVo Series2â„¢ TCD540080 (80 GB) 80-Hours Video R... |
What is TIVO? It is a way to record your favorite shows on television when you are not at home or while you are busy doing other things. Never again do you need to be in front of the TV to watch the news at a certain time! You can program TIVO to save it for you and watch whenever you get ready. I love to watch the morning shows like Good Morning America and The View but that is never feasible with our hectic therapy schedule so I watch it late nights. Special events like Macy's holiday parades go on forever and I love to watch them but of course I am cooking most of the day so am not watching television. I love being able to save it for that evening when everyone is ready to sit down and watch it all. Want to watch the 6:00 pm nightly news at 1 am? You can! Want to watch primetime shows at 2 pm? You can do that too! Going to be out of town for a week and not around a TV but don't want to miss Lost? TIVO will save it for you to watch when you return!
I think I was the last person on Earth to hear of this new fabulous invention and I was the one who needed it worst! I was always complaining about not being able to watch my favorite shows for one reason or another. One main reason is that I adore comedies and funny shows while my special needs child can't stand the applause and laugh tracks so for years, I was missing out. Finally I did hear about it but expected it to be way out of my price range. I suspected to have to buy the TIVO box and then pay a monthly fee. Boy was I shocked when I found that the box comes at no charge!!! So I signed up right away!
What Went Wrong:
I am going to start with this as it is the first thing that comes to mind. (Please realize that this was a year ago and their website has changed now!) Looking on the site, it says you can sign up for TIVO if you have phone service or not. I didn't. But I did have the high speed cable that their website said would work with it. So this shouldn't have been a problem right? Wrong. I waited eagerly for my stuff to arrive so I could get it started up right away! I connected everything and all went fine until it didn't connect. All the wiring, everything was done, but still no connection. I called TIVO the next day as it was after hours of course and they told me oh this is the problem after spending a very long time on the phone trying to figure it out. It seems that you need more than a high speed internet connection for it to work. Now you techies don't get huffy with me, I am definitely NOT a techie and had no clue. It seems that I needed a router and a wireless adapter http://www.epinions.com/content_436760710788 to establish a home network. Ah ha! Nothing at the time on their website mentioned this, only that you needed either phone service or high speed internet.
So I was pretty mad and upset that now I had to purchase more items and wait for them to arrive before using the service since I had no home phone to connect. They were great about this though and sent me out a wireless adapter free of charge so I only needed to buy the router. Now the website does specifically state that you need these additional items to set up a home network. At the time I thought it was bait and switch, free box but buy the adapter and router for $XX amount of dollars. Realize though that my free trial period had lapsed by the time these items arrived and I started being charged when I had just set up the system. Didn't make a difference to me as I was SO happy with it!
Set It Up:
As you already know, I am not a very techy person and am lucky that I connect to the internet easily. I have a computer guy on speed dial when I can't connect! So if I can hook this up with few issues, anyone can! First thing you need to know, the instructions are two-sided, you only follow the ones for your type of connection---will you be using your home phone or your home network high speed internet connection? Follow only those instructions! The instructions come on a very large sheet which is hard to find exactly what you need to find....would have been easier with a smaller book, page by page. A picture on the instructions make it easy to tell what cord goes where!
I had the home network/internet high speed. First step is going online and activating your TIVO box, the number on the back of your DVR box is needed. Or you can call the toll free number to do this. Then look through the cables, not all will be used for your type of connection so don't open all the bags of cables! Plug in the wireless adapter to one of the USB ports on the DVR box, your cable cord connects to the cable IN spot on the back, the red/white/yellow cables connect the DVR box to your TV, and then plug in the power cord on the DVR. Also there are connector sensors with glue-y sticky tape that keeps them in place on the box to turn the channel if you need this. Simple as that! The rest of the set-up is done by the DVR itself. Of course you will need to read the instructions on the screen and follow instructions to finish the set-up. In all expect it to take around 30 minutes or so.
What You Get:
A remote control for the DVR box complete with batteries and ready to go. This has channel buttons, a large TIVO button at the top to go back to the TIVO Central list of options, arrow buttons to choose options on the screen, record button, a thumbs up or thumbs down button so you can choose your likes and dislikes (so TIVO can pick out shows you might like!), and a play button with forward, backward, stop, and slow motion the action on your show! Another button allows you to do a replay if you want to see a football tackle again!
The Series2 TIVO DVR was free with 3 year contract so I only pay $12.95 monthly for the service. Shipping was also free. This box lets me save up to 80 hours of programming. The connections are on the back of it and the front and sides look like a silver box with a white front, the TIVO logo is on the white front of it. You can choose for this white front to light up when you change channels or you can turn this part off. It is not needed so you could save a tiny bit of power by turning it off. It is the size of most VCRs.
Cords, instructions, websites and phone number for customer service also are included. You do not get the router or the wireless adapter to set up a home network if you do not have phone service.
Customer Service:
The first time I spoke to them, they seemed clueless as to what was wrong. After that the reps on the line were much more knowledgable about home network set-up. I think most people use their home phone service so the reps were not sure. Also you can get help online at www.tivo.com/support. There are long waits even late at night to get through and I gave up a number of times trying to call them. Online I found so many different issues that I was not sure which I was having! They have covered many problems and have solutions for you there. Signing up online was a simple process. Picking out your DVR box is the most difficult decision there! Quick and painless. The site loads quickly and everything is easy to find there. If you need additional accessories, they sell them too!
The Service:
The service has not slowed down my internet connection. I do find that my home network (router wireless adapter) go down at times. But the TIVO service does not need to connect that often so it is rarely an issue. It does need to connect to update when shows come on, the time, etc.
I have never missed a show but I have missed the ending of a show when the network changes times or when a sports game goes on long. If the show is on time, you won't miss it! The TIVO will work correctly! With the TIVO season pass manager, you can set it up to record whole seasons of your favorite shows...some of mine are Lost, Amazing Race, General Hospital, and Men in Trees.
Or you can set it up to record a specific one time show such as a Dateline that you don't want to miss. Or you can have it record shows with Matthew Broderick or Madonna or Sting, or anyone and it will capture not only movies with them but also documentaries and talk shows! Look under TIVO suggestions and TIVO will let you know of shows that you might like based on what you have chosen before! All of these are so simple to do and takes seconds to complete the set-up! What if you see a show last second? You can hit record (has a red dot on the button) on the remote control and it will record it immediately.
Once you record, you can set the TIVO to keep until you delete, or delete after a certain time or when it needs to make space for other programs. I really expected the 80 hours not to go so fast! Mine filled up quickly but I was not deleting them as I watched my shows. You can choose to record programs at best quality or less better quality, best quality takes up more space on the DVR but I notice little difference in each of these qualities! Every show that I record has wonderful high quality definition...I see nothing wrong with the picture, the shows look the same to me even with TIVO service.
If the power goes out, your TIVO dvr will need to go through it's warmup cycle which takes about 3 minutes. Frustrating when you have a brownout and the lights are on but your show isn't. I know I know, it is a short amount of time but when Lost is on and the smoke monster is about to....what?!?! I don't know, I missed it!
TIVO has a free 30 day trial period that you can return everything and not be locked into a contract. But read the fine print! You only have a certain amount of time to return everything in the same condition or you will be charged!
The instruction sheet says you can buy a splitter so you can record one show while watching another show, I have not done this yet but plan to in the near future. I keep forgetting to pick one up at the store!
Final Say:
If I were stranded on a deserted island, I would miss my Diet Coke and my TIVO worst of all! If you don't have it, get it! $12.95 with a free DVR box can't be beat! Of course you can get other types of TIVO boxes with additional options and hours for more money and not free plus choose from 1 year, 2 year or 3 year contracts for differing monthly prices but you won't regret the purchase!
What is so good about THIS?
I don't miss my shows any more, cheap, free DVR box
What is unique about this?
Record live television, play back, save it for later
Is it worth the price?
Yes, definitely.
There has to be some bad to this, right?
Warmup takes a few minutes, Home network was not explained on the site when I signed up.
Any warnings people should be aware of?
None.
Final verdict:
Something that I have no idea how I lived without! Now I never miss my favorite primetime shows and don't have to be in front of the TV at precisely 8 pm when they come on each evening! I only wish that I had known about it years ago! Whatever happened to Friends?
Here is another online store where I have shopped:
Bath & Body Works Online Store http://www.epinions.com/content_433178316420
pablo the Lost fan
You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight. Jim Rohn
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 12.95 month
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pablothegreat
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Writing up a storm...
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