TiVo TCD648250B Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder
by TiVo
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List Price: Our Price: $139.99 You Save: $360.00 (72%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Receiver or Amplifier See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of TiVo TCD648250B Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder
Customer Review: Once upon a time I loved my TiVo
Summary: 1 Stars
I have been a long time TiVo customer since the Series 1 upgrading to a Series 2 and now a Series 3. The Series 1 and 2 are great devices but unfortunately they are not HD devices, so I upgraded to a Series 3 in December and I still don't have a Series 3 device that works and February is almost over.
I have exchanged the Series 3 device 3 times and I'm currently awaiting the 4th to arrive and not to mention the 4 visits by my cable provider to deliver the Cable Cards and verify the proper cable signals and voltages. Even though I am unable to get a workable device sent to me I am still not offered the "advanced" replacement without paying $800 to do so. Since this is my 4th unit let's practice some math 4 * $800 = $3200 in exchange fees that TiVo has had their hands on throughout this process and I still don't have a working device. Even though they have my credit card on file since they charge it every month for their service they would not send a device without a $800 deposit.
I can't believe how much money I've put into this whole project it makes me sick, and to think that I've now paid for 3 months of HD service and have never been able to use it since I can't get a working TiVo.
After reading all of the other reviews out there all of this sounds very familiar, endless reboots, latent menu responses, constant device failure. The last time I talked to TiVo support I brought this up the rep that I was working with, I ask him how they are addressing all of the negative feedback that is being reported and what they are doing about it. His response is that the negative feedback is unconfirmed facts and not the case. This is what sparked me to post this review, this device is a nightmare.
I sincerely hope that this next one works or this will end my TiVo loyalty.
Customer Review: Easy as 1-2-3!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
WOW. I am a first time Tivo user. I did not own any other Tivos, but my friends have and they all ranted and raved about what a great invention it was! And now I agree with them. I am glad I went all out for the Tivo Series 3 because I believe HD broadcasting is the way to go.
Likes:
Remote is unlike any I have ever had. The ENTIRE THING lights up the moment you press any button and stays lit for a few seconds. No hassle button pressing, no guesswork here! Oh yeah, and it's pretty aesthetically pleasing.
Ease of use: If I put in a wishlist topic and ask it to record anything having that topic I can! I can also record an entire season if I want and if I select "First Run Only" it will only record new episodes and not repeats!
Easy to hook up. I was worried but I found out you don't need to be a Philadelphia lawyer to hook this thing up. Just plug in the HDMI, the power plug and the cable cards (must activate with cable co.)
Recording is crisp and clear. You cannot tell a live broadcast from a recorded show.
Records two shows at once!
Tivo website is helpful
I signed up for Tivo online and tested to see if I could add a show to record on the internet...and it registered on my Tivo To Do List the next day.
If purchased from certain places, lifetime subscription can be included with the Tivo box. That way, no monthly fees!
Dislikes:
The expensive price tag.
If recording two shows you cannot watch a third without stopping the recording of one of the shows.
The only problem I have now is that certain channels aren't showing, but that's a Comcast Cable Company problem. So, HORRAY to TIVO and BOOOOO to COMCAST CABLE!!!
Customer Review: DON'T BUY UNTIL YOU READ THIS!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
We are big fans of TiVo and have an earlier model. We have been excitedly waiting for the Series 3 HD to come out. We purchased it, but we have had it over a month now and STILL cannot get our cable company to install the cable cards!! I have logged SEVERAL HOURS on the phone with both the cable company and TiVo, including a conference call with both of them. Our cable co. is clueless, and they state they are not even aware of the FCC regulation that requires them to give us these cards. TiVo people have been very nice, but they keep promising to forward it to their corporate office, and they will call our cable corporate office, but they still haven't followed through. (Supposedly they're calling their own corporate office today.) The TiVo rep indicated that they are getting a lot more of these cable card complaints than expected, and I think they are overwhelmed. So, do yourself a favor and CALL YOUR CABLE COMPANY FIRST and see if they are on board, unless you want to be the pioneer in your area. It's inexcusable and illegal that many cable companies are not on board, but that's the way it is. Eventually the issue will get straightened out and if you wait it might be a lot less frustrating for you (unless your cable co. already is up to speed.) If we don't get it resolved in a few days, we'll have no choice but to return the TiVo as the refund period will expire. On the bright side, if we wait a few months for our cable company to get a clue, we'll probably be able to re-purchase the TiVo for a better price!!! By the way, the rep also said that they are working on the software to do mulitroom viewing with this series 3 TiVo. There are some software and legal issues. When it's resolved (hopefully) you will be able to update this model's software.Customer Review: Will never go back to the cable company boxes
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the Series3 a few months after it was first released.
It took a few days of waiting for Comcast to arrive to install the cableCARDs (at the time, they required a service call), and some initial trouble when the technician clearly didn't understand how to install cable cards. But once it was up and running, the TiVo is an amazing device.
The search, scheduling and recommendation functionality is just amazing and much better than the standard DVR's being offered by Comcast.
Never again do I need to wait around for a show to air - in the 2+ years I've been using this, it has never "missed" a show - it always records them reliably.
I expanded my unit by buying and plugging in an external 1TB eSATA hard drive. Now there is MUCH more storage and my recordings are saved for longer. A highly recommended and easy upgrade.
The only downside is that some menus in the system are a little slow to load (i.e. when searching), and TiVo seems to insist on sticking little advertisements in various menus which shouldn't be there (I'm paying a monthly subscription fee - I don't want to see advertisements on a subscription-based system!).
Keep in mind that in addition to buying the TiVo, you'll need to pay a monthly or annual subscription fee to keep it running (the fee is for guide data and online account management).
Also, on-demand services from your cable company are not currently supported, but this is something that I have never personally wanted to used. TiVo (in partnership with Amazon and Netflix) now offers many on-demand services at more reasonable prices than the cable company, so this is not a problem.
Customer Review: Series 3....soon to be 3.5
Summary: 5 Stars
I have owned a series 1, series 2 and now a series 3 Tivo. All have had lifetime service.
The series 3 is an excellent compliment to a new HDTV set. It has all the output options you would need, and even ships with a HDMI cable. The remote has been improved over the already fantastic Tivo remote. Instead of blinking lights, you get an additional status panel on the front of the tivo that displays information. If anything, I dont' think it's potential is being fully utilized.
Why would you buy one of these over a cable-supplied or directTV supplied DVR? There is the much lauded user experience and program search capabilities. Tivo still has the best. I have had a lot to compare it against -- I have gone through several home PC-based DVR setups (snapstream, mythtv, etc) and decided that I just wanted an appliance, which the Tivo is.
But for myself, there was one more reason. Simply put, I did a reality check, and decided that paying for TV was dumb. I just don't watch it enough to justify it's expense. So, I bought a Winegard MS-2000 antenna and put it on my roof. YMMV, but in my case all the the over the air broadcasters that were broadcasting digital television were within the range of this antenna. It is not the absolute best, but it doesn't need to be pointed since it's omnidirectional.
So, I am a happy camper. I get great looking television. It is all broadcast, and there are enough things available that I don't miss satellite at all. I certainly don't miss the bill.
My hunch is that there is a lot of extra functionality locked in this box that hasn't been tapped just yet -- more than just Amazon unboxed.