TiVo

Fetch TV – I have Fetch Tv and have it connect to Telstra 4G wirelessly and have had no problems with streaming and watching catch up tv and I do miss Tivo as I brought Tivo a 160 GB internal hardrive and it died in 2014. I tried other PVR but none could match Tivo, they should get the new Tivo from America  Show details

Terrible customer Service – The unit works well but don't expect any customer service! They have a bunch of people that are not English speakers for their first language. They read from a scipt to try to help you. Bad times ten! They used to have awesome customer service but not any more! Good luck if you aren't technical!  Show details

Still head and shoulders above the rest, 8 years on – We bought our TiVo box in Myer in Brisbane at Christmas 2008, and like mr_haappiness said, 8 years on and still the one I want. Last year I believe the hard drive in it died so we dipped a toe back in the Foxtel market. Spent every minute afterwards lamenting each and every function no longer available to me. Anyway, this last week has seen the… Read more

Foxtel box shipped back to them and I plan to replace the harddrive in the TiVo box and fingers crossed see it up and going again.

I actually came on here to see the price of new ones then was dismayed to find them no longer available.

I dread having to eventually work out what to replace it with. I also run AppleTV with the Plex client and server. These I see as perfectly complementing TiVo. One thing I would love to do, does anyone know of, or have successfully themselves fitted an SSD into a TiVo box? I wonder whether an SSD might be too fast, and therefore be wasted $$$ causing more problems than is worth it.

Tivo Advocate – I was one of the first people to purchase a Tivo when it first launched in Australia in 2007,in fact I remember the exact date June 30 2007.I was always going to buy a Tivo as I had friends in the states who would rave about it as it had already been entrenched in the American way of life for over 10 yrs before it arrived here...The Tivo I… Read more ·  1

purchased was the 160 gb which was all they offered at the time of its launch here.I later added the 1TB WD hard drive which negates the hassle and expense of updating to the newer model.My Tivo is over 6 yrs old now and has never missed a beat !I the wireless adaptor is ok but I find with the ethernet connection it works so much better with regards to downloading movies etc...the ease of recording is the best you can get,I have a Telstra Tbox as well which is ok but the Tivo is the ultimate in home entertainment.Do yourself a favour and spend a little extra and buy one as you wont be dissappointed....after using your Tivo for awhile you will wonder how you ever survived without one!!...the features of this amazing device is endless,after 6 yrs using it I still am discovering new ways of using it!the best value for money I have ever spent on any electronic device....It is that good ! Everything !no need for a user manual it is that simple to use but has many many features that will amaze&delight you and change the way you watch TV Nil...Tivo is terrific !

A great product - a shame that they are no longer available – I have had my TiVo for a couple of years now. It really is a great unit and better than a Foxtel IQ in some ways. It's really easy to set up. It's basically just plug an play. We did have 2 issues early-on. The remote control didn't work correctly and this issue was tracked back to the light sensor being active on our Sony TV. Apparently… Read more

this can cause interference with the TiVo's infrared remote. Anyway, we changed the setting on the TV and all worked fine.

The other issue was with the remote itself. You can program it to control your TV as well (the above-mentioned Sony) but I found that that it kept forgetting it. I just gave up in the end.

The programming of programs can be a bit hard to learn but it's fine once you get used to it. It's best feature is that you can set it up to record all new episodes of a show. You don't even need to watch out for changes in time or when a new season is starting. It just remembers and records them for you to watch at your convenience.

Another thing I like about the unit is that you can "tell" it what sorts of programs you like and will then record programs that you think you might like. It doesn't keep them very long and you don't have to watch them but it's great when there is nothing on TV and you just want to find something you might like.

I purchased the optional TiVo Wireless Adaptor. With it you can connect the TiVo wirelessly to your network and download information. Used in conjunction with a Media Access Key (also needs to be purchased) and free TiVo Transfer software you can transfer programs to your PC/ Mac to watch etc. Series link, easy to set up, very quiet to operate Remote control can be a bit dodgy

Tivo simply the Best Unit to Have – Love my Tivo Im on my second hard drive replacement and will be happy to add a third if need be. Simple the best unit on the market. Will we ever see the new models become available in Australia. Don't think so thanks to the other Foxtel and the Government  Show details

TiVo - The Intuitive Video Oracle – 8 Years old and still going. I've upgraded the HDD to store more and find it impossible to fill. It was bought for me for a Xmas present and at the time I was really reluctant to use it as I wasn't sure of the TiVo reputation. It is no doubt the most intuitive system in the market and it's really sad they are no longer available. I think all… Read more

you have to do is see how much ten year old units are still selling for on eBay and that's a testament in itself.

great unit – Had this unit now for many many years and its still going. Still has feature many current models don't have. Cant think of any negatives. Bottom line still one of the best units on the market that last long time. One feature that it doesnt have which i would like is the ad skipping feature some new models claim to have.

Hard rubbish material – Can't remember a month where the machine operated efficiently. Piece of junk and left on the roadside as hard rubbish. Problematical from day one and have now replaced it with something easy to use and that actually fulfills the makers promises. Have managed to talk several people out of considering it Constant problems and total waste of money

Here's the Bad Points – The EPG System is inaccurate, it is programed by Tivo from the same source as the newspaper paper guides (not like the times shown on your TV EPG), hence start times are inaccurate, you can not adjust the start time to a later time & you need to add 15 minutes to the finishing time on most channels to record the complete show, if your Tivo fails… Read more

with its daily network connection , the first thing you know is that shows you have set to record have not recorded, and you have to reset the machine to correct the problem, I would not recommend this unit Records well on ABC and SBS who stick to their shedualed time slots No joy in correcting their EPG system, could be connected to the fact Channel 7 did or still own the company

No customer support – As many other people have mentioned, when there is a problem with the machine there is no customer support. My machine died recently and Harvey Norman are still working out if they can help me. It cost me $700 hard earned dollars. There is no safety net with this product. Be warned. Ability to rewind and fast forward. No customer support. It's frightening. No safety net.

Brought a second Tivo for family member as they are so easy to use – The first time you pick up the remote you become a Tivo addict. The menu is intuitive with on screen menu and easy yes/no type choices to record or watch recorded shows. Easy to navigate EPG. Easy to find recorded shows. Australian version has only two tuners. The UK/USA models have four tuners but they are not available in Australia. New Tivo's… Read more

are no longer available in Australia, but I brought a second hand one on eBay, as a second Tivo.

Both ours are still working, and I have managed to make a backup of the internal hard drive for safety.

Only problem that I've heard of is the problem fan or power supply may fail after many years of use. Power supply circuit board replacement are available on Internet.

I only wish I could buy the new model.

Nothing else comes anywhere near it for simplicity, efficiency and ease of use – Had mine for nearly 10 years now, no problems, would like the new Tivo Bolt but not available in Australia. I am dreading the day it dies. I recently got a Fetch, but get problems with there Bridge WiFi system, it is not bad but no comparrison to the Tivo. With Fetch you cannot rewind live TV without pausing it first, with Tivo you do not need to… Read more

pause, the advantage is it you switch the TV on and there si an interesting program running, although it has been running for 30 minutes you can either rewind or record it and get the whole show including the 30 minutes before you switched it on.

Can't live without it – Yes, I cannot express what a great device this is. So easy to program, search and record's everything we want. We are just running out of space now for all the programs. I want to buy another one as I heard the new Tovo has 4 tuners. Couldn't ask for more, except more toom to store programs. I love our Tivo!

Awesome – What can I say - this the ONLY PVR you should use. had to hunt down a second hand one and will be devestated when it eventualy dies. must be 6 or 7 years old but going strong - haveing some "smart" tv features like accessing you tube and the various catch up tv services would be the only significant improvement. But for recording Free to Air… Read more

TV this is the best.

No need to worry about what channel or time a show is on just search for it by name and hit record, select season pass to get every upcomming eppisode.

Without it there would be no way to keep up to date with Person of interest with the chops and changes the tv stations do to it - it even could filter out the reruns and only record new eppisodes.

Even set recording remotely.

Really good. The best example of an easy to use interface I have ever seen – I have two Tivos and I got one for my elderly parents. Tivo is the most perfect example of a complex device that is easy and self-explanatory to use that I have ever encountered. Its GUI is easy to read, and always explains itself, so that you don't have to know (or remember) what you are doing since the screen always offers options. Similarly,… Read more

you don't have to be able to read the small print on the remote (important for older people), because the screen always offers options that can be navigated using a few, regularly used, buttons on the remote.

I am gutted that they've gone off the market in Australia, and if my parents' Tivo ever packs up I'll give them one of mine because there is no better unit for old people with vision and/or memory problems.

Couldn't live without our tivo – Have had our TiVo for 7 years now and it is simply a wonderful device. I often judge devices on wether my family can use them or not. I did my research when TiVo first appeared on the market and liked what I saw. Fast forward to now and I'm worried that when time comes to replace this machine I will struggle to find anything that is as good. I… Read more

know the new machines today have more tuners and maybe better TV guides but I don't want to pay for subscription. TiVo was truly plug and play, smart and free of subscription. It's a shame channel 7 and Harvey Norman killed this machine in Australia because nothing comes close to the TiVo. Freeview? No thankyou!

Still going strong, 7 + years on – On a rough calculation I have had mine for at least 7 years but I think it has actually been even longer. I think it was when they first brought them to Australia and JB HiFi had them for sale. It was pretty expensive back then but what it could do was amazing. I guess the technology is a little dated and these days they come with much bigger… Read more

hard drives etc. but I've seen some of the newer options that my friends have and I still prefer my TiVo!

I'll be very, very sad if it ever stops working but I must say it is rare to get 7 years out of something like this. I'd try to buy another one in a heartbeat of mine stopped working, but I do hear that they don't have them in Australia anymore. Such a shame :-(

awesome machine, should be able to still purchase in australia. can not understand people not wantin – best machine ever. mine finally gave up after year of use. then I found out I could no longer purchase in australia so purchased another 'similar machine' or so I was told. well not even close! so have managed to purchase 2 off eBay. ..... I will not be going without my tivo ever again!!

Take control of your viewing – The TiVo is fantastic. It is simple to use and with the expansion hard drive can record and store dozens and dozens of programs to what when you want. You can setup to record entire seasons of programs and the unit had a voting system which allows it to learn what you like and record programs in similar genres for you as suggests them. The new… Read more

'Quickflix' integration has been great too taking over from the previous Caspar movie wallet. Records tonnes of shows. What, pause and fast forward shows (including ads). No monthly fees (quickflix does have free and pay per view content). Takes a long time to boot-up so it is not practical to turn the unit off and on. We leave ours on 24/7.

Great Product – I was lucky enough to find a bargain used Tivo on Gumtree. Having done plenty of research beforehand, once I purchased this I also bought a 1TB ( WD Red ) hard drive to replace the aging 320GB inside the TV. The upgrade process went smoothly and I now have ample recording space knowing the Tivo HD shouldn't fail for a while. I used to own a… Read more

Telstra TBox for 2 years which also worked perfectly however when I moved to a fibre estate that no longer worked, hence the Tivo. It's a it unit, probably the same size as a VCR. It initially takes a while to boot up the first time you start the machine. There are very few menus and what's there is simple and intuitive. You can do all the usual stuff like pause live TV, series record etc etc. Where the TIvo excels is it can record or suggest to record an interests the owner has eg Cars. If I set this up, every TV programme with Cars can be recorded automatically eg Top Gear. The same goes with actors - the Tivo will record everything with your chosen actor.

The bad points - you must have an Internet connection for Tivo to work and you can never turn the thing off. There is a menu to put the tivo in standby, and the green power light goes out, but its always on, recording whatever channel you last watched.

All in all, a very good product and if you have the opportunity to get one, highly recommended. Easy to use, very good recording functions, great picture quality Can't turn it off, big size

I Love TiVo! – What a wonderful, easy to use machine with plenty of logic built into the great interface. The TiVo PVR hands down beats every other PVR on the market because it is so easy to use, it's huge array of options, its explanations of what each feature does, and reliability. There is no better PVR on the market. HDMI connectivity, large recording… Read more ·  2

capacity, extremely easy to use, lots of features, very well designed menus. Non existent ongoing brand support from Hybrid Television Australia

Best electronic device I have ever bought! – I have had my TiVo for 3 years now and I (and my family) are over the moon with it. The unit works well, has great features and can be easily operated by my family (aged 4 to 42). Setup was easy but be mind full that you must connect it to broadband by wifi or ethernet. The menu system is logical and easy to navigate. Wife and I use the kids… Read more ·  1

control to limit their access to inappropriate tv shows (password protected). There is some online content available like music, TV shows and movies but don't expect cheap prices! TiVo has arrangements for free upload/ download with some broadband suppliers ( I'm with Internode) which comes in handy is you use Caspa.

Only issue that is disappointing is the lack of support. For fellow TiVo users looking for support try posting on whirlpool.net.au as one of their tech officers regularly check the forums to offer support. There is also a few good regulars on that forum site that can offer unofficial support as well.

I really hope that that I get another couple of years life out of my machine as I don't believe there's anything on the market at the moment that is as good as TiVo.

If you have the 160Gb or 320Gb version I recommend that you purchase the 1Tb external hard drive. Child lock, 30min continuous recording, ease of use, season recordings Support has declined significantly. Can't buy anymore TiVo units :( and Caspa.

Couldn't live without it – It has to be the best thing I've ever bought as far as tech gadgets go. I've had my TiVo for just on 3 years and it hasn't missed a beat. I love the season passes, the suggestions, the way it records 30 min of live TV and the fact that now I have the 1tb hard drive I can record as many shows as I want without ever paying another cent (except for… Read more

my internet). I can record & store whole series and watch them at my leisure. I hardly ever watch live TV and when I do, I usually wait for 25 min after they start then I can fast forward the ads and finish in real time.

I'm adding to this review 3 1/2 years later and the same TiVo box is still running like a dream (touch wood). I really don't know what I'll do when it does finally give up. I've been looking but nothing comes close to it. I wish someone would see its brilliance and support it in Australia again. Surely I'm not the only one here who loves it.

I'm adding to this review again (May 2017). Got word from Tivo a few weeks ago saying that they will not be supporting or suppling an EPG (electronic program guide) after June 2017. This EPG is what makes Tivo so good as it uses filters to find the programs you like and request. Without this feature my Tivo will just become a big VCR. I am going to have to live without it. Looking at getting Fetch TV, this looks like the next best thing around. I'm not happy Jan. :( Reliable, very user friendly, lots of practical features.

TiVo-the answer to a working man's dream – I am now on my third unit after two earlier failures. This one is the HD version, and whilst I'm still getting used to it what it can do makes it a really worthwhile product so long as it gives you no trouble. Essentially the unit allows you to record television on two channels and watch a third channel on television. For example in my house, I… Read more

record to commercial channels at once and watch the ABC on the TV which also has a tuner, and then over the weekend I will go back and watch the recorded programs because I can fast forward through the ads

The unit allows recording to start early and finish late for when Channel 7, nine and 10 invariably misrepresent their program guide to try and change the habits of those of us who are smart enough not to be beholden to them and their 18 min per hour of advertising, much of which is rubbish about themselves.

TiVo is the right choice anybody who needs a personal video recorder because it gives you control of your viewing times and enables you to establish a set of favourites which get recorded all the time and, if like me, you enjoy some older television such as Mash 4077, you can record the, they go into a folder and you can watch them late at night when you can't sleep. this is a single product answer to a number of television viewing questions it is very difficult to get in touch with the people who support it if it ends up having problems.

So very disappointed – We have been TIVO customers since they literally began and have had over 13 TIVO's over the past decade plus and we have always been happy with them. Until now that is. We have spent well over $ 10,000 on our TIVO's and while we sometimes had problems they were always efficiently fixed by customer service. Unfortunately, helpful and pleasant… Read more

customer service no longer exists going by our recent experience.

The last 2 TIVO's we purchased for our beach house last year have never worked properly and keep shutting off our TV's and TIVO's every week or so. Keep in mind we are only here a few times a month. So after exhaustive research and chats with TIVO customer service it was determined that we received a bad batch of TIVO's.

Unbelievably they want to charge us an "exchange" fee of $149.99 per TIVO. After an hour and 40 minutes (An HOUR and 40 MINUTES!!!!!!) they finally agree no exchange fee but my husband and I are truly unhappy with the way this situation was handled and I am not sure I have confidence in the next batch of TIVO's we are expecting. Plus, they insist on charging our CC $249.99 for each TIVO they are sending out and promise to refund when they receive the defective TIVO's back. Now, since we have been customers since 2000 I fully expected it to work the other way. Meaning, charge our CC if they don't receive the defective TIVO's back not the other way around because that leaves us chasing them down (again! as this issue has been going on for over a year now) for our refund!!

Very unhappy and displeased and my trust in their product and customer service is destroyed. We have 5 TIVO's currently (3 at our full time house and 2 at our beach house) and trust me when I say it is not the money I am so aggravated about but the principle of this whole thing not to mention countless hours wasted on trying to figure out (with the TIVO team) what the problem was and then told we are being charged an "exchange" fee. Ludicrous and exasperating and I worry with the way they are running their business they will be out of business soon!!

I felt it necessary to write this review (and I never write negative reviews) because of the way customer service was so difficult and unpleasant and I hope that someone in the advanced TIVO ranks reads this and perhaps starts change for the better. Loyal customers (heck any customers!) deserve to be treated better than this. Don't you think?? How it was in the past but that is no longer true sadly :(( Customer service, defective products and uncompromising stupidity :((

Buy with caution – Tivo is a great concept and a big improvement on other recorders. However after 13 months the hard disk had to be replaced at $200plus. Then after 5 months it again needed to be replaced at my cost. I tossed Tivo in the bin as it was too expensive to keep on repairing. An improvement on existing recorders A lemon, bad warranty service & frequently broke down

Fantastic PVR – I do not usually write reviews but the Tivo is outstanding. It is simple to set a season pass for your favourite shows and Tivo reliably records them (with the updated EPG). It automatically deletes the shows after 2 weeks although I can change the settings to keep my favourite shows. We have had it for over 3 years and have never had a problem.… Read more

User friendly menu and remote, fast forward through ads, fast forward through programs, easy to record shows, records two shows simultaneously.

TiVo Extraordinaire! – Not many people seem to know about TiVo. I first heard of it on the Oprah show, but at that time it was not available in Australia. Oprah said that this machine is brilliant for anyone who is not technically-minded, and I would have to agree with her. It is quite simple to operate once it is set up. Christmas 2010 I decided to treat myself &,… Read more

after reading many reviews & making comparisons with other DVRs available, decided this was the machine for me. At that time there was a nation-wide reduction in the price, making it affordable to me & in my opinion, a good bargain. It has a hard disc drive with 320 GB of memory, & I think a model with 1TB of memory is to be released shortly. Existing models can be fitted with a 1TB external drive.

With the TiVo you can record any free-to-air programs (not pay TV services). It needs to be connected to your home broadband internet service via an Ethernet cable or a TiVo Wireless Adaptor (this was supplied free as a bonus at the time I bought + a free HDMI cable from Dick Smith). The reason for connecting to the internet is so that any programming changes will be picked up if they are posted on the internet & the recording time will be adjusted automatically by TiVo. There is a lead-up time & extended recording time added to a recording so that you don't miss the beginning or end of a show. There is no monthly cost as with pay TV, unless you wish to download current movies, which you can do on demand via TiVo’s CASPA facility.

This is a smart machine. If you are watching live TV & are interrupted by a phone call or similar, you can pause the machine for up to 30mins & resume watching from where you left off. It has dual tuners, so you can record 2 programs simultaneously, while watching a 3rd program that you’ve recorded. This is where it gets really exciting…you can enter a WishList using either program titles, actors’ names, topics that interest you, genres of shows etc., & TiVo will AUTOMATICALLY record these shows for you if there is available space. There is also a Season Pass Manager where you can enter the title of shows that you watch regularly & these will be automatically recorded for you, so you will never miss an episode. You begin to think of TiVo as a little person, because it even anticipates shows that you might like & records them as suggestions. Suggestions do not take precedence over selected recordings. If you don’t wish to view them you can just delete them. I find it’s better to record programs rather than watch them live to air, as you can fast forward through the ads. If you begin to watch a show live to air, a portion of the broadcast is always being saved, so if you wish that you had recorded the program, it’s possible to save the complete program by selecting Record This Showing.

There are Parental Controls, Puzzles, it has a superb EPG, indicators that show you how much of a recorded program is remaining, an optional Home Networking Package that allows recordings to be offloaded to a PC, & many more features, too numerous to mention. I love this machine. You don't have to manually set to record & there are so many options

TIVO is spot on! No longer do I miss my favourite TV shows – I bought my TIVO to replace the expensive Austar (Mystar) as a PVR to record my favourite TV shows. I did the research and I am pleased to say that TIVO has been exactly what I wanted. No longer do I miss my favourite shows. I was lucky enough to get a great deal including the 1tb expander box, wirelss connection and the home networking… Read more

package. It is so easy to transfer TV recorded TV shows to my PC as well as using the TIVO as a media centre to play my networked music, videos and photos. The only gripe I had initially was a faulty HDMI connection, which I ended up changing over to component to solve the problem. The electronic programe guide (EPG) would have to be the best available. So easy to use and record your favourite shows. I also like how TIVO learns what I like and records extra programs which means I never have a time when there is nothing to watch. With the added feature of CASPA I can also download recent movies at a low cost. The TIVO is definatley the pick of what is currently available, even the new Telstra T-box misses out the great features that TIVO has. So easy to use. Great Electronic Program Guide and heaps of features not available on other PVRs. Faulty HDMI issues. A little on the expensive side.

Excellent – I love this as you can record seasons of shows you can rewind live tv so no missing any thing ever again it has an upto date program and it can even pick which shows it think you like and record them for you and it is very easy to use Rewind live tv

We love our TiVo! So easy to use! And now we have so much to watch – TiVo is so easy to use, that even my husband (who never reads instruction manuals) can work it out! I love that you can record the whole season of a series with a single click, yet have the option to set more detail. It's great to be able to record stuff that is showing at the wrong times, even two things at the same time. TiVo also records stuff… Read more

that it thinks you'd be interested in, based on what you have already recorded. So far, some of that has been suitable, while much of it not - however that should improve as we use it more and it gets more familiar with our choices (we've only had it for one month).

We got the latest 1TB TiVo and we have recorded tons of stuff, yet it doesn't seem to fill up (well at least not yet - there's no way to tell how full it is, which is a shame). Instead of watching ABC2 for kids every night, our young daughter now only watches pre-recordings of her favorite shows - over and over again. And we have heaps of good stuff to watch too.

I did lots of research before buying TiVo, and we chose it over other digital PVRs (like Sony Play TV or Topfield) for its ease of use, as well as the ability to choose what you want it to record, based on favorite actors, genre etc. I emailed TiVo support with some questions and they were really helpful, replying swift and in detail. Easy to use, records whole series, suggests stuff you might like No indication of how full the TiVo is, would be good to know if you are running out of space.

Love it! – So glad I purchased a Tivo. Now I never miss a show & my little son has a library of children's shows on hand. Easy to use & saves from leaning towards Foxtel - you don't need that with a Tivo. Highly recommended & worth every cent. Easy to use & reliable. Great being able to pause a live show & go back to replay a scene. Can occasionally cut… Read more ·  1

off the end of programs even with the extended record on. The library of movies to purchase from Tivo is poor.

Simple to use, but noisy and freezes – The TIVO is a great idea - it's easy to use and I love the fact I can pause the tv, rewind, or record if I have that inevitable phone call two minutes before the TV show ends, or I can watch one show and tape another. It also has a 'season pass' feature that allows me to set it to tape every episode of a show without programming every episode -… Read more

however, I find that the 'record first-run' option where it's supposed to ignore repeats doesn't work - it just doesn't tape anything!

The ability to extend programs is essential with this device. The program guide is only as good as the networks provide and when My Kitchen Rules goes thirty minutes overtime I would miss half of my favourite show as the program guide doesn't update. I find I have to extend the recording time by at least 30 minutes - which is fine for me, but not so good for people who want to store a lot of programs - the TIVO only has a very small 500gb hard drive.

The 'TIVO suggestions' will tape programs depending on what type of shows you record or tell the TIVO you like - however, I taped a documentary of SBS once, and ever since I haven't been able to get it to automatically stop recording every movie and doco on SBS!

Physically it is quite a large machine, with no dvd player, and I find the fan is noisy. I've already cleaned it once, but it continues to make an annoying clicking sound (like a computer with a dirty fan). It drives me made when the house is quiet as it's all I can hear. Apparently the fan is standard, so I might have to replace it to get some peace in my lounge room! It also tends to go through phases where it reboots or freezes on a whim. Whether this is a power issue or a fault in the machine, I don't know.

Overall, though,The features are easy to use and the menu topics easy to understand. I didn't realise just how easy it was until I had to help setup two other types for family. I recommend this product for people who want something easy to use, and for parents/family who aren't techno-savvy. easiet DVR to use, has great features and intutitive Keeps freezing/rebooting mid show, fan is noisy even after cleaning

What did I do before TiVo? – I recently spent a week visiting family without TiVo, it was horrible. I am a true TiVo convert. We bought ours almost 2 years ago after our rather expensive PVR turned out to be a very expensive paperweight. It wasn't that I wanted a heap of functions, i just wanted it to record what I asked it to record when I asked it to. Simple right? … Read more

Well it is now. I love that I just tell TiVo what I like and it will find and record it for me. Similar to foxtels series link, except when you get a season pass, no matter how much the stations move it around and run repeats and put it on hiatus for 3 weeks, TiVo still manages to track it down for me. I can even tell it to only record new episodes.

You do have to keep your eye on what it is taping though.

I fast forward the ads and the remote actually skips back a few seconds when you stop fast forwarding so you don't have to go back to catch the first few words. There is a 'resume viewing' function too so if you have been interrupted, you can pick up where you left off.

While not a TiVo fault, occasionally I miss the end of an episode if a channel is running late, even though I set everything to record for an extra 10 minutes, but apparently the channels are supposed to be changing their EPG's to 'real time' so it should fix the problem. I will believe it when I see it.

I love the wishlist function, I have a thing for a certain spunky male actor & it picks up everything he is in and records it for me. The suggestions are great also, I have found so many new shows through it. I can almost hear TiVo sigh at me when I forget to program something, so it just records it for me & pops it in the suggestions. Ohh TiVo, you know me so well.

You do have to keep your eye on when things are due to delete, as they are done automatically, unless you specify otherwise and keep the suggestions empty if you don't want anything so you have space. I have only filled it up once & that was while on holidays & it deleted the things I had lower on my season pass list.

There is limited content on the downloadable movie/tv shows s and they are no cheaper than the video store so we don't us that function at all.

We also purchased the home networking package, so if it gets full, or there is something we want to keep we can send it to the laptop. The same works in reverse if we happen to have something there we want to watch, However, we find it takes a long time & tends to crash the system & force a restart which takes a good 10 minutes so we don't use that function much either.

We actually have foxtel as well for the kids channels, but rarely watch it now with ABC for kids. I can whole heartedly recommend TiVo to take the frustration of network programming out of your tv viewing. Tapes what it's supposed to, when it is supposed to. Psychic about what you want to watch. No more adds, can record 2 things and watch a third pre-reorded show. Expensive, Can loose ends of episodes if station running very late, additional downloadable content a bit naff