This is the second time I'm posting a question about TiVo - I've heard that much advancement has come lately to this awesome gadget and was wondering what you would recommend? I travel a lot so I need to record quite a bit of F1, 5th Gear (when it starts on Speed TV), Star Trek, and any other shows I might miss in the 2 weeks I'm usually gone. So figure about 40 hours of programming total for 2 weeks or so. I'm also wondering if it's possible to burn what I have on the TiVo onto my DVD burner?

 

Rich, I got TIVO through DirecTV about 2 months ago and I really really love it. It will record about 55 hours (maybe 65, can't remember) before it runs out of room. I paid $50 for installation,(plus about 20 bucks for misc) and I pay 4.99 per month on top of my normal satellite fees.
I have it set to record about 5 favorite programs, only if they are NOT reruns (it knows). There are dozens of fancy things it does, but the two I use most is stopping the program if the phone rings, or I run out of chips and beer, and start up again when I feel like it. Second is to fast forward through the commercials at one of three speeds. The fastest zips through the longest set of commercials in about 15 seconds or less. And it shows you a clip of the program before you get to the end of the commercial so you can stop it in time.
I have never burned a tape or DVD off of TIVO, but I understand you can do it.
TIVO is one of the best electronic devices I ever got. (And I don't sell them either.)

 

check this out..

the directv equipment, installation AND TIVO unit is all FREE plus some free giveaways. standard 1 year directv commitment required.

http://yes-directv.com

 

I use DVR from Time warner.....10 times better than TIVO....2 tuners!

 

My TIVO is a DVR and also has 2 tuners, if that means I can record 2 different channels at once.
Make sure to read all offers closely. Some don't apply to current users. I saw the ad in the Dell magazine, but direcTV matched it when I asked them what they would do for an "existing" client.
Rich, are we answering your questions?

 

Sounds like you're not too familiar with Tivo. The Time Warner DVR software isn't even close to the Tivo's. The DirecTV tivos also have dual tuners.

I just have a regular stand alone Tivo that I upgraded to a 120 GB hard drive. I now have over 144 hours of recording time at the lowest quality setting. I usually record at the High setting and I think that gets me somewhere around 60 hours of recording time. Pioneer makes a Tivo that has a built-in DVD burner, so that's an option if you want to archive shows directly to DVD. Though it is pretty expensive.

You sound like the perfect candidate for a Tivo. Some people think it's only for people who watch tons of TV. It's best for those that don't watch a lot of TV, but want to watch their favorite shows when they do watch TV and not whatever crap is on at the time. The Tivo will allow you to watch your favorite shows when you want to. I've had my Tivo almost four years and it's one of the greatest electronic purchases I've ever made.

 

I've had a dual DirecTV tuner TiVo for over a year now. It kicks ass, although I really need to upgrade the drive capacity.

My DirecTiVo has a function called "Record to VCR." Basically, you connect one of the TiVo's outputs to your computer, start the computer's video capture, and start the TiVo's playback. When it's done, you can use your computer software to transfer it to DVD.

Unfortunately the picture quality will suffer a bit since you're going from digital DirecTV broadcast to analog signal, back to digital recording inside the computer.

 

The stand-alone Tivo's are not really the way to go IMHO. The DirecTV tivo's are. (I switched to DirecTV from Cable just so I could get a tivo.)

I had a regular reciver in my bedroom, and the tivo in the living room. After a week, I needed to get a tivo for the bedroom. I hate comertials, and can't stand it when I can't fast forward through them.

I upgraded both tivos with 120GB drives and have about 100 hrs of recording time on EACH.

Check this out for more info:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/

 

wow.... i don't think there is a tv show worth recording on tv..... maybe "powerblock" on spike on the weekends.?

Mingster - Star trek??? Hasn't every episode already been on about 50 times? I remember seeing TJ Hooker (whatever his name is)....on saturday night live...fake star wars convention....."what's wrong with you people... what we did as a Lark for a few years,,,,, you've turned into a collosal waste of time..... you...you look like you could be 30...have you ever kissed a girl?... and you do you still live at home?"

 

I have Tivo with cable!! I hate cable (sat is not an option now) TiVo rocks but cable sucks!


I have two cable boxes so I can watch one thing a TiVo another, yeah I know the SAT method is WAYYY better but its all I got right now!