Review on TiVo TCD540080 Series 2 80-Hour Digital Video Recorder: The Ultimate Entertainment Solution by Marty Orthodontics

I bought this for my girlfriend and she has had it for about a week now. The first thing that comes to mind after working with this device is that it's really only for people who like to watch a lot of TV (those who stick to a small number of TV shows) and lead an active lifestyle. I don't want to look at the VCR every day to record something. If you don't mind setting up a VCR and constantly buying blank videocassettes, then I really wouldn't recommend it. Now I bought the 80 hour version. (and I'm glad I did) because the 40 hour version really doesn't have much time to record and the 140 hour version was too expensive. For the absolute TV junkies who want to watch about 4 handfuls of shows, I recommend the 140 hour version. Let's get one thing straight here about time. 80 hours on this machine isn't really 80 hours unless the crappy picture bothers you. There are 4 quality settings you can set each show to: Basic, Medium, High and Best. Basic gives you just over 81 hours of recording time BUT the image is pretty pixelated and ugly for small objects and most people will probably be against it. The best setting offers around 40 hours of total recording time and is the only setting that most closely resembles a regular TV (ie a clear picture). I also had to buy a signal booster ($40 from RadioShack) to connect because the Tivo blocked a good signal (I don't have a cable box, just a cable coming out of the wall), so if you set it up like I did do it, be prepared to shell out a bit more for some extra cables and accessories (examples: say 2 or 3 cable glands, an RF splitter so you can watch one thing while recording something else, and a signal booster). Got a good deal from Revain b/ci by signing up for a credit card and they have a $100 rebate. The learning curve is a bit intimidating when using Tivo for the first time just because the instruction booklet is so thick, but don't get carried away, just play around with the menu, it's pretty self-explanatory. Okay, so about the good and the bad. The Good: - You can record whatever you want if you have a busy life and love TV. - You can create a Season Pass and let Tivo worry about when the shows start and it will record them, it will record them all and save them as long as there is space (first runs, reruns, both, whatever you want) installed) - You can rewind and pause a live broadcast (Live broadcast doesn't mean live broadcast like watching a football game but actual regular TV, from MTV to NBC to Discovery Channel etc.) - You can assign it to any actor, Director, guest, subject, or film title, and Tivo finds it, waits for it to turn on, and records it. The price is much cheaper than spending around $700 for another brand's DVR with a built-in DVD player. -Tivo has a built-in TV guide so you can see what channel is on for the next week or two. -If you see a good preview or promotion for an upcoming show or movie, you can click the 'thumbs up' button up" click to record it. Bad: -Tivo CANNOT record 2 programs playing at the same time. A conflict notification will appear and you will need to set the priority based on what you prefer to watch. For that I recommend using an RF splitter so you can at least set your VCR to record any conflicting show. It gets annoying when you have shows like American Idol or The Apprentice that change often, you might miss a show because another show that's running at the same time has priority. - Time information is misleading, eg 80 hours is not really a good 80 hours. Most people will only want to use the best setting because others have lots of pixels and can be distracting. Tivo's warranty is pretty short so I recommend buying from Best Buy where you can get a good warranty discount as they have a Tivo deal. If you send it to tivo for repair, YOU are responsible for shipping costs. - Tivo customer service phone number long wait and they don't have direct email. - Channel changing isn't as quick as a regular TV - Tivo never turns off so you'll need to put it on standby when not in use - Depending on the quality of the display output, you may need to purchase additional accessories. One word of advice, I recommend NOT to buy a $300 lifetime subscription, rather get $12.95 per month for Tivo maintenance because $300 lifetime is ONLY the lifespan of your Tivo box. So if it breaks, you lose $300. Again, it's fun, but if you're picky about spending big bucks and getting very good, exceptional customer service and TV viewing, tivo can annoy you from time to time. I recommend buying it from Best Buy, at least where you can return it and not worry about shipping it back.