Customer Reviews

Philips HDR612 TiVo 60 Hour Digital Video Recorder

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I started out about a year or so ago with a 14 hour Tivo unit and LOVED it. The problem was they lie about capacity... sort of. 14 hours or in the case of the 30 hour unit are really more like 6 hours and 11 hours with the recorder set to record at BEST quality... anything lower and the picture looks bad. I then paid Tivo to send me a new unit that had been upgraded to 3 hours.... Then that was still not enough time with the system set at best quality.

I finally found out I could upgrade the thing myself... so my recomendation is to get the cheapest on that you can and upgrade it. This VOIDS you tivo warrenty but hey we all like to live on the edge right :)

I now have a 117 hour Tivo because the company I used to upgrade my Tivo (http://www.digitalrecorder.tv/) added an 80GB disk and now instead of having to delete my recordings early or being more picky about what I record I can go nuts and record anything and everything. I even saw on one website (http://pvrhack.sonnik.com/tivo/tivoking.htm) a guy who has a 151+ hour Tivo.

Another good website for Tivo upgrade information is http://www.9thtee.com/tivoupgrades.htm. They have parts for sale and directions on how to upgrade your Tivo (The easiest is a 14 hour unit since you just add a "blessed" drive)

happy Tivoing and hack away!

PS If you can't tell I love this thing!

This device has completely changed the way I watch television. Now, whenever I feel like watching TV, I have dozens of my favorite shows ready and waiting, plus occasional new shows TiVo has recommended to me. I never watch live TV anymore unless I want to check the weather or news. No more channel surfing.

That being said, I have been given 3 defective units. The first unit shipped to me would not boot up. I returned this to Amazon (very nice returns process, btw) for a new unit. After 2 months, the tuner on the new unit failed. This one was returned to TiVo, who shipped me a new unit. This third unit had the incorrect software installed on it (the 30-hour-unit software). TiVo tech support helped me correct this issue by having the unit dial in and download the correct software version. So far, there haven't been any problems since then.

On the plus side of all the problems I've had, I can say that TiVo's customer support is excellent, and a pleasure to deal with. I just wish their Quality Assurance was as good.

Even with all the problems, I have still recommended TiVo to my friends and co-workers, and I will continue to do so.

It's impossible to put into words what TiVo will do for you. To most it seems like a glorified VCR. However, only until you spend some time with TiVo you will truly begin to see how incredibly convenient the product really is. I don't watch any more TV than I used to, I am just better at it. :) Now I really do watch what I want, when I want.

I bought the 14 hour Phillips unit when it first came out and recently performed a "custom upgrade" to 60 hours. The unit has been running flawlessly for well over a year now and I have had no problems. I'm currently running TiVo with a AT&T Digital Cable and a Motorola Cablebox without any compatibility problems (I'm not sure what the other reviewer was doing wrong).

Recently the TiVo operating system was upgraded to Version 2.0.1. This new version addresses the problem of a Season Pass taping shows you don't want and adds many nice features that TiVo users have suggested (keyword search, future program notification, season pass manager, etc).

I'm a TiVo believer.. great product, incredible convenience, can't recommend it enough!

The HDR612 is a great device. You can't beat the pause live tv feature or the instant replay. It adds a whole new dimension to watching sports. It truly will change the way you watch TV. On its own merit, I would give it 5 stars.

So why only 3 stars? If you activate your service after 8/7/2001, and do not live in one of the areas that have a local dial-in phone number, you will have to pay long distance charges to get your daily programming update. They don't tell you this in advance and all their literature indicates that you will have access to a toll-free number. This is no longer the case. They can also add or delete local numbers at will depending on the amount of subscriptions & cost effectiveness of the local number. If you live in a highly populated area this is not going to be a problem. If you live in a rural area - BEWARE! They say this is unlikely, but it happened to me. I found out the hard way and am now trying to cancel my service and get my money back. The device is next to useless if you do not subscribe to TIVO.

They state that they can change any of their contractual conditions at any time - and obviously will, with no notice.

Of ANY electronics purchase I've ever made, TiVo is the one item I would NEVER give up. My ENTIRE family loves it --and uses it. We're not big television watchers, but what's great about TiVo is that when we DO watch, we can watch what WE want...and WHEN we want it.

As far as my kids are concerned, they now watch what they like, but what WE'VE approved...this because of TiVo. It's great! No more waiting for a show to start. No more missing portions of a show for a bathroom/snack break. No more fumbling for VCR tapes! No more "what'd he say?" just-- "CLICK"..."oh, THAT'S what he said!"

And I'm STILL blown away while watching a TV show (live) and being able to pause it.

I've heard some people say "buy ReplayTV...there's no monthly fee like TiVo." Well, TiVo is also CHEAPER than ReplayTV, and once you pay for the service, they're both the same exact price. The difference for me is, I didn't have to pay the ADDITIONAL money for TiVo up front; it was my choice. I liked that.

I also found TiVo to be easier to use. My wife felt the same way.

I've owned a TiVo for 4 months now, and cannot truly express how great this thing is. I've purchased one for my parents (they're in their 70's) and they too are hooked.

Check TiVo out. You won't be sorry...you'll LOVE it!

I own the HDR31202 and have found that TiVo is the BEST electronics product I have ever bought! This includes a lot of high end, expensive, esoteric electronics. TiVo changes the way you watch TV, and has rendered my VCR useless. I find I watch LESS TV now, but enjoy everything I watch. This is opposed to, despite having over 200 channels, nothing was ever on that I liked. I ended up watching junk! Now, NO MORE JUNK! Not having to rush home to catch a show, or being able to enjoy dinner leisurely and still be able to see a show from the beginning, while it's still recording, is AWESOME!

And being able to pause and replay live TV is cool. 'Works great with the NFL! I have only had one problem with my TiVo and customer service was VERY helpful and took care of the problem promptly. (It was a very minor hookup problem)

Lastly, if you're thinking TiVo vs Replay, consider the TiVo simply because it DOES record Suggestions. I have gotten some great surprises that TiVo found for me, and Suggestions will always be deleted first so that shows YOU have requested it record for you are recorded.

Tivo totally changes the way one watches TV...as a matter of fact, if basically forces the change upon you. The situation is as follows: if one uses a digital satellite system, such as DirecTV or Dish, then Tivo will not let one watch a program and record a different one at the same time...even if both programs that are coming from over the air antenna signals, such as the local affiliate channels - NBC, CBS, etc. This is because the stand-alone models of Tivo don't have a built in DSS decoder, and to prevent confusion, it totally forbids the ability to watch a channel and record another.

This means that if one sets up an extensive recording program - i.e. a lot of time slots are reserved for recording, or if Tivo is voluntarily recording a show that it "thinks" one will like, one can't change the channel without stopping the recording. Therefore, the only alternative is to either watch what is being recorded (of course one can rewind to the beginning of the show) or watch something that has been taped before.

Therefore, if one watches a lot of TV, Tivo will constrain one's ability to watch live TV and record shows. Of course, if one has little time to watch TV, then Tivo is a godsend (or a curse? - Tivo will definitely increase the time one spends in front of the TV) - program the shows that one wants to see, work all day, come back at night and voila, a whole menu of shows to watch. The downside to this is that it inhibits "channel surfing" - of course, this can be considered a positive.

Nevertheless, this unit has many merits. It has a very large storage capacity - 60 hours at the lowest setting, about 30 hours at good image quality. The interface is easy to learn. Set up is relatively simple.

The downsides are as follows. To actually prepare the unit the first time takes a long time...I left the unit cooking overnight, and it still didn't finish set up until about 10am the next day. This leads to a second problem. The CPU of the Tivo seems to be very slow. Sometimes it will take a long time (a factor of minutes) for it to accept an action, to load a menu list, etc. Furthermore, unlike the Replay, the Tivo does not have a skip 30 seconds function (the magical length of the standard TV commercial), so one has to fast-forward through the commercials. Thankfully, there are three fast-forward speeds, and at the higher speeds, when one presses Play, the unit automatically rewinds a few seconds to take into consideration the reaction time of the average user (which must be better than mine). Finally, the Tivo interface has many static frames, which can be on screen for extended periods of time while one searches for programs, edits the playlist, etc. This can pose a problem for those using rear-projection televisions, because of the danger of burning-in images on to the screen. Of course the people most willing to dish out [lots of money] for a fancy VCR are precisely the people that own large rear projection TVs. Therefore, be extra careful not to spend too much time with static images on the screen, even paused images from "live" TV, or the screen that appears while one is setting up the Tivo for the first time (my recommendation is to turn off the TV while the Tivo is number-crunching the initial set-up, and come back from time to time to see how it is progressing).

All in all, I am pleased with this device, even taking the short-comings into consideration. Also be aware that there is a monthly charge in order to download the Tivo programming, or a flat fee of $200, which is non-refundable. This makes the Tivo as expensive as the Replay units, which offer the guides for free. Of course, Replay is no longer making the units itself (I believe some large electronics firm is currently licesing the technology and has a couple of Replay-compatible devices out). One final note - one has to have a telephone jack near the Tivo (or have a free wall outlet to use one of those RCA electrice wire-to-telephone jack units).

I've owned the earlier model for a year now, and I'll never go back to using television without it. Looking forward to the 60-hour unit. TiVo is a huge time-saver! I can't say enough good things about it. Season Pass(TM) relieves you of any worry about missing your favorite shows ever again. I-Preview(TM) makes it a no-brainer to pick shows to record directly from network previews... essential for the new Fall season. TiVo Suggestions(TM) often comes up with some pretty good guesses and automatically captures shows (on unused storage space) you stand a good chance of enjoying.

When people comment that TiVo has changed their television experience for the better, they mean it! If you can only afford one piece of A/V equipment to hook to your TV, this is it!

I only experienced one small non-recurring glitch in the year I've been using it... which is a far better reliability record than I've ever got from a PC or most of my other gear! In my personal experience, TiVo's customer service is 2nd-to-none that I've ever used, and I appreciate that their privacy policy forbids use of my personally identifying information and therefore stands no chance of being misused by any unwelcome 3rd parties. This is only one of the many areas in which TiVo is leading the competition.

Don't just take anyone's word for (or against) it. Try it yourself... make your own decision... you'll be glad you did. Like any piece of electronic gear, there are bound to be a small percentage of folks who are unsatisfied for legitimate reasons. But wouldn't it be better to make the decision yourself and not miss out, than fall pray to gripesters with hidden agendas (i.e., those who advise you to wait for competitive products that don't even exist yet or might never exist)? If you look carefully, you'll even see "negative" reviews by people who have continued their ownership and subscriber experience because they just can't bear to part with it! If that's not testimony to a great product, I don't know what is!

Tivo is the greatest thing to happen to television!

Tivo customer service is extremly courtious and friendly (even called me back directly with more information once they researched what I asked about!) Tivo appears to very customer driven and employees of Tivo often engage in dialog in different Internet forums.

The service is extremly easy to activate although you do want to set up your Tivo for the first time right before you go to bed - if you have satalite or lots of cable stations it can take 4-5 hours to do the initial setup. That is the only hitch, and it's a one-time pain. From then on, all updates to the guide data happen in the background without interrupting Tivo or it's ability to record shows.

After that, life with Tivo is great!

You can get season passes to your favorite shows and they are then waiting for you to watch them when you want to, instead of when some network thinks it would be a good time for you to watch TV.

You can also optionally manually record shows or special events.

As you watch TV on your Tivo, you can give programs you like Thumbs Up (or down) and Tivo will take that information and generate lists of suggestions. You can optionally have Tivo record these suggestions, but only if you have the space (Tivo never overwrites what you tell it to record with suggestions). I have found some very interesting shows based on what Tivo suggested and auto-recorded for me as well as rediscovered a few old favorites that I didn't realize were still on!

And of course, if you still watch live TV you can pause and do instant replays - or even "rewind" back in Tivo's buffer. While these features are cool at first, once you start using a Tivo, you find you watch less and less live TV. It's still very handy for sporting events where idiot producers don't replay that one play you want to see again - with Tivo you can replay it as many times as you want, in slow motion or even frame by frame if you want. The power is yours....

This is the way TV was meant to be - no more worrying about time or channels - simply pick programs out by name and then watching them when you want to watch them. Total control over live TV. Also no fussing with VCR tapes ever again - it just works...

Even if you are like me and don't watch that much TV, what little TV you do watch (or in my case get to watch :) can now be exactly what you want when you want.

I was so enthralled by the first TIVO unit, I bought the latest, much larger version. All the good things other reviewers have said is true, my wife now cannot live without it. However, there is a large caveat on the subscription fees. TIVO has apparently just revised their polices, and now you must pay monthly (or lifetime) fees for each box - you cannot have multiple units without paying multiple fees. If you purchased the lifetime fee (a seemingly cheaper solution than per-month fees), be aware that if you cancel your subscription for whatever reason, there is no refund. The only way to get your fees to apply to your unit if you want to take advantage of larger capacities, is to have their service department modify your unit (e.g. you retain your original unit s/n). Since this costs the same as buying a newer, larger unit, it didn't make sense to me. After buying the second unit, I found they had changed their multiple unit policy, and I'm stuck with 2 fees. If you can live with that, you'll love your TIVO.