Customer Reviews

TiVo TCD649080 Series 2 80-Hour Dual Tuner Digital Video Recorder

5 star:		(94)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

After years of sticking to a single-tuner model (except for the DirecTv versions), Tivo has finally released a dual-tuner model. For the most part, the only difference between this model and previous Series 2 Tivos is the ability to record two channels at once.

The box keeps the look of the more recent series 2 Tivos, except for a black-accented faceplate. The connections in the rear are laid out largely the same as past versions, with the exception of an ethernet port that has been added for wired networking.

The software has minor changes, particularly slight modifications to the menu background images and the newer "tivo introduction skit" that appears when the tivo is powered on. The software and hardware work smoothly. There seems to be a faster processor included, as navigation through the menus is quick and smooth.

The dual-tuner functions work well. Having grown accustom to the single-tuner model, it took me some time to get used to the ability to change channels while recording (and that what is on screen is not necessarily what is being recorded). It was also pleasant to schedule 25 season passes without a single conflict-such is the benefit of being able to record two shows at once.

But the dual-tuner function needs some explanation. The people who benefit most from the DT function are those who have analog cable without a cable box (as I do). I simply plug in the coax cable into the tivo, and it is ready to go. (Note: there is only one coax input-the signal is split internally and sent to the dual tuners.) If you have a cable box or digital cable, things start to get a bit trickier. In fact, in order to use the dual-tuner feature, you MUST be able to receive at least some channels through an analog cable connection. This means that if you have purely digital cable that requires a digital cable box, you will NOT be able use the dual tuner functions, as there is only one connection allowed between the cable box and tivo. I suggest you go to tivo's website and download the product manual for the DT tivo and read the part about connecting tivo to your cable. If it seems like too big of a hassle, you might want to wait for the series 3 tivos that will include cable-card technology (which allows you to use digital cable without the cable box).

One additional note, tivo has stopped supporting over-the-air antenna tuning with this model. If you hook up an antenna to tivo, it will only receive channels 2-13. Any broadcast channels above 13 will not be received.

And for those who are thinking of "upgrading" this tivo to a larger hard drive-the DT tivo is upgradeable in the same ways that past series 2 models were. I used the standard methods (which are published all over the internet) and replaced the 80GB hard drive with a 250GB one. Upgrading, however, voids your warranty (which is only 3 months anyway).

Overall, I am happy with the DT tivo, but that is in large part due to fact that I receive analog cable without a cable box. Many of you who have been using antennas, cable boxes or digital cable will likely be somewhat less satisfied with this model.

When I received my new TiVo I rushed right in to install and play with my new "toy". The instructions were clear and I followed them to the letter. Unfortunately, I was unable to get the second of the "dual-tuner" channels working. After many hours and much fiddling I gave up and called customer service. As it turned out my RF input was not working properly; however, I found out something extremely important. New laws require that all signals be digital beginning in 2009. Many providers are currently in the process of changing over now, and according to the customer service rep. the second channel of the "dual channel" system is analog only and therefore useless in the new digital environment. I was not made aware of this fact when I purchased the unit as it would have made a definite difference in my decision to purchase it.

I have listened to the hype about TIVO for a couple of years now. With the hundred dollar plus rebates on the hardware, as well as substantial discounts on the service, I thought I'd break down and give it a try. Here' my experience...

The Good...

1. Very intuitive user interface for the set-up screens and remote; it could be argued that Tivo is the gold standard for ease of use

2. Very secure packaging of unit

3. Included cabling is of unusally high quality (not Monster cable grade, but still very good for included cabling)

4. Installation directions are very easy to follow (though not as good as Dell's color coded design)

5. There is a 30 day money back guarantee

6. Customer reps are friendly and well trained (and they speak english too!)

The Bad...

1. The front of the box says all required cables are included; the directions state that a second A/V cable -- required for the recommended installation method -- is "user provided" (i.e., sold separately)

2. The service is not compatible with some VoIP services

3. Though set-up is easy, it is a one to two hour ordeal, requiring multiple visits to websites and countless button presses to ensure interoperablity with the cable box

4. The remote is pretty low tech looking; it also has a lower quality feel tha leads me to belive that I'll be shopping for a replacement in a year or less

The Ugly...

1. They try to get you to sign up for a three year, pre-paid service contract; if after 30 days you find that you don't like/need Tivo, you forteit all that money -- ouch!

2. When I attempted to use the website to activate the service, the site was unstable and wouldn't allow me to complete the order. I then called the 800 number for service, where the hold time exceed 25 minutes. Hope I never have cause to call again as this is a totally unacceptable wait time

Net/net: this is a well thought out product that does just what it says it does -- enables consumers to watch TV on their terms.

WOW! My wife bought me this for Father's Day. I'm not a jewelry type of guy, but TiVo is drop-dead freakin' awesome, speechlessly amazing!

If you don't know TiVo: plug it in, let it set itself up, and every time you turn on your set, it quietly records as you watch, so if you get up to take a call or get a snack, no problem: TiVo's got you covered.

Watch "The Dead Zone?" Take a 20 minute break and let TiVo start taping for you: you'll zip through what you don't want and back up to what you want to see again. No tape, no picture loss.

TiVo starts with a 15 second or so guide over your picture of what's on that show, how long and whatever else you need to know; not even "Today Show" is immune from TiVo knowing what's coming up. If you think there's nothing good on, use TiVo to search it all out. Cut your cable back to basic, bud; you'll have more finds with a lot less, guaranteed.

Program what you want to copy via the net. Yahoo! support for photos and junk.

Fandango ticket purchases, movie previews, it will even learn, if you want it to, what you like to watch. Very, very easy to hook up although working it into my LCD TV has yet to figure out what hook up is best, although we rewired it and the picture dramatically improved, so thanks Tivo for showing me a few options that were better!

I do NOT use TiVo's alphabetical directory of shows: slow. I DO use Yahoo! TV guides to just click and pick: fast and easy as pie.

My eMac still can't use TiVo's desktop app, but one'a these days I'll get it working.

Slide shows: better than I thought I'd ever use. Love it!

Check out the newest features and tutorials; you'll just flip and keep flipping.

Recommended: Sign up for the 3-year plan and f'get about it. By the time it's paid up, the next generation of Tivo will be around. It is a safe bet.

Anybody who trash-talks TiVo doesn't know it, so tune out critics and tune in devotees and never, ever miss a good show again.

The dual tuner Tivo is great for standard cable customers. The Tivo can record 2 programs while we watch a pre-recorded program and it allows networking with wired or wireless computers via Tivo Desktop. You should expect to pay about $100/year for the channel guide service. Tivo currently has a 3 years for the price of 2 promotion. This means that 3 years of service cost about $300.

Tivo desktop allows us to transfer files from the Tivo to the larger hard drives in our computer thus extending the 80 hours on the Tivo to over 200 hours. In addition, Tivo desktop allows us to watch programs on our computers anytime we want.

Tivo to Go is a new feature of the Tivo desktop software. For $24.95, Tivo desktop will convert standard Tivo files for playback on PDAs, cell phones and other handheld devces.

The only down sides are the quality of the tuners and the remote control. We clearly see a difference in the picture quality between our TV's tuner and the tuners on the Tivo. The second issue is the remote will not control our Bose surround sound system.

The convenience of the DVR off-sets the quality of the tuners and a third party remote will fix the second problem.

I hope you enjoy your Tivo as much as we enjoy ours.

I just replaced my year and a half old Tivo series II single tuner model with this new dual tuner model. No more conficts between my Season's Passes this year...

Guided setup can now be done via network adapter instead of the previous mandatory dial up via phone line. Initial setup is A LOT faster because of this.

The menu movement and channel changing is snappier, which is nice.

Network transfer speed using the Tivo Wireless Adapter is almost 2X as fast as my single tuner model.

I had to upgrade Tivo Desktop from 2.2 to 2.3 because transferred recordings had no sound on my PC. The upgrade fixed it.

Recording two shows at the same time is easy and works great! What I like even better is when you are recording a scheduled show, you have the ability to channel surf on the Tivo without that annoying message "Are you sure you want to change channels, or leave it here and keep recording" coming up.

The remote is exactly the same. The back of the Tivo is the same except for the addition of an ethernet port, which I have not tried to use since I use wireless.

I highly recommend this Tivo for new customers, and as a replacement for Tivo veterans.

I had Dish Network for about a week before going back to cable and the only thing I loved was the DVR service. I toyed with the idea of buying a TiVo for a while and then I finally bit the bullet and did. Holy smokes! This is great. Easy to set up. I have mine connected with the coax in and S video out to my TV set. The TiVo service (if you own the box, like I do) is only $12.95 with a one year minimum. It's worth it. They give you the option to pay outright for 1,2, or 3 years in advance or do the month to month thing. I bought the wireless USB network card (no data drops in my bedroom) and even with a 19% signal strength to the wireless router in my basement on the other side of my house the channel lineup download only took about 10 minutes.

We're on our second unit. Functions well, but customer service will run you ragged if it breaks. Here's a review of the unit and our experience.

Pro:
-Our TV no longer owns us... we can go to dinner without rushing back home to catch "How I Met Your Mother" or "Two and a Half Men"
-Easy to use to play, pause, rewind... also easy to find and record shows
-Easy to program to record all upcoming shows
-Holds lots of programs (I think at one time we had fifty or so shows recorded on high-quality)
-No internet connection required
-Easy set-up, even on Christmas when we bought the unit (I was very impressed)
-Deleted shows go into a deleted items folder and are deleted later... nice if you delete something accidentally because you can get it right back

Con:
-Our Tivo now owns us
-Not obvious way to tell how much memory has been used
-Tivo forces mail (via Tivo) as well as updates that can change features and have also send us some junk advertisements
-Customer service will take you through a grueling 2-hour troubleshooting process if you think your unit is broken... it required several call backs where I waited on hold a very long time. I was also hung up on when in the middle of troubleshooting when the tech realized the call center had just closed
-We had to pay about $50 to ship the unit back to Tivo for repair despite being under warranty (Tivo does not reimburse you for this)
-You must record ads and must fast-forward through them
-Tivo will make recommendations, adding as many as 20 programs a day (theoretically it could at up to 48 shows that you'd need to clean out)
-Can only record one show at a time
-Set up is slow, lengthy
-A larger unit that we had expected... hoping future versions are smaller or integrate a DVD player to eliminate cords
-If you buy the lifetime package, if you buy a new Tivo, or if your old one breaks and cannot be repaired, you will need to buy another lifetime package or a monthly subscription... lame!

Neutral:
-You need to keep Tivo connected to a telephone line (I suppose you could leave it connected only part of the time, but that's not convenient)

Bottom line: We think that it is currently the best unit on the market, but we are desperately hoping to get a different one from another company. Be sure before pros outweigh the cons before you buy.

The TIVO functionality works as advertised and as long as you pay attention to the instructions set-up will go smoothly. Be sure to buy yourself a nice long Ethernet cable if you are planning to hook it up to your router. (Unless you are one of those people who have the router right next to the tv - then buy a short one).

Three points that ding the rating on this Series 2:
1. The Dual Tuner is joke, you need to jump through a whole series of button clicks to get it to work. Not intuitive at all - you will find yourself reading the manual a number of times in the hopes of getting it right.
2. You can't hook your DVD player up to the TIVO! This means that if you only have one set of input jacks on your TV, that you will need to either buy and S-Cable for your DVD or continuously switch the DVD & TIVO back and forth. What is upsetting, is that the TIVO has input jacks, but doesn't allow the signal from the DVD to get routed through.
3. Finally we did get some hiccups in the volume when we first set it up, but these have magically disappeared.

To summarize, base TIVO functionality is really good, but there are some fine points that need to be worked on to make this a 5-Star product.

When you order a Tivo with a one-year service term, Tivo promises to send you an e-mail 30 days prior to the end of the year before charging your credit card. Well, I never received an e-mail from Tivo, and customer "service" refused to issue a refund after I discovered the charge. Remember, you're not just buying a DVR, you're buying a service. Tivo's service sucks. Period.