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TiVo HD DVR (20-HD hours)

Reviewed by

John P. Falcone

on 07/23/2007

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Page 2

Recent TiVo HD upgrades
When we originally reviewed the TiVo HD, we chided TiVo for not including some features that had long distinguished earlier, non-HD Series2 models. But that's no longer an issue. As of fall 2007, these features have been added to the TiVo HD via the 9.2 software update (a free, automatic download). The newly added features are as follows:

TiVo To Go: The TiVo To Go feature lets you transfer recorded programs from a TiVo DVR to a PC (Windows or Mac), where it can then be viewed (say, on a laptop when traveling), burned to DVD, or transferred to other portable video devices (iPod, PSP, and so forth.). Just be aware that the transfer processes are very slow and laborious, as are the transcoding times when moving to other devices. Also, thanks to restrictions imposed by TV networks and movie studios, not all recorded programs will be able to be transferred.
Multi-Room Viewing: If you have multiple TiVos in the home, you can transfer recorded shows for playback on a second networked TiVo DVR--so you can watch a show recorded in the living room while you're in the bedroom, for instance. Just note that you'll need high-def TiVos (TiVo HD or TiVo Series3) to play HD video--older Series2 models can accept only non-HD video transfers.
Expandable storage: What happens if you need more than the rather paltry 20 hours of HD video storage offered by the TiVo HD? Invest in the My DVR Expander from Western Digital. The specialized version of WD's MyBook external hard drives is the only drive that's certified to work with the TiVo HD. (The well-known hack on the Series3 that lets you use most generic hard drives doesn't work on the TiVo HD.) The 500GB drive connects via the TiVo's eSATA port, and adds any combination of 65 hours of HD video or 600 hours of standard-definition recording capacity to the TiVo HD.

Design and connectivity
The TiVo HD box itself won't win any beauty contests. It has the standard dimensions of a DVD player and will fit in any AV rack, but the silver-outlined bezel needlessly calls attention to itself. There's no fancy OLED display (as seen on the Series3), but the front readout does have bright LEDs to indicate when the tuners are recording or when the unit is downloading material from the Web. Likewise, the output resolutions (720p, 1080i, and so forth) are clearly indicated as well. Home theater purists can enter the TiVo HD's settings menu and completely darken everything but a single power LED.

The CableCard slots are behind a flip-down door on the front panel, which is far more convenient than the rear-panel arrangement of the Series3. Notably, the TiVo HD is compatible with the new multituner M-card standard (dual tuners on a single card), or it can take two single-tuner CableCards instead.

The TiVo HD's back panel includes all the connections you'll need.

The TiVo HD's rear-panel jack pack is mostly similar to the Series3 model's. Thanks to the CableCard tuners, you need only connect the screw-type RF cable wire from the wall to the back of the box. A second RF jack accepts an antenna connection, so you can pull in analog and high-def channels over the air as well. You can use either--or both--cable and antenna sources. You'll need to connect the HDMI and component outs in order to get a high-def picture, but the box also includes a full set of composite AV outs for pairing with DVD recorders or VCRs, or even with older non-HD TVs. There's also a single S-Video output and an optical digital output (surround sound is available via the optical out or--if your receiver supports it--HDMI). On the networking front, you can opt for Ethernet or use one of the two USB jacks to connect the aforementioned Wi-Fi adapter. Rounding out the back panel is the eSATA port and a nearly silent cooling fan that keeps the TiVo HD's innards from overheating.

The TiVo HD's box includes a minimal assortment of cables, leaving the purchase of HDMI and networking connections up to you.

Performance
The TiVo HD wasn't our first experience with TiVo, so returning to the interface was as familiar as riding a bike. After the initial setup, recording our favorite TV shows--either in single episodes or weekly batches--quickly became second nature, thanks to the completely intuitive interface. The dual-tuner functionality also worked smoothly. We could easily toggle from one tuner to the other by hitting the Live TV button on the remote, but the TiVo lacks a picture-in-picture (PIP) function. Moreover, despite the fact that the program guide organizes information from all of the tuners (cable, antenna, digital, analog, standard, high-def) into a nice, single interface, hard-core couch potatoes may be chagrined to realize that the TiVo HD can toggle between only any two live sources. So while you can record two programs simultaneously, you can't switch to or record a third live program, even if it's coming in off the antenna. You can, however, view a previously recorded program while recording two others. By contrast, the Dish ViP622 can record three sources--two satellite, one over-the-air--while playing back a fourth.

Video quality was generally excellent. In other words, we noticed no differences in the TiVo's video quality vs. that of respective cable and antenna reception on other devices we tested, namely the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD DVR and the Samsung SIR-T451 over-the-air tuner. Of course, if your cable provider overcompresses its signals in order to conserve bandwidth--and many do--you'll get the same artifacts and blockiness on the TiVo HD that you'd get with any other tuner. Audio quality was likewise solid, and the TiVo ably passed Dolby Digital surround soundtracks to our AV receiver via its HDMI output.

The Season Pass and Wish List features work like a charm, and TiVo offers plenty of little tweaks to further fine-tune your TV viewing pleasure. For instance, Overlap Protection lets you choose to cancel or clip competing programs based on priorities you set. Thus, if Lost runs until 10:05, as it often does, you can have your 10 p.m. recording start late--that is, if you don't just assign it to the second tuner and eliminate the overlap problem that way. The TiVo Suggestions function works well, assuming you want to invest some time into voting for your viewing choices. Granted, some of the suggestions are far from revelations (Simpsons fans get Futurama recommendations, Stargate SG-1 viewers are directed toward Battlestar Galactica), and your TiVo may occasionally misread your choices, but it's a great way to discover new shows you might like. And the most famous TiVo hack still works like a charm: punching in Select > Play > Select > 3 > 0 > Select turns on the 30-second skip feature, so you can blast through recorded commercial breaks with a few easy clicks of the remote's Advance button.

TiVo's ability to properly record programs exactly as specified comes about as close to bulletproof as we've seen on a DVR. Yes, overtime sporting events and unscheduled breaking news can always throw a wrench in things, but TiVo is much better than the cable DVR competition in the accuracy of its listings, as well as in its ability to distinguish between new episodes and reruns, even on more obscure off-network shows. It also does a great job with informing you of potential conflicts and problems.

As great as the TiVo experience is, however, there are a couple of features--again, found on the Dish ViP622--that we'd like to see. While you can set up a list of favorite channels, TiVo gives you only one list. We love the Dish's multiple favorites lists, which are great for use by different family members, for example. Also, the ViP622 has a convenient bulk-erase feature that TiVo lacks. Just go down the list of everything that's recorded on one screen and check off all the shows that you'd like to delete.

The other big drawback we noticed when using the TiVo HD was generally slow overall performance when transitioning between menus. The "Please wait" splash screen was all too common, and the background screens often stayed a dull gray before the colorful animations would eventually pop in several seconds later. The pokiness was evident both when watching video material and when accessing the online and network functions. It gave us the feeling that the TiVo HD--which is, after all, just a supercustomized Linux computer--needed a faster processor, more RAM, or a combination of the two.