TiVo HD DVR (20-HD hours)

Pros: When it is working, it can record two shows at once. That is the only reason I bought this product.

Cons: Company does not stand behind product; warranty is only 90 days. Product failed within 90 days, and was replaced. Product failed again, this time just past 90 days, and it was out of warranty, so they wanted a $50 fee to replace it.

Summary: The sensor that picks up the signal from the remote was defective, and the unit was replaced. It turned out that one of my remotes was also defective, and that had a very short warranty so they did not replace it. The DVR itself also has a very short warranty, only 90 days. The replacement DVR also failed, and this time it was rebooting itself over and over, all day. It was beyond the 90 days, so they wanted to charge a $50 fee to replace it. I will cancel my service as soon as I have time to shop for a similar product and service from some other company. TiVo also has software that allows you to save shows onto a PC, but this software is buggy as well. When my TiVo was shipped back for replacement, I lost a lot of my recorded shows because they would not transfer to my PC with the buggy software. If I record any shows in HD or high quality, those shows cannot be transferred to PC. Those shows were lost when I shipped my DVR. No appliance should be made that cannot work for one year. A warranty tells you something about a manufacturer. It tells you how long you can expect the product to last. The fact that TiVo does not provide a standard one-year warranty should tell you something. If you buy this product, be prepared to pay another $50 every three months to replace it, and that goes for the remote as well.

Updated on Apr 10, 2010

I called back and pointed out that I had already made several previous complaints about the second TiVo, back in February before the warranty expired. After considering all of the trouble I have had, they agreed to waive the $50 fee and replace the TiVo. I still think that the product should come with a one-year warranty in the first place, and should be built to last more than a year.

Updated on Apr 17, 2010

I received the new TiVo, but the only way to save the shows I have recorded, is to use the very buggy TiVo Desktop software on my PC. Today the software is failing for a specific reason: When TiVo does a replacement like this, they ship the new DVR and immediately activate it, de-activating the old one. Therefore, I have to call up and have them re-activate the old one, so that I can transfer my shows off it. I am doing this now, and it is taking over an hour to get the old DVR properly reactivated and configured. Then I will have to transfer my shows to PC, and call them back to re-activate the new DVR - which will again most likely take hours to complete. I asked them, "Why don't you wait until I am ready, and call you, to deactivate my old DVR?" and they said they do it automatically to save me from having to make that phone call. Brilliant.

Updated on May 13, 2010

The third TiVo is connected, and is having the same problem as the first two. It does not respond to the remote control. I have two remotes, one of which was a $50 purchase. TiVo has replaced the DVR twice already but refused to replace the remotes.