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"The best retail DVR on the market" on by TechWzrd
Pros: 4-tuners, economical over a 5-year period (total ownership costs), intuitive and ease of use, ability to aggregate & search content, available bluetooth slide remote ($), built-in MoCA, Multi-Room Streaming, fantastic iPad and Android second screen co
Cons: Up-front cost, no Amazon Prime streaming (currently), requirement for a Tuning Adapter to receive Switched Digital Video (SDV) on some cable operators, lack of apps, no social integration (currently)
Summary: I've been using TiVo boxes since their introduction as a Series 1 box from Philips in 2000. I can easily recommend the TiVo Premiere Elite as the best TiVo box ever and the best DVR available. It offers a superior DVR experience to users over the generic cable operator provided leased DVR. TiVo has evolved into the ultimate single solution media center by combining its DVR and universal cable box capabilities with the ability to aggregate, search, and deliver millions of pieces of broadband, cable, and broadcast content directly to the television. TiVo recently released a major software update (20.2) to all TiVo Premiere boxes that significantly enhances the user experience. If you factor in the never ending cost of leasing a cable box from your cable operator the TiVo works out to be an economical alternative over a five-year period. I opted for the BestBuy 4-year warrant for $74 just for piece-of-mind on the Elite. TiVo's intuitive functionality and ease of use puts you in control by enabling effortless navigation of linear television, over the top television like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu Plus, radio from Pandora, and web videos from the likes of Revision 3 and the TWIT network. I can't speak highly enough of the TiVo platform which has really evolved to be easily the best DVR on the planet. The only real competition is Windows Media Center from a DVR perspective which is costly and more difficult to set-up. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a TiVo to my friends and family.
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"Better than Premiere or XL but not yet great." on by JamesARasmussen
Pros: 4 turners so you can record 4 different shows.
2 TB storage so you can store many more shows.Cons: No Antenna connection.
No Pay per view capability.
Clumsy search capability - tries to select pay per view channels.
Viewing on another Tivo DVR or transfering not allowed for all recordings.
No Wi-Fi built in.
Still locks up sometimes.Summary: For a thousand bucks (with Lifetime Service) I would expect much better capability than we are getting in this new model.
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"No rooftop antenna option kills it for me." on by JacaseyCED
Pros: 4 tuners is nice.
Cons: No rooftop antenna option kills it for me.
Summary: I cut the cable, bought a TIVO and setup a quality rooftop antenna last year -
This setup Really works for me. Many folks don't know that you actually get a clearer, cleaner digital picture with a good antenna than you do with cable (no compression).
Of course you don't get all the cable channels (I miss ESPN & CNN sometimes) - But you don't pay the fat bills either.
Unfortunately, I still have to pay TW for high-speed internet access ($60+/month is no joke) but dumping the phone line & TV service has been a good choice (Once you get used to it).
Bottom Line: I couldn't be more disappointed in TIVO for blatantly pandering to the greedy cable companies. I wonder if "old" TIVO boxes will start selling at a premium... -
"Looks nice, but still don't see huge reason to upgrade." on by mrduane
Pros: Lots of storage
iPad/Android apps
MoCA integration
4-tunersCons: no OTA antenna
still no PPV & on-demand supportSummary: I've become incredibly frustrated with TiVo. I had a DirecTiVo for several years, and have had a Series 3 for 4 years. Loved them both. What I don't love is feeling forced to spend hundreds of dollars to take advantage of features that I feel should already be available to me.
First, There was no compelling reason to go with the TiVo Premiere (besides the HD guide, I saw no big difference), but every accessory, mobile app to come from TiVo in the last 2 years lacks support for the Series 3. I can't even use the QUERTY keyboard on the Slide remote. This for a product I'm *still paying* to use.
4 Tuners is nice, but I've rarely needed to record more than 2 shows at once. Lots of storage is nice, but I already dropped a big hard drive into my Series 3. So $500 for the ability to be able to use the iPad app, and I lose OTA HD & *still* can't access PPV & on-demand? Makes no sense.
Thing is, if TiVo had included Series 3 support in the apps or remote, I'd probably continue to support them, but at this point, I'm too irritated, and won't ever buy another one of their products.
TiVo Premiere XL4 user reviews
Results 1-4 of 4
Results 1-4 of 4
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