Entered CNET Catalog: 07/02/2003
SKU: 0012562656458
Manufacturer: Pioneer North America
Manufacturer description
The amazing DVR-810H is a videophile's dream: TiVo service, an 80GB hard drive, next-generation viewing and recording features... and the list continues. This machine will forever change how you find, watch, and record video. The DVR-810H comes with the revolutionary TiVo Basic Service included, with no startup cost or monthly fees. Pioneer is the world's first company to offer this powerful combination. Setup is very simple, and finding and scheduling your favorite shows is a breeze. With the built-in 80GB hard drive you can record up to 80 hours of material - off the air, cable, or satellite, or your home movies - for short-term storage and viewing. You can actually control live TV: pause it, reverse it, play it in slow motion. You can even watch a recorded program from the beginning, while the recorder simultaneously finishes the recording. With the DVR-810H, there's just no going back to the old way of watching TV. And those shows and other content you want to keep for a longer period of time? Burn them onto a DVD-R (permanent; can't be erased) or DVD - RW (can be erased/written over many times). The DVR-810H features up to 18x record speed, so you'll be able to dub a 1-hour program to DVD in basic EP quality mode in just over 3 minutes. (DVR Version 2.0 4X Media.) You can even record content to the hard drive while dubbing different content from the hard drive to a DVD. It's fast and easy, and the content remains in a digital state throughout, so the quality level is very high. The DVR-810H features PureCinema 2: 3 Progressive Scan for a more film-like presentation when watching movies; a 9-bit/27MHz video DAC for a truly superior picture; Faroudja Directional Correlation De-interlacing, or DCDi, for a smoother, more natural picture; and a sophisticated noise reduction circuit which can achieve an amazing 6-10dB of noise reduction. The DVR-810H also features Dolby Digital and DTS Digital surround sound outputs, plus CD and MP3 compatibility.Product summary
The good: Built-in TiVo DVR; easy disk-to-DVD archiving; superb interface; progressive-scan output.
The bad: No way to edit out commercials; no FireWire connection; full TiVo service requires additional fees.
The bottom line: The DVR-810H is a nearly perfect marriage of TiVo and DVD-recorder functionality.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 06/10/2004
Editor's note: We have changed the rating in this review to reflect recent changes in our rating scale. Click The Pioneer DVR-810H's attractive, silver body is a step up from the usual bland A/V component. A centered disc tray sits directly above a subtle array of message lights, which glow blue during playback and red during recording. A readout at the bottom of the face displays status information and the timer. The only other front-panel elements are five standard transport controls and buttons for ejecting the disc and turning on the power. This simplicity gives the recorder a tasteful, minimalist look.
For the remote control, Pioneer slightly modified the standard TiVo wand, throwing in a few more keys to cover DVD functionality. We found operation intuitive and comfortable. You can program the control to power on a variety of televisions, and the DVR-810H changes channels on your cable or satellite box, so you should need only one remote to handle DVD, TV, DVR, and channel-surfing commands.
The superb TiVo onscreen interface controls DVD recording and playback, setup, and all other functions. The menu is a model of intuitive design, especially compared with the convoluted system of Panasonic's competing DMR-E100H. The TiVo solution provides easy access to everything, making for extremely simple operation.
The 810H offers all the great DVR functions that made TiVo a household name. You get a real-time onscreen electronic programming guide (EPG), and you can pause and rewind live TV, capture up to 80 hours of material on the 80GB internal hard disk, and play back one show while recording another. Less appreciated but just as important is a feature that most DVD recorders lack: control over cable and satellite boxes via an included IR blaster or serial cable. This capability makes it easy to record from the hundreds of channels available on just about any digital set-top box.
Like all TiVo-powered devices, the DVR-810H updates its EPG via the built-in dial-up modem or your home network; for the latter connection, you have to supply your own USB Ethernet or Wi-Fi adapter. Unlike standalone TiVo units, the DVR-810H includes TiVo Basic service, which doesn't add any fees but is stripped down: you get only 3 days of EPGs instead of 14, no Season Pass feature for easily recording all the episodes of your favorite show, and no ability to generate wish lists of genres, stars, or titles. To upgrade to TiVo Plus, you can pay either $13 per month or a $300 lump sum. As of June 2004, TiVo Plus service also includes the cool Home Media Option, which enables the DVR-810H to stream digital music and photos from your home network, share programs with other TiVos in your house, and even accept remote program commands via the Internet.
While the Pioneer DVR-810H can store TV shows on its internal hard drive or recordable DVDs, the deck falls short of the Panasonic DMR-E100H on two important counts: the Pioneer can't edit recordings, so you can't delete commercials, and since it lacks a FireWire connection, it can't digitally interface with MiniDV camcorders. It also can't capture 5.1-channel surround soundtracks from broadcast sources, but to be fair, no other standalone recorder can, either. These are the only glaring omissions in an otherwise ideal feature list.
Connectivity options are plentiful. On the output side, an optical digital-audio jack and the ability to send progressive-scan component video move the DVR-810H a step above standard TiVos. The other outs comprise two sets for composite and S-Video A/V, along with one RF hookup. For EPGs, a telephone jack handles dial-up updates, while a USB port enables Ethernet or Wi-Fi access via a third-party networking adapter. The Pioneer DVR-810H accepts TV signals on a standard RF coaxial cable, a composite A/V input, or an S-Video connection. A second composite A/V in doesn't have S-Video but allows the recorder to burn DVDs of VCR and camcorder material.
If the DVR-810H's 80GB hard drive isn't big enough for you, check out the step-up model. The Pioneer Elite DVR-57H, listed at $1,800 (though available for much less), has a 120GB capacity and a black, glossy finish.
A few simple clicks of the remote offload any material on the hard disk to a DVD-R or a DVD-RW. The DVD menu, a natural extension of TiVo's interface, couldn't be easier to use. Burning a disc can take as long as an hour (but can go up to twice as fast with 4X media), but since the process occurs in the background via high-speed dubbing, you can watch and/or record TV or play back captured programs while you wait.
The DVD-RWs we burned worked on some other machines, but we recommend DVD-Rs for maximum compatibility, especially with older players. Our DVD-Rs, true to the format's status as the most compatible type of recordable disc, played back in all the DVD decks we tried. A TiVo-style top menu gives homemade recordings a nice, professional sheen, though some may regret the intrusive branding.
The Basic, Medium, and High recording modes cover roughly the same quality and time range as a VCR's EP, LP, and SP options. The respective modes give you 6, 4, and 2 hours of video per DVD and 80, 55, and 28 hours of programming on the hard drive. We avoided Basic and Medium because they yielded expectedly low levels of resolution and a soft, VHS-style picture. True videophiles can choose the optimal resolution of the Extreme/Fine setting, but as it offers only 1 hour of material per disc, many will go with High to get 2 hours and more than 400 horizontal lines of resolution.
Thanks to Pioneer's use of Sage/Faroudja's video-processing technology, the 810H played back DVDs with generally top-notch image quality. Recordable DVDs of all flavors that we'd burned on other machines gave the unit no trouble. And MP3 CD-R playback, complete with shuffling, was better than average.
The Pioneer DVR-810H's main strength is its ability to archive television, but it also records noncopyright material from camcorders (on the analog input only), VCRs, and other external sources. Unfortunately, if this content comes in on the S-Video connection, the DVR-810H automatically labels it as a TV show, and you cannot change that title. Custom labeling is possible only if you use the second composite-video input.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61out of 61 user reviews
Greatest Tivo ever!
Pros: All the tivo features plus able to archive to DVD
Cons: Wish it was high def but the video output is the best standard def of any Tivo.
out of 61 user reviews
When it works its great...
Pros: simple to use, allows you to select mutilple programs to record at once. all in one unit
Cons: bought the unit about 4 years ago. 2 years in needed repair - flat rate of 200.00 less then two years later - broke again. this time flat rate of 395.00 - its iinsane - I also have a tivo lifetime sub on this... I think im just going to toss it!
out of 61 user reviews
easy way to record tv programs
Pros: the easy way to record from hdd to dvds
Cons: that i dont have another one
out of 61 user reviews
Excellent piece of equipment!
Pros: Ease of use, Good picture quality, dvd storage
Cons: misses out on some of TiVo's newest features.
The unit is great looking, a little bigger than most DVD players of the day, but compliments any HT well.
The DVD player I have never had a problem with, and looks great. The Tivo function is of course why I bought it, and has been one of the best investments I have made.
The DVD burning is great, although if you record an hour long show on high quality, you will have to split it up on two discs.
It is great for shows that might stack up too quickly (like ER, highlander etc come on twice a day... no way we can watch all that) We just burn them to dvd+r's and watch them when we have time.
It is also handy for favorites. My wife has on DVD many of her favorite American Idol performances, and I have my favorite episodes of battlestar galactica and family guy saved.
The biggest dissapointment for me, was when Tivo announced the "Tivo to go" feature. I was so excited that I was going to be able to download my Tivo programming on my PC. I went to the Tivo site, and learned that my version of the tivo (manufactured by a third party) could not use that feature. It makes me wonder what other features (like the rumored netflix/tivo partnership) I am going to miss out on because I bought a high end Tivo.
out of 61 user reviews
Best to stay away
Pros: Easy to use, impressive, and replaces most of the devices in your TV stand
Cons: reboots regularly, poor quality, you'll most likely have to send this unit back
out of 61 user reviews
Bad quality control. Died twice in 10 months.
Pros: Tons of features
Cons: Poor quality
out of 61 user reviews
AWESOME!!!
Pros: TiVo service is great. I never have to plan to watch TV and I still catch my favorite shows.
Cons: The cost is a little pricey, but well worth it.
I hooked it up to my home network and I can play photos and music from my PCs on the television. Great! Also, the DVD burner is just icing on the cake because I can save burn all my favorite shows. I am oplanning to get a 60+ inch HDTV this year, and coupled with my TiVo, I may never leave the family room!. Buy it!
This is the best investment I ever made. Using a VCR is tricky at best when trying to record lots of shows, but TiVo is very user friendly, quick and convenient. I can even program it using the TiVo service while I am at work.
I hooked it up to my home network and I can play photos and music from my PCs on the television. Great! Also, the DVD burner is just icing on the cake because I can burn all my favorite shows. I am planning to get a 60+ inch HDTV this year, and coupled with my TiVo, I may never leave the family room! Buy it!
out of 61 user reviews
I am drinking the TiVo Kool Aid
Pros: Ease of use Seamless integration of TiVo TiVo Basic is all I need
Cons: A bit pricey not to have a FireWire port
out of 61 user reviews
Don't get sucked into TIVO! Stick with the DVR-520H
Pros: Great HDD/DVD player. TIVO is great if you don't mind the monthly fees.
Cons: Monthly service, no Firewire!, no editing features, only records DVD-R/RW, no S/VCD, no HDMI interface, PIONEER - you're letting me down!
out of 61 user reviews
This thing Kicks ASS
Pros: Easy to use!! Love Tivo. My wife even programs it. Great features and the picture quality is excellent
Cons: $$$ price was steep. Would like to be able to edit as i record but hell this thing is great
out of 61 user reviews
Nice Unit, but needs HD inputs!
Pros: Price ($400 at Tweeter yesterday on clearance), TIVO features
Cons: Can't watch HD with this unit (unless willing to view at lower-than-HD quality); can't copy directly from VCR to DVD--must copy to hard drive first (at least I haven't figured out how to do so yet!)
out of 61 user reviews
why pay for tivo when
Pros: excellent system
Cons: expensive plus monthly fee. you can get panosonic without tivo and no monthly fee
out of 61 user reviews
Good, and getting better
Pros: Tivo and DVD-RW, is there anything else that needs to be said?
Cons: Poor video quality without software update (now available), no Firewire, DVD-RW discs are harder to find than DVD+RW.
out of 61 user reviews
This is Gadget #1
Pros: *TIVO, obviously *Beautiful design - sexy! *The best menu driven video recording device ever. Makes recording TV, Movies, and Home Movies from Video Camera simple. *Burning DVDs simple as pie *Fairly fast burning with 4X DVD-R disks *Absolutely worth eve
Cons: *No editing of videos *Menus on DVD recording non-customizable *No firewire in *TIVO should allow storage of MP3s, JPGs, and MPGs on the unit itself. *TIVO should allow for sharing of JPGs and home movies with other TIVOs - They would sell at least twice
out of 61 user reviews
Awesome potential - but buggy design
Pros: Almost perfect marriage of Tivo+DVD Burner, Tivo interface...but there are problems
Cons: These are significant cons: Odd random picture flicker Unit turns off/on by itself problem Picture quality poor even at highest setting (when compared to Tivo1)..I went through 2 units, but the same problems existed in both -- Now I am with my old Tivo1
out of 61 user reviews
Fabulous!!! Almost Perfect!
Pros: Easy! Easy! Easy everything. TiVo is the best DVR OS and Pioneer has done a fabulous job here. Everyone needs this device! HTPC? HA! Who wants to mess around with a toy when this is the real thing!
Cons: Tiny con, no editing on the DVD recordings on this deivce. Editing can be done on a PC if you must. Why bother?
out of 61 user reviews
Awful video quality
Pros: Pioneer bought it back for full purchase price. Can't fix it.
Cons: Video pixilation so bad I was ashamed to show any recorded programs to anyone. My VCR in EP mode is superior in video recording quality to the 810's recording in its best quality mode. Digital audio only optical, no coax output. TIVO does not provide phon
out of 61 user reviews
Good idea--faulty product
Pros: Review hits the pros (but they failed to compare it to other tivos or investigate common user complaints)
Cons: - Picture quality is worse than Tivo series 1, pixelates every 10 mins or so - Annoying Flicker problem - Grainy picture compared to other Tivos - Common power-down/reboot problem at random times
out of 61 user reviews
Worst Experience With Electronic Product Ever
Pros:
Cons: First, For all practical purposes there is no support given that Pioneer keeps bankers hours. Guess I'm supposed to take a day of vacation in order to set the product up? I'm sorry but for a $600 product you can be available. Second, the setup can only
out of 61 user reviews
Died in 2 weeks
Pros: Very full featured, lots and lots of bang for the buck - totally idiot proof.
Cons: The hard drive died 2 weeks after I bought it. HiFi Buys took it back, but there was two more on the refurb table.
out of 61 user reviews
Works great! Less filling! Of your time that is.
Pros: I recently lost my Replay TV boxes due to HW failures. Since I really liked my old Tivo Series 1 more I decided to replace the Replay with the 810-H. It's a no brainer. My Wife and daughter can use it. (Unlike many PC based products) It burns shows to DVD
Cons: None so far. (OK '80Hrs' isn't really enough, though the ease of burning a disc is helping to ignore that limit) And Apple needs to license the AAC/Fairplay code to folks like Tivo so it can play iTMS tunes! But that's not a Pioneer issue.
out of 61 user reviews
Very close to being perfect...
Pros: This is my first TiVo so I cannot compare picture quality at the lower settings. There is a high degree of pixelation at the two lower settings but I think the shows are still watchable. You have too consider that at the higher hour settings your machiine
Cons: It would b nice to have a graphical display showing disk usage (much like Windows gives you with the pie chart on your disk drives). Upgrading the unit could be easier (hard disk storage) for the casual technology consumer. It would be nice to have the
out of 61 user reviews
Incomprehensible product
Pros: DVD playback quality is excellent.
Cons: "User-friendly" aspect limits versatility. S-Video input - USELESS No DV input for camcorder. No S-Video input for camcorder. Menus are restrictive and overly simplistic resulting in many, many useless button pushing exercises. What a disaster.
out of 61 user reviews
Reboot Known Defect - Welcome Powering Up...Almost there...
Pros: This unit rocks when it works. The problem is that it's not reliable. I'm on my second unit - waiting for them to pick it up and replace it again.
Cons: The product seems to have not only the black screen defect, but a rebooting issue. This seems to be known. There were 42 units sitting on a pallet shrink wrapped next to the service intake at Pioneer HQ in Long Beach. Other customers were there with the s
out of 61 user reviews
The best gadget I own
Pros: The people down on this product are nuts and are hardcore tech geeks to such an extreme that nothing will every satisfy them. This is a simple, easy to use well made extension of the laready fantastic TIVO service that allows archiving of movies and show
Cons: Could burn in more formats, but a small quibble
out of 61 user reviews
poor picture quality except in extremely fine mode
Pros: ease of use, usb connectivity
Cons: picture quality is very poor in all modes other than extremely fine, which greatly limits capacity. Pioneer acknowledges a compression defect but offers no fix date.
out of 61 user reviews
Horrible Luck with mine
Pros: I liked the Tivo Feature.
Cons: Horrible picture quality. Also, I was able to burn about 30 DVDs before I started getting recording errors. This all happened after about 2 weeks. I went through about 10 blank DVDs with writing errors before it stopped writing completely. It didn't matte
out of 61 user reviews
Better waiting for second wave of Tivo/DVD-RW products
Pros: First Tivo + DVD-RW. Price is now falling due to competitors coming to market.
Cons: 80 GB HD is small. Wait to see how the 120GB Toshiba RS-TX20 compares.
out of 61 user reviews
can't play vcd....
Pros: bought it because $200 discount, 80 hard drive, the brand name of 'PIONEER'.
Cons: can't play vcd, but lower model "510" does.
out of 61 user reviews
Great Idea - To Bad It Doesn't Work
Pros: Batch output to DVD in the background while using TIVO the normal way...
Cons: Video quality stinks. Very bad pixellation problems on any but he "exteme-fine" quality setting, which means you have an 18 hour Tivo
out of 61 user reviews
Terrible picture quality!
Pros: That great TiVo Interface; all of the great features of TiVo2 units
Cons: Acknowledged software glitches affect recording quality at all but the highest setting. And at the highest setting, you get online 16 hours of recording. And at the highest setting, you can burn only one hour per DVD.
out of 61 user reviews
Tivo or not. No contest. Tivo
Pros: Great user interface, lot's of hours to record, great service!
Cons: Expensive for a non-HD system.
out of 61 user reviews
Best One IN All
Pros: TIV0 Gigs of Hard drive, accepts all DVD technology. Its all about choices, I can chosse what when and idf I want to keep it, burn it.
Cons: Manual is lees than perfece, and this si not a system or hy-bris for the amature.
out of 61 user reviews
Black flickering screen.
Pros: TIVO is the benefit.
Cons: What a lousy product. Black flickering on every recorded show. I read the other reviews of black flickering... thought that since there were only 2 mentions of that, maybe it wasn't really the case. How wrong I was. I will be returning this product to
out of 61 user reviews
Video quality is lacking
Pros: Combo TiVo and DVD Burner? Sign us up!
Cons: Total letdown! The video keeps "strobing" or flickering on all TVs I tried and the DVD quality is only worth keeping if you record at High or Extreme settings, limiting your HD space. Still, the flickering video is present on all recorded shows as well as
out of 61 user reviews
Nice Package
Pros: Easy of use, TIVO, recording to DVD easy
Cons: Picture quality a low levels is not acceptable, flickering screen at times. Pioneer/TiVo claim an update is coming.
out of 61 user reviews
Pioneer Suggests RETURNING IT for something else!
Pros: The Tivo interface can't be beat -- extending it to DVD-R is brilliant.
Cons: The picture quality is HORRIBLE! It's an issue Poneer Support acknowledges. In every mode except Extreme High, there are digitial hiccups -- at least one per minute. Pioneer says they are working with TiVo on a fix. But (here's the important part) the
out of 61 user reviews
has a defect and pioneer knows about it
Pros: great idea and would work great if...
Cons: causes tv screen to flash on some channels--pioneer support (which is great) says they have no fix for it yet and it may be months (or maybe never??)
out of 61 user reviews
Buy this now.
Pros: I was on the fence for a long time on this, reading others reviews, and asking people who owned Tivo if it really "changes the way you watch TV". I'm here to tell you that i'm another guy who is gonna say "It changes the way you watch TV". Incredible. Ge
Cons: The quality of the live TV in "fine" mode isn't as crisp and clear as digital cable/satellite. Also I have digital cable and the DVR's way of switching channels is somewhat primitive. The remote control sends a signal to the DVR. The DVR sends out an inf
out of 61 user reviews
Why does Pioneer split up the goodies?
Pros: TiVO. Also, the picture quality is very good. Those who claim that it is bad might have bad TV reception wich is more obvious on DVD recordings, because they offer much sharper pictures than VHS.
Cons: No editing although Pioneer can do it: The Pioneer 510/5100 (not available in the US, but about everywhere else) has no TIVO, but a lot of great editing features, three S-VHS/Composite inputs (no RGB though), DV-Camcorder in/out, PAL and NTSC recording on
out of 61 user reviews
I love this Christmas toy.
Pros: Very easy to use. So far it has been very reliable. Can capture VHS to DVD. Cool looking.
Cons: Cannot edit out commercials prior to burning to DVD
out of 61 user reviews
A Step in the right direction
Pros: Great for timeshifting your viewing w/o the pressure of limited drive space(burn it). Love it or not,Tivo is a workable paradigm for this type of device. IR Blaster Hokey? Does provide a feasible solution for controlling the cable box
Cons: Might not satify serious archivers. Getting sucked into Tivo universe while pleasurable, detracts from original aim of device to simplify ones life.
out of 61 user reviews
Fabulous Combo of Two Great Ideas
Pros: Awesome Tivo interface, which is even added to the DVD viewing experience (8-second rewind, three speeds of FF and RW). Excellent DVD features and quality picture on an HDTV capable of utilizing the progressive scan and DCDi features. The same terrifi
Cons: A tad expensive, but only if you buy it retail, and if Tomas wants a computer, he should buy one. Wish it had HDTV capability, but it is my understanding that the holdup is pending litigation under the aegis of that crime against humanity, the DMCA, pass
out of 61 user reviews
No Customer Support !!!!
Pros: Tivo works great, set-up is a breeze
Cons: Pioneer has not answered e-mails, or phone call regarding problems burning discs. They claim you can use dvd-r or dvd-rw , but three different brands have not worked. (recording failed due to incompatable disc) No web page support or FAQ's to help solve
out of 61 user reviews
Good, not great. User reviewers have it wrong
Pros: 1) Free TIVO service for life (basic) that "craig" below did not do his homework. While basic is far superior to the panasonic it is still a crippled system. It does tell you what is on TV for three days out, provides dynamic system patches, and support
Cons: 1) PVR recording is still primitive compared to VHS tapes. Quality on a 6 hour tape can still surpass 2-hour "high quality" PVR recording. So lower your expectations and think pixelated artifacts MUCH greater than those found on direcTV. The ads on the
out of 61 user reviews
TiVo DVD burner combo
Pros: TiVo functionality and easy to use guides especially when paired with quality DVD burner.
Cons: Doesn't support HDTV so can't integrate an entire system thru AV receiver and TiVo. Leaves you grabbing for all the remotes to move from quality HD channel viewing to TiVo viewing on the remaining channels
out of 61 user reviews
Good quality but...
Pros: Clean set up, progressive scan output, Tivo with DVD recorder is a great combination.
Cons: Losing 5.1 output and HD channels is a major disapointment. For that price i would recommend to wait until these issues are solved in the next generation products. Get a satellite receiver with Tivo instead.
out of 61 user reviews
Great Combo - TIVO & DVD Recorder
Pros: Love this Machine. DVD recordings play back just fine on a 3-yr old DVD Player. TIVO is great. Can get for $700 on the net.Copied VHS to DVD and they look better than the original.
Cons: None really. Editing would be nice but you can FF thru the commercials.
out of 61 user reviews
Pioneer DVR-510H even better, (but only in Canada!)
Pros: Canada doesn't get this one, because Tivo isn't available, but Pioneer's DVR-510H has the same 80 gig HD, DVD recording PLUS firewire, built in tuner and multiple line inputs! DVD menu creator has no branding as well.
Cons: None so far.
out of 61 user reviews
Tivo w/ DVD Burner NOT Burner w/ Tivo Service
Pros: Great Tivo Functionality, reliable hardware, easy to use, fast dvd burning
Cons: Lesser picture quality than older Tivos on any setting other than the highest, cannot burn movies copied from older units using Home Media Option. No options to reduce quality to make shows fit onto DVD once they've been recorded
out of 61 user reviews
Bad picture quality
Pros: The ability to burn a dvd, record live tv, and watch a pre-recorded show all the same time.
Cons: Even at the highest setting (fine) the picture quality is worse than vhs quality. You can only record about 12 hours of "watchable" quality (fine) video on the 80g hard drive. DVD do not look that good. No auxilary s-video or better input.
out of 61 user reviews
Unit Powers Off for No Reason
Pros: Love the unit and all features but.....
Cons: The system powers off with no warning. Its not be either and I am on my 3rd dvr
out of 61 user reviews
Yes ethernet, use USB/Ethernet...
Pros: To the person that said no ethernet connection, there are two USB ports, connect a USB/Ethernet adapter and you can direct connect or use wireless... To the person that said the menus are confusing? Huh???
Cons: No editing, well if you have a DVD writer on your PC, burn the disc on the Pioneer DVR-810H, copy files onto PC, use editing software there and then re-burn disc...There ya go...Yes it would have been nice to provide editing capabilities...
out of 61 user reviews
Can't Edit WHAT!!!?
Pros: Easy to use. Good quality picture. Hefty build
Cons: EXPENSIVE! No editing capabilities at all. Very few DVD picture tweaks. Basic TIVO keeps wanting upgrade.
out of 61 user reviews
VERY DISAPOINTING
Pros: Excellent Picture quality. Very good build quality.
Cons: Can't edit recorded material. Too expensive. menu's confusing. Limited DVD picture adjustment capabilities. Phone line only, no ethernet connection
out of 61 user reviews
So easy to use even my wife can handle it!
Pros: TiVo Plus capability; Setup and use is very intuitive; Burning DVDs from the hard drive takes one click and a confirmation. Price, an initial issue, is already down more than 30% from list.
Cons: No editing capability before burning DVD
out of 61 user reviews
Step in the Right Direction
Pros: Archive to DVD at 3-8x realtime! TiVo integrated menus for DVD recording! Untouchable for PVR functionality. Panasonic units and PCs are no match for TiVo season pass, interface and conflict resolution.
Cons: NO EDITING allowed! Boo! What's the point of archiving to DVD with all the commercials?! Bitrate of recording is NOT compatible with other Series2 units, so you might not be able to archive programs recorded on other Series2 units in your home TiVo networ
out of 61 user reviews
Great functionality and you don't have to be a geek to get it going.
Pros: relatively easy set-up great functionality TiVo easy to use
Cons: You have to read the directions :-)....but they help! Not compatible with HD TV Called both Pioneer and TiVo support for minor questions not answered by owners manual. Pioneer response was excellent. Unable to get to TiVO folks (wait queue consistently
out of 61 user reviews
Why pay for TiVO
Pros: Pioneer quality, 80 GB HD, remote.
Cons: TiVo why pay for PVR service when you can do it for free with the Panasonic? Pioneer was stupid to go with TiVo.
out of 61 user reviews
Desperately seeking Tivo
Pros: It has Tivo and a DVD burner, need I say more.
Cons: After contacting Pioneer they say that there are no plans for a UK version. I say shame on you Pioneer! We in the UK are gasping for a new lease of life for the Tivo market, we can only get second hand Series Ones.
out of 61 user reviews
Why not build a SMOKIN' HTPC for LESS??!
Pros: All-in-one design. Ease of use. TiVo functionality is great and friendly.
Cons: You can get the SAME functionality and WAY more - for less money - by buying or building an HTPC. I just built an AMAZING system with a 2Ghz processor, a Gig or RAM, a 160MB RAID 0 Array, DVD burner and MORE - for around $1000!!
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