- More recording space, up to 150 hours of HD shows
- THX Certified for exceptional sound and video quality
- Pause live TV, plus rewind, slo-mo, and instant replay any channel, any time
- 1 Box.All Entertainment.
- Dowload your favorite movies and TV shows from the web, stream music, watch YouTube on TiVo, and more!
1) This TiVo requires a CableCard. It does NOT work with your cable box. It in fact replaces your cable box, so things like On Demand won't work anymore. Cable TV companies are required by the FCC to give you a CableCard on request, but they will likely charge fees for installation and for using the CableCard. It also (at least for me) can be a giant pain to get to a representative who can actually help you. I wasted hours trying to deal with my cable company. Also, try to get them to let you install it yourself, as it's really, really easy and shouldn't cost you twenty bucks to have someone else slide a card into a slot. Seriously, your blind, senile great-grandmother could do this.
2) The TiVo DOES have an Ethernet jack on the back along with the telephone jack. If you can use a wired network connection, then you don't need to shell out extra for the wireless adapter. I'm now returning mine to Amazon for a refund.
3) Lifetime service (totally worth it in my opinion) now costs $399 up from $299, but you can get it for only $299 with a multi-service discount if you already have another TiVo. Even better, you can resell your TiVo in the future with the lifetime service and transfer the service to the new owner. You can't do that with a monthly or yearly plan!
4) The remote is awful compared to the old remotes. Plus, they switched around the buttons! It also now uses 4 AAAs rather than 2 AAs. However, old remotes should work with this TiVo, too. (I haven't bothered trying.)
Nonetheless, don't let this scare you off. The TiVo HD XL is a really solid product, and TiVo is definitely still the king of DVRs. The XL is a bit pricey, but if you do the math, you'll realize this is actually the best way to go. You really won't save money or time by rolling your own or by buying the cheaper one and attaching an external hard drive.
Buy TiVo TCD658000 HD XL Digital Video Recorder Now
By now the benefits of a DVR are well known, and most people reading this review know about the award-winning Tivo experience I'll not spend time describing how it all works (but trust me, it's great! you'll come to hate it when forced to watch 'live' TV without Tivo). If my guess about your knowledge is wrong I'd advise going to the Tivo website and reading all about it.Instead I'll mention why I paid the extra for the XL Tivo when there are other, cheaper options.
First off this is the fourth DVR I've used (fifth if you count the Tivo Series 2 I bought my parents years ago). My first was a 160-hour ReplayTV (no longer available), and I loved it. As you'd guess when you have 160 hours to play with you have a lot of options. I was first afraid I'd become a TV addict, recording and watching far more TV than I ever did before and in the first month or so that was basically true. Over time, however, you find your habits change I eventually grew tired of recording every show ever broadcast, and instead used the capacity to only record my favorite shows, but with multiple episodes. That is, if you have a ton of room you don't have to watch 'ER' every Thursday at 10 you can read a book instead until you're tired, then just hit the sack. Only when you're in the mood will you fire the DVR up, and you'll find multiple episodes of your favorite shows to watch. I actually found I was watching less TV, or at least TV on fewer evenings, with the large capacity DVR I'd broken the habit of sitting down in front of the boob tube at 8 to be fed by the networks (and waiting through their commercials).
Well when the HDTV switch came around and I started using the DVR from my cable company and it's 15 hours of High Def capacity, I went from DVR bliss to recording-management he$$. I could not record much at all, and so instead I seemed to spend all my time massaging my recordings (recording repeats at a later time to free up space now) or, what was worse, finding myself trapped between watching a show when I wasn't in the mood or finding it gone the next day. Also, obviously, I couldn't record near as much a variety as before.
Now comes the Tivo HD XL, which gets us back in the 150 hour territory. Yes you can get a cheaper Tivo and then purchase an add-on 500GB 'DVR Expander'(rumors of larger coming soon), or perhaps void your warranty, open the box, toss the old HD out and replace it with a third-party one but after doing a number of hours/dollar calculations I found this XL was cheaper than a lot of solutions, didn't void my warranty, and didn't rely on hooking up yet another piece of equipment and cabling just to get me what comes out of the box with the Tivo HD XL.
My only cons, and these apply to all versions of the cable Tivo: 1) Requires a cable card (or two) and the inherent hassles that come with a cable 'technician' visit (mine went well, but many apparently don't) and 2) Tivo has ads that don't get in the way of the functionality (you don't have to watch them) but which still annoys me. The first con is not Tivo's 'fault' the second is, and is why I don't give the product a 5-star.
Read Best Reviews of TiVo TCD658000 HD XL Digital Video Recorder Here
First, a little background. I started with a TiVo series 2 a couple years ago, but recently I've upgraded to an HD system/surround sound, so I figured it was time to upgrade my cable service so I can receive HD programming. Little did I know at the time how difficult it was for cable companies to "allow TiVo to be compatible with their system/network." They kept trying to get me to use their "better than TiVo" DVRs, and insisted that TiVo was wholly incompatible with their system. So I gave em a shot and switched to AT&T's Uverse digital HD package. I had no problem with the HD service, my only complaint was their pathetic attempt at a DVR (maybe I'm spoiled). I called tech support several times getting different people asking if there was any way I could use my own DVR instead of theirs, to no avail. Eventually I got fed up with it and decided to switch to Ynition networks who also promised HD programming. They offered dish network's DVR (with of course those wonderful service and privilege fees) and I've seen adverts for it claiming to be "better than TiVo" so I figured I'd give it a shot. After a month of tech support trying to get the channels I actually subscribed for, they replaced it once and had the tech out a total of 4 times. Eventually I decided to scrap the HD service for cable and go back to what I had, but I had already given my TiVo series to Dad as a father's day present. So I used this opportunity to upgrade and spend the extra money on the TiVo HD XL.I will start by telling you that this was the best purchase for my HD/surround sound system I've made. I cannot imagine watching TV without a TiVo again. Even though TiVo is orders of magnitude better than any other DVR on the market (in my opinion) the series 2 had its faults. However, the TiVo HD XL resolved each and every one of those faults, most of which I wasn't even aware of until I noticed the subtle change.
Let me start with the remote:
The original TiVo remote was awesome, this one is perfect, TiVo now has the perfect remote.
1. They kept the same layout and design as the original, simple, elegant, functional, and practical.
2. Made the remote programmable to work with your TV and receiver separately
3. Made each button individually programmable. If you have the original remote you can program any of those buttons to any of the TiVo remote buttons.
4. It glows and is a nice shiny black!
5. The original TiVo remote was a bit too symmetric and I've found that in the dark I often started using the remote backwards (facing me instead of the TV). TiVo resolved this by putting some slick ridging on the underside of one side of the remote so you can feel if you are pointing it in the right direction naturally and intuitively.
Back to the DVR:
1. Tons of memory. Since I'm only recording SD programming (for now) just to give you an idea, I can record 500+ hours of high quality SD video as compared with the series 2 that held about 20.
2. HD 1080i/surround sound capability. The feature is there when I need it, I can hook it up to over the air antenna for local HD broadcasting if I so desired (just got it so I haven't set that up yet)
3. Dual channel recording. This was the major limiting feature of the series 2, only one channel before and it was whichever channel the TiVo was set to at the time. Now you have two, and if you hook it up right you can watch 3 programs simultaneously (2 on TiVo, one 'live' through TV)
4. The cable card feature that allows your TiVo to act as a cable box for your cable company (provided you actually have a cable company who has the cable cards). I talked with the people at TiVo and they said EVERY cable company is bound by an agreement to support TiVo, however I couldn't get either of my cable companies to admit that or even acknowledge whether they had cable cards I could use.
5. Everything else that makes TiVo wonderful is also here.
To me this was worth every penny. If you have a cable provider who's not willing to jack you around and actually let you use the cable card feature for your HD programming, don't let anyone talk you into those "better than TiVo" DVRs. You'll miss out on the, "I wonder what my TiVo recorded for me today..." and the "bloop bloop" ...commercial skipping.. "bloop" with the perfect auto-backup that takes human reaction time into account.
Want TiVo TCD658000 HD XL Digital Video Recorder Discount?
We recently dropped DirecTV in favor of Verizon FIOS for television service. Unimpressed with Verizon's HD DVR offering, I did a good bit of checking with all signs pointing to the Tivo HD XL (and non-XL) DVR.It's easy to get addicted to Tivo and there's a reason why. The interface is VERY user friendly and they (Tivo) are great about pushing out software updates to the units. The XL offered a TON of HD storage capacity and even more standard definition capacity. The Verizon Tech attached this unit to a single cable run in the house, popped is credit-card-like decoder card inside a slot on the Tivo unit and I was off to the races receiving content over both built-in tuners. After a few days, the Tivo unit pulled down a software update and I was then able to stream Netflix and Amazon On Demand video, which I found uber-cool. You can even watch some YouTube videos through this thing. These on-demand features require a fairly speedy Internet connection I believe so your mileage may vary. The guide and interface is virtually the same as past Tivo units. The other cool thing I noticed is that both my Tivo HD units can see each other on my home network, allowing me to transfer recorded shows between Tivo units over my home network. The only nice-to-have feature I found missing is a caller-ID option, which I enjoy having. It may be there and I just haven't found it.
As for deducting 1 star, I have to attribute that to two things the cost of the unit and the annoying advertisements they're now running on various menu screens/actions. Considering the cost of the box, the monthly Tivo subscription and any kickback for on-demand sales they may get, I would think they could spare you from the annoying ads. Part of the reason people buy a Tivo unit is so they can fast forward through commercials.
Amazon delivered my Tivo HD XL quickly and offered the best price at the time of my purchase.
Now that I have had it for a month or so it is Awesome. I never watched that much HD tv before since my old Tivo was just standard. Pretty much everything I watch is in HD now. Finally I realize why I paid all that money for my big TV. The Tivo service is as good as ever. This is my 3rd Tivo over that last 8 years, all with lifetime and all still running well in my house. The original series one upgraded is now my kids. It is kind of fun seeing what teenagers will watch and we all enjoy a lot of it together
The new Tivo now Knows me and is recording all kinds of suggestions. The beauty is that it is recording many many suggestions in HD. So if I can't find something to watch that I chose I can peruse the HD section. I currently have all of my recorded shows, plus over 200 suggestions of which over 30 are in HD, and the drive isn't close to full yet.
All in all I give it 3 thumbs up!
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