Review of my Tivo HD DVR

Update

I can no longer recommend the Tivo HD. Since I’ve been using it with Verizon’s FIOS service, I’ve had far too many pixelation and sound issues. Tivo customer service insists that the problems are caused by Verizon’s signal. While this may true, the issues don’t exist with a Verizon box connected to the same signal. It’s very hard for me to say to Verizon, “Your signal is bad. Fix it.” when their equipment works correctly using it.

How much does it cost?

My factory refurbished Tivo HD DVR cost me $179, which was $120 less than the cost of a brand new unit. Service for the lifetime of the unit (not my lifetime) cost me $399. Effectively, the unit cost $578 refurbished or $698 new. As of this post, Tivo was no longer offering refurbished Tivo HDs on its website. At post time, Amazon was offering new Tivo HDs for $249 with free shipping (excluding the required Tivo service).

Digital cable is decoded by my Tivo HD through a multistream CableCARD from Comcast. Since I don’t use a Comcast set top box or remote, the cost of which is included in the price for digital cable, I receive a credit of $3.65 each month on my Comcast bill. Comcast provides me with one CableCARD at no charge, though they insisted that a technician install the card and charged for the installation. According to the Comcast price list, additional CableCARDs cost $1.99 each per month.

I also bought a Western Digital My DVR Expander from Amazon for $120. With the extra hard drive, the Tivo can store hundreds of hours of standard definition recordings. I haven’t tried to store any significant number of high definition shows, though I have recorded a few shows in HD without issue.

Why did you buy one? (Skip to the next section if you just want to read the review.)

Cable television without a DVR is of little value to me. When I want to watch TV, I want to watch one of a few specific shows, not whatever happens to be showing. As may be evident from my post on saving money by paying full price, I seek to reduce the effects of marketing on my decisions; therefore, I strongly dislike commercials.

For a while, I tried watching cable television with a DVR rented from Comcast. At the time, the rental cost me around $14 per month; however, Comcast has raised the price about once per year. The Motorola box Comcast provided was loud, generated a considerable amount of heat, and required significant ventilation. The Comcast software was confusing, buggy, and unstable. Comcast is offering Tivo software on their boxes in some areas; however, I have no interest in using the Motorola box again.

I’ve also tried alternatives to cable television.

NBC offers many of its shows online for free, as do many other content providers. I tried to watch The Office using NBC’s free streaming service. Although the service worked, I was unhappy with it. When I tried it, the service required users to download and install a custom application. I dislike running unnecessary applications, especially ones that vaguely claim to “protect” content. Watching shows on a laptop, or even a desktop, is a far different experience than watching them on a television. The screen size and positioning, the poor sound quality, and the lack of a remote made for a less than satisfying experience. While I could have modified my entire setup to remedy these issues, I decided that it wasn’t worth the effort.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has a selection of movies and television shows that can be purchased (licensed?) individually and watched without commercials. The shows can be watched on a television, with sound from a home theater system, and with a remote control (either an existing Xbox controller or a Microsoft remote). Available shows can be paid for and watched any time, deleted locally, and downloaded again without additional cost (though this does not apply to movies). I would still be using this service except for 2 issues. The selection of content providers was limited and the shows offered weren’t as timely or as comprehensive as the same providers’ offerings on television. For example, NBC’s television coverage of the Beijing Olympics was extensive; however, their offerings on Xbox were worthless.

I refuse to consider downloading illegally copied shows for several reasons. Downloading anything from untrusted sources presents a security risk (even for non-executable file types). The quality of illegal copies is inconsistent at best. Illegal actions expose me to potential legal consequences. As mentioned above, I dislike watching shows on a computer.

How well does it work?

My Tivo HD arrived quickly and in like new condition. It was easy to setup and worked as advertised. A Tivo representative called me several days after I received the unit and asked if everything worked correctly.

A straightforward onscreen interface and a simple remote make the Tivo HD intuitive to operate. Warnings about scheduling conflicts are clear, are displayed at the appropriate times, and provide the information necessary to make a decision. It is impossible to accidentally turn off the Tivo HD, as it runs whenever it has power and gracefully restarts when power is restored after an interruption. The DVR I used to rent from Comcast required careful operation to avoid an accidental power off, which usually resulted in failed recordings.

Program guide accuracy is at least as good as with Comcast, though I prefer the program guide interface on the Comcast DVR. Occasionally, the guide for BBC America has been incorrect; however, the guide on the Comcast site has reflected the exact same inaccuracies. The Tivo HD correctly detects changes to the channel lineup and updates scheduled recordings. This feature also works with service changes, such as from analog to digital cable or from Comcast to Verizon. The ability to switch television providers seamlessly has helped me to negotiate a better rate for cable television service.

Recordings can be scheduled using the Tivo HD itself or using Tivo’s website. Online scheduling works reliably and is reasonably straightforward. Unfortunately, Tivo does not offer the ability to fully interact with a Tivo HD over the web. For example, I can’t view or modify scheduled recordings or delete unwanted recordings. Tivo recently launched a version of its online scheduler for mobile phones (as a free mobile website, not as a paid mobile application). It works acceptably well, but isn’t perfect.

The build quality of the Tivo HD is impressive, especially when it is compared to the DVR I rented from Comcast. My Tivo HD has never crashed or frozen, even when I enabled and played with obscure features. The Tivo HD has a single small fan on the back that only runs when necessary. From a foot away, I am unable to hear the unit. It has no ventilation openings on top, which allows me to place it under my receiver and dramatically reduces the amount of cat hair and dust that enters the unit. When I removed the case recently to vacuum out cat hair and dust, I was amazed at how little was present.

Recordings scheduled for unusual hours, such as in the very early mornings, may be interrupted by emergency broadcast system tests. The Tivo HD switches to the channel on which the message is being broadcast, even if this interrupts a recording. A brief search suggests that this behavior may be required by law. To prevent the behavior, I put my Tivo HD into standby mode each evening (Tivo Button -> Messages & Settings -> Standby). Shows are still recorded while the Tivo HD is in standby mode; however, no video output is produced. Since no one could be watching without video output, the Tivo HD ignores emergency broadcasts. Unfortunately, there is neither a standby button on the remote, nor any way to instruct the Tivo HD to enter standby mode at a specific time.

Tivo provides free software that allows recorded shows to be downloaded from the Tivo HD and watched on a computer. Unfortunately, I’ve had issues with the software that were significant enough to discourage me from using it. These included failure to play back entire shows and failure to product sound. Thankfully, the Tivo HD itself includes a web interface through which shows can be downloaded. (To access the web interface, visit your Tivo’s IP address over HTTPS in your web browser. For example, I visit https://192.168.1.80. Make sure that you include the “s” in “https”. The username is “tivo” (without the quotes). The password is your media access key. To find your Tivo’s IP address: Tivo Button -> Messages & Settings -> Settings -> Phone & Network.)

I recently moved and switched from Comcast Digital Cable (with a multi-stream CableCARD) to Verizon FIOS TV (with a multi-stream CableCARD). While I did not have any television service, I was still able to watch previously recorded shows. After Verizon setup my new service and I ran the Tivo HD Guided Setup, all of my scheduled recordings were automatically updated to the new channel assignments. My previously recorded shows were unaffected. I may switch between Comcast and Verizon from time to time to take advantage of promotional offers. With the Tivo HD, I can repeatedly switch providers without disruption to my recording schedule.

Feel free to contact me with questions about my experience with my Tivo HD.