I recently went from Satellite(with Tivo) to my local cable company for the express purpose of using the new Tivo HD.

While I wait for said Tivo HD unit to arrive, I have been using the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD DVR which has the Sara interface.

Let me assure you, if this product held a candle to Tivo, I wouldn't hesitate to stick with it.

My television watching experience is completely diminished using the 8300 HD.

Try finding the next showing of Meet me in St. Louis, or record every Marx Brothers movie one time. Try to record any show where Elvis Costello shows up.

Oh, and the only way I can describe the play-forward-rewind features on the Tivo and the cable companies' unit is to describe the difference between driving a Camry and a dumptruck.

I don't think of myself as some hipster who can't settle for what the masses use. To 'witness' to the features of the Tivo is to describe a different way of watching television.

I think it's terrific that cable companies are maximizing the content available to their customers and that they are offering all of these On Demand Features. But I just want the feed.

If you were searching out an ISP, and they told you your Operating System wasn't supported what would you do?

The above comment proves Todd is right. Tivo's for the fanatics (no judgment intended). Regular TV watchers like me are just fine with the cable company box. I have no interest in paying more for a monthly Tivo subscription alone than I do for my cable box--and then I have to buy the Tivo besides. And then there's the problem of the internet connection...

Unless you really sat down and used a Tivo, comments like Jodido are just un-educated, and I don't mean that as a slight. I have Tivo, 2 actually, and I've messed quite a bit with my parents Motorolla/Moxie DVR.

The biggest complaint I have with the CC DVR is the software, it just plain pales in comparison to Tivo.

Its interesting to read this article now forecasting Tivo's demise, because Moxie is planning to go retail direct to the consumer...

If CC made a DVR with a good software interface , with a comparable feature set (including the ability to download content from the DVR), yes it would be worth the $10 lease. Right now, IMO, its not.

Tivo for fanatics? I disagree.

Tivo users become fanatics. Tivo totally changes the way people interact about TV. Pause, FF, Rewind, and auto-record programs are core features of basic DVR technologies. Tivo does that, and does it seamlessly, reliably, and easily.

I have a degree in computer science and hated programming my VCR because it was too much hassle. My mom can easily record shows, even entire seasons with a Tivo, or can set up wishlists when her favorite actor is in a show or movie.

Once you use a Tivo for a while, it raises the bar. Just ask my 6 year old. "Dad, Tivo is WAY better than live TV"

It's not that TV addicts favor Tivo due to fanaticism, it's that once you've used Tivo, TV is personalized for you, gives you power over ads, pace, and a catalog of shows you like which were easy to "record," you become passionate about having that kind of control.

It will be a VERY sad day when Tivo goes under.

Note that DirecTV had a long-standing deal with TiVo until they dumped it in favor of their own DVR platform; there are still many DTV customers, myself included, who hang on to our TiVo units and wish DTV would return to licensing the TiVo software.

For me, DirecTV's TiVo-integrated box was a major selling point over cable.

"The problem is that TiVo carries baggage" -- true, but they carry something else: PATENTS.

Griz700 was dead on. I had two tivos on a DirecTV for years, then moved and starting using a Time Warner DVR. After 3-4 months of it, I was ready for any amount to get back to the Tivo. Using it is to understand the difference. Even my wife, a die-hard book vs. TV person, was willing to pay to buy to Tivo box. Once you've experienced Tivo's excellence in UI design, intuitiveness, and polish it equates to either having the Tivo or having no DVR. How's that for, as Tom Cooper posted above, "Tivo users become fanatics."

For people that never had a Tivo it is hard to understand, if you only see Yugo's and thats all you drive then it is hard to see a better car to drive.

You are right to express concern over whether Comcast/Cox will push TiVoSoft downloads enough. DirecTV did a pretty good marketing job with their TiVo offerings. Cable often does not market such things well.

It was positive to hear Rogers on MarketWatch mention that Cox will roll out this year.

Back when the telephone system broke up, I had no interest in buying a phone for years. Don't judge the propensity to buy the cable box yet.

As devoted as Tivo fans are to Tivo, having a Tivo HD box basically locks in the user to cable, and for me, there is no where else to go but Comcast in my area. Such is the power of Tivo that I would be willing to get locked in with Comcast just to have Tivo.

Tivo's HD boxes have basically reduced cable's churn to almost 0, at the cost (to cable company) of installing a couple of cable cards, instead of providing and subsidizing an whole HD DVR box ($300 HW cost). Isn't that valuable to cable?

Having had a Dish DVR, then a DirectTV Tivo, then a Comcast Motorola DVR and finally a Tivo series 3 I have to say that it really is true that until you've used a Tivo it's hard to know what you're missing.

We switched from Dish to DirecTV because it was an easy way to get a Tivo and we'd seen what our friends Tivos could do.

We bought a series 3 because the motorola box sucked so hard it made TV watching a bad experience relative to the Tivo we'd had before.

I don't know how Tivo capitalizes on this difference but if they're to survive it seems they must figure it out and do so soon before other DVRs catch up (which one would have thought they'd have done already).

My in-laws put their one tuner Tivo on a rarely used TV to be replaced with a 2-tuner Comcast DVR. They are quite happy with it because it does what they want: record two shows at once. Not everyone becomes enamored with all the neat features of Tivo. Its good enough features at a good enough price.

Tivo....Why use a Tivo.. With the availability and EASE of use of things like Windows MCE, MythTv and others..combined with New TV's easily able to connect to your HOME PC, I think Tivo is a passing idea, that will become Home Theater PC's. I know I'll never use another cable provided box or Tivo box, when I can use my PC, and my cable inbound for ALL my content, which I can then save, offload to DVD, much more flexible

Hmm. I can do all of those things w/ my Tivo. Tivo supports the hacking community (well, they don't actively try to thwart them) so my HD DirecTivo has 600GB of storage and runs a web server, FTP server, etc. From my PC desktop I can browse shows and pull them off the Tivo.

I think part of Tivo's problem is the whole "kleenex" or "Xerox" thing. People think all DVRs are Tivo's. My parents fell into this trap when they got a DVR with their Dish Network. I couldn't even use the thing.

As someone else mentioned, it will be a SAD day if Tivo every folds.

Seems to be that Amazon might be a potential buyer of Tivo. Tivo's boxes use Amazon's Unbox service for video-on-demand, right?

Or Netflix might be interesting... but they'd force Tivo to dump the Amazon partnership.

I have to agree with most of the comments. You can't say the CC's DVR is fine until you've actually used a Tivo. And I can't imagine Comcast allowing me to download my videos to my notebook and watch them somewhere else, or do half the other great things I can do with my Tivo. At least not without nickel and dime-ing me to death.

Re: Jeepman66
I'm a computer geek. I work on computers all day long. The absolute last thing I want to do is come home and have my TV crash. My TiVo /just works/. I don't have to fight with it, reprogram it, fudge with the guide settings, upgrade the software, fix the drivers, etc etc. That is why I love my TiVo and avoid MCE/MythTV/etc.

It isn't about the "cute sounds" or being a fanboy. My TiVo gives me control over my TV. I can watch what I want when I want - and it is easy. I like that it is easy. :) While most interfaces and software trend toward (IMHO) inane complexity, the TiVo goes the other way - and finds that happy balance between power/features and being so easy your grandma could run a TiVo.

I have a Directivo and have not stepped up to HD due to the upcoming switch from mpeg-2 to 4 and no HDTivo for directv that supports mpeg-4. I have tried to use my inlaws TW DVR it is pitiful UI and other coworkers have had major problems with their TW DVRs rebooting and loosing recordings. other than HD failures after 3 years my Directivo is here to stay. if only Directv will get back together with tivo under the new liberty media leadership.

As many others have said, TiVo is an experience good where sales really come only after using it. I owned a TiVo for 2 years and then switched to Comcast's DVR. Why? Well Comcast's DVR allowed me to record in HD and two channels at the same time without having to pay $600 up front. Now I do miss all the great things about my TiVo, but I can get by with Comcast's DVR. I can record seasons or single shows at a time. The interface is lacking, but I can do 90% of what I did with my TiVo and then some more (recording in HD and 2 shows at the same time). If Comcast rolled out its TiVo version, I'd happily pay a premium for it. But I suspect most people are like me and more people will be like me -- especially since HD is quickly becoming a must-have feature.

I just love how someone posts about how TiVos can only record one show at once. Guess the dual-tuner SD and HD models are just our imaginations, then, huh?

As a owner of 3 Tivo boxes and 1 Comcast HD DVR, I speak from experience. Combine the Tivo interface with the Comcast service, and I will never leave Comcast again. The Comcast DVR menu and user interface is terrible at best. Tivo's interface is by far the most intuitive box I have used. The only drawback to my Tivo boxes is that they will only record on one channel at a time. That's the bane of early adopters, and I won't upgrade yet.

When I told my wife that I wanted Tivo and that it would "change our lives", she laughed. A week later, she agreed with me and want "Tivo" for the car radio too.

How many TiVo fans out there have to suppress an urge to hit the "rewind 6 second" button when listening to the radio in the car?

Been holding off on a new flat screen TV and going HD because none of our TiVo's supported HD but with the new relatively inexpensive model, we're going to have to re-evaluate things...

This is a really old idea, and contrary to the reporter's beliefs, TiVo isn't completely stupid.

Google Guy: The point is not whether TiVo is completely stupid, or partly stupid or not at all stupid. It's that TiVo's opportunities are narrower than they otherwise might be because of broad industry trends.

But you're right, it's not a new idea that cablecos are powerful gatekeepers. The question is, is consumer demand for TiVo powerful enough to make cable give TiVo a privileged spot in the lineup? i.e. is it ESPN or... more like Voom?

One thing that people are completely missing about the TIVO experience is not just its ease of use in its functionality - but its ease of use in setting up. For those who would put forth the idea of a MythTV or a MCE box as an alternative - the setup on those kinds of devices is not even close to as simple as on a TIVO.

The initial setup for a TIVO is painless. If you put it on your home network and use TIVO approved hardware (aka their network adapter) it just works out of the box. Using it for media from your PC - or getting media to your PC just works. Its simplicity of use rivals the Mac and this is why it has an enduring cult following.

With two single tuner TIVOs and simple analog cable I have more to watch then ever before - I'm not even contemplating digital cable or an HD set because the need is not there. TIVO has upped the ante even more with movie rentals from Amazon Unbox - with a far better selection then any cable company's VOD has.

--*Rob

Tivo abandoned me. I love Tivo and have 3 of them. Unfortunately, I live in an area where satellite is the only option (no cable). When I bought HDTVs, I discovered that there was no Tivo support for HD and satellite.

My options:

- keep my Tivos and not use my HDTVs
- Go with a Dish Network PVR and give up my Tivos

Hard to accept Tivo writing me off as a customer...

I'm a long-time TiVo owner, but I'm actually thinking of switching. I love the UI, but I think that the devices no longer support what I want to do. So, I'm thinking of trying out SageTV + their media extenders. I want one interface for all of my media at each of my TVs. To do that with TiVo, I'd have to buy an expensive TiVo for each TV + pay for the service. I currently have a S1 w/ lifetime and a S2 that came with the first year of service included. When my S2 switches over to $6.95 / month if I prepay, I won't be too happy.

I've also noticed that the TiVo boxes slow down over time. My S2 is pretty slow to respond to the remote, especially when going into the network functionality, like video podcast selections, Unbox, etc.

I love the TiVo and interface, but I feel that they are underpowered. Even if they do not go after the hacker community, getting reliable networking services (i.e. communicating with the computer at my hours) has been less than troublefree.

In terms of the interface, since you almost have to try it to believe in it, I'm surprised that TiVo's marketing efforts have been so lame. "TiVo Shannon" is a horrible spokesperson. They really need to get someone who is a professional actor. One of the first things that I'd do if I worked there would be to create a flash version of the TiVo interface that people can try on the web and play around with. It could simulate recording programs and whatnot. The presentation that's currently on their website is ok, but not sufficient.

Todd

I love the comment about trying to hit the 6-second rewind button on the car radio. I thought I was the only one who did that!

Little late of a post here. But what is the point of paying monthly fees to anyone just to get the EPG? It is free. I bought sage tv, installed it..I can record HD and have a ton more space then TiVO will ever have and I don't have any monthly fees. The computer I run it on only cost me $350 at pcusa.com

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