We waited 10 years for this thing. It better be worth it…
Design
We're not going to mince words here: the TiVo HD is one of the ugliest set-top boxes we've ever seen. It's big, it's silver and black, and the front-mounted LEDs tell you almost nothing. It looks less like a luxury AV component and more like a network storage box.
The "display" isn't much help either — usually all you'll get is a small green LED — but there is a "Format" button on the fascia that lets you change the output on the device from 576i all the way up to 1080i with the resolution listed in orange.
For one reason or other, the remote gets a lot of people excited, but we can't see why. The "peanut", as it's nicknamed, is certainly friendly, but some of the buttons are on the small side and it's not backlit.
Features
Like it sounds, the TiVo HD DVR is a dual-HD tuner recorder, and it comes with a relatively paltry 160GB of storage. We've spoken before about how the TiVo's been hobbled for the Australian market, and at present there's still very little functionality: networking, Video-on-Demand, and — until very recently — even remote recording were all MIA.
But the feature that looms largest on the "missing" list is the ability to record cable. Speaking to TiVo representatives at the launch, we were told that the box is "designed to appeal to the 70 per cent of people who've chosen not to use Pay TV". Game on, Foxtel!
Another feature which is slated for release next year is the much-lauded TiVoToGo service which lets you rip recorded shows onto portable devices such as iPods, PCs and PSPs. IPTV and movie downloads are also on the cards — eventually. Expect to pay about the same as the US for this feature — about AU$20 to AU$30.
Like the exterior of the unit, the user interface is fairly ugly, but it's straightforward, and most users will find it intuitive. The electronic program guide itself, on the other hand, is very easy on the eye and allows you to keep watching the currently running program while surfing for shows to watch or record. You can also search by favourite actor, director or genre if you like.
But where the TiVo demonstrates its dominance over the upstart iQ2 is in its attention to detail. For example, there are a wealth of options offered when you record any show, such as the ability to extend the recording time to offset missing the end of a program.
Of course, the box also features the famous "thumbs up, thumbs down" system which lets you rate programs and in turn gives the TiVo some ammunition with which to record similar programs you might like. Unfortunately, our box was a little reticent and never actually taped anything extra for us… We don't necessarily like this feature anyway due to the small size of the hard drive, but you can turn it off if you like.
While we're on the subject of storage, TiVo representatives tell us that there's 500GB and 1TB TiVo-branded drives "coming soon" which will let you upgrade your recording capacity. Unfortunately, it appears that you can't simply add an external drive with an eSATA port. Despite following the various tips found on a Web search (holding down Pause on start-up, and then pressing "62") we were unable to get the TiVo to recognise a Western Digital external drive.
In addition to the eSATA port, you also get a bunch of other connectors which include two USB ports (for attaching accessories like the optional Wi-Fi adapter), an antenna (of the F-connector type seen on cable boxes — oh, the irony!), a component connection, a single HDMI, S-Video, AV and an optical digital connector.
At present, you can only buy TiVo at Harvey Norman and Domayne as they have an exclusive three-month contract, but we have seen it available on wishlist.com.au as well.
Performance
It took us a while to warm to the TiVo HD, but we're developing some kind of affection we don't quite understand for this unit. It's easy to use, recordings are virtually identical to the broadcasts, and everything's just so damn cheerful!
The interface is easy to use, but we wish that there was a dedicated Now Playing button to instantly access your recordings. Navigating around is straightforward, and the on-screen EPG is one of the better ones. We've heard problems with freezing and other general weirdness but we didn't experience any problems.
While Director and Favourite Star searches can be useful, it can be a little frustrating if it can't find the person you're looking for. Especially if the person has a hard to spell name.
Of course, in some ways it will never be like the unit available overseas with no cable recording ability, and with so many other features not activated till next year. In fact, the box has been locked down fairly tightly, and not even the 30-second skip hack works. We also tried using the TiVo desktop application (essentially TiVoToGo) to no avail.
As Foxtel has had remote record for about 12 months, we were interested to see how it worked on TiVo. Setting up was unfortunately a convoluted process, and the feature only appeared to be activated on the day we wrote this review. Once you finally get it to work, though, TiVo's remote online scheduling is a good deal more powerful than Foxtel's. Not only can you specify whether you want a Season Pass or a single record, but you can also specify whether you want the recording to run overtime — useful for prime time programs. We were also puzzled to find quality settings as well, as nowhere in the main menus of the TiVo itself can you actually change this.
Despite the poorly worded and slightly unnerving response — "Your record request has been successfully sent to your TiVo! It would take an hour for it to reach your box!" — we were able to record programs running at the same time.
Conclusion
Having spent some time with the TiVo box, we can see how people can get addicted to it. It's a lot friendlier than the iQ2 and the fact that you can get it working out of the box without ongoing fees is a real boon. Of course, you also miss out on the extra channels of Foxtel HD+ but if you're just looking for a free-to-air recorder this is a very good option.
Though there's some features missing, we think that the Australian iteration doesn't suffer too much from what it lacks. It's a solid PVR, and it certainly ups the ante on PVRs like Topfield and Beyonwiz which rely on users to pay a fee every month for the EPG.
Like this article? Click below to send it to your mobile for free!
tscnq
01/10/2008, 12:21 PM
rating
8/10
Ben - you don't have to watch shows in 2 parts or remember to record the show after one you want to see. Each time you set up a recording you can ask tivo to record an extra few mins 5, 10, 15, 30, 60, 90 mins even up to 3 hours extended recording - I don't think the networks will ever be running that late behind the schedule.
After pressing 'record'
go to the 'season pass and other options' section. There you will find 'options' where you can change the 'keep until' and the start and stop recording times
you can also set the default to automatically do extended recordings in settings>recording>extended recordings though I don't know how reliablyvthat works or how long it extends for by default.
I wonder about some of the other comments posted here - it seems some people have not really used Tivo before commenting
Pros: Wonderful picture and sound through HDMI (I can't bear to watch analogue broadcast now)
Shows are ready to watch when I have time to watch
Fresh episodes of kids show are ready when needed
The one remote controls TV, volume and Tivo
Easy to use
Works smoothly, quickly and trouble free (after the first few days)
Cons: Options for down-loading to computer or extra storage not available yet - if these options arent given by TiVo it is likely they will become available through cracks/hacks etc
Took a bit of time to set up the Tivo, connections, network, wireless, remote etc and menus seemed a bit slow, needed to restart a few times in the first few days (firmware updates?)
Some people would probably struggle to set it up (I'm thinking of my mum and dad here). It is definitely not simple like plugging in a DVD player, for example.
The on-screen EPG and the web site remote schedule do not show you which programs are already set to record (this would be a nice feature to save double entering recordings or thinking it was already set when it isn't).
Report offensive comment
Ben
24/09/2008, 08:50 PM
rating
9/10
The TIVO is great, I don't have any real complaints about it, I get my shows, most of the time in two parts, but I get them eventually. My only complaint is why would the free to air channels sign up to such a wonderful device that records two programs at once and then refuse to stick to their advertised schedule. I don't care if programs run overtime, but surely they can set up their EPG to reflect the over running so at least when I want to watch a show I have recorded and forgotten to record the next show after, I miss the last five minutes.
Pros: Very good device, good interface, doesn't miss a beat.
Cons: Small hard drive,
lack of ability to transfer files
lack of ability to add additional hard drive space
EPG does nto run on time.
Report offensive comment
tscnq
20/09/2008, 07:39 PM
rating
8/10
I have had TiVo for a month or so now and have found it to be great. We rarely watch live TV now as there is always something that we are interested in recorded and ready to watch. And we can fast forward through ads.
I feel TiVo is not so much a competitor to the Foxtel iQ box - rather it makes foxtel/pay TV redundant.
Pros: no need for pay TV to get more viewing options; whenever I'm ready to watch TV - TiVo is ready; easy for rest of family to use; no need to worry about interruptions from kids, phone calls or work as I can just pause or hit record and watch it later; fresh episodes of playschool etc are ready for the kids any time of day when needed and no need to fiddle with DVDs and no more hearing the same DVD over and over and over.
Cons: some features not available yet - looking forward to TiVo Desktop etc becoming available soon.
Report offensive comment
Slam
18/09/2008, 06:50 PM
rating
3/10
I have iQ2 in the main room and bought a TiVo box for the bedroom. I guess if I didn't have iQ2 I would probably use it more. Fact is we never used it after the 1st play. Sadly this is a poor man's poor cousin compared to the iQ2 capability. Decided it was worth getting a 2nd iQ2 box even for the incremental cost to Foxtel. Have since tried to sell the darn thing with no joy and ended up giving to my poor cousin. lol
Pros: no subscription charges
Cons: upfront cost high, only free to air digital, bit buggy (locked up a few times)
Report offensive comment
Plukaduck
01/09/2008, 09:08 PM
rating
1/10
After waiting for a month after the release before buying, just to ensure all the bugs had been worked out, I have bought another electronic item to clog up my living room and it does not even look good. After the first couple of days I was so excited about the Ti Vo until I started to use it for what it was designed for. It just does not work correctly.
Anyone want a real cheap one? I am going to throw this awful thing away. Have tried to get my money back to no avail.
Pros: Easy set-up
Cons: The timer is incorrect.
Switches itself off and will not record scheduled recordings.
Small hard drive.
Remote will not work unless you are close.
Report offensive comment
petergraham
28/08/2008, 03:00 PM
rating
2/10
Overpriced and underspecked pvr that cant record foxtel.. no thanks! I'll stick with my foxtel HD box.
Pros: Cant think of anything good to say about this product.
Cons: Cant record foxtel, piddly hard drive, completely locked down and 3 times the price of the foxtel hd box.
Report offensive comment
scottsla
28/08/2008, 10:19 AM
rating
3/10
I don't get it, it has less features than just about every other settop box on the market yet costs considerably more. It's only plus is the EPG but there are plenty of other options on the market for that anyway.
Pros: - EPG
Cons: - Massively overpriced
- lacks features of just about every other device on the market
- locked down
- did I mention massively overpriced
Report offensive comment
canberra_photographer
26/08/2008, 08:30 PM
rating
3/10
Australians have given a muted response to the TV because Aussies know when they're being duped. 160GB with a simplistic (and broken at the moment) guide and twin tuners that MAY be able to export to computer in the future... for $700. That's a rip off. For $249 I get twin digital tuners on my Mac from EyeTV which I can export my iPhone, Apple TV, windows machines and burn to DVD.
Report offensive comment
tbone
26/08/2008, 05:34 PM
rating
5/10
Easy to use. Can't understand why on earth they've locked out features (TiVoToGo and external drive) that have been out in the USA for ages.
Will re-rate when they finally get all the features working.
Pros: It's easy to use
Cons: It's taking them way too long to get their act together: TiVo Online shop opening deferred again; no external drive; no TiVoToGo, so no editing and archiving content.
Report offensive comment
thorntonp
26/08/2008, 01:09 PM
rating
6/10
I'm sure the TiVo is great, but unless the stations learn how to keep their broadcasts inside their advertised times - it's useless. I have FoxteliQ and am sick of missing the last 5 minutes of a show because the networks constantly run overtime, especially on ratings winning shows.
Report offensive comment