TiVo Series2 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder (40GB)

Reviewed by: jasonkwc7

Strengths: What's not to love. Can be hooked up to a home network to make updates speedy. Lots and Lots of Features. Can transfer shows to other TiVo's in your house.

Weaknesses: Snaller hard drive, only 40 GB. Have to do inital setup with regular phone line, and cannot use network for first setup. Only a 90 day warranty?

Overall: So far so good. I have had this unit for a week now and I really love the features it offers over conventional T.V. Being about to pause and rewind live T.V. is a big plus. Being able to upload songs and picture from a local computer on your network. Relatively easy setup. But the coolest feature by far is the remote feature of being able to set up a recording from the internet anywhere in the world. I just used it for the first time tonight when I realized I forgot to set up the recorder to tape something after I went to work. It worked like a charm. Overall this is a great unit and TiVo is a great service. Hopefully it gets better and better. The only thing that worries me is that the unit only has a 90 day warranty....hmmmmm.

Reviewed by: bluu171

Strengths: easy programming and buttons

Weaknesses: hard drive based unit which may fail, no easyway to replace the hard drive

Overall: programming is so easy and quick with on screen prompts and even sounds to let you know whenyou have made a mistake. the unit will changethe way you watch programs on your tv as youcan now watch them whenever you wish on yourown time!

Reviewed by: EricaM0817

Overall: This is a nice, basic tivo unit. It only has 40 hours, which is good for the basic tv viewer. You also have to pay the monthly tivo subscription fee, but there are enough special offers that usually make up for this. I have not had any problems with this unit, and I have used several tivos in the past.

Reviewed by: Efessen

Strengths: Easy to record series. No tapes. One remote for everything. Inexpensive. Rewind/FastForward live TV.

Weaknesses: Remote control has SLOW response w/ cable converter box. "40 hours" isn't real capacity unless you want very low quality video. No dual-tuner recording.

Overall: I took the plunge on a TiVo with this 40-hour unit to see what all the hype was all about. A friend of mine told me how it is so convenient and that she can't live without TiVo now. Well, after testing this unit for a month, I cannot comprehend the hype behind TiVo. To start, the setup of TiVo is a bit complicated with all the cables and the series of screens to update the TiVo with the service. True, the unit conveniently records series and other favorites with ease and lets you rewind/fastforward live TV. However, allowing TiVo to record recommended shows comes at a risk of being interrupted while you're watching TV and get a popup asking you to cancel the recording. Additionally, TiVo thinks I have strange taste in TV shows as it records some of the oddest shows on television. Recording quality when used in Best Quality is very nice. I don't see any degradation of the video and certainly no skipping. The RW/FF buttons are convenient though they sometimes have a delay when switching back to play. Another part about TiVo I really am not fond is the remote control compatibility with my Comcast cable box. The TiVo remote can change channels on the cable box but the response time is around 2 seconds! That's a bit annoying because if you aren't sure what you button you pressed, you have to wait 2 seconds to read the cable box's response! That's not acceptable.Connecting the TiVo to a wireless network is a mystery to me. I've read many FAQ's online & visited the TiVo.com support pages but nothing is getting me out of this mess. According to the settings menu on TiVo, the wireless network is detected but cannot send/receive any data to TiVo servers. I should also note that finding compatible TiVo network adapters also requires heavy research before going out to buy one. It is not the easiest thing.For the convenience of an up-to-date VCR, TiVo is great. Great quality and very convenient. For all the other features TiVo boasts, such as picking recommendations, compatibility w/ cable boxes and networking, this unit lacks. So if you spend the money for a TiVo, expect using it as mostly a timed-recorder than anything else. Also beware of the annoying popups when it starts recording while you're watching TV.

Reviewed by: ksfmpo

Strengths: Totally changes the way you watch TV. Watch a 30 min program in 22 minutes. Easy to set up. Remote control well designed.

Weaknesses: Can be a bit noisy. The hard drive runs all the time. The first one I recieved from the store was loud. I exchanged it for another one and this one is very quiet.

Overall: I never thought I would want one. Now that I have one, I don't think I c an go back to watching TV the old way. I used to flip channels to find something worth watching. Now I never have to do that again. Requires 12.95/ month Tivo service or $299.00 lifetime activation.