Black Boxes: TiVo Reviewed
(877) FOR-TIVO
www.philips.com
Like ReplayTV, the TiVo personal receiver is revolutionizing the way you watch TV. It gives you control over what you watch by allowing you to pause and rewind live TV. It takes on the role of digital VCR, allowing a variety of ways to select and record your programs. It will even learn what you like to watch.
Out of the Box
The personal TV receiver from Philips is a breeze to set up thanks to a handy set-up pamphlet that leads you through the process. After connecting a few wiresincluding a phone linewe used the remote to answer a few on-screen questions concerning our cable provider and service and then TiVo made a call to download our local program schedule.
While the unit has an MSRP of just $249, you'll need to factor in the cost of the service before you have a unit you can use. You can pay for your TiVo service on a monthly basis ($9.95 per month) or purchase a lifetime service agreement for $199. All told, the setup took us a couple of hours. Connecting the wires was a fast and simple process. We spent most of the set-up time waiting while the TiVo did its work, making phone calls and receiving downloads.
The receiver itself is housed in a sleek black box about the size of a VCR with a huge infrared eye in the middle and two lights that show recording and processing status. It houses an upgradable Quantum Quickview hard drive. There are no buttons on the front of the box. TiVo's functions are accessed completely through the remote.
Have it your Way
The Personal Receiver is so simple to operate that even technophobes should be able to catch on without spending headache-filled hours with the instruction manual. A quick glance at the operations cheat sheet and we were on our way into TiVo land. A single button allowed us to access both the program guide and live TV. In the program guide mode, the receiver displayed the channel we were on as a faded backdrop while we searched through the shows we wanted to watch. When we landed on a show we wanted, we pressed the select button and the backdrop changed to the channel we wanted to see. This allowed us to preview the channel before we watched it. To remove the overlaid program guide we had to press the Live TV button. This added step to get to the program seems a little unnecessary since accessing the program guide is so simple.
When watching TV, the TiVo has some very cool features indeed. It might seem a little silly to get so excited over a pause button, but the fact that you can pause live TV is revolutionary. Whoever invented this device must have had small children or a weak bladder. If your child screams during a show or nature calls, just pause and pick up right where you left off after you've taken care of business. The rewind (and fast forward for recorded programs) has three speeds that allow you to choose how fast you want to go back (or forward). The slow motion function also works on live TV, so now every viewer has a personal slo-mo instant replay. You make the call.
Recording Shows
Next to the program guide/live TV button is the TiVo Central button. From this main menu you can select the show you want to record by browsing through a program guide setup. If you already know the channel and the time of the show you want to record, you can set the receiver to record in a VCR-like menu. Or select channels from your personal preference list. You can then manage the list of shows you have recorded by watching them, continuing to save them or by deleting them. The HDR 112 model that we tested stores up to 14 hours of recorded material but the upcoming HDR 212 ($299) model will store up to 20 hours.
Also in the TiVo central menu is Tivolution Magazine. This feature allows more unique ways of finding and recording programs. For example, one menu item highlighted the shows nominated for Emmys. We scrolled down the categories of Best Drama, Actor, Actress, etc. TiVo told us when the next showing was scheduled to air and asked if we wanted to record it.
We found TiVo's suggestions to be a very helpful feature. There are two unique buttons on the TiVo remote: thumbs up and thumbs down. If you come across a show you like, click on the thumbs up. Don't like a show, press thumbs down. TiVo will learn what you like and suggest upcoming shows which are similar to your favorites. As you use this feature over time, TiVo's suggestions become more and more accurate. This is the key feature that separates TiVo from its competitors. It is currently the only device in the category that actually learns what you like.
Viva TiVo
The TiVo Personal Receiver from Philips is an easy-to-use device that enhances TV viewing.
The remote is well designed and easy to use, as is the menu system. There were a couple of minor weaknesses that we found, like the added step in going from the program guide to the actual program and a 1-to-2 second pause between one program and the next whenever we changed channels using the channel up or down buttons. This may irritate traditional channel surfers.
TiVo surfing is obviously optimized to work through the program guide. But these things should not detract from the fact that TiVo is a smooth running, easy-to-use and innovative machine. If you love TV, you'll love TiVo.
Service Fee $9.95 per month or $199 lifetime
Record Time 14hrs (extended quality)
Modem Speed 56k
Inputs/Outputs
Video Composite RCA, S-Video
Audio RCA
Serial port
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