Comments about TiVo TiVo HD XL Black Digital Video Recorder:

These are our third series of Tivo's. We had an original Sony, a couple of dual tuner Series Two's and now a pair of HD XLs.
They were easy to install, the cable guy had the card working within an hour. We record anything we might be interested in and delete stuff later. We can do four shows at once and play any show on one of two TVs. We have used Netflix "On Demand" and it works well. The pause,rewind, and skip features are addicting. We never watch live TV.

Comments about TiVo TiVo HD XL Black Digital Video Recorder:

I have been using TIVO for years and upgraded to this box. It is easy to setup, use and delivers as advertised.

Comments about TiVo TiVo HD XL Black Digital Video Recorder:

It's just what it's supposed to be—the TiVo I'm used to, but now with HD capability. Having dual tuners is awesome; I'm probably going to decommission one of the Series 2 TiVos we have since one of the primary reasons for it was to record overlapping programs. Would love for TiVo to update this model to 1080p and at least 120khz, although I don't know if enough broadcast programming is put out at that higher quality. Might not make a difference.

Comments about TiVo TiVo HD XL Black Digital Video Recorder:

Great unit, no complaints. Only downside was Verizon FIOS tech had no clue how to install the CableCard. Luckily I did. Once that was installed, everything's been perfect. On FIOS you lose Verizon's On-Demand and Verizon Widgets. With the TIVO you get Amazon VOD, Netflix, YouTube, Jaman, Disney Studios, Music Choice and One True Media. I hope that they add Hulu soon.

Comments about TiVo TiVo HD XL Black Digital Video Recorder:

This new TiVo HD unit replaces our older DirecTivo, now that we have cable service from Charter. It's the best TiVo available, and DVR enthusiasts should really enjoy this unit, with a couple of significant caveats:

1) If you are a cable subscriber, you'll have to deal with the company cable card installation.
Your cable company could install either a single M-Card (multi-channel), or 2 single-channel cable cards in the 2 slots provided. This is where the technical problems begin. Since you can install, but not properly setup a new cable card, the cable guy must be involved. For us, this resulted in 2 visits over a few days, and then 2 followup visits because not all channels were being rec'd. Later, something happened to our M-card, and we stopped receiving a large chunk of channels... this required 2 new single-channel cards to be installed.

Bottomline: it's workable for cable subscribers, but tedious. Try a google search for "tivo cable card problems" for more details on your provider.

2) Some TiVo HD users are currently experiencing a "green screen of death". This did NOT happen to us for many months after setup, but the frequency has increased over time, to where we are now getting green screens every 2-3 days. The Tivo is locked up hard, and emits a high pitched tone. The only way out is to pull the power plug.
As most Tivo users are aware, this results in a 5-8 minute bootup sequence where your Tivo can't do anything, and you can watch zippo nada.

The cause of this issue remains a mystery... online suggestions include a wide range of possible causes, from an almost dead hard drive, to an overly strong cable video signal (!), to a bum HDMI cable.

TiVo support's answer to this problem: pay $49 for refurbished unit, to be shipped out when they receive your original unit. Not so nice.

For more on this, search Google or Tivo Forums for "green screen".

Beyond these technical issues, which may in fact be unique to certain cable users, TiVo,in my opinion, has lost its mojo. The monthly fees remain high, even while Tivo continues to introduce sponsored advertising. The cost of the box itself remains high. Some, but not all, DVRs from third parties are beginning to catch up with Tivo (some have features Tivo does not offer, like picture-in-picture previews, multi-room viewing, etc). Most of them are likely STILL not as easy & consistent to use as a Tivo. But, at the end of the day, do the high initial cost + monthly fees justify ownership?

It's a tough call.

Comments about TiVo TiVo HD XL Black Digital Video Recorder:

I use it for recording antennae broadcasts only. Very easy to use.

Comments about TiVo TiVo HD XL Black Digital Video Recorder:

Love this tivo

Comments about TiVo TiVo HD XL Black Digital Video Recorder:

This is a replacement for my Comcast DVR. The Comcast DVR had limited space and the software / interface was buggy at times. This thing is smooth and a great replacement. TiVo has the upper hand at making DVRs. It's menu's are great, the space is awesome (1 TB), and the TiVo service is great too. I'd highly recommend this DVR, especially to someone like me who was leaving the free DVR that the cable company provides. It's expensive, but you'll be happy you bought it.