Despite their award-winning graphic interface, TiVo digital video recorders have been losing ground to the DVRs supplied by local cable companies, in part because TiVo couldn't record HDTV programs from cable TV. Now the brand that replaced the phrase "to tape" is playing catch-up: Its new recorder can save two high-definition shows at once either from cable or over the air, even as you play a previously recorded program. Its 250-gigabyte hard drive can store up to 32 hours of high-def programming or 300 hours of standard-def.
The TiVo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder contains slots for two CableCARDs, which you can lease from your cable company for about $1.75 each per month (at least in my area). Each card decrypts all the digital channels you subscribe to, including premium channels, though you'd still need a separate tuner from your cable company to access video-on-demand.
The Series3 is the most capable and attractive DVR yet. With six tuners (two analog, for conventional terrestrial stations or analog cable channels; two ATSC, for terrestrial DTV; and two digital cable), the Series3 is compatible with everything except satellite. The OLED display on its front shows the names of programs being recorded, and the 36-button remote is completely backlit. This is also the first DVR to be certified by THX, an assurance program for audio and video quality.
SETUP The main difference between a Series3 and previous models is those CableCARDs, which have to be installed by your cable company. That experience can vary: S&V got white-glove service from Time Warner in New York, but even so, it took a couple of days to iron out all the kinks.
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The Short Form
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| Price: $800 (plus $12.95 monthly subscription fee) / intellicontrol.com / 305-238-4373 |
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Snapshot
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| TiVo's most advanced recorder yet will cost you, but it blows away DVRs leased by your cable company. Three thumbs up! |
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Plus
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| •Separate cable box is gone •Titles of shows on front panel •Viewer-centric guide and search •Backlit remote •Quick-skip commercials |
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Minus
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| •Cable visit required for CableCARD install •Requires monthly subscription •No FireWire port |
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Key Features
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| •High-def recording •Two CableCARD slots to record two shows at once off digital cable •250-GB storage •THX-certified •Inputs: antenna, cable •Outputs: HDMI, component-video, S-video, 2 composite video, optical digital audio, 2 stereo, Ethernet, 2 USB, phone •16.5 x 13 x 3.5 in; 10 lbs •Price: $800 plus $12.95 a month for TiVo service (less if prepaid 1-3 years or if you own more than one TiVo) |
Upon turning TiVo on for the first time, I was greeted by the exhilarating THX logo and signature audio. Once I typed in my zip code and indicated I'd be receiving channels from both cable and over-the-air stations, TiVo seamlessly aggregated a 14-day program guide from all sources. You can opt to see listings for only the channels to which you subscribe. Channels came in correctly ordered as they'd be on a regular cable box (which is not the case with the TV Guide Onscreen program guide provided free with some TVs and DVRs).
Choosing the best video output resolution in TiVo's setup will depend on how well your HDTV set supports multiple formats. Typically, you would use TiVo's "native" video setting. This passes through the program's native signal format, which would be either 1080i or 720p for HDTV, depending on the broadcaster. However, I had the DVR hooked up to a 720p display, and rather than let it convert 1080i programs, a TiVo technical manager suggested I go with the DVR's "720p fixed" setting. After much viewing, I agreed. You should experiment.
PERFORMANCE TiVo doesn't tell you how to reassign the remote's "advance-to-live" key as a 30-second skip button, but this "cheat" is widely available on the Internet. Once you've programmed it in, not having to fast-forward through commercials becomes an advantage TiVo users have over viewers with cable-leased DVRs. TiVo's main benefit, though, is its user-friendly program listings, unencumbered by ad panels. You can search not only by title or category (typical for cable company guides), but on words within the program description or an actor's name, and results snap to the screen more quickly. As you watch one channel, you can use the remote's Info button to find out what's on the other tuner.
Even with two CableCARD tuners, there may be recording conflicts. When programs overlap by a few minutes, you can set one to a lower priority so it's clipped rather than canceled. Cable DVRs aren't so flexible. Nor do they offer TiVo's ability to automatically record programs it "thinks" you might like based on past recordings and on "thumbs up" ratings you've given similar programs using the remote.
An "Aspect" button on the remote let me cycle through three modes when the aspect ratio of the program I was watching didn't match my 16:9 display. Full stretched the picture to fill the entire screen, panel flanked a 4:3 image with columns, and zoom stretched a letterboxed picture without distortion by cropping the edges. Very convenient.
I was thrilled with the video and audio from the Series3. Unlike previous standalone models without digital CableCARD, the Series3 doesn't need to convert the analog output of a cable box into digital bits before recording. That translates to excellent picture quality. I detected no DVR-generated artifacts, even on slow motion: Doing my own replays of a home run from a Mets-Giants game was sweet. While watching ABC's high-def presentation of the movie Pearl Harbor, my digital surround sound system fed by the TiVo put me in the middle of the action, complete with flyovers and thunderous explosions.
TiVo still offers four recording qualities for analog channels, but with all the digital channels I received via antenna and cable, I had no reason at all to go analog.
Connected to the Internet through my home network, I could listen to dozens of streaming radio stations and on-demand audio programs. Two computers on my network served up a slide show of photos from my vacation in Quebec and MP3 tracks, though you can select only one computer at a time, and can't stream music and photos simultaneously. The TiVo Desktop software you download to each computer to turn it into a media server hadn't yet had its TiVo2Go functions implemented for the Series3. This would let you copy recorded programs to a laptop PC or handheld video player. Also missing was the multiroom function introduced with Series2 models that allows you to watch recorded programs on a networked TiVo in another room. A TiVo rep couldn't say when these features might be available, but networked TiVos do allow you to schedule recordings from any computer with Internet access via the TiVo Web site.
One other disappointment is the omission of a FireWire (a.k.a. IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port. Though the Federal Communications Commission requires cable operators to provide this connector on cable boxes to those who request it, Series3 owners don't have that option. I've copied HDTV shows to a DVHS digital videotape recorder from the FireWire port on a Motorola DVR box leased from my cable company, but TiVo owners will only be able to copy an HD show from other outputs, at reduced resolution. Practically speaking, the inability to archive in high-definition isn't a reason not to love TiVo. Still, you'd think the company would be driven to do better than any leased cable box.
BOTTOM LINE The cable companies don't want you to own a TiVo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder. Not only does it cost them manpower to install CableCARDs in it; it bypasses their own ad-supported program guide, brings them zero dollars in VOD revenue, and enables you to skip through the ads their commercial-channel partners have paid for. And the Series3 makes it way too easy for cable subscribers to visually compare the quality of cable and over-the-air digital programs when they suspect the cable company is degrading image quality by using too much compression.
Nevertheless, the lure of a cable company's approximately $12- to $15-per-month leased high-def DVR — as opposed to the $800 up-front cost of a Series3 and $12.95-per-month service — will be sufficient reason for many people to brush off the Series3. But those who appreciate this TiVo's superior guide and navigation features, greater storage capacity, and excellent video and audio quality would be delighted to make this DVR the centerpiece of their home theater.
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