Comments on: TiVo Gets Announced… Does Anybody Care?

By: kevin

kevin — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:42:30 +0000

what a jke… pfft.. waste of money.. we dont even have that many channels..

By: Shinji

Shinji — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:10:57 +0000

Hehe are you guys serious? I bought one today after thinking about it for hmmm... three heartbeats?

I think the fact that we only have 5 FTA channels is more reason to get one - there isn't enough free hours in the day to just sit there waiting for a good show to come on.

The simplicity of use (and features for that matter)is also a plus - we are talking television here not rocket science.

I am dissapointed that Tivo Desktop and storage expandability aren't available straight out of the box but hey, I can wait. I'm happy to pay for extra services as long as Tivo doesn't move to a monthly subscription model...

Anyhow, satisfied user here.

BTW no ad skipping but you can fast forward them.

By: Ally

Ally — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:47:46 +0000

I am a stay at home mum with young ones and very rarely get to watch a show in peice unless i tape it on a VCR or just watch some cr*p show on TV at that time when they are asleep.
MY Parents have a similar product to Tivo and i love it, they tape all there shows when they are at work and watch them on their days off and so it goes on every week, it saves watching Sh*t when you could be enjoying a show you really want to watch.
I would spend the $700 bucks just so i could watch Dr Phil without interuption.
P.s i am not a computer wiz though so to much tech stuff scares me :)

By: Ross Wilson

Ross Wilson — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:25:41 +0000

I had high hopes for Tivo but $700 is way too expensive for something that will only be able to record from 5 channels... where do Seven get 15 channels from? all the HD channels pretty much show the same rubbish as the other channels. If i could connect it to a foxtel box i would consider it but as it look, no way. And adding extra undisclosed fees is really bad
A certain Failure, channel 7.

By: richard

richard — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:44:28 +0000

I had a series 1 in the US, with DirectTV it was the only way to sort the signal out of 400+ channels of noise.

The aussie Tivo will only work with 5 FTA channels (not even IR extend cable/satellite boxes like the US versions). It may offer internet downloads for an undisclosed additional fee in a market that has already accepted monthly bandwidth caps lower than most SD movies.

Really? Is this the best you guys could do? seriously?

very disappointing.

By: dave

dave — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:11:05 +0000

Why would I get this for $700????? There are only 3 things a week worth watching and it won't let me skip the ads like my PVR.

Also, I wonder if it will suggest crappy shows from Channel Seven despite me never watching anything on that channel?

By: MegaZone

MegaZone — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:44:46 +0000

1. There has been NO indication of add-skipping being blocked except for one rumor early on in a questionable report. They’ve mentioned fast forwarding repeatedly, there is no reason to believe fast-forwarding would be blocked during ads.

2. Even without the networking features the TiVo still has more features than the Foxtel iQ2 and other competitors. According to news reports the fee for the features will be ‘tens of dollars’. Note that in the US TiVo Desktop Plus is USD$24.95. So if they’re including the capabilities of TiVo Desktop Plus in that fee, it doesn’t sound unreasonable. (TiVo Desktop Plus includes the transcoding support needed to load videos onto iPods and other PMPs, transcoding video the other way for the TiVo, etc.)

3. The Sonly PlayTV for the PS3 looks interesting, but saying it is ‘exactly like TiVo’ is ridiculous. Based on everything Sony has released regarding the PlayTV, it is a very limited DVR device. And it is not usable while you’re using the PS3 for something else – like gaming. It lacks most of the features of TiVo – even without the broadband add-ons. It is an interesting add-on, but it is not a full-featured DVR solution.

4. I’ve seen geeks in the US make the same mistakes I’m reading here. Which isn’t surprising given Gizmodo’s audience. This is aimed at the general market, not ubergeeks. If building your own DVR is an option for you – you’re not in the target market. It is that simple. Geeks always want all the bells and whistles – I’m a geek too – but the general market looks for solid products that are easy to use. Seven is going to be pouring millions into promoting TiVo during the Olympics, that’ll give it a big boost.

5. As for TiVo vs. the iPhone. The only thing they really compete for are consumer dollars. That’s not a huge concern. As for press coverage – have you seen the number of articles already? the press is fickle – unless you launch within a couple of days of another major product it doesn’t really matter. Perhaps that’s why they did the press launch today, to get the stories out there before the iPhone launch.

BTW, the ‘TiVo’ link at the bottom of the article is broken. You typo’d ‘com’ as ‘vom’.

By: Ben Anderson

Ben Anderson — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:34:14 +0000

Why is everyone playing this down so much?

Think of the soccer mums and grandmas out there. This is a viable product for people who don't know how to plug in their VCR.

TiVo was never intended for the tech-minded on a gadget website.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:10:44 +0000

$700 seems like a lot, but if you look at the other "smart" HD PVRs on the market in Australia it's about as cheap as it gets. The Topfield TF7100HDPVRt is supposed to be RRP $899, and the Beyonwiz units are over $1000.

By: Luke

Luke — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:48:37 +0000

Wow, I feel like what I'm about to say is sacrilege, however...

I'm sold.

$700 for a box that'll do everything a MCE will do. It's cheaper (I recently priced a media centre at over $1000) and it's more (retard) user-friendly.

Plus we get screwed here in Perth, Foxtel doesn't re-broadcast 7, 9 or 10 so I still have a gap in the recording department.

So sign me up, I'll take two.