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TiVo HD XL Review: The Same Great TiVo Taste, Just More Of It
Posted by Jason Chen at 2:00 PM on September 4, 2008
The TiVo HD is a good, cheap alternative to the recently de-listed TiVo Series 3 for people who didn't need all that much storage and all that many fancy features. But what if someone wants even more built-in storage than the 20 hours of HD that the TiVo HD provides? They've now got the TiVo HD XL.
This beast offers 150 hours of HD recording, plus it's THX certified; useful not for watching Rachel Ray's spunky explanations, but for Jack Bauer action packed video and audio. (We watch Rachel on mute.) The XL also has the same dual-tuner HD recording as the previous models, plus all the same expanded non-TV features: photos, YouTube, Amazon Unbox, Rhapsody and Music Choice, the music video service. The only downside to all this increased storage is that the box costs US$600, the same price as the TiVo Series 3 when that first arrived; but it does come with a Series 3 backlit remote.
The Install: Super easy. Comcast was great about getting a guy down to our house that was experienced with CableCARD installs, and the installer (who shall remain nameless) did an excellent job getting the card in and active. It's pretty much exactly the same as the TiVo HD in terms of the install, and provided your local cable provider has them, one M-Card is enough to get both tuners working. Otherwise you'll need two standard ones. Great job to both Comcast on TiVo on this part.
The Experience: For those of you who are familiar with TiVo, the XL is the same user experience you're familiar with in previous HD models. Not much UI change here except for the fact that you're going to be scrolling through a lot more shows saved up on your big drive.
The Verdict: Very good. We extend our recommendation of the TiVo HD easily to the beefier TiVo HD XL, which despite the 2x price point, still offers a great DVR experience for the money.
The Recommendation: If you had to pick between the TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL, what would we recommend? It depends on your watching habits. If you can make do with only having 20 hours of HD sitting on your machine at once, because you clear out shows shortly after watching or you just don't have all that many shows to record, the regular HD is fine. If you're like Brian Lam and horde shows like they were being cancelled the next week, or like Mark Wilson, who records and saves every show with the word "dance" or "dancing" in the title (he claims it's for his wife), we'd recommend the XL.
On the other hand, you could also get a TiVo HD and expand the storage by purchasing a compatible external eSATA drive and just plugging it in, which increases the storage by 65 HD hours with a 500GB drive. See more details here. The plug-and-play eSATA port only supports up to 500GB, but you can hack it to support up to 1TB if you really wanted to. Or, if even the TiVo HD XL isn't enough, you can shove another 65 hour drive on there . [TiVo Store]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Jason Chen
Posted 2:33 PM 4/9/08
@MegaZone: Ah yes you're right, I was thinking after they quickly slashed the price.
Jason Chen
MegaZone
Posted 2:31 PM 4/9/08
Actually the Series3 launched at $799.99 and the TiVo HD XL is $599.99.
@pdditty: No, the current TiVo units cannot access OnDemand, you'd need to hang on to a cable box for that.
MegaZone
shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog
Posted 2:30 PM 4/9/08
Cool Beans
shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog
pdditty
Posted 2:27 PM 4/9/08
I was thinking about getting one of these cool lil contraptions, are you able to get On Demand through Tivo?
pdditty
shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog
Posted 2:45 PM 4/9/08
@shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog regarding @MegaZone: But you need to jump through a few hoops.
shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog
MrBlahBlah
Posted 2:41 PM 4/9/08
hmmmm $600 tivo + montly service fees vs $8/month cable DVR. tough choice
MrBlahBlah
shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog
Posted 2:38 PM 4/9/08
@pdditty: Depends on what model of Tivo you have. The newer ones you should.
shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog
bubba451
Posted 3:14 PM 4/9/08
@MrBlahBlah: $8/month and endless swearing
bubba451
daftrok
Posted 3:32 PM 4/9/08
Dish gives you a HD DVR with your service, all you have to pay for is the monthly plan and not the DVR. Booya.
daftrok
schwnj
Posted 3:30 PM 4/9/08
Tivo HD=$250; 1TB hard drive=$150; Tivo Glo remote=$50. Spend 20 minutes with some free easily-found tivo drive cloning software, and you have pretty much the same thing for $450.
BlahBlah--my cable company wants $15 per month for a HD DVR that holds less than my Tivo and seems to lock up daily. I'll take tivo any day. (Plus you can upgrade Tivo's storage, as I mentioned above.)
schwnj
Vexorg
Posted 4:06 PM 4/9/08
@MrBlahBlah:
That $8 per month cable DVR (actually $14 per month after price hikes) was so full of fail that I ended up buying a Tivo so I wouldn't have to put up with the blasted thing.
Vexorg
isoSasquatch
Posted 4:04 PM 4/9/08
@shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog: wha? How?
isoSasquatch
purple-pillows
Posted 4:29 PM 4/9/08
when will comcast offer tivo boxes so i can get on demand and have tivo for a dvr... but fios tv does look nice
purple-pillows
Jon B.
Posted 9:36 PM 4/9/08
@purple-pillows: Careful, they may charge you for every MB you purchase =X
Jon B.
pete
Posted 9:33 PM 4/9/08
I'd probably get a "regular" tivo hd if it weren't for the fact that they will stop working when SDV comes along. Yeah, yeah, I know about the usb tuning thingy, but that's such a hack on tivo's part. I'll wait to see if they release a SDV-compatible tivo hd.
pete
Lars
Posted 9:39 PM 4/9/08
@purple-pillows: Comcast does offer TiVo boxes in Massachusetts and Rhode Island (possibly more, I don't know). I have one myself. I have to say the experience has some plusses and many minuses.
Plusses:
1. Simple all in one solution for duel tuner HD recording.
2. Box has decent HD capacity (I was saving several of the Celtics NBA playoff games in full HD and still able to record plenty of shows). I don't know what the actual capacity is though and am too lazy to check. It's been more than enough for my wife and I.
3. Good old TiVo interface.
4. On Demand is available.
Minuses:
1. The boxes are crap. I'm on about my third one. And when they need a reboot, all your programs and scheduled shows are gone with it.
2. The interface is very slow. Going on the guide and then hitting record can make the thing hang for about 5 minutes before the show is recorded. Same for show searching sometimes and other programming functions.
3. There is a little live TV box in the corner of the TiVo menus. This is a pain as I would often hit the TiVo button before turning on the TV so I didn't see something in the middle of recording (really annoying when watching sports on delay.). That box needs to go so that in the menu, you don't see live TV.
The minuses haven't outweighed the plusses for me yet. I used to have a Series 2 and was considering TiVo HD. After using the Comcast TiVo service for eight months though, I'm pretty happy with it. I keep hoping that the service and boxes will improve over time, as I think my region is kind of the Beta test for the service. The guy who set it up in February hadn't even been trained on it and said that he wasn't supposed to expect the rollout until summer.
Lars
robo
Posted 11:39 PM 4/9/08
I wish these things would work with Verizon FiOS, the DVR boxes they rent to you are absolute garbage.
I don't know how many times some upgrade or freeze-up has prevented my show from recording.
robo
hindsight2020
Posted 11:57 PM 4/9/08
@bubba451: i'll take the "endless Swearing"!
hindsight2020
Canoehead
Posted 12:20 AM 5/9/08
Tivo does work with Verizon FIOS - they can do cable cards (unless they've changed in the last 6 months?)
Canoehead
canyoncarver
Posted 12:39 AM 5/9/08
I have a Tivo HD with upgraded storage, and love the thing. I won't be buying any more Tivo units though until Tru-2-Way Tivo equipment becomes available that will make it so SDV works, on-demand functions, etc.
canyoncarver
Jason Chen
Posted 1:35 AM 5/9/08
@kevin_o: Ah yes, thanks!
Jason Chen
kevin_o
Posted 1:18 AM 5/9/08
hoard, not horde.
kevin_o
kevin_o
Posted 1:50 AM 5/9/08
champion proofreader right here yeaaaaah
kevin_o
lordargent
Posted 3:46 AM 5/9/08
MegaZone: @pdditty: No, the current TiVo units cannot access OnDemand, you'd need to hang on to a cable box for that.
Not to mention that, unless you're watching a lot of PPV boxing and what not. There's no good reason to use OnDemand after you have a tivo that can record HD.
lordargent
Notch Johnson
Posted 4:11 AM 5/9/08
They need to make a TiVo not so XL. More storage space than the TiVo HD (30 hours HD) and a $350-$400 price tag.
Notch Johnson
Noobs-R-Us
Posted 4:50 AM 5/9/08
@Notch Johnson: Yea, go buy a Series 3.
Noobs-R-Us
Noobs-R-Us
Posted 4:50 AM 5/9/08
Or perhaps you should just go buy a Series 3 refurb for $350 and have the best of both worlds.
[www3.tivo.com]
Noobs-R-Us
Canoehead
Posted 5:04 AM 5/9/08
Is there really anyone reading this blog who cannot run a very simple windows program and then swap a hard drive? Buy the HD and upgrade it yourself.
Canoehead
voltron80
Posted 11:13 AM 5/9/08
Hmm... can I get a large TiVo (maybe like 500 gigs), with a glo remote churo and a super sized hdtv?
voltron80
natedog828
Posted 11:22 PM 4/9/08
TiVo HD + 750GB hard drive + WinMFS = Happy Tivo Owner on Cox Communications
Fyi, pulled the 160gb drive, and stored it in case the 750 dies and I have to restore Tivo file system. Also this VOIDS the TiVo warranty.
I still have HD content on my Tivo from December, and I still have PLENTY of space for the new Prime Time shows coming on this fall.
natedog828