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| Brand: TiVo
Category: CE
List Price: $499.99
Buy Used: $424.99
You Save: $75.00 (15%)
New (17)
Avg. Customer Rating:  186 reviews
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 16.1
Dimensions (in): 13 x 17 x 3
MPN: TCD648250B
Model: TCD648250B
UPC: 851342000643
EAN: 0851342000643
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Like New - TivoHD Series 3 - Complete w/ ALL Accessories including: Box, Cables, Paperwork, Etc. GUARANTEED TO BE IN IMMACULATE CONDITION! Priority Shipping Preferred!
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| Customer Reviews:
 Beware Tivo February 2, 2007
32 out of 64 found this review helpful
I enjoyed Tivo for over two years and would have called myself a satisfied customer, until now. My Tivo broke and I could not afford to get a new one or pay the replacement fee they demanded from me. Therefore, I canceled the account. A few days later I saw that they charged for me for the next month of service. I called and politely brought this to their attention and they said the cancelation was not processed before the bill was. A refund? No. I quote: "We have a policy against giving refunds or credits for any reason." Excuse me? What ype of business has a policy against refunds for any reason? Be wary before signing up for Tivo, be alert to this business practice. I will not go back to Tivo now that I know they value the customer this low. I will choose one of the other, more affordable options out there. They charged me for a month knowing the service had been shut off. Oh, I asked about just having it turned back on for that month and they said I'd have to pay a reactivation fee. A reactiviation fee for the month they had already charged me for!
The Best and Worst from TiVo December 12, 2006
31 out of 31 found this review helpful
I consider myself a TiVo oldtimer. I've been using one for more than 6 years, and am a devout couch potato. I started with a Sony SVR-2000 which I have upgraded from 30 hours to 140, and added a new modem when the built-in one got fried (a common problem).
So when TiVo offered to transfer my lifetime subscription to a Series 3 (for a cost of $200, so they're not exactly giving the transfer away), I decided to take the plinge. What I expected was a lot more storage (300 hours basic, or 30 hours of HD), and a dual tuner (you can record 2 shows, and watch a recorded show at the same time).
Here's some things worth noting: You can hook up a basic able connection, and an OTA (over the air) antenna, or 1 or 2 cable cards (which replace cable boxes). You cannot hook a cable box to the Series 3.
OTA antenna, which most people associate with mediocre quality, now can receive HD digital signals, which if you can pick them up, provide exceptional picture and sound quality. I live about 35-40 miles from Philadelphia, and can receive the major networks, and a few independent stations great with an old rooftop antenna. The quality of the HD broadcasts exceeds any cable broadcast, and even make DVDs look uninspiring. And it's FREE.
If you get a good basic cable signal, you could survive without the cable cards, but you need them if you subscribe to any premium (scrambled) channels, or cable HD service. The cost of leasing the cable cards run from free, to about $3 each per month. Some rare markets charge more. But now the cable companies are required to offer them. Some people have mentioned difficulties in installing them, but I opted to do it myself (some cable companies also require you to pay for installation, but mine didn't). You have to call in to have them activated, which if you follow the included instructions, goes pretty smoothly, and only takes a few minutes to setup.
The old method of downloading program data was over the phone (the TiVo would dial in once a day, and update program data). The newer units can hook up to a home network (if you have high speed internet access). You can connect to your network with a cable, or with a wireless adapter (wireless connection with the Series 3 requires the TiVo adapter, about $50. No other wireless network adapter will work). Again, hooking up the TiVo adapter went smoothly, and only took a few minutes.
Now for the downside: My TiVo decided to reboot without warning or reason. I have heard this happen to others. For a $700 box, this is quite frustrating. The wireless adapter is suspect in causing this, so I may return the TiVo adapter and hardwire the box to my router. Also, when changing channels from antenna to cable stations, there is often a several second delay, while the box figures out how to deal with the change in resolution and signal source.
Also included with the Series 3 is the ability to download podcasts, and certain Yahoo services (like weather and traffic), and a few games.
If you have a lifetime subscription on an older TiVo, you have till the end of the year to transfer it to a Series 3. You can no longer purchase lifetime service from TiVo, so it is definitely something to consider. But it's still expensive ($650-$800 for the box, and $200 for the service transfer). If you don't have service yet, it'll run you between $10-$15/month to $300 for a prepaid 3 year contract.
Most cable companies now offer DVRs for $10-$15 a month, but they're not really in the same league as TiVo. Go to TiVo dot com for more descriptions of features and options, and visit weaknees dot com, for more info, upgrades, or to read the forums. There's also tivocommunity dot com. If you like to watch TV, but hate programming a VCR or watching commercials, put TiVo on your holiday wishlist...
Update 11/2007: Just bought a second unit. Hard to find out from TiVo, but Multiroom Viewing is now available for the Series 3. And for $200 you can triple the capacity with the Expander.
 This is the best TiVo yet. October 5, 2006
29 out of 30 found this review helpful
I'll talk about the cons first which other reviewers have mentioned.
Thumbs Down:
- There's no TiVoToGo or multi-room viewing (you can always keep your TiVo 2 active for the TiVoToGo)
- You cannot record HD from a Satellite receiver or cable box.
- One reviewer mentioned sound drop-out when flipping around the guide. This happens to me also.
- Press thumbs-up to record causes problems for me (rebooting is the worst of the problems). I've opened a ticket with TiVo for this and will avoid that feature for now.
- Also, my TiVo rebooted every time it hit a particular part of an HD recording where the signal was dropping out. I've also opened a ticket with TiVo. The problem has only happened once.
- I will have to open a 3rd ticket with TiVo because I cannot access the broadband features like Yahoo. I had the same problem with my series 2 which required a software update to correct.
- Cable card installation was finicky, but not as bad as the other reviewer mentioned. This was the first HD TiVo the tech had encountered, but the problems with the cable cards were with the company, not the TiVo. Both cards were working fine by the time he left.
- Finally, the $800 price-tag is extreme; especially given some of the problems I've experience.
- TiVo's lifetime subscription is no longer available to new customers. (Even the offer for existing customers expires 12/31).
Thumbs Up:
- Being a TiVo customer since 2001, my experience tells me they will resolve all the technical problems mentioned above.
- This is TiVo!!! Any of you who have TiVo know what that means. I was waiting for this TiVo before upgrading to HD and I'm glad I did wait.
- If you have a current lifetime subscription on a series 1 or 2 TiVo and can afford to drop $1000. You should get this unit for the $800 + another $200 to transfer your lifetime service. This means no monthly fees and your old TiVo will still be active for a year.
- This TiVo's set-up does not require a phone connection like previous TiVos. The whole initial set-up took 20 minutes over my home network.
- The remote is backlit and has a couple new buttons, but is the familiar TiVo remote. (I use a logitech harmony remote though, which I love)
- Recording from 2 tuners! The new series 2 also can record 2 shows, but it's a definite plus made available on the series 3. Press live tv to switch between tuners.
- You can hook up an antenna to record HD content from your local stations for free.
- 5.1 sound!!!! It's great that TiVo records the digital sound along with the HD picture. Watching football last Sunday sounded almost like being in the stadium.
- 480i content through the HDMI output is crystal clear.
- The front display has control buttons, a clock, and displays the name of the show it's recording.
- It is quieter than previous TiVos.
Overall, if you're a current TiVo customer and you don't want to lose the interface you love when you switch to HD, you will want this box. If you're new to TiVo, you will be amazed at it's functionality. TiVo can record based on season passes or word-search wishlists and parents will love scheduling approved content for your children's TV time. Some of you may want to wait for the price to come down and for TiVo to resolve some of the kinks before you buy.
LOTS of problems and not that much better than Comcast January 9, 2007
29 out of 44 found this review helpful
I have been a loyal and vocal Tivo supporter over the years. However, the Series 3 has burned through my good feeling, and rather quickly since I've only owned for ~35 days.
It's a total pain to set up, and I really mean a total pain. It took us three Comcast visits culminating in a senior level person coming out. We spent 4 hours interacting with them in our house and more than 8 hours time just waiting for them to show up, be on hold, etc. This is 12 hours total - do you have 12 hours? If I told you that's how long it might take just to get going with this product, would you be okay with that?
The remote is wicked slow to react. We think we need a new one but just haven't dealt with it yet.
The support is spotty and is designed to make me, the $800 paying customer, do the work and waste my time rather than make me happy.
So, all in all, this feels just like Comcast. Oh, but it gets worse.
My Tivo suffered a permanent failure where it endlessly rebooted as a result of a brief power outage (on a surge protector and nothing else in the house affected) on Thursday, January 4. I called Tivo service that day, and, while very helpful, the Tivo service personnel required that we be absolutely certain that the problem was not blown out cable cards (an option we felt remote since our issue is a documented problem with the Series 3 boxes) before they would ship us a replacement.
Because verification of the cable cards' a-ok status required a visit from our cable provider, Comcast, we could not verify that the Tivo was, in fact, broken till Monday, January 8 at approximately 2 pm (add another 1 hour of time on hold, 1 hour of wait time for the tech to show up, and .5 hour with the technician in the house = 2.5 hours so we're now up to 14.5 hours total to watch TV).
At that time we called Tivo support again, and they agreed to send us a new box. I explained that we needed it shipped out same day and overnight, as we were going out of town on Wednesday, January 10 for vacation and wanted to record our programs while away. Thus, it had to arrive the next day on Tuesday, January 9. I paid the $799 fee for the new box and was told this would be no problem.
However, after waiting at home today, Tuesday January 9, and no box being delivered by 4 pm, I called Tivo support. No replacement box has been shipped. Therefore, a new Tivo will not arrive today. Not sure exactly when the box will be shipped, but, it doesn't really matter since I needed it arrive today.
Therefore, I will get BACK on the phone with Comcast (expected wait time = .5 hours), I will once again cancel and schedule an appointment for my box to be set up again (assume another 1.5 hours so total time to watch TV now at 16.5 hours) - mind you, after I return from my vacation with NONE of my shows recorded and some of them never going into repeats and not on iTunes.
What's the bloody point if I don't get the TV I want recorded? Really?
I actually wish I hadn't bothered buying my Series 3, especially now with the new Comcast HD DVR with Tivo interface rolling out. I feel ripped off and exhausted. Think long and hard before you buy this machine; it's the fabulous Tivo you know and love, ONCE IT'S WORKING. It's the getting it and keeping it working part that ruins the relationship.
No Satellite! October 5, 2006
19 out of 123 found this review helpful
It is absurd to spend $800 on a HD DVR that does not (and will never) work with satellite. HR10-250s (the old HD TiVos that work with satellite and antenna, but not cable) are now selling for about $300, as are the newer (non-TiVo) replacement DVR's made by DirecTV. Do not buy this TiVo Series 3 and think it will ever work with satellite.
All reception is much better on DirecTV than on cable - and buying this unit makes you "stuck" with cable for HD (and an outrageous service fee charged by TiVo) as long as you own this TiVo. I have 3 Series 2 TiVo's with lifetime subscriptions (no longer offered by TiVo) that I could transfer to a new Series 3 (for a fee), but still chose against this unit. It simply does not make any sense - technically or financially.
(Note as well that I think some standard features of the old Series 2 TiVo's do not work with the Series 3 (or the HR10-250) - like transferring programs from one TiVo to another (multi-room viewing). Again, for $800 + a monthly fee one would think the features would include additions, not subtractions.)
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