You may not care about features like "native resolution output" but as a videophile this is a feature I've been begging cable companies to do for a long time.
On top of that, a lot of us don't like our cable DVRs. I use TWC and have a Scientific Atlanta 8300.
From the hardware perspective:
1. The box is slow and has a tendency to crash.
2. Resolution/Aspect ratio control is a pain to work with.
3. Digital non-HD channels don't come out with the true aspect ratio so my video scaler doesn't process the picture properly (the SA8300 outputs them as pillar boxed 16:9 instead of 4:3 480i).
4. The remote control sucks. Almost all of the buttons feel the same. When I want to fast forward I literally have to find the center button then move down 2 buttons and right 1 button (or I have to look at it).
5. Sound problems where the audio cuts out and in at random times (this started when I switched to the SA8300).
From the user experience:
1. The menus are slow and clunky
2. The EPG is worthless. How's a description that reads "(PG-13) 1997. A charming movie about..." supposed to help me decide if I want to watch something or not? TWC consistantly puts forth these worthless EPG program descriptions.
3. Switching to slow motion is very unpredictable and inconsistant - sometimes it takes a few tries
4. When recordings are cancelled, the thing has a tendancy to restart the recording at random times.
From my perspective, the $800, while expensive, is worth it. You get a superior service and a superior device with the best possible PQ.
Now if Tivo will implement some way for us to control the unit via a home automation system I'll be in A/V dork heaven.
Few people realize this, but Tivo didn't intend for the Tivo Series 3 to be a "general consumer" product.
For the normal consumer, no one (not even Tivo) expects someone to fork out $800 then the cost of the monthly service with the Series 3.
It was meant for the prosumer/videophile arena.
Take a look at some of the feautures:
*) THX certification.
This was done to appeal to the high-end market. No one else would really care about such a cert.
*) Ability to output native resolution.
This is a HUGE feature with the Series 3. Why? Because high-end video setups use external dedicated hardware video scalers. In that sense, you don't want the Tivo scaling and processing the video signal... you want your dedicated equipment to take care of that job.
*) CC 1.0-only.
With CC 1.0/1.0+ support you don't have access to services like VoD, PPV, etc. The general consumer likes having these services however a videophile who's main goal is PQ (player quality) would be happy to sacrifice this in order to get native rate output (feature meantioned above).
With all this in mind, it puts the $800 price tag more into perspective. If you look at this as a prosumer/videophile-targetted piece of equipment, then price really isn't all that bad.
If you hang out on http://www.tivocommunity.com/ it was pretty common knowledge there that this unit wasn't intended for the casual user.
$800 is a chunk of change, but as a videophile this unit has features that I've wanted for a very very long time. I forked out the dough this morning at http://www.tivo.com/vip/.
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The Series 3 is aimed at the high-end A/V market.
You may not care about features like "native resolution output" but as a videophile this is a feature I've been begging cable companies to do for a long time.
On top of that, a lot of us don't like our cable DVRs. I use TWC and have a Scientific Atlanta 8300.
From the hardware perspective:
From the user experience: From my perspective, the $800, while expensive, is worth it. You get a superior service and a superior device with the best possible PQ. Now if Tivo will implement some way for us to control the unit via a home automation system I'll be in A/V dork heaven.For the normal consumer, no one (not even Tivo) expects someone to fork out $800 then the cost of the monthly service with the Series 3.
It was meant for the prosumer/videophile arena.
Take a look at some of the feautures:
*) THX certification.
This was done to appeal to the high-end market. No one else would really care about such a cert.
*) Ability to output native resolution.
This is a HUGE feature with the Series 3. Why? Because high-end video setups use external dedicated hardware video scalers. In that sense, you don't want the Tivo scaling and processing the video signal... you want your dedicated equipment to take care of that job.
*) CC 1.0-only.
With CC 1.0/1.0+ support you don't have access to services like VoD, PPV, etc. The general consumer likes having these services however a videophile who's main goal is PQ (player quality) would be happy to sacrifice this in order to get native rate output (feature meantioned above).
With all this in mind, it puts the $800 price tag more into perspective. If you look at this as a prosumer/videophile-targetted piece of equipment, then price really isn't all that bad.
If you hang out on http://www.tivocommunity.com/ it was pretty common knowledge there that this unit wasn't intended for the casual user.
$800 is a chunk of change, but as a videophile this unit has features that I've wanted for a very very long time. I forked out the dough this morning at http://www.tivo.com/vip/.