they let you pay a one-time fee (originally $199, then $249, now I think $299) for the LIFETIME of the unit.
It's the LIFETIME of the units that's a big problem that nobody else has emphasized enough.
I bought an original TiVo with the original $199 lifetime. I had no end of modem problems. It looked quite likely that my modem would completely expire long before my "lifetime" plan paid ff for me. Fortunately I switched to DirecTivo and sold the original to a friend with a better phone line (and it's working for him).
There are no end of stories online of people having various hardware problems. There's even a cottage industry that has sprung up because so many modems went bad. Here's one example:
I don't think anyone has yet mentioned exactly how difficult/bad the modem/phone situation is (at least with my unit and from comments on the AVS forum I don't think it's at all uncommon).
My daily phone calls seldom complete on the first try. It's always "service unavailable", "call interrupted", etc. After three or four days of this nonsense I wind up having to "war dial" it by constantly navigating the menu to tell Tivo to make its daily call. Once, around the time of the 2.0 to 2.5.1 software update, I actually RAN OUT of program guide. Ie, flakey connections for over 10 days.
Obviously the people who programmed the phone software and/or run the servers are complete imbeciles. Even 12-year-old Unix UUCP software could do a better job of transferring data, even in the presence of noisy phone lines or a crappy modem (which the Tivo also has).
And I KNOW it's not my phone line since I get good modem speed on top of good DSL speed. I don't hear any static during voice conversations. Also I can use another modem to call the UUNET POP that Tivo calls and I get a clean connection every time.
If it weren't for this stupid "phone home" problem, I'd be buying Tivos to GIVE to friends and relatives. I like them so much. But right now, how can I in good conscience push a device that requires so much user intervention to maintain its program guide.
Don't tell me to open the box and install an Ethernet card. This is an APPLIANCE. I even got the extended warranty so I wouldn't have to treat it as anything other than a "black box" appliance.
It's really SO SAD to see a product with such great potential be so limited by such a stupid problem.
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they let you pay a one-time fee (originally $199, then $249, now I think $299) for the LIFETIME of the unit.
It's the LIFETIME of the units that's a big problem that nobody else has emphasized enough.
I bought an original TiVo with the original $199 lifetime. I had no end of modem problems. It looked quite likely that my modem would completely expire long before my "lifetime" plan paid ff for me. Fortunately I switched to DirecTivo and sold the original to a friend with a better phone line (and it's working for him).
There are no end of stories online of people having various hardware problems. There's even a cottage industry that has sprung up because so many modems went bad. Here's one example:
http://www.9thtee.com/tivomodemrepair.htm
There are other hardware problems that have occured from time to time with more recent TiVo models. So, one important aspect of the LIFETIME bet is:
you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?
I frequently watch TV from my easy chair and surf at the same time with my 12" 1.33 GHz powerbook on my lap.
I have never noticed the PB to be uncomfortably warm, nor have I noticed the fan to be very loud at all.
Not to deny the validity of everyone else posting on this topic, I just wanted to throw my 2 cents out.
Obviously, the PBs vary in terms of how hot they get. Maybe the older ones run hotter?
anyway, my point is the media sucks at "educating" people
The reason the media sucks is most of the reporters are complete ignoramuses when it comes to science.
They're utterly unqualified to even report the stories, let alone apply any sceptical analysis or examine any of the nuances.
For the record, you're wrong about lack of power steering in an F1 car. Google is your friend.
Just edit the MPEG-2 instead.
That is misleading. DV is more convenient to cleanly edit because there is only intra-frame compression, not inter-frame compression.
It is much easier to edit (and re-edit) DV format.
Of course, to write a DVD the video must eventually be converted to MPEG-2, but only once after all edits, not before edits.
The story is almost worthless marketing drivel. How about answers to some very basic questions like:
What is the capacity?
What is "extremely dense" in quantitative terms, and how do they achieve it?
If it's really going to be a "universal RAM replacement", how does it compare with the 512 Mb DRAMs recently announced?
There are many more similar questions, but answers to these three would be a start.
Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.
I don't think anyone has yet mentioned exactly how difficult/bad the modem/phone situation is (at least with my unit and from comments on the AVS forum I don't think it's at all uncommon).
My daily phone calls seldom complete on the first try. It's always "service unavailable", "call interrupted", etc. After three or four days of this nonsense I wind up having to "war dial" it by constantly navigating the menu to tell Tivo to make its daily call. Once, around the time of the 2.0 to 2.5.1 software update, I actually RAN OUT of program guide. Ie, flakey connections for over 10 days.
Obviously the people who programmed the phone software and/or run the servers are complete imbeciles. Even 12-year-old Unix UUCP software could do a better job of transferring data, even in the presence of noisy phone lines or a crappy modem (which the Tivo also has).
And I KNOW it's not my phone line since I get good modem speed on top of good DSL speed. I don't hear any static during voice conversations. Also I can use another modem to call the UUNET POP that Tivo calls and I get a clean connection every time.
If it weren't for this stupid "phone home" problem, I'd be buying Tivos to GIVE to friends and relatives. I like them so much. But right now, how can I in good conscience push a device that requires so much user intervention to maintain its program guide.
Don't tell me to open the box and install an Ethernet card. This is an APPLIANCE. I even got the extended warranty so I wouldn't have to treat it as anything other than a "black box" appliance.
It's really SO SAD to see a product with such great potential be so limited by such a stupid problem.