80 GB Tivo and DVD player for the Price of a DVD player!
Written: Aug 20 '04 (Updated Aug 20 '04)
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Pros: 80 GB series 2 tivo, DVD plays vcds, dvd -r.rws (specs speak for themselves)
Cons: silver tivo doesn't match my black stereo system... in other words nothing
The Bottom Line: $100 was after $100 rebate with plus subscription, I'd buy it for $200 anyway. DVD player, series2 80GB harddrive, free basic service = steal
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| ericwcha's Full Review: Toshiba SD-H400 (80 GB) |
I will try to split this review up into 3 sections plus one bonus section. One explaining what is Tivo, the other on the DVD player, and finally the last describing the Toshiba Tivo. Before diving in, I feel that it's best to really describe how the two are integrated together.
What is Tivo?
It feels as though the player is Tivo first and DVD second. For those of you that do not know what Tivo is, I will give a brief description of it. Tivo is basically your VCR but without tapes. What separates it from your VCR is that you digitally record whatever it is on tv you want to watch onto your harddrive. In my opinion, this is good mainly due to a couple of reasons:
1) Quality is much better (depending on if one decides to get component or s-video cables
2) The harddrive does not act like "one big video tape," this meaning that if one was to record 2 shows, he or she would not have to fast foward through one show to get to the next. Everything is indexed and can be played immediately.
Another great feature is that one could pause live tv anytime one wishes. I can think of multiple times when I had to postpone a bathroom trip simply because I wanted to wait for a commercial. Now with Tivo, I can pause the TV (at any time), and come back and resume where I left off. Instead of waiting for commercials, I now can fast foward through them to catch up with real time of the show. Along with pausing real TV, one can also "slo-mo" real TV. Basically, you can have instant replays anytime you want (great for any sports fan)
To record shows you have to connect to the Tivo server (via phone or ethernet) and download a TV guide'ish type of format. (The tv guide format is actually pretty useful in that it displays the name and info of whatever your watching when you change the channel.) Basically then, you go through the TV guide and just click on what you want to record and forget about it. Sadly, only one show can be recorded at any given time. Also, if you hook up your Tivo correctly, you can watch a different channel while recording another. The approximate download time is around 10 to 20 minutes via phone line.
The above is all basic service of Tivo. The TV guide must be downloaded every 3 days with this type of service. With the Tivo plus service, you can download the TV guide up to 2 weeks and there are also many other features. They include:
Tivo recommending what shows you will like based on what you record
Tivo recording all the episodes of a show you want to watch (and not recording re-runs that it has already recorded)
The ability to connect to your Tivo box from any computer through the internet so that you can setup what shows you want to watch
The ability to live stream mp3s and pictures from your computer to your Tivo through your home network.
This service costs around 12 dollars a month or a $300 lifetime service. Note: for the lifetime service, it's only for the lifetime of the MACHINE, not your actual lifetime. If you buy another Tivo box, the service doesn't transfer. Yet, if you decide to sell your Tivo box, the service goes along with it.
That should give you a good idea of what exactly Tivo is and what it can do. For more info visit their website at www.tivo.com. Now on to the actual machine...
--DVD--
The DVD player is really good. It has progressive scan, and the ability to play mp3s, pictures, VCDs, and burned DVDs. Since the USA isn't big on VCDs it is pretty rare to find a high end DVD player (ie Sony, Toshiba, and not Cyberhome, Kmart Brand) that plays VCDs. Also, I find a lot of DVD players have difficulty playing burned DVDs. The Toshiba DVD player plays both wonderfully. It has all your typical features of the DVD player along with Zoom in and Zoom out. Basically, it's a pretty damn good player.
--Tivo--
The best thing about this player is that it comes bundled with free Basic service. This means you will not have to pay for the basic services that Tivo offers. The player connects to your TV and cable box/or satellite if you have it via a serial line or IR. One thing I noticed that annoys me is that the Tivo operates a bit on the slow side. I connected to to my cable tv box (motorola) and there is a 1 or 2 second delay when I switch channels. This maybe be a serious pain in the butt for those people who love to channel surf.
Another bad thing is that there is no ethernet port on the machine, only 2 usb ports. You will have to either purchase a usb to ethernet converter or a wireless usb ethernet thing to connect to your router. (I use the DWL122 and it works perfectly fine.) Luckily, Tivo website has a list of all the devices that will work with Tivo.
As for all the basic functions, it works exactly as planned. My life has completely changed with this machine. I never have to browse through crap anymore since I always have all the shows that I enjoy watching recorded. The 80 gig harddrive allows me to record around 80 hours worth of stuff (25 under best quality.) Also the player is a series 2 Tivo meaning that it is the newest model avail and is capable of all the features mentioned before.
--Random Notes--
The remote control is a tad bit annoying too. The buttons that one would use the most (switching between the Tivo to the DVD player, tv guide, etc) are all just laid out in a grid pattern (all the same size.) It takes a little time getting use to.
People have mentioned that there is a loud hum from their Tivo boxes because of the fan that cools down the harddrive. Personally, I do not think this will annoy anyone unless they turn their TV's on mute and sit 1 foot away from the box.
I have read somewhere that one could hack into the Tivo box, upgrade the harddrive, and also connect it to their computer to enable DVD buring of the shows.
I find the basic service suitable for all my needs. With the fast internet access, downloading the guides for the shows becomes a lot faster, although the processing speed of the Tivo itself is rather slow.
The image quality of the wires supplied with the Tivo were not that good. I recommend getting component wires.
The manual is very well done and pretty much gives you all the possible ways to connect the tivo to:
video game systems,
tvs,
cables,
satellites
As mentioned before this tivo can be used for both cable and satellites.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 100.00
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Epinions.com ID:
ericwcha
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Reviews written: 18
Trusted by: 1 member
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