What is the best Personal Television Unit for you.  Well I recently put the 14 hour Philips TiVo and Displayer 7100 to the test.  The results are in.   The unit that is best for you depends on a number of criteria.  Read on to find out.

If you don't see the specific criteria that are important to you, you might want to check out the PTV comparison matrix or send an email to info@jriver.com  and I will try to include your info in the comparison.

The GUIDE 
TiVo - The first time I opened the TiVo guide, I was shocked.  It is a transparent guide organized with a list of channels on the left.  When you select a specific channel it shows you the next 8 shows on that channel.  Selecting a show in the guide will show the information about the show in the banner at the top. After a week of using this guide I can say it is quite functional.  I'm not convinced that it's better but it works very well  Similar to DishPlayer, the guide must be sorted in ascending order.   If my description didn't do it justice, here is the picture

DishPlayer - This is a more traditional guide.  While it isn't transparent, it shows the current show in a small window in the top left window.  It can only be sorted in ascending order.  You can also see the information about each program as you select it in the guide.   

Changing Channels
TiVo - If you have Cable only, this is a great setup.  Since TiVo has a built in tuner, it works really well with Cable.   Since TiVo doesn't have a built in Satellite Reciever, it must control external units to support satellite.  If you are using a IR connection, you will need to spend come time getting this setup to be reliable.  I expect this is more simple with a Serial Interface.   There is also a bit of a delay when changing channels.  Luckily, as with the DishPlayer, you will spend most of you time in the guide.   

DishPlayer - Channel changing is very slow as with the TiVo.  Since DishPlayer has no support for Cable, you will have to switch to your TV to change cable channels.

Digital Sound
TiVo - Since TiVo doesn't have any digital input, there is no support for Digital Sound. 

DishPlayer - Supports Digital PCM and Dolby Digital Sound Output via a Optical Output.

Local Channels
TiVo- TiVo can be set up to fully integrate your local channels into it's guide.  It then allows you to tune or record either your cable or Satellite channels.

DishPlayer - No Built in support for Local Channels.  If you subscribe to local channels through Dish, this is not a problem.  In fact if you run you cable through the RF input/output  stereo sound will be stripped out.

Support For Recording
TiVo - TiVo is rated to record up to 14 or 40 hours depending on the unit you purchased.  The service costs 9.95 a month or 199 for lifetime subscription for the unit.  Depending on your tolerance for an artifacted picture and your screen size  you will probably not be able to get this long.  This is because the TiVo has it's own encoding hardware which converts your signals (both cable and satellite) to digital.   On my Big Screen I typically get only 4-6 hours.  On my small TV's (25-27) the 8-14 hour settings on my 14 Philips TiVo look fine. 

DishPlayer - The DishPlayer is not rated for specific number of hours, but expect 4-5 hours for the 7100 and 8-10 hours for the 7200 receivers.  It records the raw data coming from the satellite.  The big benefit of this is picture quality, because it has been encoded at the Uplink center for Dish Network. The downside of this is you CAN NOT record cable.  If you live in a city that isn't large enough to get locals over satellite, you are our of luck for recording your locals.

The Remote Control
TiVo - Simple and Powerful.  The remote is the most simple of the PTV units I have seen.  It still does everything you need and accomplishes this by being smart.  For instance, it can be programmed to control the volume on your Reciever instead of your TV.  It can control a VCR, TV (audio on/off), Audio Reciever (Volume/Mute) and of course the TiVo itself.  This is subjective, but it has a very nice feel in the hand and is the easiest to hold.  If I was getting a unit for my mother (a technophobe) I would get her a TiVo simply because of the remote.  Here is a picture

DishPlayer  - Can  control a TV and VCR, and now includes buttons for direct access to PTV,  Record, forward, backward, picture in picture, stop, play, jump back and go live.  All of these number buttons add to the size of the remote but it is still a very nice remote.   Here is a link to the picture of the two remotes side by side

CallerID
TiVo - No support for CallerID.  Come on guys, you have a modem and a phone line.  this feature is obvious and very useful.
DP (All) - No current support for CallerID.    Rumor has it that it is coming.

The Prices 

TiVo  
Philips 14 Hour TiVo $399  - $100 Rebates are available for DSS customers
Philips 30 Hour TiVo $699  - $100 Rebates are available for DSS customers

DishPlayer 
Echostar DishPlayer 7200 - $349  - Rebates available for new subscribers.