Well, now that I have experienced PTV Services, I am hooked.  This is your guide to TiVo PTV Receivers and services.  If you have questions, be sure to check out the TiVO FAQ for answers or if you have ideas on how to improve the guide send them here.  tivofaq@iwantptv.com

   What is TiVo? 

TiVO is a new PTR (Personal TV Receiver).  PTR units are now being produced by a number of companies.  The first one to hit the market is the Philips TiVo.  It comes in two flavors, 14-hour or 30-hour; meaning the unit can save 14 or 30 hours of programming, respectively.   If you are unfamiliar with PTV receivers, this new technology provides VCR-like features such as recording television programming while you are not home and adds many new and innovative features that help you take control of your television watching, such as live TV pause. 

   Guide to TiVo PTV Services

• Now Showing - Shows what you have recorded.
• Watch Live TV - Takes you to the current channel to watch live TV.
• TiVolution Magazine - It's like a TV Guide magazine built into your TV
• Network Showcases - A listing of premier shows on the major networks.
• Pick programs to record - Various ways to set up TiVo to record your favorite programs.
• Messages and Setup - See Configuring TiVo for more information

TiVo's personal TV services offer a number of innovative features not available in other PTV receivers on the market.  The most notable is the TiVo Suggestions.  While you watch TV with TiVo, you rate the shows you are watching by selecting a number of Thumbs.  You can select up to 3 "Thumbs Down"  and up to 3 "Thumbs Up".   TiVo will use your ratings  to customize your TV watching experience.    Once TiVo gets to know you and what you like to watch, it will begin to search for things for you to watch.  It will then provide you with two ways to find shows to watch..  

TiVo Suggestions - TiVo will create a list of shows that it recommends you record.  You can select any of these shows and tell it to record it when it comes on.  As you can see in the picture after a couple of ratings it has already to begun to select  shows that should interest me.

However, TiVo Suggestions doesn't wait for you to tell it to record.  If it has nothing else to do and enough space on the Hard Drive, it will record suggested shows for you.  With TiVo searching for something to watch, never again will there be nothing on.  And it wonıt delete anything to make room for a suggested show so youıll never record over that classic Land of the Lost episode again!  This feature can also be turned off if you just think TiVo is up to the job of picking TV for you.

Season Pass - The second way TiVo helps you set up recordings is called a "Season Pass".  This feature will record all unique episodes of a specified program.  It will even catch the show if it is in a different time slot than normal.   No more pre-empted shows or missed recordings because the timeslot shifted.

In addition to TiVo Suggestions and Season Pass, TiVo can be manually set up to record a show.  You set it up much like a VCR but itıs much easier than most VCR timers.  This manual method allows you to specify the time, date and channel to record. 

To see what is currently scheduled to be recorded you use the To-Do list.  This screen shows the programs and their recording schedule.  You can go here to cancel or alter a  planned recording, as well as to see what is coming up on your recording schedule.

In addition to helping you record, TiVo has many features to help you find something to watch.   It allows you to search for programs by Name/Channel and Time.   It also offers the TiVo Magazine and Network Showcases

• TiVo Magazine is like having TV Guide build right into you TV.  It lists the best shows that are coming up on TV in the next few days.
• Network Showcase is a listing of some of the premier programming on some of the biggest networks on TV.

With all of these features, TiVo doesn't skimp on traditional PTV services either.  For instance you can pause, rewind and fast forward Live TV.    When you hit pause the box will begin recording to the hard drive.  This happens regardless of whether you are watching Satellite or Cable programs.  When ever you change the channel, TiVo immediately starts recording.  This means that you can rewind at anytime.  You can also jump backward or forward to live television at the touch of a button.  When using these features you will interact with TiVo's on screen status bar.  It shows the your position relative to live television.   

In order to use the TiVo's extensive suggestions and interactive guides you will have to subscribe to TiVo's PTV services and pay the $10 monthly fee or buy a lifetime subscription for $199.   Before you sign up, think carefully, the lifetime subscription is for the receiver, not for you.  If you get a new receiver, you will have to sign up again.  So, unless you don't plan on upgrading in the next couple of years stick with the $10 per month fee.   The fees do seem to be comparable with other PTV services in the industry and  TiVo makes it easy to sign up using your phone or using their web site.  

   Configuring the TiVo

Setup -  When I unpacked the TiVo, I was surprised by the number of cables in the box.  I consider my self proficient at wiring complex home theater systems, but this made me nervous.  Luckily, right there on top was a setup card that explains most of the most common setups.  Upon further  investigation, I was amazed with the number of possible configurations that you can use to setup your unit.  TiVo can be configured to use cable, cable boxes, satellite receivers and vcr's.  

Setup begins when you first turn on the unit (be prepared, this process requires that you leave the unit alone for around 2-4 hours when you are done answering questions.)  TiVo will guide you through various questions based on the configurations you select.  Here is a quick run-down of some of the  various setup options for TiVo.

• Antenna - configures the TiVo to use your local over the air channels.   TiVo will look up your local channels and give you data about what is on.
• Cable - Configures the TiVo to use your Cable connection.  TiVo will ask you what cable system you have in order to download information about your channels.  This configuration can be set up to use your cable box or preferably using the TiVo receiver's internal cable ready tuner.
• Satellite - TiVo has information for the major satellite systems and can be setup to control your satellite receiver.  If you have certain DSS/DirecTV receivers, there is even a serial direct connection which can directly link the TiVo to the receiver for greater channel changing reliability and performance.  If you have a Dish Network receiver, you will have to use the IR connection.  This method works pretty well but is not quite as reliable as the direct connection.
• Satellite and Cable - Allows you to set up both a Satellite Reciever and Cable.  it will provide guide information about both and will merge them into one Live TV Guide.
• Satellite and Antenna - Configures for Both Local channels and a satellite receiver. 
  

  Thanks, but I still have questions?  

For more questions about TiVo, check out the TiVo FAQ or send me a quick question to be added to the list.