Tivo/DVRs - Pros & Cons?

[The Tower]

TiVo is the coolest thing invented since the wheel.

Tee-vee completely changed for me when I upgraded my satellite receiver to TiVo three years ago. You watch only what you want to watch. You can record new movies and tape them around the same time that you can rent the just released DVD- maybe a month later at the most.

If you're watching live tee-vee, you can stop to go to the bathroom- you can also rewatch stuff that is exceptionally great. I find that feature perfect for episodes of Will and Grace and South Park.

It is fantastic!!! I have a keyword set up for both "Fleetwood Mac" and "Stevie Nicks" so that anytime anything with those guys on it comes on TiVo will automatically record it for me- and I've told it to record it and not delete it until I tell it to, so if there's a particularly busy time, the programs don't get bumped off the hard drive.

There are two drawbacks.

1) If you're a picky tee-vee watcher (like me), after time you will pretty much be watching the same things over and over. That's mainly because the tee-vee and movie industry can't fulfill enough material for TiVo to record (and you to watch) over a certain period. Also, cable channels (the bulk of DirecTV) replay programs ad nauseum (i.e.- Queer Eye for the Straight Guy).

2) When you first start out with TiVo, you'll never get around to watching all the stuff you've recorded. There's just not enough time in the day to do it.

However, over time number one mitigates number two- and if you check the guide and season your "To Do" list every couple of weeks you will get the best of both worlds.

P.S.- the best thing of all is I have not watched a single commercial in almost three and a half years!!! The only place I've had to sit through a commercial is the f*cking movies fer chrissake!!!!