Free 40 Hour TIVO at Circuit City

[johnnyapollo]

Thought I would pass this deal along:

Free 40 Hour Series 2 TIVO at Circuit City after rebates:

$199.99 for the unit plus tax
2 $100 rebates
Free Shipping or you can pick it up:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/produ...ateid=39502629

Rebates:
http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/...etailsPopup.do

I highly recommend one - I can't basically live without mine.

-- John

[jimbo]

I have had a Direct-TV Tivo for over a year now and we couldn't do without it. When I hacked the Tivo recently to upgrade the hard drive my wife made me promise if I broke it I would have to go out the same evening and buy another - LOL. That is how much we use it. A Direct-Tivo is a Direct TV system with Tivo combined in one unit, as opposed to just a regular Tivo that you use with cable or antenna.

My opinion is that TV should not be watched live (why be limited to what is on at the moment), nor should you ever have to watch commercials again.

Tivo will find stuff for you (based on things you tell it), and automagically record all your favorite shows and movies without you ever having to think about it again. For example: Do you like Sandra Bullock? Put her in as a actor wishlist and you will get all her movies AND any interviews she may do on talk shows etc. Like David Lynch movies? A Director wishlist will record anything he has directed automatically.

Tivo is one of those rare things in life that you can't possibly be sorry for buying. Everyone I know who has one LOVES IT.

DirectTV Tivo is the way to go as well (imho). Only records in highest quality mode and it has two tuners so you can record two programs at once, and even watch a third show that you have previously recorded, at the same time as you are recording the two others. I like Direct Tv as well. The day I cancelled my lousy cable service was a happy happy day.

I upgraded my Tivo hard drive to a 160 gig Seagate a couple months ago and we now have 150 hours recording capability. When I sit down to watch TV there are now approximately 120 shows and movies that I really like waiting for me in digital quality. I could never possibly have time to watch even a tenth of all the good stuff waiting on my Tivo every evening.

Direct Tivos are available for $99.95, if you are new to Direct TV it's $49.95 after rebate and installation including the dish (even multiple rooms) is usually free with a one year contract.

[Jonnie]

The 2nd link shows no rebates.

[kpaske]

Is it possible to transfer shows recorded on your Tivo to some other medium, i.e. copy them over to your computer and burn them to dvd?

[johnnyapollo]

Yes you can pull programs across your network and burn them onto cd or dvd (with the right software). There's also a manufacturor who produces a TIVO with built in burner (the name escapes me right now).

The item has been pulled down from circuitcity.com. I hope some of you got a chance to purchase one.

-- John

[jimbo]

The ability to pull your recordings onto your computer is called "The home media option". It is available, for an extra monthly charge I think, on regular Tivos.

It is not available on Direct Tv Tivos, but there is a hack for Lan support through the USB ports (which are non-functioning on a stock Direct-Tivo). I think the hack costs about 300 bucks though.

Tivo is a Linux operating system machine, basically a computer, so once you have the ability to mount the hard-drive through LAN you can do all sorts of things, besides taking programs off. You can change the software and hack it in various ways for additional functionality.

But who wants to mess with all that? Creating a bigger linux drive with the proper Tivo software, using something called "instant cake" was enough hacking for me.

I just run my movies out of the high quality Super-VHS output, using the record to VCR Tivo feature, straight onto my Liteon DVD recorder (the Liteon is a great machine for only 200 bucks). The Liteon records the Tivo playback in real time.

The original Tivo Direct-TV recordings are very clear, and I don't notice any significant quality loss when recording on the Liteon in 2 hour speed. For longer movies I have to go up to 4 hour speed on the DVD recorder and I notice a slight loss in quality on playback of the finished DVD.

It has been working great for me in general though. I buy 100 packs of DVDs at Sams or BJs and save whatever I really like off the Tivo. I have about 300 of my favorite movies in a drawer next to the TV now.