Technical Specifications

I'm not the most technical of people so I'm just going to copy from the information that I was given when I joined;

Size (approx.): W - 14.5" / 37cm D - 9.5" / 24 cm H - 2.75" / 7 cm
Rear Connections
Cable Co-Ax In
SCART
HDMI
Optical Audio Out
2 x USB
Ethernet Network Port
Mains Power

You can either get a 500gb box of a 1tb box. I have the 500gb box with Virgin Media on the XL package. This gives me over 175 channels at the fairly reasonable cost of around £25 a month with an additional £3 for the TiVo box per month.

What does it do?

The TiVo box allows you to watch and record tv in both standard and high definition, it also gives you the option of recording shows. You can record up to three shows at the same time, however you can only record the third if you are watching something that you have recorded earlier. So if you wanted to watch a live TV show, you would only be able to record two shows whilst watching the third. I haven't found this to be too much of a limitation though. If you have a clash it will tell you if you try and record something, it will give you the option to cancel some recordings or clip them so you have a part record.

The TiVo box gives you the ability to 'series link' a show, this is similar to the option that Sky gives you. You can mark a series of a show for recording automatically so that whenever it is shown on that channel it will record it. The TiVo will only record shows that you haven't already got, but you can change the options so that it records only a new episode of the show... Or every episode, even if you have it already.

You can also search for shows and ask the TiVo box to record them no matter what channel it is played on. You can also search for shows that contain a certain person, this is great if you have a favourite comedian or actor.
The TiVo box also allows you to watch and record HD TV where applicable. I've found this to be fairly good in quality. The picture is pretty sharp and doesn't suffer from any distortion. The HD recordings don't seem to take up too much space either on the internal hard drive.

The TiVo box records the shows and keeps them in the 'my shows' area, there is a handy little bar that tells you how full your box is above the shows that you have recorded. When the box starts to get full it will delete some of your older recordings. The TiVo will also automatically record shows that it thinks you may like, this is based on shows that you have previously watched and also the clever 'suggestions' feature. You can use the thumbs up or thumbs down that you get on the remote to rate shows. The shows you rate highly, and shows similar to that will be recorded and kept in the suggestions folder.

The TiVo box has loads of other features that I haven't even got round to looking at yet. Just keeping up with the TV that is being recorded is enough for me. I know that it has catch up TV like 4OD and BBCiPlayer installed, it also has its own catch up TV service that has the last weeks TV. The TiVo also gives you access to YouTube, but I haven't looked at that yet.

My experience

I have a bit of a love hate relationship going on with my TiVo! I used to have a basic freeview box before I joined up with Virgin Media. I found that I would keep an eye on the show planner and watch a show if I really liked the look of it, if I missed something I would hunt it down on my laptop. With my TiVo box I don't have to worry about it. I can plan ahead and record my shows so that I don't miss any. This started off by me recording just the shows that I used to watch, them I found that I liked another show, and another. Before long I have ended up with countless new shows that I have discovered on obscure documentary channels. All good you might be thinking, but it has turned me into a bit of an obsessive TV hound! I find that I am spending more time watching shows than I did before, in the winter it's not a problem... But I fear for my social life when the summer comes along! But I love my new TiVo box, and I wouldn't have it any other way! Trashy daytime TV here I come!

I have had problems with service outages as they have been rolling out a new service to surrounding areas, but this has been dealt with quickly by Virgin Media. Sometimes a show won't record but I find that is is shown later in the day and as I have all my shows on series link it records it then for me.

All in all I seem to have a bit of a TiVo addiction going on now, I wouldn't be able to go back to normal FreeView boxes now.