TiVo TCD748000 Premiere XL DVR (Black)

We love our Tivo Premere XL. We do not have a HD monitor, so we just use SD output (HD menus are not available to us). There are a couple of omissions on this site to note, in order to use this even as just a DVR you MUST connect it to Internet AND get a subscription. Without doing both it is just merely a fancy OTA DTV converter box. The Internet bandwidth it uses is minimal, even for our limited Hughesnet satelite Internet service (WE cannot use it to download movies, they are too many bytes). This means it is not for the tech-ignorant, except for those who have someone hook it up for them or someone who follows technical instructions well and can do online signups. If you have no Internet connection and no cable TV (thus an Internet connection possible for the Tivo), this is not for you. I bought this thinking I could just use it as a DVR, but when the trial period expired it would not even allow me to record anything. I then purchased the lifetime subscription (from Tivo.com), and I am glad I done so.We found the menus/controls very simpleton and confusing at first, like you have to go to "Find programs" to find your recordings that you programmed, not the recordings themselves but the progams for them. There is NO 'stop' button (very confusing), only pause. In order to stop, one must 'exit' the recording by either the left button (NOT rewind), or hitting the "live TV" or "Tivo" (menu) button; except when at the very end of the recording. The "now playing list" is not the current hourly program guide, but instead it is all of the recordings; so why didn't they call it "recordings?" In order to find your programmed recordings, it depends on whether they are recurring, and often one is scratching ones head wondering where that recording program went because you are looking in the wrong place as a result. Single occurrence recordings are placed only on the "to do list" (under "find programs").So there is a big learning curve for first-timers, even if you are tech-savvy. The substantial-sized manual covers only the basics, expect to look up some answers on support_Tivo_com (or phone support). I had several questions that the manual ("The complete guide") did not cover, such as where does it show the remaining hard drive storage space (it doesn't, not without HD menus anyway).The Tivo remote will also turn your TV/monitor off/on, control volume, and mute, if you enter the proper code for it as the instructions say; meaning many ppl can eliminate the need for a monitor/TV remote. The Tivo interface could use some improvement, like a page up/dn feature as some menus take a while to navigate since you need to go through several pages one line per cursor movement; but like I said this is the SD menus I cannot speak for the HD menus except there is no page up/dn on the remote control so I cannot see how the HD menus could be much better in that respect.We upgraded (added to) from a Pioneer DVR-640 NTSC (old-school) Hard drive/DVD recorder. There were certain things we liked about the Pioneer better than the Tivo, but overall the Tivo was a big jump forward and we like it better (we loved the Pioneer too, my wife said it was the best thing we had ever got). We have three different brand DTV converter boxes, and we only get OTA broadcast. The Tivo converts to a better picture and sound than the boxes, although when we had a weak antenna the Tivo receiver was a little weaker (had to replace the antenna with a big one to fix). Cable or Satellite TV subscribers need not worry about Tivo reception. The Tivo picture is awesome in comparison (sharper), although the boxes pictures were good too. We love the huge hard drive (HDD) on this Tivo, no need to worry about it getting full, unlike the Pioneer. When we deleted something on the Pioneer it was permanent, no recovery possible; on Tivo you can recover it some time later.Before we had to print out our version of TV guide, and program the channels and times ourselves. Now we use the Tivo program guide (comes in on Internet), but when we want to insure we do not get a minute cut off of our show, we still have to progam it manually, or simply use the extra minute at the end feature, either of which can cut into a subsequent recording. Love the prioritization on the "season pass manager" (SPM). (The "season pass" means all recurring recordings.) Too bad the unit isn't smart enough to automatically sense how late sports events are and adjust the recordings, but I don't think anything does that currently.We think monthly subscription is too expensive and lifetime Tivo subscription is the only way to go - that's what we did; so keep that in mind in your budget! We got the 3-yr replacement warranty from Square-trade (Amazon) because I read about ppls troubles when their unit died, I wonder how the subscription transfer might go on that, since the terms say non-transferable. Perhaps I goofed there since I was not intending to get the lifetime subscription.One more thing, if you want a pdf manual on your computer for it, download it now, because I noticed the Tivo site does not display documents nor specifications on older units (perhaps if you contact them).All in all, we think the Tivo Premere XL is an excellent value.

Per TiVo customer service in an email sent to us today, "As stated, the $99 Premiere (and the $299 Premiere XL, also mentioned) are eligible for $19.99 monthly service only. Unfortunately, our Multi-Service Discount pricing cannot be applied to these boxes." We own a TiVo box with a LifeTime Service Agreement which qualifies us for the Multi-Service Discount per TiVo's published Agreement online. We bought a Premiere and an XL for use with Verizon FIOS based on that Agreement as published on the TiVo website. We would not have bought them if we had not expected to get the MSD pricing. When we requested this pricing, TiVo informed us that our purchases from Amazon were a promotional bundle and not eligible for anything other than the $19.95 monthly service fee each. This is not mentioned (a) in the Amazon presentation of these items or (b) in the Multi-Service Discount Agreement. TiVo quoted us a payment plan document and apparently their feeling is that this document is more important than the published MSD Agreement and overrides it.So be very careful - if you don't buy the box from TiVo, you're going to be paying the $19.95 monthly fee per box whether you have existing MSDs in place or not. In our case, that's an additional service fee of $120 per year per box which we think wasn't advertised adequately and is not stated in the MSD Agreement. We will ask Amazon to update their webpage and TiVo to update their agreement to make this fixed price agreement clear to purchasers. But if you read this before the companies take any corrective actions, at least you'll know that the current pricing is a promotional bundle and it effectively keeps you from getting any kind of other monthly rate except for $19.95.I have rated this purchase a 1 because of the misleading and expensive situation. We have been TiVo customers since 2001 and like the service. But we are very disappointed in TiVo's actions here. They reflect on the business side of the company very badly, in our opinion. Someone used the words "bait and switch" in another posting. Whether it meets the technical definition is hard for us to know, but it certainly feels like that is what happened here to us.