Stoli,

Thanks for the suggestions.

As far a PIP goes, I’m just used to it, especially with sports, monitoring multiple games and am not going to go out of my way for an inferior set just because it offers PIP.  This is a pretty basic function that a dual tuner Tivo DVR should have.

I’ve changed the channel banner to fast, but that only get rid of the banner more quickly.  It doesn’t speed up the actual changing of the channels, which is a good deal slower than what I get with RCN cable.

Thanks for the tip on the clear to delete option, I’ll give it a try.

David

Is that all you have found that is bad about Tivo PIP,deleteing multiple shows @ once and channel changing..Well…....
PIP get a flat panel that has PIP . PIP went out in the 80’s get the dual tuner and tivo the other channel to watch it later.
as for deleteing a folder go into the folder you want to delete and hit the clear button repeditly and watch the shows clear fast in the folder..
and channel changing is slower with comcast HD DVRS change your channel banner to fast in tivo settings and see what happens..

check out the cool new features like netflicks

hope this helps .....stoli

I have had my Tivo HD now for 3 months. 

I previously had a Dish 720 and a SFA 8300HD.

While I do think that Tivo is by far the most reliable of the boxes, I do have a few gripes which no one has addressed:

1) Why no picture in picture?
2) Why can’t we delete multiple shows at once?
and,
3) I agree that channel changing is slower even with cable cards

What no one has also mentioned is the software used by the cable companies.  My SFA was fine until TWC changed to their propeitary software (away from Passport, which was perfectly okay).  I think Dish’s software was adequate as well, and had a nice feature that let you delete multple programs at once - which Tivo doesn’t have.  But the new TWC software (Navigator) is totally useless, no external hard connectivity, horrible interface, etc.

I haven’t heard anyone complain about their Tivo box dying on them the way cable company boxes frequenlty do.  I have only had mine for a few months so I can’t testify to this, but so far there have been absolutely no hardware or software problems with Tivo.

Bottom line, Tivo is all-round the best of the lot, but without PIP and multiple delete option, and given the slow channel changing (even with cable cards) its not a complete blowout in favor of Tivo in my view.

My first TiVo was the DirecTV HR10-250 and I enjoyed using it daily for years. When the latest MPEG-4 HD channels could not be watched, I obtained the DirecTV silver HR20 with the OTA antenna connector. The DirecTV user interface was so miserable that within a few months I purchased a HD TiVo to return to using TiVo for the OTA HD and occasional analog cable program. I use the HD TiVo 95% of the time! The larger “live” buffer on DirecTV DVRs is nice, but nothing like TiVo when switching between two previous channels with its automatic buffering of content.

TiVo remembers where you are in the list of programs. DirecTV DVR’s habit of landing on the most recent recording is not as friendly. If you want a DVR to automatically find programming, TiVo shines in doing that. If you have the opportunity to visit neighbors or friends who can demonstrate the DVR they use, it could help your decision process.

Yes, let’s not forget the wife factor. If you can get your wife to use it, that says a lot. I could never get her to use my home made DVR that did everything you could imagine. Tivo, on the other hand, is the easiest to use and the most wife friendly of all DVR’s. It is also true that there are way cheaper DVR’s on the market. I think the last Comcast DVR was very cheap to have, and it supported video on demand. That was where the joy ended.
I can relate to someone’s hesitation to jump to Tivo if they have only known Dish, or Comcash DVR’s and have been happy with them. I started with Tivo way back, and everything that I tried since then has taught me the true meaning of that’s not a Tivo, that’s just a DVR. Anytime someone tells me they have Tivo, I have the ask them if it says Tivo on the box. When they say that it came from Comcash, Dish, or DirectTV, I quickly tell them that they may have a Tivo if it is a really old DirecTV Tivo. Other than that,  anyone who has tried to come close to what Tivo is, got sued by Tivo. So ask yourself, what could be so great about Tivo that other companies would have to copy their ideas to get close to what Tivo is?
Tivo has been around long enough to perfect the Tivo, and perfect it is major, patentable ways. So, unless Tivo license some company to use their technology, you will never see another DVR as good as a Tivo. Of course, if you hang out in court, you can be around when someone tries to infringe on a Tivo patented feature.  If Tivo adds VOD to Tivo, the race would be over. If Comash had good sense, they would cut a deal with Tivo to add Video on Demand to Tivo in some mutually amicable way.