May 12, 2007
TiVo Series3 latecomer thoughts
So yeah, I snagged that TiVo Series3, and have been using it the last week. (I’m in New York now, but have been meaning to fire this post off.) I knew more or less what to expect, having used a Series2 for as long as I have, but I hadn’t really played with an S3 for any elongated period of time. If you were thinking of buying, here’s the blow by blow:
- Initial setup still really sucks. Yeah, you only have to do it once, but I remembered it was still a TiVo when it failed mid-way and demanded I restart the downloads and guided setup.
- Buying service with the unit and not having to activate over an analog phone line is a big step forward, though. Especially since I don’t have an analog phone line. Try to do this if possible.
- The native res passthrough and upscaling capabilities of the S3 are pretty decent.
- Ben was totally right: TiVo doesn’t understand HD. Case in point: menus are “HD”, but are really mostly 4:3; if they’re not upscaled, they very much so look like it. The fonts are severely jagged and stretched, and while there are some tweaks to make things (like the main menu, for example) not look way too wonky in HD resolutions, it’s not very consistent.
- No TiVoToGo sucks. Like, really freaking sucks. I buy TiVo + service, I buy cable, but I’m not allowed to use my cable and TiVo to watch my media on a device. Oh, that’s right, because apparently I’m a criminal on digital probation.
- Being able to upgrade externally via the eSATA port made me very, very happy.
All in all I’d say it’s a worthwhile buy (especially after that upgrade hack), but only because even after many years on the market the cable companies just don’t care about providing a quality user experience. Their loss, TiVo’s gain.
I'm an editor and technology critic in the midst of founding a new web startup: 
As soon as they activate Multi-room Viewing, I’ll be in for a second.
TiVoToGo was the feature that made me really want a TiVo. Now I’m just not so sure.
I’m really liking my Series 3 so far. I don’t think the guided setup sucks, I think it works pretty well. I thought it was easier than the Series 2 setup. I was up and running in just a couple of minutes. Perhaps mileage varies. Not having to activate over the phone/network (by buying your service ahead of time) is definitely a plus.
And as for the menus, I think they look pretty good. They look way better than the Series 2 UI when shown on an HD set. The text and buttons are much brighter and crisper (particularly the progress bar and guide while watching a program). I don’t think the text is particularly jaggy (other than some of the network logos) and the text doesn’t look stretched to me (though the circles next to recorded programs are clearly ovals when viewed on a widescreen set).
All in all, I think the UI looks pretty decent, particularly compared to the last generation.
HD looks great coming through it, as does standard def on highest quality (previously I was recording at a lower quality with a Series 2 which on a 60″ set reveals all the compression artifacts).