TiVo Premiere hands-on (update: video!)
By Paul Miller 
posted March 2nd 2010 9:40PM
posted March 2nd 2010 9:40PM
The new ways to find and promote relevant content are pretty intuitive and helpful. Everything is "connected," so it's easy to start from a category like the "Oscars" or an actor like "Jack McBrayer" and end up on the other end of the universe, IMDB style. There's a certain amount of dumbing down, to be sure, and nothing's going to beat your laptop for speed or comprehensiveness in bopping around this sort of information. Although, TiVo helps out a bit in this department with the optional QWERTY remote. Unfortunately, while we appreciate the full QWERTY input, the sliding mechanism is utterly cheap and shoddy -- we're assured that it's a couple revisions away from a final design, and we certainly hope so! The QWERTY buttons themselves are rubbery and not very clicky, but perhaps they'll helped along as well by this promised revision.
Update: We've got video. It can be found after the break, though unfortunately you can't hear a single thing our helpful guide says because she's drowned out by the "fist pumping" good times of the party that TiVo's event devolved into.
still no sign of time warner cable?
@wupolo
If by that statement you mean will TWC partner with TiVo, then the answer is a resonant when hell freezes over. Otherwise, TiVo does work with TWC. Used it for a few years until I made my own, free solution.
Where is SDV Support so I can see all the channels on my Cox HD lineup?? The promised SDV USB adaptor turned out to be vaporware. No need to upgrade unless it solves this channel problem.
Also does the channel guide support recording HD from the guide without a cable card rather than doing manual records like I have to do now ???
it'd be awesome if you could use that remote with 7MC. I've always liked the TiVo Remote's design.
Have closed captioning support been improved?
UI looks like crap and responds like puke soaked crap.
When I first heard that Tivo was updating their GUI I was kind of excited since it's been the same since the beginning but THIS is what they bring to the table?! Seriously?!
Even if DTV offers this I'll probably pass.
Can't wait. I pre-ordered a series 3 when it was released. I'm going to be first in line for a premiere xl. Tivo is awesome. I hate my paying a cable company for a dvr. I want it my way.
Pretty nice to see tivo coming back into contention. I want one already. But somebody has seriously got to give their UI a refresh. Not the layout so much as the 2001 style photoshop beveled look. Reminds me of watching hotel tv.
I understand the Tivo's appeal as an easy solution for the consumer, but I still prefer Windows 7's media center.
It supports an online movie library, free epg, automated commercial skipping, a range of file formats (mkv, divx etc.), unlimited radio stations, Netflix, easy upgrade of storage space (internal hd, external hd, network drive or any other computer), and numerous other build-in or 3rd party plug-ins.
And there are no monthly fees.
@Badabing
I so want a Tivo, but being in the UK, the Cable sucks (It's really not a big thing like it is in the states) and I presume Tivo's don't work with freeview or satellite?
TV makes me want to live in the US so bad, I mean my options are Sky, Virgin Media, or Freeview.
Sky is pretty much the best choice, but you have to use their boxes - and the UI sucks. The boxes don't look great either, kinda like a prototype Xbox 360.
Virgin Media is a no for me, as it's only available in very specific areas (London and Manchester, I think. Probably a bit wider spread but I'm exaggeratiing to get my point accross ;) )
And Freeview, which I currently use, as I can't bring myself to pay for Sky if I can't use a Humax/Tivo with it, has very limited selection, movies aired are old, shows like 24 just don't exist (Sky 1 own the rights here) and until I upgrade there's no HD at all. And I just know I'll have the same situation in 2/3 years when I want 3D TV (I'll have it on BD before then hopefully) and it'll be available on Sky this year, it'll probably roll out very slowly over "Free-to-view HD 3D + 5000" or something equally horrifically named.
/rant
apple.
Many good comments here and clearly this product is an evolutionary step forward. The Achilles Heel of this new TiVo continues to be the need for a cablecard when connected via CableCos. Especially true with SDV systems which require an additional box to decode SDV. This precarious electronic balancing act of keeping the TiVo, Cablecard, and SDV dongle box in sync and operating without incident is a nightmare. I've spent hours on the phone with my CableCo trying to keep this system operating. Cablecards are notoriously unreliable. Just have a look at the thousands of complaints in TiVo Forums. Until Tru2way is perfected, I wouldn't recommend the TiVo to any but the most ardent tweekers and gadgeteers among my friends.
I am with DirecTV now and have been pretty dissatisfied with their current line of DVR boxes. I have been considering going back to cable because our provider is our power company which offers phone, cable, and internet through fiber, so I have been keeping an eye out for this announcement, and like many others I'm somewhat dissappointed. I have also been considering using Media Center and just building a few inexpensive PCs for each room where I wanted to use them and switching back to cable. My line of thinking is that I could build a computer for what I pay for a Tivo box and using Media Center get similar results w/o the monthly fee. The last thing I'm holding out hope for is the DirecTivo box, and I'm not holding my breath there. My first Tivo was a DirecTivo and I loved it but it was seriously restricted because it could never use any of the newer advancements from Tivo, I expect similar here. I don't really see DTV offering all the features of the Tivo Premier series (i.e. Netflix and Amazon) because it would cause them to loose business with their own on demand and pay-per-view movies. At any rate, that's my two cents, I'm still leaning towards Media Center on Windows 7 at this point.
To begin, I have a Series 3.
But this is it for me. My big issues with TiVo were not that the homescreen didn't have enough information or the search was comprehensive enough. My problem is that I bought their top of the line box for almost $500 and the thing is still slow as molasses. I think all TiVo users really wanted was an improved HD homescreen and better integration of current content (Amazon, Netflix, etc.)
So in response, they built the thing on flash, it still moves slowly, and the interface is still worthless.
FAIL
Wow....this...is....so....innovative...wow, I mean just wow....
NOT!
Boxxee or XBMC on an ATOM HTPC trumps the shit out of this tivo crap, and probably costs less to build, less restrictions, more application support...This is the biggest "meh" i've seen in a long time.
It looks like 2005. Yea it an improvement but its still no where near as pretty as WMC 7 or Boxee. I would bet more consumers care about looks then what they get out of the box. How hard could it be tivo.
Make a box that:
-What all pervious Tivo's do.
-Plays all my filetypes through USB or network.
-plays streaming services (amazon, netflix, ect.)
-Simple and clean interface, no one wants to be bombarded with information, especially information I would much rather look at while on the computer.
-Trailers (from apple or youtube)
Looking forward to the day when Tivo's remote and new UI can be fully licensed to run on HTPC's I build (read FAST, NOISY, and FAR away from my Living room connected via a 100 foot boosted HDMI cable)
Explaining the Tivo remote's superiority to a Cable DVR user is a waste of oxygen.
I worry that the picture and video banner on the top will end up being used for ads.
@romanamor
I agree, I dont want that up there PERIOD. It takes up way too much screen space that can be used to list what shows are on the TiVo. I hope there is an option to turn it off, otherwise it's a deal breaker for me.
Don't they have a professional GUI designer working for them? There is no way they would have allowed it to get that cramped.
God you can tell they have gone down the Flash route, everything is so slow to populate, shame!
first off your video sucks. you did not show us any new funtionality of the the new tivo. you showed us a new gui. big deal. we want to know what all new features it has. learn to shoot an interesting video.
I pick up my first DirecTiVo in 2001 and was instantly hooked on it because it was soooo far ahead of the Dishplayer. I finally converted to HD last year with a 60" plasma and have been counting the days waiting for the next generation DTivo. I hope it lives up to all the hype because the Directv HD unit is pretty good (but not TiVo...)
C'mon guys let it out, what is it going to do and when can we have it?
Do you think they will let me trade in my fully functional series 1 unit after completely wearing out 2 hard drives?
I really really really really really really hope that is a slower debug build of the UI or something.
Because when I bring up my shows... i don't want to wait while they take their sweet time to fill in the menu.
See 4:26. That is ri-god-damn-diculous.
It is like slow motion. This would be a huge step backward from the series 3.
And I just ordered one. If it is really like this when it releases, i'm sending it right back.
Please TiVo. I have so little in life. Your commercial free joy is all I have. Please don't make me deal with a super sluggish interface and force me to be in Series 3 land forever.
You have GOT to be kidding me.
I CANNOT BELIEVE how slow the "My Shows" interface is. TiVo expects us to use something this slow????
I for one am no longer surprised at all that this thing is running on Adobe Flash...
Thank goodness I watched the video showing how freaking slow this thing is - otherwise I would have made the mistake of swapping out my Series 3 for this klunker...
Here you got the best in TV,
the New Windows 7 Tv media center.
http://www.ii-view.com/