As soon as the TiVo Series 3 came out, I dumped Comcast's sorry excuse for an HD DVR for use with my HD plasma. Then when I got the LCD TV for the bedroom, I got a TiVo HD for the bad room. I bought lifetime subscriptions for both since my original TiVo Series 1 lasted almost 8 years with only a hard disk replacement. I'd still use it but I only have two TVs. Because I paid cash and not credit for the subscriptions, I expect a break even a couple years and then "free" the rest of the life of the product.

TiVo has always been more reliable that the cable company DVRs I've used. They've had more capacity for recording. TiVo's wishlists, universal search, and season pass management all have meant I've missed fewer shows that I've really wanted. And my kid could operated from about age 5 or 6. (I'd swear that even picking out their shows themselves from the "Now Playing" list actually encouraged some reading because they were goal oriented they were limited to an hour or two a day).

I like being able to remotely schedule a show for recording while out of town or on vacation.

We use the transfer option in my house to transfer shows from the family room to the bedroom and vice versa (however WiFi G is not fast enough to watch an HD transfer in real time :^( ).

Last night, I watched YouTube videos of David Bowie and Arnel Pineta the new singer for Journey via the TiVo. Yeah the video was crappy, but it was not a horrible experience and the audio was actually decent through my speakers. I didn't think I would like doing this as much as I actually did. Just wish TiVo had a remote keyboard rather than using the onscreen keyboard for faster surfing.

I'm a Rhapsody subscriber and so it has been convenient to use my TiVo to access my playlists and library (however I REALLY HATE logging in every single time to do so).

I've owned a TiVo for almost 8 years. Yeah, I'm spoiled. Is the differential value worth it to everyone? Maybe not. Just like any form of higher "luxury" (Mac vs PC, HD big flat panel vs cheaper smaller LCD or glass tube, luxury car vs econo box), fundamentally they all delver the same basic functionality (despite what the zealots will tell you). It really comes down to whether or not you care about that difference and whether or not you can afford or want to pay for the difference.

It was worth it to me. It may not be worth it to everyone.

My new favorite show in HD: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

This story isn't made up. I was there in a meeting in an adjacent conference room. I pulled the fire alarm. My shirt still has the acrid smell of burnt insulation.

The "incinerated" look comes from the chemical extinguisher that someone was using to attempt to douse the flames.

This wasn't a joke.

@Jeremy - WiFi daily calls works just fine. I'm more concerned about PPPoE over DSL not working causing a hiccup. But I have a phone line hooked up too (from my 7-year old TS1). WiFi also worked well for photo viewing.

As for the lifetime service cards from earlier this year. I read someplace that this would work for the TS3 as well (not just TS2). It might have been a link from a seller on eBay you had linked to the TiVo page. I've been trying to find something in the TiVo knowledge base or FAQs confirming this. You need to double check.

I got mine last week. A friend who works for TiVo gave me his employee purchase slot. Waiting for Comcast to install the two CableCards (no monthly cost) tomorrow so the $10 a month Moto DVR can go back to Comcast where it belongs.

It is a pretty sweet with these advantages over the Comcst DVR:

250GB vs 120GB -- Greater than 2X the storage which is really a necessity for all the HD shows we watch and all the kiddie shows we keep around. The need for "OnDemand" greatly diminishes.

Excellent scaling of 480i to 720p. I have a 2005 Panasonic Plasma and after some experimentation, I found that the 480i video scaling in the TiVo was actually superior to that in my TV. The THX certification does seem to be meaningful after all. My TV is not THX certified.

Okay, so I don't get TiVoToGo yet. I am bummed. This was a feature I was looking forward to for the 4 hour drives to the ski slopes. However, I do get network Photo viewing. I was going to build a home theater PC or buy an HD digital media viewer ($200 - $300) to view photos on my TV, but now I don't need to. My wife and the kids loved watching the slide shows of our trips to Disneyland and Disneyworld. Something you can't do with a Comcast DVR. When you think that printing photos can easily be $100 or more, the cost doesn't seem so out of wack. And far more convenient than a slide carosel.

Other great features over the Comcast DVRs - Wishlists, folders, better UI, doesn't shut off in the middle of viewing a show, ATSC tuners for OTA HD (Comcast doesn't carry all of the local DTV signals).

As for unencrypted QAM tuning. You know, I tried this on my TV for awhile when I got it a year ago. But it was really cumbersome to try and remember the mapping. Yeah, it would be good if TiVo had software to do this. However, there's a problem. Comcast occasionally reorganizes the QAM channels and maps them to different channels. Given that the CableCards are $0 per month from Comcast where I live, it's worth the $16 truck-roll to have an installer come out and get hassle free mapping.

And I just found out that my Plasma TV is now $1000 less than I paid in 2005. OUCH! I guess if I was really concerned about the price drop, I should have waited one more year and it would have paid for the TiVo Series 3. Couldn't wait any longer for the TS3. Just hated the Comcast DVR that much. But I am going to wait a year (or more) until the Blu-ray/HD-DVD thing settles out.

Anything to complain about?

Yeah, TV.yahoo.com doesn't work for the TS3 right now (it does for the TS2 however) and this seems to be glitch on TiVo's side (they forgot to configure the affiliate software to allow TS3's to do online scheduling). You can use the TiVo site for online scheduling, but the Yahoo TV thing is a bit easier to use (if it works).

I would have liked the WiFi installation to be just a little easier. I had to reboot the box to get it to work properly. (The Comcast Moto DVR has a built in Cable Modem that is provisioned by the Cable company).

Also, I think that it should have been 300GB (or more) out of the box, rather than 250GB. Just waiting for 500GB or 750GB eSATA drives to work with TiVo and I may go straight to 1TB. Weaknees is already offering upgraded TS3 which has one 750GB drive (100 hours of HD, >900 hours of SD). $600 for the upgrade is more than I want to spend right now.

@iambic - Nah, Comcast/Motorola didn't purposefully make their DVRs "suck". Believe it or not, they thought they were making something pretty cool. Their greatest incompetence is that they don't realize that they are incompetent.

I complained about my DVR, things that are fundamental design flaws in the software, (I know, 30 years of computing and 20 years in the Silicon Valley at major developers) and instead of passing it on to the development team, they wanted to send out a technician to verify that the box was okay. UUGHH!

I also had the great displeasure of working with these folks as a vendor at one part of my life. They were far more interested in swinging their ***** around to show how almighty powerful they were than they were interested in making a better product for their customers. Especially the TCI/AT&T folks. Hopefully Brian Roberts (Comcast CEO) weeded out most of those folks when he acquired AT&T Broadband (nee TCI).

Let's address some things.

@mjsmitho: yes, the TS3 supports eSATA and so an external 750GB SATA drive may work right out of the box. However, I'd prefer to have the drive internal simply because, well, I have too much clutter in my entertainment rack already.

@Scott: (Will this thing last 5 years?) I have a TiVo Series 1 with a lifetime subscription that I've had for 6 years, 10 months (but who's counting). The internals worked just fine. About the only thing that goes south on these boxes is the hard drive, which I had to replace. This box is going to see "back bedroom" duty for the kids when the TS3 comes in. It'll probably be good until at least Feb 17, 2009 when NTSC phases out and ATSC phases in.

@Scott: Comcast OnDemand. This is the only feature that the TS3 lacks support for. Not because of TiVo but because of the Cable Companies and Open Cable and their stupid "CableCard 2.0" standards. I already have two DVRs in my set-up: 1) TS1 for the kids and backup recordings for key shows for WHEN the 2) Comcast DVR fails to record them for one reasone or another in HD (about once a month or so). My solution is to boot the Comcast DVR, save myself $10 a month, and exchange it for a non-DVR set-top box for when I want OnDemand. I don't use premium channels so it really doesn't matter to me for Showtime, HBO, and other stuff. Mostly we use it for kids shows and a beefier storage on a TS3 may take care of that problem.

@William C Bonner: Yes, the TS3 has 2 ATSC tuners, 2 NTSC tuners, and 2 QAM (digital TV) tuners. So, off the air is free. This is a GOOD reason to get a TiVo vs a Cable Company box because Comcast in my area doesn't carry all of the local ATSC stations.

@Bryan: If the Scientific Atlanta box is "good enough" for you, great. But, having used TiVo, Comcast, and Scientific Atlanta in rented vacation homes, the SA box has absolutely the worst usability of any set-top box I've ever encountered. Navigating 500 channels and picking shows with it's title picker is about as idiotic as me. My 7-year old could operate my TiVo at age 5. Can't say the same for the Motorola or SA boxes.

@Everyone doing the math: many of us are willing to spend a difference of $500, $1000, $2000 for a particular display technology, pay $600 a year to get premium movie channels when $120 a year will get you Netflix, but the "recording capability" difference of $500 - $700 is "too much". I've never really understood the resistance to paying extra for something that really allows you to control the TV in your home. And, unlike the cable company efforts to provide set-top boxes, TiVos have actually really improved over the 7 years since I bought mine. To each his own.

Heck ya! I've been chomping at the bit for this puppy to come out. We have an old, upgraded TiVo Series 1 (120GB) and the Comcast HD DVR (120GB).

All of the problems we've had with the Comcast HD DVR (missed priority 1 recordings, vestigial recordings dated 12/31/1989 that I can't delete, turning off in the middle of watching a show) plus lack of TiVo features such as Wishlists, easy UI, and ONLY 120GB with no upgrade path -- they've all summed up to one thing -- my wife asking when the new TiVo Series 3 HD is coming out.

From the leaks on the internet, it looks like it will ONLY be 250GB for about 35 hours of HD. This is barely more than the upgraded Series 1 and Comcast HD box and it's not enough for all the kids programming on the S1 and my favorites on HD. For $800, I was hoping for atleast 300GB. Heck, even 400GB or 500GB given the prices of drives today.

But, yeah, I'm going be the first in line and shell out the bucks for a TiVo. And when the warranty runs out, in will go a 500GB or 750GB Western Digital drive.

So, given my appetite for total show storage, for me, the TiVo deal with Comcast or Cox doesn't make sense. But for people who don't have the disposible income to go full Series 3 but still want HD, the TiVo software on a Motorola box will be a welcome replacement what exists there today.

A new form of coupon clipping.

How many people buy the newspaper to read the news?

How many people buy the newspaper just to get the coupons and find out what specials are on at local major retailers?