I have a TiVo Series 3 and a Media Center PC that I just moved from Vista (yes- it worked fine thank you very much) to Win7.

While I agree with many posters that no one has it quite right, at this point my personal take is: if you just want to record/watch TV in the living room and the Wife Acceptance Factor is high on your list of criteria- then TiVo is the winner. The OS is more stable, the interface is easier to figure out for the non-techie, and it just plain works.

If you want to run music/video off a central PC/Server to multiple locations around the house- then Media Center works better. TiVo just isn't set up to do that, so it's pretty poor at it. That said, I don't like it as much for TV viewing due to the interference I get from various messages about updates, virus scans, etc. Windows 7 is better, but they're still there.

In the end- I'd prefer the network functions of Windows with the stability and ease-of-use of TiVo. I keep hoping.

I'm In!

Interestingly- I have an HP laptop that also suffered from a broken hinge. HP issued a recall (even though warranty was up) and fixed it for free- had it back in less than 1 week.

And yes, that was this year. Apple has style, but apparently no class.

Damn. Got 2 from w00t- thought I was being smart avoiding the Apple Tax (yes, I know there is a M$ tax too- but it's lower in this case). Now I have a couple bricks. Wife will be displeased when she finds out.

Everyone screws up- the important thing is what you DO about it. Here's your chance to look like you actually care, Redmond! Don't blow it!

Many folks like to get content that is not available in the US, or is much cheaper overseas. As an example, I have a friend who is raising his kids to be bilingual (English and German), so he wants to get German-language DVDs for them to watch. For that he needs either a separate player, or at least multi-region.

The biggest "real" reason for region encoding (IMHO) is so that studios can charge different prices in different areas for the same content based on local markets (income levels, etc). Region-free players tend to level that out a bit, which is why they are not as readily available.

This isn't new per se- just really really cool.

I had a tour of the AT&T POP in Mpls back in 1995, and this is pretty much what the guy described as the DR setup at the time, with the addition of more satellite and cellular goodness.

It's nice to see that not everything now is about efficiency- effectiveness still counts too!

"the TiVo business model just doesn't make for a good public company. or a profitable one, for that matter"

You're kidding, right? They give you razors and sell the blades- they give you the phone and sell the calls.

This model has been VERY successful for a very long time. The problem they have is that the movie studios have demanded all sorts of restrictions on fair-use under the assumption we are all thieves. I agree it's a problem, but if that free market so many people worship actually works, then Tivo will succeed. The biggest complaints are not about what they do, but what they aren't allowed to do. Take off the MPAA shackles, and this company goes through the roof. Even as it stands, as HD hits more and more homes, Tivo is the most likely to benefit.

Seems awfully suspicious to me. We're heading into Paradise Towers territory here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/paradisetowers/detail.shtml

Monday Night Football

I've had great success with this:

KuroBox (aka Buffalo Linkstation) running Twonkyvision for the server

Audio only: Roku M1000

A/V: D-link DSM320

No hi-def but everyone plays nice. I went wired on the DSM320 (wireless=who cares- the TV ain't moving!)but I get great performance on the Roku using WiFi B.