TiVo Premiere 4 TCD750500

usability, price, design, image quality

reliability

86% of the reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

Four tuners ; Excellent phone and tablet apps ; Streams video and traditional cable on a single box

Not a whole-home DVR ; Missing some popular streaming sources ; Parts of the UI are still slow and in standard-def

TiVo continues to stand head and shoulders over provider-issued DVRs, but it still falls short of the expectations we had when it first launched.

It's a TiVo ; Integrates services like Netflix and Amazon ; Future of the platform

No cable on-demand unless you have RCN ; Slow, buggy interface ; No transcoding to portable devices

2TB hard drive with 300-hour HD recording capacity. Four tuners. THX Certified. New TiVo interface. Online content from Netflix, Blockbuster, Hulu Plus, Pandora, You Tube, and Amazon.

Digital Cable only (requires CableCARD). Requires extra paid subscription. QWERTY remote is extra. Major cable company DVRs are better connected to tablets and smartphones.

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THX-certified video optimization tool ; Can record 4 shows at once ; 2TB of storage ; Supports major Web media services ; Networked TiVos can access content from each other

Can't access cable service's on-demand video ; Doesn't work with satellite TV ; Very expensive hardware and service

While its ability to record 4 shows simultaneously and its search and streaming media support impress, the TiVo Premiere Elite suffers from lack of support for cable providers' on-demand media--and it's very pricey.

Excellent integration of web services ; Fantastic new HD interface

Software feels slightly unfinished ; Slightly sluggish performance at times

Though not as polished as it should be, the TiVo Premiere is still the best DVR on the market and leagues better than the typical DVR from your cable company.

Revamped, faster, high-definition (720p) interface. More robust search function with integrated online features. Video playback in background during search. 30-second skip is improved. Box is more compact. 320GB hard drive is larger than most...

CableCARD is still required for cable systems. Still requires extra paid subscription. Interface is faster, but there's still some waiting involved. Main screen searches titles and actors, but not keywords. True on-demand support is only available on...

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Mega featured remote for TiVo. Replicates TiVo search functions on iPad

Only works on TiVo Premiere, no support for Series 2 or Series 3/HD. Must be on LAN for full functionality. iPad only. No video playback to iPad. You Tube search should give you option to view on iPad. Guide only in TiVo format

If you already have an iPad and TiVo Premiere, you must download the new TiVo app for the iPad. It's free, and if you're on your LAN, it's pretty well featured. Unfortunately if you have an older TiVo or an iPhone, you're out of luck.

Breaking up with pay TV is hard to do. The TiVo Premiere can certainly ease some of that pain. While some may scoff at the monthly fees, you get a lot for your money -- and it's still certainly cheaper than any cable or satellite provider. Having those...