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Tivo Direct TV is two great
services in one box
TiVo Direct TV is the
marriage of Hughes Direct TV satellite service
and TiVo digital video
recorders (DVR) technology. DirecTiVo, as it is sometimes called,
gives you access to over 225 digital-quality channels of DirecTV
programming with the convenience and control of TiVo.
TiVo Direct TV let's you record favorite shows
with one click
All DirecTiVo models feature one
touch recording. Pushing the record button on the remote allows you
to record a show on the receivers
hard drive, much like the one you have
in your computer. So there are no need for VCR tapes.
Even if you're not home when the show
you want to watch is on, the Direct TV/TiVo will record the show for
you. Access the the on-screen guide, select your show, and the DVR will
take it from there. Now you don't have to figure out how to program your
VCR.
Record an entire season of your favorite shows on
your DirecTV/TiVo, even if the network moves it
Season Pass is the
can't-get-it-anywhere else feature of TiVo. Season Pass will record
every episode of any show you tell it to. If the time or day changes,
Season Pass will update and adjust to the new listing automatically.
So no matter what, you will never miss
your favorite show again, but it gets even better. You can program
Season Pass to skip over reruns, and if your favorite show has a
special, like season finale, that runs over the usual time, your
DVR still won't stop recording until the show is over.
Getting your own DVR
is not as hard as you may think
Use your DVR to record shows even while you're
still watching TV
Probably the best feature of the TiVo
Direct TV to me is the simultaneous recording. Since satellite tv has
like a gazillion channels, if you are anything like me, there are always
2-3 shows on at any given time that I want to watch. Should I watch the
basketball game, or the new reality show on channel 277?
Well with DirecTiVo I don't have to
decide. I can record them both. I can even pull up a program out of
"Now Playing on TiVo" under TiVo Central and watch something
I recorded earlier while both those other programs are still
recording. Usually I have more stuff recorded than I can watch, which is
where
which model you decide to get comes into play. The larger the hard
drive the more space you have to record shows.
What makes TiVo with Direct TV better than your
VCR you ask?
TiVo is more than just a VCR without
tapes, it puts TV on my schedule. I can, of course, record a
channel everyday, or once a week, at the same time. Add "Season Pass"
and I have a host of options to give me what I want when I want it. Now
I can see my favorite show no matter what time or day it comes on, as
many times as it comes on. And if I don't want the reruns I can tell
TiVo to skip them.
If I want to record a show that is in
heavy syndication, like "Law and Order", I can set a preference to
only record 3 or maybe 5 total episodes to keep from filling up my hard
drive.
You can also select programs by using
keywords to create custom record list. Use keywords like actor names, or
a specific director. You can even use special interest keywords like
"cooking" or "mountain climbing" to record shows that come on you might
have otherwise missed. Once recorded I can specify whether to keep a
show indefinitely or automatically delete it when space is needed.
What time a show actually comes on
doesn't even matter anymore. TiVo even records shows I didn't even know
I wanted to watch based on what I usually record and the "Thumbs up" and
"Thumbs down" buttons on the remote, but it took a month or so to really
get it right (at first, I would get some really weird stuff)
Now, I don't even watch live TV. I just
go under "Now Playing on TiVo" and pick up where I left off. Even if
there is something on live I want, I just hit record and go back to
watching what's on my list, and half the time, since TiVo has picked up
on my tendencies, it's already being recorded.
My personal experience "How did I ever watch TV
without TiVo and DirecTV?"
TiVo has been the best addition to my
home electronics in a long time. Is it perfect? No, but the bottom line
is it works. After getting Direct TV and 255 channels, there's no way I
could manage to watch everything I want to watch in the limited block of
time I have to physically be in front of a television.
With TiVo and Direct TV I have the
perfect television management tool. Enough programming muscle to fit my
varying interest and the absolute control over when, where, and how much
TV I watch.
The great thing is, I'm not spending
more time watching TV, it's just more efficient TV now. For
example, I'm a huge fan of NCAA basketball tournament in March. Many of
those games are played in the middle of the day, while I'm at work, not
to mention the fact that early on in the tournament there are about five
games on a day. With TiVo, I can record and watch all the action, in
about half the time.
I can cut a game that took 2 hours to
telecast down to 45 minutes or less. I can click fast-forward a few
times and that gets me through halftime, commercials, and if the game
turns out to be a blowout, I can move on to the next one. Now that's TV
management. Half hour shows, like sit-coms, only take about 15 minutes.
With the internet, work, and all the
other things I do (like building this site for one), I just don't have
the time, I mean, I do have a life. Now I get to set aside a time and
watch TV whenever I want and it's always something I want to see on. So
you'll never here me say "100,000 channels and there's nothing to
watch".
Click here to get your own DVR
with TiVo and the "superior to cable" (in my
humble opinion) Direct TV satellite programming to go with it.
Related articles:
Direct
TV TiVo DVR
Guide to TiVo Direct TV DVR.
Guide
to upgrade or "hack" Direct TV TiVo satellite receivers
You can upgrade or hack a Direct TV TiVo satellite receiver fairly
easily with these instructions.
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