Home > Consumer Reviews > Philips HDR212 TiVo 20 Hour Digital Video Recorder

Philips is going to hate me for writing this, but I have found TiVo to be useful even though I am not a subscriber to their service. I hesitated to buy this for a while becuase I thought either a small monthly charge or a large one-time payment went with the cost of the recorder. I read in the documentation that the recorder would have "limited capability" without the subscription to the service, but that amount of capability was really what I was looking for, so I don't plan to EVER subscribe to their service.

Without subscribing, I can pause live TV, do an "instant replay" of it, and record by time and channel. TiVo is more convenient for doing these operations than a VCR because I don't have to fool with tapes and cue them up to find the beginning of a show. Because TiVo is digital, the video quality is better than a tape. On the highest quality setting I have the same level of digital quality of my satellite dish. The thing that I've found the most useful is that I can watch a recorded show while making a recording of another, which a VCR can't do.

I realize that some people like the features that come with the TiVo subscription. If people choose to pay for those things, that's their choice. I can't use the TiVo guide to look through the listings and select by name a program to be recorded. TiVo doesn't make suggestions for me based on the shows I've previously selected, and it doesn't automatically record my favorite shows if the time changes. But I know which shows I want to record every day, and DirecTv has a good guide that I can search through to find other shows to record. When I come home in the evening, I still have good shows to spend my limited TV time on, and I still have the money that I would have spent on the service.

I started out about a year or so ago with a 14 hour Tivo unit and LOVED it. The problem was they lie about capacity... sort of. 14 hours or in the case of the 30 hour unit are really more like 6 hours and 11 hours with the recorder set to record at BEST quality... anything lower and the picture looks bad. I then paid Tivo to send me a new unit that had been upgraded to 30 hours.... Then that was still not enough time with the system set at best quality.

I finally found out I could upgrade the thing myself... so my recomendation is to get the cheapest on that you can and upgrade it. This VOIDS you tivo warrenty but hey we all like to live on the edge right :)

I now have a 117 hour Tivo because the company I used to upgrade my Tivo ... added an 80GB disk and now instead of having to delete my recordings early or being more picky about what I record I can go nuts and record anything and everything. I even saw on one website ... a guy who has a 151+ hour Tivo.

... They have parts for sale and directions on how to upgrade your Tivo (The easiest is a 14 hour unit since you just add a "blessed" drive)

happy Tivoing...!

PS If you can't tell I love this thing!

I'd heard of TIVO when it was first announced, but didn't think much more about it until recently when a coworker bought one. All he did was rave about it. So my wife and I bought an HDR212 (because according to www.tivofaq.com it has one hard disk and is fairly easy to add storage too).

We've used it for a few days and it's clear this IS THE ONLY WAY to watch TV. No more suffering through commercials, no more watching something you hate because nothing else is on. After you've rated a few shows your "Now Showing" list of recorded programs always has something new and worth watching. I was amazed at how well the TIVO guesses shows you might like to watch.

All in all, this is a great product. Forget replacing your VCR. Get a DVD play for renting movies and a TIVO for time shifting.

Absolutely amazing. TiVo is the coolest thing I own! You gotta get one! Don't wait, or get sucked in with Microsoft's UltimateTV only for DirecTV. TiVo works with EVERYTHING! DirecTV, Dish Network, any cable service - like Time Warner, Comcast, AT&T, etc., and antenna! Even 2 combined!!

TIVO RULES!

My only complaint with the Philips unit that I bought was that it has become faulty after one year (just after my guarantee ran out). The picture & sound is 'sticky' which seems to indicate a hardrive problem. I was advised by Tivo to buy a new unit as it would cost a lot to repair this :(

On a more positive note I would strongly recommend buying some kind of personal tv recorder. They are fantastic and I cannot live without one now. I seldom watch live TV (except for the news). I have told Tivo exactly what I want to watch and it records it.

I would recommend a buy BUT make sure you get some kind of service plan with these units. A friend bought a Sony and his became faulty after 3 months (same problem). Maybe it is a bit of a design flaw to have these units contantly recording 24 hrs per day!

The other thing to check is the privacy policy of the service provider (Tivo/Ultimate TV). My Tivo box sends details of everything I have watched, when I have changed channel and other viewing habits. This greatly concerns me. Tivo did assure me that no customer identifier is sent with this but I still feel like this is a move towards Orwell's 1984.

I would have given these units a 5 were it not for mine breaking!

Have fun and get one!