TiVo HD XL is I4U Top 100 Gift Tip #80

Nov 6 2008, 3:00pm CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

TiVo is still the best way to record TV programming and gain control over your television. I cannot imagine watching TV without recording shows and jumping over the darn commercial breaks.
TiVo is now going to also support Netflix movie streaming this Holiday making the TiVo boxes the ultimate gateway to entertainment content in your living room.
The TiVo HD XL is the top of the line TiVo box that you can buy today. With the TiVo HD XL you can save up to 150 hours of HD TV shows or save up to 1,350 hours of standard definition TV. The TiVo HD XL works with Cable and Antenna, but not with Satellite signal.
You can record two shows at the same time. The TiVo HD DVR uses either ONE Multi-stream CableCARD (M-Card) or TWO Single-stream CableCARDs (S-Card). Either of these configurations will allow the DVR to record two channels at once.

The only pain with TiVo is the additional cost for the service. Month-to-month runs at $12.95. If you commit to a three year contract you get it down to an average of $8.31/month. You can also buy an unlimited product life-time service for $399. If you have gotten used to a TiVo you quickly see that the service fee is well worth the value TiVo offers.

For Whom:

The TiVo HD XL is for people who watch all the hot shows at once, the HD XL is the largest capacity DVR available in the U.S.

The Good:

Easy to use TiVo Interface
Huge capacity
Records two shows simultaneous
Can use CableCard decoders so you can get rid of the Cable box
Record HD and SD

The Bad:

Service fee

Where to Buy:

The TiVo HD XL is on sale on Amazon.com for $595.58. Compare prices on other shops.

See all our top 10 gift tips in the Hometheater Components Category. Explore all our Top 100 Holiday Gift Tips 2008.

where to buy

Buy from Amazon

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Luigi Lugmayr
Luigi is the founding chief Editor of I4U News and brings over 15 years experience in the technology field to the ever evolving and exciting world of gadgets. He started I4U News back in 2000 and evolved it into vibrant technology magazine.
Luigi can be contacted directly at ml@i4u.com. Luigi posts regularly on LuigiMe.com about his experience running I4U.