Tivo Reliability? (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Cate]

I've heard a lot about how great Tivo is, but I also hear a lot about units failing (hard drives and modems failing mainly). I was wondering if people could give their opinions on whether Tivo has quality control problems, and give any personal quality problems they've had with their Tivo's?

 

[LDfan]

Hi Patrick,
I've had my Sony Tivo for a little over 3 weeks now and haven't had any problems at all. Yes there may be some hardware problems out there but that isn't Tivo's fault. Tivo is just responsible for the software, Sony and Philips handle all the hardware stuff.
Jeff

 

[Michael Reuben]

I bought my Sony TiVo unit six months ago and have had zero hardware problems. My sense is that the units that failed did so immediately.
Remember, you're more likely to see postings about problems than about the lack of them!
M.

 

[RichMiller]

I've got two Philips TiVo units, 14 and 30 hours. Had the 14-hour for about a year, and the 30-hour for around 9 months. Not a single reliability problem with either.
-Rich
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Technophilia is like hemophilia...
In both cases bleeding oneself dry is a danger.

 

[David Paymer]

I'm planning on purchasing a Tivo in the near future but according to the message boards over at Tivo.com the recent software upgrade has been causing problems for many units. Have any of you guys received the upgrade? Any troubles?

 

[Michael Reuben]

I've had the upgrade for some time now, on a Sony 30-hour model (the regular one, not DirecTV). Zero problems with it from day one, and the enhanced functions have been a pleasure.
M.

 

[David Paymer]

Thanks for the feedback, Michael.
The Sony model seems to be getting fewer complaints than the Philips so I may go Sony as well.

 

[Mike Lang]

I've been running the newest software for nearly 8 months on multiple (philips) units and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.
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Moderator, AVS TiVo Forum

 

[Ben Chick]

I've had the newest software on my TIVO for a couple months. I added a second harddrive to bump my storage up to 87.5 hours.. after the upgrade I only have 81 hours, which isn't bad. The upgrade also speeded up the interface for me.
The thing driving me nuts is that we got a UPN affiliate in Lexington in early 2001 and it still is not added to my program guide. I've been complaining since March and it is never fixed. I've called TIVO at least 5 times.. First Tribune didn't have the new channel on their program information. They got it and finally added it, but my TIVO refuses to grab the station and programming info. I even repeated guided setup (took 3 hours this last time because the modem was having trouble making the connection). I receive the station off the air with rabbit ears as oppossed to cable and everytime I call TIVO, I have to explain that to them again. Last week they were going to pursue a more technical fix and told me to call back in 5 days if the issue is still not resolved. Looks like I'll be calling later this evening again.
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[RichMiller]

I received the 2.01 upgrade a month or two ago for both units, and have had no problems at all.
For the vast majority of people there have been no problems. If you go over to the TiVo forum on AVSForum you're going to see a lot of complaints because generally the people having no trouble don't take the time to say so.
I'm a *very* happy TiVo user.
-Rich

 

[PaulG]

I have had a Sony 30 hour since September, 2000, and a Philips 60 hour since November, 2000. Both working with Motorola DCT2000 digital cable boxes. No problems that a reboot hasn't fixed (knock on wood). I did leave the phone cord disconnected once after moving the unit, but TiVo sent me a message that it was getting low on guide data. I investigated, and fixed it, with no lose of any programs. I think that was great.