TiVo AN0100 Wireless N Network Adapter (Gray) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This works a lot better than the prior USB version, I can now stream HD Netflix movies on my TiVo HD for example whereas before I had trouble doing that because the USB version wifi adapter was so slow!
This doesn't plug into the USB on your TiVo but rather the ethernet port. It also requires AC power as well.
My only complaint is that this is too expensive.
If you plan to watch streaming content such as Netflix with your TiVo, I would recommend this device. However, if you only need it for the standard TiVo updates and network connectivity, the much cheaper USB version really works just fine. Even for scheduled downloads the USB version works fine because it does that in the background so the speed doesn't matter in that case.

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TiVo TCD746320 Premiere DVR (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've been a TiVo owner since 2003 and this is their best TiVo to date. But it isn't perfect. It's a shame that the new HD user interface is still a work in progress. It is buggy and slow. You still have the option of using the old user interface, which is what I do. The processor in the TiVo Premiere is more powerful than the TiVo HD. But the extra processing power is mainly for the new user interface. It has the same recording abilities that the TiVo HD had with the exception of also supporting 1080p. It would have been nice if TiVo would have added a third tuner. Like the TiVo HD, the Premiere only supports cable TV and OTA antenna programming. The Premiere is almost an inch shorter than the HD and is more energy efficient. The main reason I bought the Premiere wasn't to upgrade from my existing TiVo HD, but I wanted another TiVo for the kid's playroom. If you already own a TiVo HD and you are looking to upgrade, you might want to save your money for the next TiVo series. If you don't already have a TiVo or you don't have an HD-capable TiVo for your HDTV, this is a great purchase. While the upgrades from the TiVo HD are lacking, it is still the best DVR on the market.
We use our TiVo with a large antenna in the attic and a $9 per month Netflix subscription. We have more than enough to watch between the DVD's we get in the mail, streaming Netflix to our TiVo from the Internet, and the 30+ digital channels we receive OTA. Actually, TiVo makes using an antenna acceptable for us. It records all the shows we like no matter when they are on and we watch them in our time. I was able to buy the TiVo Premiere and a lifetime subscription with the money we saved over the past year by dropping cable. TiVo also supports Internet video rentals from Amazon and Blockbuster, but we prefer using Netflix because it's cheaper.
This TiVo can record up to 45 hours of HD programming. That sounds like a lot, but you'll be surprised by how quickly it fills up. You can add an external drive Western Digital My DVR Expander 1 TB eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive WDG1S10000VN (Black) to add more recording space. The one big caveat with this method of adding recording space is you'll lose all your recordings on the external drive and your TiVo if you decide to remove it later. The other option is to purchase the Premiere XL TiVo TCD748000 Premiere XL DVR (Black). It will allow you to record up to 150 hours of HD programming and comes with a backlit remote. I upgraded the internal hard drive in my TiVo HD myself and kept the original drive as a backup. I'm waiting to hear from others before I attempt to upgrade the internal hard drive in my TiVo Premiere. To date, no one knows if it can be done or not.
FYI: TiVo has a couple of specials going for existing TiVo users. You can either get $200 off the lifetime subscription for a new Premiere (if you already have a lifetime subscription) or receive a 20% discount off the Premiere itself (if you don't have a lifetime subscription). I believe you must purchase your TiVo directly from TiVo to get the discounts. TiVo offers free shipping, but you'll have to pay taxes on the hardware.
According to a TiVo press release, TiVo is coming out with a wireless N network adapter in May with a retail price of $89.99. They are also coming out with an optional slide-out QWERTY TiVo remote later this year. The remote will utilize a Bluetooth USB dongle that will plug into the back of your TiVo HD or Premiere.
Update 4/18/2010:
I did give the new interface another shot for a couple of days. I like where they are going with it, but as I said before it isn't a finished product. It locked up on me twice while flipping through the menus. As others have mentioned, if you drill down into the menu system you will eventually end up in the old menu system. They have a new option to list Oscar winning films. So I select a movie and it says it's available from Blockbuster. Cool, but I haven't been a member of Blockbuster for years so I go back and configure my TiVo not to search Blockbuster (nice feature). I then go back to the list of Oscar winning films and it still shows the same movie. I select the movie again and this time it tells me it's not available for me to watch. So why would I want to see a partial list of Oscar winning movies that currently aren't available for me to watch on my TiVo?
For people who have rated the TiVo Premiere one or two stars because of the new user interface, well I can't argue with them. Perhaps TiVo should have sold the Premiere with the old user interface enabled with the option of using the new beta user interface. I'm sure TiVo will push out updates in the future to fix the issues, but we're not talking about a few minor bugs here. I think TiVo released the new user interface way too early.
I've been using my TiVo Premiere for 3 weeks now with the old user interface. I've had no issues with it and it's as stable as my TiVo HD. However, I see little difference between my TiVo HD and my TiVo Premiere while using the old user interface. I would still rate the TiVo Premiere as 4 stars with the old user interface. But as I mentioned in my original review, it isn't much of an upgrade from the TiVo HD. One thing that the Premiere has over the HD is the ability to run the new user interface (which isn't ready for prime time).
Update 4/20/2011:
Well it's been a year now and my TiVo Premiere is still running strong as is my older TiVo HD. They both do everything I bought them for, which is to record live TV so I can watch it on my own time and to stream Netflix movies. I still can't recommend dumping your TiVo HD for a TiVo Premiere. But I can recommend a TiVo Premiere if you want to dump cable/satellite and need an HD DVR. One complaint I have about my TiVos, is that they don't have a screen saver that kicks in after a few minutes of pausing the TV. I worry about the kids pausing the TV too long and causing burn-in damage on our plasma TV. It would be an easy software fix for TiVo and yet they still haven't implemented anything like it on the HD or Premiere after all these years. The Netflix interface hasn't changed since they enabled the service for TiVos. If you want to watch a Netflix movie on your TiVo, you have to go to Netflix.com on your computer first to add movies to your instant movie queue. Then you can pick one of those movies from your queue on your TiVo to watch it. We have a WD TV Live Hub Western Digital WD TV Live Hub 1 TB Media Center and they have updated their Netflix interface so you can search for Netflix movies from your TV and add them to your queue without ever using your computer. Both devices play Netflix movies equally well.
It looks like TiVo has restructured their service fees since we bought ours. It appears that TiVo is no longer offering the lifetime subscription anymore. They have also increased their monthly rates to $20 a month if you buy the box from Amazon or anywhere else it is deeply discounted. You can pay full price ($300) directly from TiVo and then only pay $13 a month. I love my TiVo, but $20 a month is a bit steep. At the current price ($80/TiVo, $20/mo.), I would break even at 21 months with the lifetime subscription I purchased from TiVo last year. At full price ($300/TiVo, $13/mo.), I would break even at 16 months. I hope TiVo will reconsider offering the lifetime subscription to their users again. The lifetime subscription is the only reason we have two TiVos.

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The Tivo TCD746320 Series4 Premiere DVR is the next generation of DVR technology, from the original TV revolutionary company. Store, playback, record and fast-forward to or through your favorite shows and commercials. Use TiVo's intuitive interface to navigate your recordings, TV settings and more.

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TiVo AG0100 Wireless G USB Network Adapter for TiVo Series 2 and Series 3 DVRs Review

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(More customer reviews)First, thank you to the previous reviewers: I had several questions regarding this product such as "does it support Wireless Encryption?" and the previous reviews really helped...by the way yes, it supports WEP.
What you will need if you want to use this:
1) Wireless Internet Access (Wireless Router and Connection to Internet) within range of your DVR
2) Series 2 DVR (with USB plug)
3) A computer for some of the advanced features
Once you have these two things then using this product is amazingly simple to set up for about 80% of "Lucky People."
1) Plug it In
2) Follow the Instructions
3) Enter your WEP key (alphanumeric or hexadecimal --- alphanumeric is much easier)
4) I had to restart my DVR
5) If you're connecting a computer and using TivoToGo, you have to install the software on your computer...which also has to be connected to the network for your TIVO to see it and for your computer to see your TIVO and you'll need your Media Access Key.
Benefits I received from this product:
1) I don't have to use a phone line to get updates (no dialing)
2) TIVO updates come much faster over Broadband (Faster updates)
3) I bought TIVO to Go Plus --extra $$ from TIVO for the license key that you use with the computer software and I can listen to my iPod music through my Bose in my living room
4) I have my picture library shared....baby pictures are nice on the television....but caution, the quality of the pictures will only be as good as your TV....ie HDTV is still not as good as a good laptop screen and if you don't have HDTV, they'll only look as good as your TVs best resolution. Its still very cool to show baby pictures on the big TV.
5) I have a huge Attached Hard Drive array on my computer...its really a Server...so I offload movies I plan to keep and they're always there when I want to watch them so the 180hour DVR size limit kindof doesn't apply.
Issues / Challenges:
1) You have to know a little bit about computers if you want to get some of the more complex benefits such as share pictures, music, download movies.....ie you have to know about firewalls, how to install software, IP addresses and things like that.
2) If you have wireless access already set up and just want to use it to connect to the internet and get program updates instead of using your phone line, its pretty easy but you'll have to a) have DHCP turned on or b) assign it a static IP......for those of you who think I just typed in Greek, chances are that you have DHCP but if you happen not to, you could bump into problems.
3) If you want to listen to your IPod, share pictures, download to your computer, please make sure to read the software/hardware requirements for your computer.
Overall, these are my thoughts on the average person installing this easily:
A) 80% of the people who buy this should have Zero problems installing this product because you have a standard network configuration, know your way around networks, or are just lucky.
B) 20% of the people who buy this who don't have a standard Wireless network configuration AND don't have some knowledge of networking....you could become frustrated at trying to connect this product ESPECIALLY if you want to use some of the advanced functionality.
My Luck:
1) Start to finish it took me 5 minutes to install this to get its updates through the wireless network.
2) It took me about 30 minutes to install all the other software and get everything configured to share music, pictures and enable TivoToGo on my computer.


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Connect your TiVo Series2 DVR to your wireless home network with this TiVo Wireless G USB Network Adapter, and enjoy TiVoToGo, multi-room viewing transfers, music and photos served up to your television, and easy online scheduling of recordings. If used with a broadband connection, it also eliminates the need for a phone line. With the TiVoToGo feature, you'll be able to transfer programs from your TiVo box to a Windows-based desktop or laptop PC. It works with 802.11g and 802.11b wireless networks.
What's in the Box USB network adapter, USB cable

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