TiVo TCD746320 Premiere and Premier XL – a DVR that actually works

The TiVo TCD746320 Premiere DVR is the latest from the inventors of Digital Video Recording (DVR). Unlike DVRs from cable companies, the TiVo TCD746320 Premiere DVR actually works. I can’t emphasize that point enough. Believe me, DVRs from cable companies do not work. You will *never* get a new box from the cable company and the recycled box will have the same problem for you that the previous user had. You configure the DVR to record various programs and you are lucky if half of them get recorded. Not so with the TiVo.
The new TiVo is available in two models, the TiVo TCD746320 Premiere DVR ($300) and TiVo TCD748000 Premiere XL DVR ($500). The difference is mostly in recording times, but if you need THX, better get the XL. The basic model can record 45 hours of HD programming, the XL model 150 hours.

I’ve lifted some text from TiVo advertising and made some additions in order to list some features below. I have removed advertising hype.

Record two HD or SD shows at once while watching a third. Note: the third program would have to play back from already recorded programs. In order to take advantage of this feature, you will need to rent from your cable company a dual-channel “cable card” that plugs into your TiVo and decrypts programming. The TiVo does not do any decrypting.

Download movies and shows from Amazon Video On Demand and BLOCKBUSTER Video On Demand, or stream movie favorites on demand from Netflix Watch Instantly.

Connect TiVo TCD746320 Premiere DVR to the Internet through your home network and you have access to movies, TV shows, music videos, podcasts and more. You can even search, browse, and schedule recordings anywhere, anytime using a PC or mobile device. Try doing that with your cable company DVR. Transfer recordings to your laptop, iPod, PSP, or other media player to take with you.

You can access your own digital music library, Rhapsody music service, watch music videos using Music Choice, or listen to the world’s largest Internet radio network – Live 365.

TiVo requires a service plan in order to provide guide services. They offer monthly, yearly, three-year and product lifetime plans, each offering incentives. The highest per-month cost is the monthly plan at $12.95 per month, but even that requires a one-year commitment. You can usually save money with TiVo over using a lame DVR from a cable company. The cable company in our area charges $9.99 per month for the DVR directory and control service and $7.25 per month for the DVR rental, a total of $17.24 per month. They charge $1.99 per month for a Multi-Stream CableCARD decoder. So even if you go with the monthly TiVo plan, your total monthly bill goes from $17.24 per month to $14.94 per month. More likely you will select the yearly plan at $129 ($10.75 per month) for a total of $12.74 per month. Thus your savings would be $4.50 per month on a recurring basis. Our cable company charges a mandatory $54 installation fee for the Multi-Stream CableCARD decoder, so that affects the analysis a bit but not the recurring savings. To sign up for a service plan, click on this link: Shop TiVo.com! You may be able to save 10% using Coupon Code “SAVE10”