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Toshiba RS-TX20
Toshiba RS-TX20 DVD Recorder with 120 GB TiVo Series2 Digital Video Recorder |
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Reviews:
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Toshiba's part good, Tivo's part (TV programming service) crappy!
5 out of 5
The unit has worked well for like 5 months now.
Only minor problem was one time it had a DVD drive error, which cleared itself by my cycling the AC power off and then back on.
Toshiba came with the FREE BASIC service, plus 45 days of the PLUS service, as a free trial.
The 45 days of PLUS service is broken up for some reason?
(Into a 6 or 7-day period, then an automatic extension of like
37 days, to equal "roughly" a 45-day trial period: total).
Only reason to keep the PLUS service beyond the 45 day trial period "MIGHT" be for the service called "SEASON PASS". Which records every episode of any TV show you request; skipping any reruns. The ONLY reason I see for getting it.
You also get like 2-3 week's advance TV guide with PLUS, vs. a day or two in advance with Basic service.
The Basic service is SO pathetically basic; I cannot fathom why other 3rd party Tivo manufacturer's units even bother to come without it.
Toshiba's selling point was "Free Basic service included".
I thought, "Hey. Basic will be fine."
What I found out was, you can manually setup a weekly recording schedule based on a fixed time to start and end, but what about those times when programs are delayed?
(Due to a special event, like sports events, Olympics, Presidential speeches, natural disasters news reports, etc).
The answer seems to be; all bets are off.
Your recordings will be cutoff by the amount of the start and/or stop delay time.
Downloading TV guide and tivo Updates -
2 choices. Phone or network.
- via the telephone they can be painfully SLOW. It's like a 56K modem built-in, I think I read somewhere.
- Via the network - I use a Belkin USB-to-10/100 ethernet adapter and plug it directly into a cable modem router.
TV Guide updates and email from Tivo are much faster via the USB/ETHERNET port setup.
Network setup was pretty much plug-N-play, automatic setup.
Conclusion:
Pros: Toshiba is great. Tivo bites!
I like the Toshiba unit and it's features.
Glad I got this unit with the 120GB hard drive and DVD burner and network connection ability.
Cons: My only complaints are with the service provider; TIVO.
I still can't believe that Tivo passes off a barely usable level of service as BASIC.
Had I known that Tivo's basic service was as pitifully crappy as it is, I would have simply bought a PC add-on, like a 2-tuner PCI card (like a hodge-podge pvr or an ATI pvr card)
Or a usb-external unit (like Xtreme TV by DiamondMM) and simply used my PC for recording.
With snapstream as the TV guide service.
Tivo's Basic service should be called:
- Tivo-SUBstandard or
- Tivo "craptastic" service.
The PLUS service should be re-labeled as Basic service.
A true PLUS service implies EXTRA features, beyond those features that are NECESSARY for basic functioning.
My vision of a PLUS service would have real bells and whistles, such as having features like A wireless TV guide lookup via your cell phone or PDA. Programming over the Internet or via cell phone, etc.
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Delivers as Advertised!
4 out of 5
I have now had this for a year. I put a DVD in the first day that had a deep scratch and the whole unit seized. I agree with the customer service problems: Tivo says call Toshiba, Toshiba says call Tivo. However, within a few days I had a prepaid label to ship the unit back to Toshiba who replaced it immediately (and returned the DVD that was stuck). That unit has been perfect. Absolutely no complaints other than everything happens a bit slow due to the delay in signal to the cable box.
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Good Machine, poor service with TiVo reps.
4 out of 5
Overall, the machine now works great for recording, viewing, and going from Hard Disk to DVD. The problem was the quality initially and then the biggest problem was the service at TiVo and their representatives.
We originally received the TiVo unit and the DVD did not function at all. This was my first time with a return to handle thru Amazon.com and I can tell you, I was extremely impressed. The process was quick, easy, and smooth. The second unit arrived within just a few days!
So after getting the second unit started, we called to transfer the TiVo Service over to the new unit. I have two major complaints here. It was not managed on the first call. As a matter of fact after 6 calls, the issue was (and is) still not resolved. The service representatives had little knowledge with handling the matter (definitely not subject matter experts). Additionally, each time we would call, the wait was between 15 to 40 minutes just to get a live (and unknowledgeable) representative. In the end, unfortunately we cancelled the TiVo service and we are now just using the basic service which still works great but doesn't have some of the features that we were hoping to have.
Additionally, it is annoying that TiVo still only utilitizes the wireless b network which is a just a bit more hassle in setting up the home network but works fine.
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The good, bad and the ugly...
2 out of 5
Good: It works, it is addictive, it changes the way you watch TV...
Bad: Well, the picture quality is not too good, the free TIVO service only has a three-day TV schedule (although you can plan manual recordings further ahead), the connectivity is complicated, the unit responds slowly to the remote.
Outright ugly: The quality is poor. My unit died after four months, the DVD drive stopped accepting DVDs ('no disk'). I hear this is quite a common problem. Still working with Toshiba to get it replaced.
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Decent Product - Horrible Service!
2 out of 5
This is our first experience with Tivo and after having many friends & family suggest it, we dove right in! In theory the product is awesome! Unfortunately, the lack of support for this product has turned this into a nightmare. It works occassionaly and just long enough to get us hooked and then there's inevitably another problem. It began with the tech dept directing us to the wrong router for the networking option. Of course this was after the cat and mouse game that we seem to play every time we call "Oh, it's Tivo software, you have to call Tivo" then " OH it's a Toshiba product you have to call Toshiba". These two company's seemingly paired up long enough to agree on the product label and then never communicated again. Trying to get support from either one has turned into a ridiculous joke.
As stated, the theory is awesome and I've seen enough that I'm sure someday it will be worth it. But right now, I regret buying the product and the lifetime service. My time and money are much better spent elsewhere than wasted calling one department after another.
Also, the picture quality is poor, the internet option doesn't work consistently and there are times the picture jumps.
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Buy at Amazon.com
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