Wow… more on HDTV recorder wars
HDTV Recorder Hub
I just happened across this website that does consumer goods comparisons, here’s a really lengthy and I would say almost exhaustive comparison of cable/satellite company provided HDTV recorder versus HD TiVo.
You can find it here.
I won’t repeat too much of it here, it’s better if you just go browse through it yourself (I recommend the “fast answers” section if you’re in a hurry), but here’s an excerpt to whet your appetite:
If you’re a cable subscriber, your choice is between renting a DVR from your cable company or buying a TiVo box plus TiVo service. Hands down, reviews say that TiVo-based DVRs have the most polished, easy-to-use interface. But TiVo boxes also cost considerably more than DVRs available from most cable providers. With TiVo, you have to pay a service fee (*est. $8.30 to $17 per month depending on plan) on top of the price for the set-top box. In comparison, large cable companies such as Time Warner and Cox Communications charge between $8 and $16 per month, with no equipment costs. Since you are renting the DVR from the cable provider, you can take advantage of future equipment upgrades.
The cost of the equipment is not the only issue with TiVo, especially for those interested in high-definition programming. HD TiVos are not simply a DVR, they are also the cable box and require cable-company issued CableCards to function. Once relatively inexpensive, some large cable operators have recently upped their charges for CableCards (*est. $2 to $5 each monthly), and in most cases, two CableCards are required for full functionality in the latest dual-tuner TiVos. If you are fortunate enough to be served by a cable company that’s offering the latest multistream (M-series) CableCards, you can get by with just one card, but we’ve seen very few reports thus far of consumers actually being able to secure one of those.
CableCards (which take the place of a component cable box) are problematic for a number of reasons beyond cost. Though cable companies are required to make them available, not all do. In addition, current CableCards — including multistream CableCards — only support one-way communication, which disables some of the functionality of digital-cable systems, including the interactive programming guide (not that big a deal if you have a TiVo) and video on demand. In addition, CableCard users can’t view HD programming that’s distributed using a system called Switched Digital Video (SDV), which uses less bandwidth than other distribution methods. Many — but not all — cable companies are using SDV as a way to offer more HD content to compete with satellite providers.