I'm getting a tivo tomorrow, and I was wondering for those who have one already.. may they answer a couple questions for me? thanks!

-You don't need to pay monthly to record stuff right?
-Whatelse can you do besides recording things?
-You don't dont need a specific tivo for a specific setup? right...?
-Can you record channels that you don't have? i dont think so.. but...

Thanks you guys!
If I think of anymore I'll add them!
oh and sorry for so many stupid questions!

Sorry I didn't see this earlier:

1. If you are getting a regular TiVO and not through a satelite or cable provider there is either a monthly fee or a lifetime fee. If you can get a DVR through your cable or satellite company, that is always the way to go.
2. You can set up season passes that let you record everytime a certain tv show, actor etc. is on. You can also pause live TV and come back to it. Also you can record one show while you watch another if you have dual tuners
3. All TiVO's basically do the same thing
4. LOL I wish, that would be nice

If you are buying a standalone TiVO (One that doesn't come with a cable or satelite company) you can't do the dual tuner thing. That is why if possible I would get one through your provider.

Hope I helped

Craxy, what provider do you have--Comcast, DirecTV, etc.

Also, know this now: once you go DVR, TiVo or otherwise, you can never, ever go back. You are spoiled forever. (OK, maybe it's just me.)

Actually, I think TiVO did away with lifetime subscriptions. You do need to subscribe to TiVO's service to get it to work (I think the very early boxes you could use without it, but you'd have to probably find those on eBay now), and IIRC it's now a tiered price system depending on the length you commit to (it's more expensive if you only commit to 12 months vs, say, 36 months -- I think my boxes are grandfathered under the old monthly fee structure). It's kind of a pain, and I don't much like it, but apparently the service is where TiVO makes their money.

If you have a home network that you can connect your TiVO to, you can play games on it, order movie tickets, get Yahoo Weather, listen to podcasts, and some other things. It too can be a bit of a pain to get networked, but it lets you go onto the TiVO website and set up things you may have forgotten to set to record when you're not at home. It also downloads your program guide over the Internet rather than making you connect to your phone line.

If you have an HD setup, the regular TiVOs won't help you. They've just come out with a cheaper HD TiVO, though.