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cable companies offer an hd dvr for about 390 dollars less. is there really any reason to get this besides the tivo interface?

#1: no, but it's more than reason enough.

#1 - you also get join the cult of the insanely protective Tivo clan, who will attack you with pure venom for suggesting the cable cos' free box is just about the same.

I'd wait for the new two-way Oepn Cable devices

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCable_Application_Platform

Here in Austin, we have a switched cable network, where, for many of the more obscure channels (and some not-so-obscure, like the west-coast HBO/Cinemax/Showtime feeds), the cable box has to send a signal to request a channel be delivered to the node, and the frequency assignment is dynamic. TIVO can't do this, so it basically can't record a lot of the channels -- including a bunch of the HD channels.

I've heard rumors of a USB dongle coming for TIVO that connects to the cable and can blast the requests and receive the channel assignments, but it's dead-in-the-water until that capability is available, and I'd much rather see it built into the box (and a new TV for that matter).

#3, you asked for it...

I can only compare the Series 1/2 Tivo interface vs. what Dish Networks' box offers since I have used both. The Tivo interface is leagues better. It's easier to use and has more features.

I could not say what I would choose today. I am still using the Tivo service with digital cable and like it. At the time, the canned DVR from my cable company cost money for the box plus a $5 per month fee. I was able to find Tivo's for free (via offers) and bought lifetime subscriptions. For now, my two Tivo boxes were cheaper and offered more than what I could get from the cable companies.

With HD offerings from cable/satellite companies and built in HD DVR's, Tivo's may not be able to compete any longer. I would also be skeptical about the ever changing HD standards and HDMI DRM crap that could render your HD Tivo box no better than an SD quality Tivo.

If they'd put a DVD burner on it, it might be worth it.

I would never trust buy.com with this large of a rebate. They have offered deals in the past with some very SHADY rebate houses, Inphonic definitely comes to mind. They are being sued by the AG in Washington, DC, for their fraud and shady business practices. I am one of their victims and let me tell you, buy.com was no help and uncooperative with the whole fiasco.

Great another subscription, just what I needed. What is air next?

#7, you can try to dispute the charge with your credit card company. I haven't tried it but others say it sometimes works. If you are successful the credit card company will get the money from the retailer.

ya, buy.com is a bit shadey if you ask me too.

Echo here - the buy.com rebate "department" leaves something to be desired.

#1, first this offers more features than your cable DVR, including upcoming slingbox type capabilities. Further, this will tune ATSC over the air, so you don't need to be paying for cable if you have an antenna.

just notice, they are using special ben math again 560 - 200 + 0 shipping is 390?

talking about buy.com they had the itouch for $200 when people ordered it the cancelled the orders taken and said it was out of stock but was in stock at $299 theres a lot of pissed off peopl today

cable cards suck. i build custom home theaters for a living, and we've put several of these in high end systems. the problems keep on comming. the cable cards just don't work that well, and once they do work, they can stop all of a sudden which requires your cable company to roll a truck out to your house. super pain.

Do the Tivo's accept cable cards? I am wondering how Tivo works in conjuntion with cablevision's services which requires a digital cable box with a cable card. I was too lazy to experiment and just opted for cablevision's dvr box for $10/month.

This accepts cable cards but they're only one-way: the cards can decrypt an incoming signal, but they can't transmit. So no video on demand, and if you're on a switched network (which is where the world is going), you won't be able to tune all of the channels that your cable box can receive.

Love my TIVO but getting ready to trade it for the HD Cable DVR. I am not spending $400 on tivo plus $12 in service fees monthly anymore.

at first I thought, wow... $390.. then I saw $200 rebate.. WOW!