I’ve spent some time playing with my new 80GB Tivo Series2 DVR. The primary reason for purchasing this was not for the ability to pause live TV or even to record it, but simply to enhance the video and audio quality while adding the aforementioned features. Generally speaking the Tivo unit increased the quality of both the audio and video output from my cable connection (over the standard Motorola Cable Box). Unfortunately the Tivo unit does not support HD content, so the difference between HD and standard definition broadcasts is slight, although noticeable. It has an intuitive and near flawless interface, although there are delays between screens which will annoy anyone not used to this. Delays are also present during channel changes. There are also long load times for software and TV listing updates, although you can continue to watch Live TV during these periods. Initially I...

Here is an article validating my post (here). The article lists some of the same concerns I had. It’s interesting that companies can still get away with releasing bug ridden products. A Cingular rep told me that the phone automatically updates its software, but gave the impression that updates are rare on the Cingular network. Other networks, such as Alltel require that you dial a special number to recieve the firmware upgrade.