Programming to record something is easy as can be. Just type in the name of the show you want and it picks it up. Even if it changes channel or time. Ability to pause live tv - this is such a blessing - no worries about missing anything while you walk the dogs or answer the phone. The recorder is always recording a rolling window of 30 minutes, so you don't need to do anything to activate that feature. Tivo "learns" what you like and will record additional shows for you - it's fun to come home at the end of the day and see what it picked up. It usually maintains about 2 weeks of program listings, so you can program to record things in advance and usually has more detailed descriptions that what you find in the tv guide. The 8-second rewind/jump feature is worth the price alone - how often have you missed something and wanted to hear it again or wanted to replay the hail mary that wins the game in OT? Now it's just one button to automatically jump back 8 seconds.

remote hangs up every once in a while and needs to be rebooted. my cable box doesn't have a serial port, so I'm stuck usingh the IR cables for tivo to change the channels on my cable box - sometimes it misses the signal and can't change correctly.

This is an emerging technology, so I'm readily willing to forgive the few glitches (mentioned above) that occasionally occur. I am a complete convert to tivo and can't imagine how I timed my refreshment breaks and dog walking around the commercials prior to tivo. This player has great resolution, it's easy to hook up and fun to use. I haven't touched my VCR since I got it. I LOVE this thing. This player is for everyone, you don't need to be a techie to set it up (you never need to worry about setting a clock or messing up a recording!!) and you don't need to have a high end stereo to support it. Families with kids, people who like tv, but have hectic schedules, everyone will benefit from this recorder.

works as promised

wish it had an ethernet connection so I didn't have to string a phone line across the house.

overall, a great product. sure, it could use a larger hard drive, but that will come with time.