Engadget HD Podcast 181 - TiVo Premiere
By Trent Wolbe 
posted March 4th 2010 7:27PM
posted March 4th 2010 7:27PM
A new TiVo isn't something that happens everyday -- in fact the last time was almost three years ago -- and because so many love and hate their TiVo at the exact same time, these same people get very passionate about the changes they expect. This is a task we weren't willing to take on our own, so we invited Engadget Classic Editors Nilay and Paul (one is a die hard TiVo user and the other actually went to the event) and just for a little outside perspective, we also had TiVo expert Dave Zatz. Who's been following the company as long as anyone we know. We went a little long and deviated off topic into the land of Media Center a few times, but overall there is some podcast gold in here -- if we can say so ourselves. Get the podcast
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Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh, Richard Lawler
Guests: Nilay Patel, Paul Miller and Dave Zatz
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Program
00:02:05 - TiVo Premiere and Premiere XL usher in a brand new interface, optional QWERTY remote
00:23:15 - TiVo Premiere hands-on (update: video!)
00:47:00 - Oops: TiVo Premiere won't have Comcast On Demand
01:33:10 - Poll: So what's your reaction to the TiVo Premiere?
LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)
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So everyone is in agreement that it has the same features as the HD and HD XL, except has a better user interface.
The Engadget video of using that interface is embarrassing. Might be too early to tell, but the new interface looks extremely slow. I'd rather have the old ten year old interface fast than the new thumbnail centric interface slow. The people that buy these Tivo's have fast computers and fast smartphones. They are not going to understand how the interface in 2010 could be this slow.
I love the idea of the EngadgetHD team building a WMC box. I'm a TiVoHD owner that was also underwhelmed. Having to buy the QWERTY remote is an insult. I'm playing around with WMC7 and HDHomeRun, waiting for the Ceton tuner to be released. Then I'll decide whether to build a HTPC to replace my Tivo.
In addition to building the lowest cost bottom-end system, I'd be interested in what you could build to get your ideal system. Not over the top expensive and every option, just what would you really like to see in a DVR.
Another great podcast, with more classic Ben-isms! "The only people disappointed with the Tivo announcement were people who already own Tivos."
You know, I have a 360 and a Windows 7 Media Center box underneath my TV. Why? Mostly because Media Center runs so much smoother on dedicated hardware compared to using the 360 as an extender. There is a pretty big noticeable difference between.