The Best Tivo DVR

Both the TiVo Premiere and TiVo Premiere XL DVR boxes work with cable and digital antenna. Users can replace their current cable boxes with the TiVo box. TiVo Premiere and XL work with standard-definition and high-definition televisions, and they can record programming in standard or high-definition. The Premiere XL DVR is roughly three times more expensive than the Premiere DVR. It is able to hold three times as much recording and is THX certified for quality of sound and video.

TiVo Premiere DVRs offer recording, play back and numerous other features. Users can search for programs they'd like to record with TiVo Search, WishList searches and Season Pass recordings. The TiVo Premier holds 45 hours of HD programming; the TiVo Premiere XL holds as much as 150 hours of HD recording. Users can control both live television and recorded programming with their TiVo remote. Control options include pause, slow motion, instant replay, rewind in three speeds and fast-forward in three speeds.

TiVo DVRs, both the Premier and Premiere XL, offer users access to more than 100,000 movies and other programs on demand. Several of the on-demand offerings are in HD. Users can also stream live shows and movies from Hulu and Netflix to their TVs with TiVo DVRs. Movies are also available for download from Amazon and Blockbuster when using TiVo DVRs. When watching movies, the main difference between the Premiere and XL boxes is that the XL has higher quality sound and video.

Several different TiVo remote options are available, and the remote included with TiVo boxes varies upon whether users have the Premiere or the XL box. The standard remote included with TiVo Premiere DVRs is a basic black remote that controls DVR use and recordings. Other remotes available for TiVo Premiere DVRs are the lavender remote, which can control two DVRs, and the slide remote. The slide remote slides open to expose a QWERTY-format keyboard for convenient text entry. TiVo Premiere XL users receive a TiVo Glo Premium Remote that has backlit keys for convenience when using the remote in the dark.