Xander ,'Get It Done'
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I don't have a TiVo. I have the DVR that comes with my U-verse service. (Before that I had TW's DVRs. I was with them so long that I think I saw generations 1 - 4 or something.) I've actually never had a TiVo so I can't compare.
I do love my DVR a lot. The one (small) downside I see with U-verse is that the pausing of live TV can only happen on the TV that's physically connected to the DVR. (You can pause recorded stuff on the other TVs but not shows you're watching live.)
how is the DVR on Uverse?My experience is based on a system with a single receiver and one TV in the apartment. It sounds like Kristen will have other experiences that I might not have.
Before U-vers, I had the Time-Warner DVR. Before that I had a few Panasonic stand alone DVR's that I really liked.
Search feature to add a show is pretty easy, although you can't add a show that isn't in the current TV guide. For instance, Parenthood is being advertised MONTHS in advance. I can't add the show until about 2 weeks before it airs, which is when it pops up in the guide.
My Panasonic's, I could burn a DVD of shows, I could edit out commercials, I could share a recording. My understanding with TiVo, you can transfer to your computer to load up on your iPhone/iPod/Zune/etc. U-verse, as far as I know, you can *NOT* do that yet. I hate that aspect.
The picture is clean, sound is good, no hum or buzz like TW had. As mentioned, you can record 4 programs at a time (2 SD, 2 HD). You can pause TV shows, rewind live, etc. The skip ahead past ads is 40 seconds that I like better than the tivo which just fast forwards at 3 speeds. I wish it was 30 seconds and not 40, but eh. There is also a back skip of 7 seconds.
It doesn't do that "you might like, so I recorded it for you" like TiVo, but I'm fine with that. If I miss something, it will come out in DVD eventually. I'd rather not fill up the hard drive with unwanted stuff.
I can access the guide from the internet and my iPhone. I can access my recordings from the internet to erase stuff (so when working a week of 12 hour days, I can delete the news, so my HD isn't filled with 3 hours of news every day.)
Not sure what else to say, so please ask specific questions. I do like it a ton. It doesn't miss shows, like the TW dvr did. It is easy to set up a series recording.
I'd rather not fill up the hard drive with unwanted stuff.
That's totally not a concern with TiVos, by the way. They delete unwanted stuff for wanted stuff so it never gets in the way.
I turned off the Tivo recs thing because I was sick of it trying to change the channel I was currently watching.
Mine gets interesting stuff that I don't want to invest a season pass in (Star Trek, Stargate, Doctor Who repeats) and stuff I feel guilty for not watching (astronomy and history). So I keep it on. It also gets me a lot of Buffy and Angel, and I feel anthropomorphically fondly towards it because of that. I check it every day amd trim it, because nothing stays there for long.
Before that I had a few Panasonic stand alone DVR's that I really liked.
And now I like them! I love how easy it is to edit out commercials and burn a DVD. I solved the buzzing problem, if I only could bother to figure out how to get the guide working, it would be perfect.
what was the buzz problem? (yes, the sound guy was too lazy by the time he got home to figure that out)
I don't know but there was often a hum/buzz that didn't show up on DVDs, so I didn't know if it was the TV or the DVR. It seemed like it was getting worse and I contempated replacing either or both. I tried different connections, but nothing worked until I used both the audio/video inputs and the RF (Is that it? The basic cable that used to be used on VCRs back in the day) input. No idea why, but there's no more buzz.
Typo, back to your Word question -- it used to be that you could create your own toolbar icons with specific functions that you specified. Unfortunately I don't have Word to play with, but I can remember doing it. I hope you can Google it successfully.
You can create custom ribbons in Word and other Office 2007 programs. However, you must create them using XML. (At least in Access, anyway.)