Have a picture of Thomson PVR10UK TiVo Digital Video Recorder?, please send it to us.
Picture courtesy of Darren Long.
| Features | 9/10   |
|---|---|
| Ease of Use | 9.7/10 |
| Value for Money | 9.7/10 |
| Reviewer Rating | 9.7/10 |
| Overall Rating | 8.7/10 |
Full review by
diablo944
expert review 
on 13th Jun 2007
User Rating : 9
Respect :
0
Good Points: Excellent video recording device, intuitive and simple controls, good remote control (simple yet efficient), good following of technical users who are able to keep TiVo up and running in the UK, along with numerous upgrades to improve the unit. Highly capable and in many ways better than the (vastly younger) Sky+ boxes. Subscription and support still available despite it no longer being manufactured. Build quality is excellent. Able to control and record from external sources such as Freeview.
Bad Points: Largely forgotten about in the UK since manufacture was stopped, but still available and still a good PVR. No Freeview/digital tuner as standard (though it is able to control and record from an external Freeview box). Limited drive space on a standard unmodified machine. Occasional sluggish controls (again on an unmodified machine), though a series 2 remote works with a series one box and improves the speed dramatically. No longer manufactured in the UK, or sold in the mainstream shops, so second hand or refurb is only way to go. 10 pound pcm or 200 pounds lifetime (of the machine) for channel information subscription (required as Tivo is useless without it). No built in DVD to record items for friends. Only one (analogue) tuner. Very badly advertised in the UK.
General comments: Some feel that the size is a bad point, being around the size of an older video recorder, but it is ideal for those wanting to stack a DVD player, Xbox, Playstation, Freeview box or just about anything else on it. Despite the recorders somewhat lowly recording quality on a standard machine, the display, even on a large screen LCD is still good enough for most people. The intuitive controls and TiVo's easy setup make it a fantastic personal video recorder. Long before SKY+, TiVo was recording a full series of any particular program with a minimum of input from the user. Automatically avoids clashes in schedules, records items based on actual programme name choices, actor, genre, type of programmes, learns viewing habits and records programmes you may have forgotten about. Many users, once they have a TiVo can't look at TV without it. It was the first mainstream box to allow you to pause live TV, watch one recording while recording another, things taken for granted now, but in some ways, the EPG and controls especially noteworthy, nothing else has ever come close to TiVo. The lack of a digital tuner would put people off it now, but as it can control a Freeview box, this is not really a detrimental item. Many TiVos now in the marketplace have been heavily modified, and items with larger drives are a highly recommended thing. An original machine having only 12 hours recording at high quality (40 hours basic quality, and in this day and age, not acceptable), add to this the fact the series one machine has not been manufactured for over 4 years and the drive may have seen a lot of its life used up. Larger (and newer) drives fitted to modified machines see recording time upped to the 300 hours plus at maximum quality. There are further modifications to increase menu speeds and allow other changes to the hardware and software, even allowing a higher recording quality, but these are perhaps best left to the individual to research. The main point here is that TiVo still has a strong following in the UK, support is still available, as is the subscription service (ironically, I am told it is Sky that actually now carry the TiVo name in the UK). TiVo is still big in the US, and their TiVo units have progressed into smaller boxes, more features, DVD recording abilities and more, while in the UK only the series one was ever an option. NTSC boxes and any of their upgraded designs are no use in the UK as they will not work. On a plus point, the series one Tivo was a substantially built unit. Suffers from few (if any) of the more annoying traits of it's US cousins, and is largely the same as it ever was. If you can find one and overlook it's lack of DVD drive, and native Freeview, it is still one of the best, if not the best personal recorders released to date.
diablo944's review and ratings | 704 words
Review by
ceebee50
on 4th Dec 2004
User Rating : 10
Respect :
0
Purchased my Thomson PVR10UK Tivo digital video recorder in 2002 and it has been the best puchase ever. Anything I want to keep for a long time or pass to friends, I just transfer to normal tape video recorder.
ceebee50's full review | 39 words
Review by
amckillican
on 22nd Jul 2004
User Rating : 10
Respect :
0
I got hold of my Tivo PVR by mistake after purchasing a laptop. I was unable to return it so I got a credit and purchased the Thomson PVR10UK. It really does change the way you watch TV. Instead of waiting for your program or messing around with a video it just records what you like (and learns what you like). You then watch what you want when you want to! allowing me more quality time with my friends and family. An excellent purchase, couldn't be without it now.
amckillican's full review | 102 words
Review by
simon hewitt.
on 23rd Feb 2003
User Rating : 10
Respect :
+2
I bought my Tivo back in May 2002, after changing jobs, and I started to miss my favourite programs due to the longer hours in my new position.
Buying the Tivo has been the best £200 pounds I spent, because it really is a must have box, once you have got it set up and started to tell it what you like to watch or dislike.
Since I got the machine, the VHS has only been used to playback a couple of films since, because the tivo leaves the VHS for dead, in terms of ease of use, flexibility ...
simon hewitt.'s full review | 227 words
Review by
Tamber.
on 5th Dec 2002
User Rating : 9
Respect :
+5
What is Tivo? In a nutshell its a digital VCR, instead of using a cassette to record programs it saves them to a hard drive (like those in your PC). There are additional features such as pausing live TV, automatic recording of programs and recording of suggested programs.
The unit its self will set you back around £150, this will get you a box that can record about 20 hours of TV. If you want the advanced features like automatic recording and suggestions the subscription service is &poun ...
Tamber.'s full review | 368 words
Review by
richkeys.
on 28th Mar 2002
User Rating : 10
Respect :
-9
The thompson PVR10UK personal video recorder-you can now get these life changing boxes for £199.99 get 'em while they're hot!!
richkeys.'s full review | 22 words
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