Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased a TiVo Premiere Elite box on launch day from Best Buy. I would have preferred to purchase on Amazon but it wasn't available. I was basically expecting a very similar experience to what is available on my TiVo Premiere. To my surprise the Elite has significantly improved performance most likely attributable to a new software build which enables dual-core support (14.9). This hasn't been completely confirmed but the Elite boots up in about 3 minutes while the traditional Premiere takes about 8 minutes to boot up. A software upgrade is probably coming to the entire Premiere platform which will increase performance on the Premiere to be equivalent to the Elite. The other pleasant surprise in the new software is the support for multi-room streaming in addition to the familiar multi-room view (transfer) that has been present in the TiVo since the beginning. The problem with transfer is the inability to transfer copy protected content. The streaming support gets around that limitation. On the hardware side of things the 2TB video optimized quiet hard drive from Western Digital works as expected and stores an enormous amount of video. Its been confirmed that the Elite includes a gigabit ethernet port so this is the first TiVo that exceeds the 100MB limit on ethernet. The Elite also includes MoCA technology which allows reliable whole-home connections over existing coaxial connections. As of this review there are some issues on the TiVo server side enabling the video on demand options so I will update the review when I can test that part of the experience. The High Definition User Interface (HDUI) menus are very snappy on the Elite compared to the Premiere. I highly recommend the Premiere Elite as the center of a whole home DVR experience. 10/28/2011 Update: The problems associated with video on demand from Netflix, Amazon, etc. have been resolved. The multi-room streaming (MRS) which removes any issues associated with copy protected content has been disabled. I'm expecting TiVo to re-enable this in the next few weeks as this capability is starting to roll-out to TiVo Premiere boxes on the RCN cable network. The HDUI menus are definitely faster than the Premiere running 14.8 software but it has been acknowledged by TiVo and RCN that they are working on another software build that will offer a more significant improvement in menu speed. It has also been posted that TiVo is working on a 1080p Netflix app that offers an improved user experience. 11/19/2011 Update: TiVo pushed a software update to all Elite's yesterday that brings the software to version 14.9.2. This update is mostly to resolve a number of bug fixes according to representatives of TiVo. Overall I remain very pleased with the Elite. TiVo has hinted on twitter that we will be getting a major software update in early 2012 which will hopefully update the feature set to be closer to the Virgin Media TiVo that is deployed in the UK. 2/4/2012 Update: The major software update I hinted at in my November Update has gone live on all TiVo boxes. This is a dramatic software architecture change that makes the box even better. Unfortunately I can't add any more stars on my 5-star review. TiVo has also posted on their blog that updates to the Netflix and Youtube clients are being released this spring which will be a welcome change. Hulu Plus is now fully integrated into the TiVo Search and the user interface is much faster than it was on the 14.9.2 update. The new software is version 20.2. 6/11/2012 Update: TiVo pushed a new software update to all TiVo Premiere (Series 4) boxes in May 2012 which replaces the Netflix app, the YouTube app, and adds Parental Controls to the high definition user interface (HDUI). There are also many bug fixes that improve the stability of the platform although there are a few users who are now reporting issues with Multi-Room Streaming (MRS). The one update that was most important to me was a fix for an Amazon Instant Video Pixelation/Macroblocking issue that is now fixed. TiVo has also released support for Comcast Xfinity On Demand in the San Francisco Bay Area and Greater Boston area which is a huge plus if you happen to be in those market areas. I'm looking forward to another software update later this summer or early fall which will add more high definition menu updates and improved support for the whole home DVR experience. This software update should accompany the release of a new TiVo Stream box and IP-only set top box. I'm interested in both boxes. The TiVo Stream transcodes live and recorded television for viewing and side-loading onto devices like my iPad. The IP set top allows a user to hijack a live tuner from the Elite/XL4 and watch live and recorded television on another TV without the need to purchase another Premiere box. This eliminates the need to have a CableCARD on that television which saves money. 11/6/2012 Update: TiVo is pushing a new software update to TiVo Premiere (Series 4) boxes in November 2012 which further upgrades the user experience and performance of the boxes. The most visible change to the experience are three (3) new high definition screens. They are the Season Pass Manager, To Do List, and History. There are also new HD screens associated with scheduling manual recordings, and finding programs by time or channel. TiVo didn't just convert the screens to HD, they added functionality liek the ability to easily see conflicts in the To Do List. You'll also notice that you can now manage favorites and channels right from the Grid Guide and you can click left in the Grid Guide to go back in time which is something I've been wanting for a long time. When it comes to handling a multi-TiVo household, you now have better control of a remote Premiere DVR and the remote shows list is also in HD. You now have the ability to manage the remote DVR as well - this feature was likely established for the upcoming TiVo Mini IP Set Top box and the Preview non-DVR box that is already released to TiVo's cable partners. Another minor update is you can change the name of the DVR without the need to go to the TiVo web site. Since my last update, TiVo also released the TiVo Stream box (separate purchase required) that connects to your home network and allows you to stream your recordings or pseudo-live TV to iOS devices (Android coming in early 2013) from any Premiere that is hard-wired (MoCA or Ethernet) to your local network. Finally, TiVo has made a number of performance tweaks. My Elite/XL4 is noticeably faster (less sluggish) when navigating the menus. Season Pass re-ordering is now done in the background. There are many bug fixes as well but TiVo has not released the details on those. I will update this review again when TiVo released the Mini IP Set Top box to retail sometime next year with another software update for dynamic tuner hijacking.