TiVo TCD540080 (80 GB) 80-Hours DVR

TiVo is the greatest invention ever. We love ours!! No more commercials and having to wait until commercials come on use the restroom – just hit pause. The pause button always works in emergency situations like when you need a snack or the phone rings while you are watching your favorite television show. Prerecorded shows cut your watching time by a third. However, you usually don't save time, you just end up watching more televison – but at least its stuff you like. We now watch television for enjoyment and entertainment ever time, not just to kill time. No matter what time of day you can watch your favorite show – even 4 am when your normal options would be infomercials and reruns of a show you have never heard of.

We brought our first TiVo (series one I believe) when the 80 hour one was still over $300. However, after a couple years the cat knocked it down and broke it. Therefore, I definitely recommend putting it somewhere safe. I paid $70 to replace it (with a Series 2), but prices have really continued to fall since then. I believe monthly service fee is $13 a month. Our replacement TiVo that was a dud when we bought it and the replacement went after nearly a year. Luckily it was under warranty by Best Buy. I highly recommend buying it at a stores like Best Buy and taking advantage of their warranty plan.