I Can't Stand My New TiVo

First of all, I want to say that I really love TiVo. It has really become my way of life with regards to television watching. I don't know what I would do without it especially when it comes to the children's shows. My kids love to rewind and replay some of their favorite shows. I have shows on season pass that are really convenient such as Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Scott Baio at age 45, and Dr.90210. Hey, I never said I was a deep person when it comes to my TV. So a few months ago when my TiVo machine went **kaplut** I was really lost. NO! This couldn't be happening to me. What is a mom to do?

We called Directv and since our current machine was under warranty that they would be able to send us a brand new machine free of charge. The new machine was even better with more bells and whistles than I knew how to ring. Great. Or was it better?

We got the machine and hooked it up and were excited to see all the great new things with TiVo. The new blue lights on the machine, cool new buttons, and another new remote control that requiring another degree in "TiVo language." Needless to say we were really disappointed to find that performance-wise not only were there less bells and whistles than before but the old functions that were made newer performed WORSE.

For example, one of the main features of TiVo is the ability to fast forward or rewind through the current programming you are watching. The old machine allowed you to do this seamlessly without skipping or jumping. The new machine jumps back or forward at least five minutes and you can't see it on the screen until you press play and then find out you went too far forward or back. So you do the process again and again until you get to your intended spot in the program. It's terribly annoying.

Secondly, most functions on the new machine take at least 4 clicks more than the old. Good luck trying to figure out what season passes you have. You have to go through the menu, try to figure out which categories lead you to your season pass list and then go through that list.

One of my favorite features of TiVo was the ability to slow down the programming to half speed. So if you wanted to read something on screen such as credits or some wording or even if you wanted to see something in slow motion you could do that with the hit of a button. Not so on the new TiVo. There is no way to set your program in slow motion. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal but, believe it or not, it is once you get used to it being there. Men love this feature especially during ball games.

All in all, my HotHusband and I are constantly wishing that we could call Directv and get our old machine back working again. Sometimes newer is not always better.