Out of the box, the core functionality works well enough now to satisfy most while they wait. Exactly how the whole-home functionality will look after a few updates will be something to watch out for, but as it stands now, the Mini falls short of the competition in regards to consistency.
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74
Conclusion: We're mixed
The TiVo Mini can extend your TiVo experience throughout your home, but not without some challenges, including strict networking requirements (you'll need a wired network or a workaround), the need for a TiVo Premiere XL4 or other recent four-tuner model to act as a hub, and a monthly fee of $6 per Mini, on top of your existing TiVo fees. However, once you get past that, The MinI is, according to Engadget, "a great way to affordably extend the TiVo experience," since it allows you to "enjoy a genuine whole-home DVR experience while spending less than the price of another DVR." USA Today agrees, and says the Mini "works well enough to have you consider rekindling your relationship with TiVo." However, if you don't already own a four-tuner TiVo, the choice is, as Dave Zatz says, "murky." Zatz suggests asking yourself if you're "prepared to invest in digital cable as your primary source of television content, at significant expense, for the next several years." If you are, he suggests considering waiting for newer TiVo models, which could be more powerful and have more tuners than the current line.
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Critic reviews
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What’s it lacking? A real TiVo’s access to Netflix and Amazon Instant Video (TiVo says they’re coming soon). It’s also missing the To Do list and Season Pass-management features of the real TiVo. Remember, too, that each Mini monopolizes one of the TiVo’s four tuners.
Read the full review →The TiVo Mini is an easy way to give another TV in your home access to your TiVo DVR, live TV, and streaming services. But if you're not in a hurry, you may want to wait till more features and services arrive.
Read the full review →The TiVo Mini, which lets you watch live programming and your TiVo recordings on another television, is a new toy for current Premiere 4 DVR owners, but it has too many restrictions to be the killer product that TiVo aficionados are looking for.
Read the full review →TiVo Mini should appeal to well-heeled multimedia enthusiasts, who will feel that the savings they realize by going with a Mini instead of a second or third TiVo constitutes a bargain. But the cost and infrastructure requirements (a wired network)... may still discourage widespread adoption.
Read the full review →Despite the TiVo Mini’s shortcomings and onerous service fees, we whole-heartedly recommend the solution to existing 4-tuner TiVo Premiere owners looking to extend the TiVo experience to additional TVs in the home.
Mini can't do everything its big brother TiVo can do, but it comes pretty close.
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product preview
In comes the TiVo Mini, a smaller, more efficient set-top box that extends your TiVo Premiere into other rooms of the house. The Mini can connect to the TiVo via Ethernet or coax (MoCA) and has HDMI output as well as component and composite (via a dongle).
product preview
Considering you also need to have a Premiere 4/XL4, the cost to upgraders, especially those who purchased lifetime service, might be prohibitively high. (On the other hand, you're not paying for additional services or equipment from your cable provider.)
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The TiVo Mini might offer more convenience than the disappointing TiVo Stream did, but the subscription fee and $99 price tag makes it a hard sell when every major cable and satellite provider offers their own DVR service and some already offer multi-room DVR.
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How it stacks up
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