gdgt

My understanding is that the Premiere took a bashing on release, several months ago. I got mine in August of 2010, and the first thing it did upon calling home was to install a massive, multi-hour update. I wonder if that update addressed earlier complaints?

Overall impressions:

It is true that the menus can be sluggish. I found that turning off the live video helps dramatically (and it's not a feature I cared for, so nothing lost, IMO). Some screens are their old Standard-Def selves, while other screens are new, attractive HD screens...that's weird and hopefully will be further updated. Netflix is good; would like to see more, like Last.FM, Pandora, etc. Subscribing to a handful of video podcasts is interesting - we need more good content, to make that a really compelling feature. (Was pleased to see that it saw my pyTivo installation on our Mac, with no need to change configurations - though with no HD content, I may not be using it that much, anymore.)

An aside re: cablecards.

I've been reading cablecard install horror stories for years. All I can say is that my experience was perfect. Yes, it's lame that I had to pay Comcast $30 for a truck-roll, so the guy could push a card in a slot and dial a phone number. But he brought the right card, it installed with no problems, and he was gone within 10 minutes.

Is it worth it?

For me, yes - without reservation. I got a hefty discount on the unit for being a previous Tivo owner; and I only paid for a 1-year subscription (works out to $10/mo) since I'm not sure this will be a 4-year-plus solution. So I'm out of pocket the cost of (a) the machine, (b) the subscription, and (c) the truck roll. My cable bill went DOWN $3, since I returned a set-top box and a remote. More expensive than a DIY solution or the cable co's DVR? Absolutely.

None of the above matters, because:

My wife didn't have to ask me the first question about using it, and I don't get the "why are there 3 different remotes on my coffee table?" stare. Her only mild gripe was there's no way to copy settings from an old Tivo. She had to re-program all her Season Passes. HEY I BET THEY PICK HOUSE NUMBER TWO BECAUSE THEY CAN *ENTERTAIN* IN IT.


UPDATE (9-16-2010): On the other hand, I've had to yank the plug after total lockup twice now. In what? a week, maybe 2? If I were the benevolent dictator of Tivo, or the fund manager who owned a huge chunk of it, I'd seriously beat the **** out of the software guys. If you owned a Michelin-starred restaurant, and the maître d' was jamming a finger up his ass before shaking hands with new guests, would you fire him?

UPDATE (10-6-2010): Over the weekend, over the phone, I walked my wife through the process of pulling the power cord, counting to 10, and plugging it back in. That's the third time. Note to (apparently-not-yet-fired-but-its-coming-fellas-just-wait) Tivo engineers: In all 3 cases (I think), the lockup has come when you hit the Tivo button at <i>just</i> the wrong time, as a show ends.