TiVo Premiere XL4 TCD758250 HD Digital Video Recorder
- Four tuners to record four shows at once
- Up to 300 HD hours, up to 2,200 hours in SD
- TiVo Glo premium backlit remote
- Supports digital channels only, MoCA (multimedia over coax) bridge
- THX Certified for sound & video, Dolby 5.1
TiVo Premiere XL4 DVR
TV and web entertainment, made simple and searchable. The most advanced and innovative DVR ever built, TiVo Premiere brings two worlds of entertainment together on a single screen. Its delightfully easy-to-use search and explore features enable you to maximize your cable subscription and take full advantage of seamlessly integrated web apps
List Price: $ 399.99
Price: $ 344.99
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The best DVR on the market,
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…
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Holy MAC, FOUR Tuners, this is unreal!,
We are the TiVo family: as it is all in the timing, we were seeking to get a new TiVo and so glad we waited for the few weeks as the new model revealed the four tuners! Very easy to set up and we are Verizon Fios Customer and now you can grab a cable card from the Verizon shop or pay postal for it to be delivered to you.; now you can initiative the cable card on your own via the automated phone or website. It took all of 15 minutes to activate the cable card! Sooo easy. no more making an appointment with a technician.
So with four tuners it means we can record four channels simultaneously, record one Internet program whilst watching a pre-recorded show!! We were coming up with needing to record three programs and our two tuner TiVo couldn’t cope! So much storage that we don’t need to buy an external hard drive to store the HD program that we have for our TiVo Series 3.
We love that out TiVo series three and Elite can talk to each other. We notices if we started watching one program in one room, we can pick it up where we left off on the other TiVo! How cool is this. The transfer replay quality is great as if your were watching it from the original TiVo that recorded the show. Note that transfer is wireless and hence if you have N then it will be a lot quicker.
We love that the IPad has an app for TiVo and now I can search for programs to record without interrupting the program that we are watching. How cool is that! The new TiVo interface allows a smaller screen of the program that you are watching (top right of TV screen) whilst you are searching for shows to record or to search in ‘my shows’ that were previously recorded.
Didnt even think about it, we bought the lifetime license for it as most TiVo last about 7 to 8 years for us; so it really pays off for us.
Only wished they kept the clock on the front screen!
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Disappointed – UPDATE June 2013,
I ordered the Tivo XL4 because, let’s face it, who wouldn’t want 4 tuners – especially with my wife and I and all the shows we watch? As a Cablevision customer, I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to switch the cable card from my oldest model, the HD and seamlessly pair it to the XL4 over the phone. Then, I was amazed at the boot up time of but a few minutes – compared to the other models which you could shower, shave and eat breakfast and it still wouldn’t be finished. Using the iPad Tivo app, I was able to easily transfer all of our season passes to the XL4 and cancel them on the HD XL, which will now be my secondary machine. I like the the look of the new interface and many of the new added features. After that – the fun ends. For all of the chest-beating by Tivo about how revolutionary the XL 4 is, I have found it to be incredibly SLOW when trying to work the menus and select programs to watch. It goes at a snail’s pace. At this point, I would be happy if the XL4 would operate at least as quickly as the HD XL. Furthermore, the Hulu Plus app doesn’t work and keeps returning me to the main menu telling me to try later. Thank God I have Apple TV or my $7.99/mo. subscription would be wasting away. I sure hope a software update fixes the HuluPlus issues and, most importantly, SPEEDS UP the damn machine. Seriously, I’m not joking – the XL4 is like buying a Ferrari with a 4-cylinder from a Ford Focus. This long time Tivo customer is xtremely disappointed.
****UPDATE JUNE 2013****
One would have thought that a company like TiVo, which makes DVRs and nothing else, facing renewed stiff competition from cable company DVRs, would have done something in the way of a software update to speed up the incredibly, annoyingly, unacceptably SLOW as molasses XL4, but they apparently have no problem letting their customers suffer on a daily basis navigating an interface that is easily surpassed by the movement of a sloth. Evidently, they have no respect for their customers who parted with $400-500 of their money to buy what TiVo advertised as their best machine. I should have realized they were asleep at the wheel the past 4 years as Cablevision, et. al., have caught up to them in the DVR wars. A company has little respect for its customers when they make them pay another $150 to stream to their tablets. I guarantee you when I’ve passed the break even point, or if I can sell this machine, I will return to a Cablevision DVR. Shame on you, TiVo.
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