TiVo DVR
The most recommended of 3 digital video recorders
People recommend older TiVo DVRs for easy recording, thoughtful features and reliable operation, especially over-the-air. Critics say later software is laggy and TiVo added ads and monetization.
People recommend older TiVo DVRs for easy recording, thoughtful features and reliable operation, especially over-the-air. Critics say later software is laggy and TiVo added ads and monetization.
22 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 59%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Older models considered best
“TiVo (old TiVo, before Cable Card was killed) beats pretty much everything else today.”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Disney+ and Hulu raise prices by up to 13 percent after doubling profits” “The old dvrs were great for old pata hdd that you could individually RMA.”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “TiVo to charge money for skipping commercials in your own recordings” Easy, reliable and worked well
“Tivo made it very easy and drove the DVR thing”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “Google Search Is Dying. What Comes Next Is Worse” “It all worked very well somehow.”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “TiVo to charge money for skipping commercials in your own recordings” Thoughtful features, good recording
“a very neat DVR with very thoughtful features that were implemented in smart ways”
Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “Google Search Is Dying. What Comes Next Is Worse” “their own pretty good DVR”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Why are streaming apps so bad (insiders only)?” Solved problem for DVRs
“We had TiVo like 30 years ago, this is a solved problem.”
Comment from 2 May 2026 in “The feed doesn't know you, and YouTube refuses to let you browse” “Tivo made it very easy and drove the DVR thing”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “Google Search Is Dying. What Comes Next Is Worse”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Monetization and ads added
“a feature that's been there for more than a decade, the only innovation is figuring how to monetize it”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “TiVo to charge money for skipping commercials in your own recordings” “this feels like the last ditch attempt to find a new business model that works”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “TiVo to charge money for skipping commercials in your own recordings” “TiVo - started to show their own ads”
Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “Hisense TVs add unskippable startup ads before live TV” Laggy interface, weaker software
“the software was a leap backwards”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “TiVo to charge money for skipping commercials in your own recordings” “The interface was so laggy I could no longer consistently FF through crap”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “TiVo to charge money for skipping commercials in your own recordings” Locked-down hardware, restricted installs
“it was created as response to Tivo, who locked in their embedded system”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “Ubuntu 26.10 completes transition to Rust-based coreutils” “restrict installations like Tivo did in the 2000s”
Comment from 25 May 2026 in “California moves to exempt Linux from its age-verification law after backlash”
Other digital video recorders people recommend
The two most recommended other digital video recorders, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 3 digital video recorders, rankedWhat people said
21 of the 23 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“TiVo et al. helped somewhat.”
“TiVo (old TiVo, before Cable Card was killed) beats pretty much everything else today.”
“it was created as response to Tivo, who locked in their embedded system”
“The interface was so laggy I could no longer consistently FF through crap”
“It all worked very well somehow.”
“The old dvrs were great for old pata hdd that you could individually RMA.”
“the software was a leap backwards”
“I wound pay not to have TiVo at all.”
“this feels like the last ditch attempt to find a new business model that works”
“a feature that's been there for more than a decade, the only innovation is figuring how to monetize it”
“Pretty fun to hack around with.”
“a very neat DVR with very thoughtful features that were implemented in smart ways”
“Tivo made it very easy and drove the DVR thing”
“Tivo DVR is great for OTA and their service is still active”
“the Rovi/Macrovision acquisition was definitely the writing on the wall”
“restrict installations like Tivo did in the 2000s”
“We had TiVo like 30 years ago, this is a solved problem.”
“I think I feel the same way about TiVo and fear the day the guide stops updating or the motherboard fails”
“TiVo - started to show their own ads”
“Linus said TiVo did nothing wrong.”
“their own pretty good DVR”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.