I went out and bought a new TiVo HD and had it up and running by that same evening. I was lucky because I had downloaded most of my programs to my computer. It was still a painful experience, as I’m sure any TiVo addict like myself knows.

What really surprised me was the TiVo Auto Record Suggestions feature. I have had that feature turned off on all my TiVo’s for the past couple of years because my TiVo was usually too full to record anything but what I told it to record. I remember using it a little bit back when I got my first TiVo but I turned it off pretty soon after hooking it up (maybe two weeks at the most) so I never really got into using it. This feature is a little different from the TiVo Suggestions that you can view from the Find Programs menu. That just shows you the different TiVo suggestions that it thinks you might like to watch. By default, TiVo will record programs for you based on what you watch, give a thumbs up or down to, and what you record. When I tell friends, co-workers, and anybody who will listen, how great TiVo is, I always mention this feature. Yet I haven’t really used it myself.

Well, when I set up the new TiVo last week, I forgot to turn this feature off. It wasn’t until the next morning that I saw it had recorded some things for me. I figured it couldn’t really pick anything that good since it only had about half a day’s worth of my watching TV to guess what I might like. Ah, to say I was surprised at what it picked would be an understatement. It recorded the following:

Charlie Rose
The Today Show
NOW on PBS
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Pardon the Interruption

Okay, this was based on my watching NFL Network because Brett Favre retired (yes again – but I still love him), The Rachel Maddow Show, Countdown with Keith Olbermann and having set the TiVo to record Frontline on PBS for later in the week. I can understand everything except The Today Show – which I usually watch.

Well, it got even worse the next day. It somehow figured out that I like Cops because it recorded just about every copycat program of Cops. I had watched about 15 minutes of one episode and gave it two thumbs up.

Now a week’s gone by. There’s only been about three or four things that TiVo recorded for me that I didn’t want – and one of them was becuase I had already seen it. It leaves me thinking that either TiVo is super smart, or most of us have very predictable viewing habbits. Sort of like how I buy a book from Amazon.com and the suggestions are actually books I’m interested in.

The point is that the TiVo Suggestions feature is great. Even if it makes me feel unoriginal

I’ve have had four TiVo’s over the last four years. None every just stopped working on me. I currently have three hooked up in my house and one of them was unhooked when I upgraded to the HD model. Though I had read about people’s TiVo that had stopped working – either due to a bad hard drive or power supply, I didn’t pay much attention to it. Well, having a Tivo is like having a computer. You need to backup your stuff. The only saving grace for me was that I use TiVo’s Desktop To Go software to download programs onto my computer. There are two versions of the software – the free version and a “plus” version that cost $24.95. The free versions lets you download anything that isn’t copy protected on your TiVo. Currently, most things are not copy protected and this only applies to the HD version. I often downloaded programs overnight and was lucky that I had about 75% of my stuff on my computer. Otherwise it would have been worse.

Lesson learned: Backup your stuff on your TiVo. You can download the TiVo software from TiVo’s site at: TiVo Desktop Software (PC & MAC). To use the software, your TiVo must be hooked up to your home network.

2. Make a list of your wishlist

I’m writing this one down but must admit that I doubt I’ll even follow it. When the TiVo died, I lost all my wishlist that I had programmed in over the last year. I had a lot of them. It is a pain trying to remember what they are. When I hooked up the new TiVo, I entered in some that I could think of and decided to make a list of them. I’ve added to the list over the last week and do really hope to keep writing them down as I add them to TiVo.

3. You have to wait for the service updates

About six hours after I had my new, replacement, TiVo up and running, I wanted to watch a movie from NetFlix. Newer TiVo models let you do this but when you first plug in your TiVo, you have to wait a couple of days (sometimes) for all of the service updates to download. One trick is to reboot your TiVo once or twice a day right after you get it. Normally the updates happen overnight but TiVo will only reboot if you aren’t recording anything. So, make sure TiVo isn’t set to record anything for about an hour or so (that is how long the service update can take) and reboot it. If the update was downloaded, you will see a message that TiVo is installing it. If you don’t see the message, try again a few hours later. Of course, you can also force TiVo to go out and try and get the service update by going to the Messages & Settings option – Phone & Network and telling it to download now.

4. Your “Thumbs Up” and “Thumbs Down” settings are gone

If you use the thumbs up and down settings of TiVo to help it find things you like, you of course will not have these when you get your new TiVo. Remember to rate things as you look through the guides and stuff so that the TiVo suggestions will work better.

Speaking of TiVo Suggestions… I haven’t actually used the auto record TiVo Suggestions for a number of years and wrote up a post about how cool a feature it really is. Read More

5. If your TiVo is still under warranty, TiVo will replace it for you

After trying the equivalent of tech CPR on my TiVo, I finally called the TiVo support number to see if they could help. I knew it was pointless but somehow wanted to believe that they could tell me to press some magic reset button on the box and it would come back to life. While that didn’t happen, I did learn two things. First, they do answer the phone. I’ve read lots of post online that say they don’t. I was speaking to someone within a minute of calling. The second thing I learned was that you can get a refurbished unit for $50.00. There are two options with that. The first is that you mail them back your broken TiVo along with $50 (actually, maybe they bill you – I didn’t get far enough to find out) and they mail you out a refub unit. I was told this takes about 3 weeks. The second option is that you pay them the $50 over the phone plus a $250.00 deposit (at least I think it was $250 – maybe $200) and they mail you out the refub right away. I was told I would get it in 2 to 3 days. You mail yours back within a certain amount of time and they refund your deposit.

I couldn’t wait for this. Plus I need to replace one of the other older TiVo’s I have with an HD one so I ran out to Best Buy that same day and bought a new one. I was surprised though that they were offering the two options they did. I’ll see how my return goes and post about it.

One important thing for the returns is that you can’t have taken the cover off. They say they won’t take it back. Not sure how they can tell because I have taken the cover off another one and didn’t see any seal or anything that would let them know. I wouldn’t chance it though.

6. Finally, brace yourself that your TiVo may die on you

It is hard to think about it, and any true TiVo addict will find it hard to believe, but TiVo is just a piece of technology that is capable of breaking down. You need to prepare for it. This might including keeping an emergency fund somewhere in the event that you need to run out and buy a new one in a hurry. In this economy, that seems impossible but it is the only other advice I can give here.

Since I was running to Best Buy, decided to get a replacement iPod. Mine had been giving me some battery issues and I think there was a short in the bottom where the sync cable goes. Turned out that the sales person lied to me when I bought it and I didn’t have a replacement plan on it but instead had a service plan.

I wasn’t happy. Ended up talking to the manager and left with a new iPod. All worked out well and now I have the 2nd gen iPod touch. Doubt I’ll get to even use that until tomorrow because it will take forever to restore from my old one. FYI – to restore your iPod, just hook it up. I did not know this and had trouble finding info online. Finally just tried it out. So, if you are trying to restore a replacement iPod, just connect it to iTunes and it asks if that is what you want to do.

To top it off, Brett Favre announced he really is retiring. I’m sorry to see him go. I feel bad that people gave him so much grief for coming back the first time.