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Sony SVR-3000 Series2 Tivo Impressions
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Posted by: SonyTivo2002

Just picked up a Sony Tivo SVR-3000 Series2 unit today. I have to say that I have mixed feelings but happy overall. But, hopefully it will help others who are still contemplating about buying this unit. I've owned about 4 of the Sony SVR-2000 units and have been quite pleased with them.

Cons:
* Same bootup, same interface, same look...I thought I would get something more fancy than the first generation.
* Same Sony Remote. Okay, at this point I had to double-check if I bought a series one unit. Maybe they could have made the Tivo button bigger or something.
* You must activate the unit to use it. if you're interested in buying it as a "dumb" vcr, then this is bad news.
* Can't hack it....yet. meaning, adding web interface or what have you

Pros:
* Much faster...Going through the menus is much more snappier.
* Connecting and updating by phone is much faster and reliable...so far. i hated the inconsistency of the series1 trying to dial and connect.
* Hard drive is still upgradeable. if that's all you care about, it works.
* case is now screwed in with philips screws (yes, i know...it's not really something to party over.)
* usb expandibility (i.e. ethernet, modem) - sure beats opening up the case to add broadband (pricy too)...Great way of working around a bad modem. well, there's limitations in configuring them...(i.e. manually setting the IP or getting wireless to work with WEP) Personally, who wants a DHCP-enabled wireless network with no WEP encryption? That would be equivalent to giving all your neighbors access to your network.
* Recording quality? I have to admit that I don't see the blurriness that others witness. I can't list this one in con.
* Sleeker profile - about 3/4 the height of the 1st generation
* No longer bounded by the remote. Joystick and controls are now on the front panel. This is a bad thing if you have kids.
* Those blue lights are just too cool. It's worth a few bucks.
* Slightly cheaper than a Sony Series1 (I paid $399.00 + tax + $100.00 rebate for series1 originally) I paid $379 + $20.00 shipping + $50 rebate for Series2.

Hope this helps those deciding on the series1 or series2...I have to say that i'm quite happy with it so far. i'm not that thrill about the unhackable OS...but at the moment, i don't plan on doing anything more than the possibility of upgrading the hard drive or adding broadband. so, it works out for me.

That's it for now. It's still less than a day out of the box. Anyone has anything they want to add that I didn't?

Posted by: korn316

PRO
-I enjoy the remote signal on the left side of the recorder, since all my electronic items are to the left of my room, putting the tivo on the right now means I never have to aim the remote at the tivo.
-List button, I've had the philips tivo for about 2 years and find the list button to be a lot better then hitting the tivo button twice (I'm very lazy).
-Only series 2 tivo with space for a 2nd hard drive and usb 2.0. I don't think any of these matter but it's nice to have for future upgrades.
-No back fan, which means a silent tivo.
-I've had both a tivo made 80 hour and sony made 80 hour, used the same wires and set-up both times. Maybe it's me but the sony picture is just better quality.
-2 s-video outputs
CON
-I noticed a skip in 1-2 shows once a week, more the hard drive then the tivo. The tivo made 80 hour unit was skipping the sound every other day tho, so in the end, it's a toss up.