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Originally posted by: starkillerAlso (and this is the big feature), there is the ability to input a show name, and it will do the programming work related to recording every instance of that show. For example, say you want it to record Seinfeld. It will search the TV listings for every Seinfeld show listed, and automatically set itself to record them.
right. at first glance, TiVo is physically the same as any digital video recorder. saves TV broadcasts as MPEG files, plays MPEG files. simple enough. but what they're actually selling, especially since the recorder itself is sold for so little (or given away, even), is the convenience provided by the interface. the ability to easily search and record things, record multiple episodes of your favorite series (even when they're shown at irregular hours) without having to select each episode individually... and the option to automatically record things which you might never have thought to record, yourself, based on genre/actor/director/etc preferences. the system essentially learns your tastes, by accepting your "i enjoy this show"/"i don't enjoy this show" responses via the remote control. it's a way of sorting through a large selection of channels and finding shows that you actually wish to see.