7 Ways TiVo will change your life

TiVo was on the market several years before I finally got my hands on one. My first TiVo was a refurbished model standalone unit that I bought online. It had 40 hours of recording time on it. Less than six months later, I was thoroughly captivated by my addiction to the device and decide to upgrade from cable to Directv so I could get the dual-tuner DirecTiVo model. I think that one had 60 hours. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, within a couple of months the harddrive went bad on that one, so I bought a brand spanking new drive for the TiVo with about 120 hours of programming time on it. It is a wonder I ever leave my house!

So here are the top ways in which TiVo has changed my life and will likely change yours. And don't even think another DVR will have the same effect on you. It won't. Every other model I've seen is a horror to use compared to the model of efficiency made by the TiVo folks. In fact, I'm planning on swapping out the new Directv DVR I bought for my parents for a DirecTiVo off Ebay. I just can't stand the idea that they are not getting experience from their unit as I get from mine. Plus the TiVo makes cute noises.

Without further ado...

1.) I bet your thinking that one of the first ways I'm going to suggest that TiVo will change your life is that you will watch less tv. Surprise! Guess what? You will actually end up watching more television. My evidence is purely anecdotal, but everyone I know who has eventually succumbed to the lure of the TiVo watches more television today than they did the day before they installed it.

3.) And what will you do with all that spare time not spent watching repeats? Well, you could go out with your friends or spend some quality time with your family, but we know better. You're going to spend it watching more television instead. But now you'll be able to catch up with all the shows that you missed in syndication the first time around. Did you totally miss Homicide Life on the Street during the seven years it struggled to stay on the air. You can now catch it on the Sleuth channel.

Are you suddenly enamoured of Julian McMahon due to his performance on Nip/Tuck? Set up a wishlist and catch him on Profiler. Never quite understood the fuss about Twin Peaks, The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer or some other cult show, but now you feel like you are missing out? Set up a season pass just as its syndicated run is restarting with the series pilot and you can see it all.

episodes. Go ahead and record the pilot and set up your season pass, but wait four weeks to start watching. If the show is still on the air you just might be safe. And if it has already been summarily yanked from the schedule, just delete those episodes unwatched and you'll never again have to agonize over another brilliant show's potential that has been unrealized by the masses.