Roamio OTA VOX 1TB DVR – With no monthly service fee

Before I get to my review about this Tivo OTA dvr, I will tell you why I got it. The cable bill was outrageous and getting more expensive. I decided to cut the cord. I have a nice smart tv. I bought an HD antenna for free over the air stations, this Tivo DVR with voice remote (expensive, but no monthly fees at all), my own router modem to use for the cable internet (not renting theirs) combined with $7.99 a month HULU limited commercials subscription (for access to my favorite cable channels) and Amazon Prime video (for movies and other shows). I am going to save well over $125 a month. It would be more, but the cable internet bill jumped way up when I dropped cable TV and telephone. I didn't get Netflix because Amazon Prime filled that niche for me, but I might get it later. The initial outlay of money was quite a bit, but it will pay for itself within a few months. Now to this review. I was skeptical that this dvr would be able to do what I wanted - search for shows, record over the air and the streaming channels and allow for commercial skipping. It does all of it. The set up was quite easy, but the instructions on how to do it could be better. There was a video on line that I watched. All you need is an antenna cable from HD antenna to Tivo and an HDMI cable, (HDMI not included with this dvr) from Tivo to smart tv. You also have to plug in a usb gizmo for the voice activation to work. The set up took about an hour and 15 min to update the unit, auto search for OTA stations, etc. The setup was guided and easy to follow, but did take 10-15 minutes in certain steps (made me think it was stuck, but I waited). The remote was paired automatically to the dvr during setup (to allow for voice activation). I set the remote to control my tv. The voice activated remote works great! There is a learning curve to how to use the recording function and this different remote, but it isn't hard and makes sense once you get used to it. The over the air television guide is very good, much better than the OTA guide on the tv. I was happy to see all the channels I got with the station icons so I could find them easily with all the shows listed. You can set your favorites so you don't have a lot of extra stations to siphon through on the guide. The remote is a nice size and feels heavy and well made. The whole unit has worked flawlessly for the last week. It comes with Hulu and Amazon Prime capability and quite a few other streaming (subscription) programs that can all be recorded. There are a few that you cannot skip commercials, but most of them you can and all of them you can fast forward if needed (at least, I haven't seen one I couldn't fast forward). --- Honestly, if I had known this dvr worked the way it does I would have done this several years ago! I want to watch tv, pause, fast forward and search for shows when I have the time, not when they are on tv. 5/5 stars from me. Now if I could just figure out how to get cheaper wireless internet!

November 2020 UPDATE: reduced to one star. TiVo now puts pre-roll ads before recordings. What this means is if you go to play something you recorded OTA, you will first see an ad from TiVo. You can skip it, but, as far as I know, you can’t disable these ads. (There have been reports of some accounts being able to get the ads disable by calling CS, but that method seems to be hit or miss.) Until you can, I can not recommend this product at all at any price. When I find a viable alternative I will update this review. As soon as I find that alternative, I am 100% done with TiVo. UPDATED REVIEW: CHANGED FROM FIVE TO THREE STARS Today I knew I wouldn't be home until the England - Croatia match was almost over. No worries. My World Cup Season Pass was set up and the match was scheduled to record. I turned on the TiVo mini and the match didn't appear in the recordings. I went to the main TiVo (the Roamio) and took it out of sleep mode. The record light was on so I figured I just needed to restart the mini. But when I went to the recording and hit Play it started to play in the 71st minute of the match. In other words, live. It did not record any of the first 70 minutes of the match. (FWIW, my TiVo is in sleep mode unless I am watching it and this has not been an issue before.) I restarted the recording and the beginning of it was indeed the 71st minute of the match (I didn't start playing it live by accident). The TiVo simply did not start to record a program it was scheduled to record until I took it out of sleep mode. This program just happened to be the semi-final of an event that only happens once every four years. If there wasn't such a high initial cost of entry for the TiVo in comparison to other home OTA DVR options I would not be so harsh in my rating over one failure. But when I pay a premium I expect a premium product to do the one thing it is supposed to do: record shows. If I didn't care about recording OTA content I would just buy an antenna and call it a day. The sole purpose of the TiVo, in my opinion, is to function as a DVR and this one did not. Maybe deducting two stars seems harsh to some, but this is a product that fulfills a specific want. If that want is not fulfilled, there is no need for the product. Especially when there are other much, much cheaper options available. To me that takes the TiVo Roamio from recommended to not worth it unless you get a phenomenal deal. ORIGINAL REVIEW: Before you even consider this TiVo understand that it only works with over-the-air (OTA) channels. You will need an antenna to receive anything. Before you get an antenna head to either TV Fool or AntennaWeb, input your address, and see what channels you can expect to receive and what type of antenna you will need to receive them. Once all of that is out of the way and your antenna is set up and ready to go, you can move on to the Tivo. You will be able to watch channels OTA without a Tivo, but you will want one if you: - want to record shows - want to be able to pause/rewind live tv I cut the cord in March of 2018 and the one thing I was worried about missing the most was a DVR. I refuse to watch commercials. Some shows are available via Amazon Prime, but current shows must usually either be watched live, purchased via individual episodes or a season pass, or recorded from a streaming service. The latter is a game of chance. You may be able to watch a recorded show with controls that are just like a DVR, or your recording may get switched to a Video-on-Demand (VOD) version, sometimes as soon as the show's live airing ends, meaning there will be ads that you can not skip. This is what led me to pursue an OTA DVR. I chose the TiVo because I wanted an all-in-one alternative with no monthly fees. There are other setups available (tuners, media servers, and services like Plex), but, in my opinion, the more components in a system the more likely something will go wrong along the way. With the TiVo, the only components are your TV, your antenna, and your TiVo. Get those three working and you are good to go. I've had the TiVo about one month now, and here are my thoughts so far. PROS - Setup was easy. Installing updates took a little while, so be ready for that, but overall this was as close to plug and play as it gets. I do have my TiVo connected via ethernet cable, so I can not comment on how a wireless connection works. - Channel changing is almost instant. This might not seem like a big deal, but some setups take as long as 10 seconds or so to change channels. If you like to channel surf, the TiVo will let you spend more time watching and less time waiting for the picture to appear. - Skip Mode. When I first read about this feature I thought it was a gimmick that might be nice but was unnecessary. Pushing a 30-second skip button six or so times is no big deal. Then I watched a recording with skip mode and quickly realized how great it is. On some recordings you will see a green "Skip" icon. If you do, this means that when the show goes to commercial you can either press the Skip button or the D button and you will instantly be fast forwarded to the end of the commercials. I mean instantly. And you won't see the video fast forward. It just goes right to the end of the commercials. Really great feature that I wasn't expecting to like as much as I do. - Season Pass. The Season Pass allows you to set up recordings for every airing of a show. It is highly customizable (new episodes only or all episodes, extend recording time, etc) and a breeze to set up. It also gives you the option of showing streaming episode availability, helpful if you have services like Prime Video. - Quick Mode. When you are watching a recording you can speed up the play back to 30% faster than normal speed. This is really great on recorded sporting events. I anticipate using this a lot during the World Cup. CONS - Up-front cost. The TiVo is truly a long-term-view purchase, as you will pay more up front for it than any other OTA DVR option. However, there are no monthly fees, and it will pay for itself if you cut the cord long term. If you are just now without cable/satellite and not sure if you are going to stick with cord cutting, I would recommend holding off on getting a TiVo. Cutting the cord is not without its drawbacks and is not for everyone. No need to spend this much money if there is a chance you will go back to cable/satellite in a month or two. - Channel scanning. The TiVo added a ton of channels to my guide. Unfortunately, I got zero signal on a lot of these channels, and I'm assuming they were added based on my location rather than the actual tuning of a channel. I was able to remove them all so when I am channel surfing I don't waste time on channels I don't get, but the process was tedious and unnecessary. - Pop-up messages. I have been receiving a lot of messages lately stating my channels have changed or moved to new locations. This is good to know, but the way TiVo handles it is very intrusive. A message appears that can not be ignored and will not disappear until I chose an option to make it disappear. Not a big deal, just annoying when it happens. Overall I am very pleased with the TiVo. It does exactly what I want it to do and does it well. I am now able to record shows from the major networks and watch them when I want without having to deal with commercials. I can also pause live TV and build a 20-minute commercial buffer, or just pause live TV when something unexpected comes up and pick up later when time permits without having to deal with ads streaming services sometimes show you when fast forwarding live TV. If you are okay with the up front cost, I think the TiVo Roamio is as good as it gets when it comes to an OTA DVR.

Best in class, after years with Cox Cable, then Dish Network and recently Direct TV this experience is head and shoulders above the rest. Setting aside Over the Air for the moment, Iʻm referring to graphic user interface (10+), smart features (10+) and best of all...customer service (11). Whenʻs the last time you called for service and had someone pick up the phone right away? And then they actually know and understand the product theyʻre helping you with? Contrary to some reviews elsewhere I canʻt offer enough praise to TiVo tech and customer support. We needed their help to configure some of the initial setup and settings, and then later to sway one device out for another. At first we tried a Bolt-- then returned it for this this antenna only Roamio package with a Lifetime Achievement service plan. Very fluid and intuitive user interface, instantly synchronized with mini stations throughout the house. Re the "cut the cord" antenna discussion: we live on the outskirts of Vegas and pull in about 50 stations crystal clear. Find ourselves spending about 65% of TV time watching those offerings or their recordings on TiVo. Missing some of the old satellite lineup we went with the slimmest version of Direct TV Now -- very pleased with that as a cost effective alternative in this mix.

I see why this has been referred to as the Cadillac of OTA dvr's...more like a Rolls Royce. No beta model here unlike my previous half baked Channel Master dvr with numerous annoying bugs and glitches. Although not nearly as expensive, I could never depend on that thing. It didn't take long to realize every detail of this Roamio has been carefully thought out and perfected. The hard drive provides smooth 1/2 hr buffering and recorded playback...no glitches yet. I had endless problems before storing to a good quality high speed memory card although not completely sure it wasn't the dvr's fault. I thought 4 tuners was overkill but its already come in handy when networks decide to put everything good on at once. The voice search correctly recognizes everything I say although typically comes up with additional cost stuff. I've read complaints about the limited streaming apps compared to say Roku but I think the main ones are all there? I have a Roku Ultra with endless minor apps and I don't think their much good anyway. I receive about 24 OTA stations. Combined with Prime, Netflix, or hulu in Canada eventually?, I'll have more interesting shows than I can possibly watch. I like that theirs no additional subscription fees...expensive over time. I hope Tivo does something about the e-sata external hard drive connection...an adapter perhaps. I'm not aware of a low cost alternative to the WD dvr extender that was discontinued and will probably want to offload some programs in the future. I love this thing so far. We'll see how it holds up with only a (suspicious) 90 day Tivo warranty??...should be one year like other reputable electronic devices.

I replaced my Channel Master DVR+ with this product and am amazed at it's quality and versatility. Some difficulty with set-up in Toronto, but, called customer service and worked it through. Their customer service is top notch. Very pleased and would recommend to anyone else looking to record OTA programming.

Good, work well. Had a noisy fan problem after a year. Bought a Deoxit spray and repared it my self with a youtube video guiding me. work great again.

Tivo works great. Purchased mini too. Love it