Since Tivo became a household word, many cable companies have rushed out alernatives to the popular digital video recorder (DVR) in hopes of cashing in on the phenomenon. Charter, one of America’s largest cable companies, offers a DVR with its digital cable service that carries many of the same features as the Tivo. I’ve had both devices, but there are some significant differences. Here’s a comparison between the Charter Communications DVR and the Tivo.
1. Season Recording – The best part of any DVR is the ability to set up consistent recordings of a series. Tivo’s season recording features are simple to use, and provide several options for recording new episodes, repeats, or both. The Charter DVR seems to have taken this format directly from Tivo, and there’s no clear advantage to either device, although it’s a bit easier to change the priority of a show’s recordings in Tivo’s interface (allowing viewers to choose which shows should be recording when a scheduling conflict presents itself).
2. Speed – Overall speed of a DVR’s operating system and interface is important, as it can be frustrating when your DVR isn’t responsive. Tivo’s fast forwarding, show loading, and interface are suitably fast, although in the aforementioned season recording there’s sometimes significant lag on the settings screen. Charter’s DVR has a nasty habit of fast forwarding to the end of an hour long show when sped to the highest setting, and it’s significantly slower than a Tivo in my testing. Even so, its limitations aren’t terribly distracting unless you’ve owned a Tivo in the past.
3. Hard Drive Size – The recording capacities are pretty equal, although if you want a whole lot of storage you can always buy an upgraded Tivo–more options is pretty nice. There’s also more tech tutorials out there that can tell you how to upgrade your Tivo’s hard drive yourself, if you don’t mind voiding a warranty or two.
4. Extras – Tivo’s got an excellent offering of on-demand movies courtesy of Amazon, but it can be difficult to set up. Charter’s On Demand service has some really fantastic features and make the most of premium movie channels; a user can browse through hundreds of movies, all of them included in their movie packages. Tivo offers games, and the ability to buy movie tickets online, and they seem more dedicated to providing a complete experience.
Ultimately, Charter’s DVR is only preferable if you’ve already got Charter service and you’re planning on getting Charter’s digital cable. It’s a decent DVR, but Tivo’s dedication to the field makes it a better buy for the true DVR aficionado, even with its monthly fee.
Do you think there’s a clear winner between Charter Communications’ DVR and the Tivo? Post in the comments section below.
