For Hanukkah, Liz got me a TiVo personal video recorder. I must admit, this thing is the coolest toy ever for a home theater system, and totally changes the way you watch television. You can set “Wish lists” for automatically recording programs that you like based on some criteria, such as who’s in it, the topic, etc. You can even pause live television with it.

Of course, I had to open it up and see what was inside. After reading several great websites, I’ve been able to add an additional hard drive to it, bringing my total recording time up to 130 hours, from the 30 that the unit comes with. Anyways, here’s some information sites on TiVo if you’re interested:

TiVo FAQ

The Hacker’s Guide to TiVo FAQ

AVS Forums (Great Web-Boards for TiVo Information)

Hinsdale How-To modify your TiVo (these are the instructions I followed)

PVR Hack

TiVoNET Upgrade Forum

TiVo Upgrade Parts (9th Tee)