DON'T BUY HUGHES! Other than the quality of the product, I love the way it works. I can't imagine not having TiVo now. But this Hughes product is unreliable, and the customer service is non-existent.


geoff cutcheon   October 28, 2002
geoffrey cutcheon (Woods Hole, Mass)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful

I held off for a year or so before getting in to a tivo unit and only when I was in a store inquiring about one did I actually decide to buy one. It was only because it was a little more than a 100.00 off the shelf , was I willing to give it a try. The advertising of this product didn't really sell it to me. I was however intrigued to see if it was worth it. I have been recordong movies for years from various sources with mixed success. I was extremely pleased with the results I had from the Hughes unit. What they didn't fully explain was how much or how long you could store information or how easy it was to use. I have had only one minor glitch and I was able to eliminate it. I had a recent power surge and it blew out my stand alone rca direct tv box but didn't affect my hughes tivo/direct tv combo unit. Another great benefit the hughes all in one system has is in being able to record from local tv stations using there call #s such as channel 4 , 5 7, etc, instead of 929 or 930. The other advantage is in recording pay per view. It can all be done on the combo unit, where as with a stand alone you have to go back through the direct tv box, and so on. It is much faster than the stand alone unit and it stores considerably more recordings. I am sorry that even sales people I have talked to in the stores aren't able to see the advantages of the combo unit over the stand alones. Some people do not like to even use a vcr for anything other than playback mode, and for these people no amount of gadgets would attract them, but for those who like to record and store movies for future viewing, this is the only way to go. Your vcr get's a better result and if something goes wrong with the transfer you can always redo it before you delete it from memory, It is a great system and I'm sorry it took me so long to get them.


Don't buy! It is unreliable with no customer service.   October 27, 2002
7 out of 11 found this review helpful

Ours stopped working 3 months after purchase. Sent it back to Hughes for repair. 3 months later we are still waiting for a repaired unit. Customer service completely unhelpful.


awesome!   July 1, 2002
sarfdawg (Grayson, GA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

I have read the other reviews that say their Hughes died and all, and I can't say anything negative about it at all.

First, there is no other way to go than DirecTV. If you think you can get the same programming anywhere else on cable or even Dish, you are fooling yourself. DirecTV is both a sports and movie enthusisasts dream...

Second, you may have heard the phrase that says TiVo "will change the way you watch television..." Well, that couldn't be more dead on. It is wonderful to have the ability to pause live television, and it is so much easier to work with than a VCR.

Lastly, there may be machines with larger hard drives and other features, but for [the price], this is a complete steal. Steal this one - you will be glad you did.


They break   May 30, 2002
Jack M. Hoffman (Bethesda, Maryland United States)
I had mine for less than a year and it simply stopped working and would not get a signal. I bought it from a [local store] which did not help things at all. I had to wait about a month before I actually came to the conclusion that tivo/hughes is bad. BR>I bought an UltimateTV 35hr and it is much better. It has nearly all the features that Tivo does, plus a program guide that goes further ahead, noticably better picture, slicker and slightly faster interface, and it's cheaper.