"TiVo, Growing in Popularity and Convenience"

The dilemma is common: Go to bed early for an early morning rise, or stay up late to watch a favorite television show.

The advent of sophisticated recording devices has made wrestling with such choices obsolete.

TiVo has emerged as one of the leading brand names offering digital video recording, commonly known as DVR. According to TiVo's Web site, the cable box works with any television setup to automatically find and digitally record up to 140 hours of programming.

Kathryn Kelly, senior manager of Public Relations for TiVo, said TiVo's unique appeal is that it can work with any television setup.

"If you get DVRs from other cable companies you would have to upgrade to digital cable," she said. "Whereas with TiVo, you can connect it to anything you have. We're the only DVR out there that does (that)."

A TiVo box is a device, similar in appearance to a DVD player, which gets hooked up to the television. It allows the user to record, pause and replay live television. Each TiVo box has different amounts of available recording time, with the price of the box increasing as the amount of recording time increases. Prices start at $99 for 40 hours of recording time. In addition to the one time fee for the box, users also pay $12.95 per month for the service or can option to pay a one-time fee for the lifetime of their model.

Kelly said she understands how the monthly charges might be a little steep for college students, but that the product is worth the price.

"You have a life and you don't want to sit around watching TV," she said. "And you don't want to wait for your shows to be on, especially for students who have to study and go to class.

TiVo fans said they are pleased with the services capabilities.

"I love TiVo," said Sadiq Mehr, a junior undecided major. "I can record what I want and skip the commercials."

Lauren Fleischman, a junior anthropology major, said she understands the growing popularity of DVRs.

"I know students who have strong feelings for a particular show," Fleischman said. "They really think DVR saves a lot of time and trouble."

While some gush about the convenience of being able to record their favorite shows while they go about their day, and others marvel at the commercial skipping capabilities of DVRs, lagging consumers prefer to stick with conventional television viewing.

"Were not that busy. TiVo is definitely an excess," said Adam Gollwitzer, a graduate student studying earth science. "Any extra money students have goes to necessities. I think students would more likely pay for food and gas then TiVo."

According to Kelly, TiVo's channel searching capabilities can be a great help to university students.

"TiVo with its search capabilities can be very helpful to students doing research," she said. "You can search out shows that might pertain to something that you're working on."

Kelly also said the addition of new features in the near feature will make TiVo seem less of an excess and more of a must-have. TiV-To-Go will allow users to send information from their TiVo box to their personal computers in order to view their favorite programs while traveling. Kelly predicts some other interesting additions to TiVo's broadcasting capabilities over the next year.

For some TiVo lovers, what TiVo offers right now is just what they need.

"It's worth it because it saves me time," said Mehr. "I hate watching normal TV now."

Kelly said it's clear to her, from the rave reviews, just what TiVo customers can't get enough of.

"They value the time that they don't have to spend sitting around and being home for a specific time to watch their favorite shows," she said. "Most people also love the fast-forwarding capabilities. Its all about the convenience and time saving."