We have had tivo for about 6mo now. (Series 2; 80 gig; no hacks; usb thru the router for Internet connection) My g/f bought it and I wanted to hate it. I really did. I didn't like the fact that the video was encrypted, that it called "the mothership" every night and got the TV listings while uploading who-knows-what about my viewing habits, that it wouldn't auto-cut the commercials like a good VCR, and most of all, I don't like TV! I mean what the hell do I need with a $400 box and a $12 monthly fee that records something I don't really watch? Man, I was sure it was a piece of crap.
It took about two weeks. Then I was hooked. Not just hooked. I am in love. I don't think I would own a TV anymore if I couldn't have that little box. Live TV is for suckers. They have a "hidden" feature that easy to turn on that skips ahead 30 second to let you breeze thru commercials, You always have something to watch that is good. The interface has a very easy learning curve and is intuitive. It's like the people who wrote the interface USE IT! It really is a mix of user friendly combined with functionality that I didn't think was possible in the video world.
One more then and I'll stop. The first two weeks or so are the hardest. You have to get used to the interface and build up a backlog of video to watch. From then on out, Its just gravy.
Also, Tivo does not condone hacking the tivo for video extraction. So keep that kind of talk off of the tivo community boards. Go here instead.
http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/