TiVo Roamio Pro review: TV and online video nirvana in one box

For some time now, TiVo has been trying to become a whole-home entertainment solution. With the all-in-one TiVo Roamio Pro DVR, it has done just that.

8.3

TiVo Roamio Pro

The Good

The <b>TiVo Roamio Pro</b> is the company's most powerful DVR to date with six tuners; 450 hours of HD storage; a healthy selection of streaming video, music, and photo services; a best-in-class DVR experience; the capability to stream and download to iOS devices; and easy expansion to other rooms with TiVo Mini extenders.

The Bad

Cable cutters and satellite subscribers will be disappointed that the Roamio Plus and Pro work with digital cable and Verizon Fios only. Only viewers in select Comcast markets can access their provider's pay-per-view or VOD content. The price is steep: $600 plus $15 a month (or $500 for lifetime service). While there are plenty of available streaming options, key services like Amazon Prime and HBO Go are still missing.

The Bottom Line

If you're willing to pay the premium price, TiVo's do-it-all Roamio is the best cable DVR yet and an able whole-home TV solution.

Though I don't know that it's wise to name a product after something that has an indelible relationship to a tragedy, the company's newest DVR goes hard-drive-to-hard-drive with Dish's Hopper with Sling, offering lots of tuners, tons of storage, and options for sending content to other rooms without buying additional DVRs. It also makes it easier to load up your mobile devices (at least, iOS ones for now) with recordings. The Roamio boxes further sweeten the on-demand video pot with a heavy dollop of online video options, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, and YouTube, meaning you can jump to those services -- and search them -- without having to switch the input on your TV.

Unlike the Hopper, the new TiVo won't automatically skip ads or record every prime-time network show, but at least you can use it with your current cable service.

Of course, all this TV-viewing pleasure comes at a price -- or three prices, to be exact: the $200 baseline Roamio, the $400 Roamio Plus, and the $600 Roamio Pro. And -- as usual with TiVo -- you'll still need to sign up for monthly or lifetime service, $14.99 or $499.99, respectively. (And you'll still have your existing cable bill on top of that, unless you use the over-the-air antenna option available on the entry-level model.)

Still, for serious TV junkies, this is a DVR worth ponying up for.

The TiVo advantage
These days, digital video recorders aren't anything special -- cable and satellite companies rent them to their customers for a few bucks a month, and said customers can time-shift their favorite programs to watch at their convenience. So, why invest in a TiVo? Basically, it's the same reason you'd pay extra for a Mac versus a Windows PC: for starters, that means a best-in-class user interface and ease of use.

Beyond the standard DVR features of pausing and rewinding live TV, TiVo's got a wealth of less common (and better implemented) TV-recording features:

EPG: All digital cable and satellite boxes and DVRs offer an onscreen EPG (electronic programming guide), but TiVo's steps it up a notch, with a degree of customization and configuration that most cable company DVRs don't offer. The guide extends 14 days into the future, and it can be displayed as a standard grid or as a split-screen Live Guide, which breaks out several hours of program information from each channel on the right half of the screen. You also have access to a grid-style miniguide on the bottom of the screen, overlaid on top of what you're currently viewing.

Season Pass: The TiVo Season Pass function lets you record every episode of a favorite show within the parameters you set. For instance, you can record every "CSI" episode on any channel and keep only the five most recent episodes, or you can record only the new (nonrerun) episodes in prime time, or both. This function has mostly been imitated by other DVRs, but TiVo's Season Pass is generally more accurate and reliable than other cable DVR models, especially at delineating between new episodes and reruns, or adjusting if a show changes its time slot.

Wish List: The Wish List is just what it sounds like: you choose an actor, director, genre, or keyword, and TiVo will record any program that involves that keyword. Again, this feature is also available on other DVRs, but TiVo's implementation still tends to be easier to use than other versions we've seen.

TiVo Suggestions: By default, TiVo also uses your TV downtime -- overnight, when you're at work, and so forth -- to record programs based on interests you express by using the thumbs-up and thumbs-down button on your remote. The more you vote on your viewing choices, the better your TiVo will become at finding similar, related programming, which it duly labels TiVo Suggestions. Some may object to this functionality as invasive or overkill -- which is why it can be easily turned off -- but for anyone who laments that there's never anything on TV, it's worth trying.

Collections: TiVo assembles collections of TV shows and movies based on themes. For example, for fall season premieres, TiVo collected all the new and returning shows into two collections. With a couple -- and I mean a couple -- button presses, TiVo will schedule everything in the collections to record. No hunting around for specific times and start dates or anything, it's all just set to record. And if you'd like to customize the Collections, you can do that, too.

What to Watch Now: Ever turn on the TV and you're just not sure what you want to watch? Select What to Watch Now and you're given a thumbnail look at the top 20 most popular shows airing in that time slot. You can also filter it by Sports, Movies, and Kids. Similarly, channel guide information -- whether you use TiVo's Live Guide or Grid Guide format -- can be filtered to help you quickly find what you're looking for. If, for example, you just want to see what movies are on, it will pull all the other channels out of your way so you can see what movies are currently showing.

Search: TiVo's Search is awesome. It ties all of the content from streaming services and your TV schedule together. This allows you to get search results cross-referenced across all video sources, that is TV and online. So, if you search for a show -- say, "New Girl" -- you'll get upcoming first-run and rerun episodes on TV, plus episode-by-episode lists (organized by season) of the shows on Netflix (and Amazon and Hulu Plus, if the shows in question are also available there).

What the Roamio offers
Performance is probably one of the biggest issues for a lot of TiVo users. When TiVo switched over to its HD interface for its 2010 Premiere DVR, doing anything with it -- from opening up the guide to navigating through recorded programs to accessing any of the extra services -- seemingly took forever in TV-surfing time. Not good for a product with a premium price tag.

With the later Premiere 4 and XL4 boxes, performance improved, but it still took a second or two to populate some screens, moving through the guide had the occasional delay, and launching apps or starting playback of a recording wasn't exactly snappy. The experience was not what I would consider painful, but there were certainly times of frustration.

The Roamio DVRs are completely new systems with faster processors, built to handle the demands of all of their features. TiVo claims performance is 1.5 to 2.5 times faster, averaging 1.7 times faster. And, in use, it is noticeably faster. That goes for navigation, launching apps, and everything else. Boot time, by the way, remains long. Maybe not as long as for the Premiere, but it's still a wait. Fortunately, it's been stable throughout a month of testing with no random reboots or freezing.

Multiroom viewing has long been an option for two or more network-connected TiVo units, Series 2 or newer. However, TiVo has spent the past couple of years adding features to its DVRs and extending its product line to make it truly a whole-home solution.

The introductions of the TiVo Stream and TiVo Mini were the first steps toward that goal. And now the Roamio takes everything up another notch.

Conflict resolution
TiVo released its first four-tuner DVRs in 2012, the Premiere 4 and Premiere XL4, and kept an updated two-tuner Premiere in the lineup as its entry-level DVR. Unfortunately, that base model was the only option if you wanted to use an antenna for OTA (over-the-air) TV.

As mentioned above, the Roamio lineup consists of three models: Roamio, Roamio Plus, and Roamio Pro. The base model continues to be the only one that can be used with an antenna or a CableCard (they cannot be used at the same time), whereas the Plus and Pro require a CableCard (digital cable and Verizon Fios only; it does not support analog cable, satellite, or AT&T U-verse). Now, though, the base Roamio can record four programs (again, ATSC or CableCard) at once while you watch a fifth recorded show. The Plus and Pro can record up to six shows at once with a multistream CableCard.

The extra tuners not only come in handy for dealing with conflicts (with programming and people), but can be used to stream live TV to TiVo Mini units on your network. But it's not just the number of tuners or even storage that separates the models.

By comparison, the aforementioned Dish Hopper has three tuners, but one of them can record all four major networks simultaneously. It's the Hopper's ability to autoskip the commercials in those recordings that has focused the legal ire of those same networks -- including CNET owner CBS -- on Dish in a still-ongoing legal battle.

As you can see, these boxes aren't cheap. And, as always, you're not just paying for the box, you have to sign up for monthly or lifetime service, $14.99 or $499.99, respectively. The Roamio does offer a lot in one box, though.

Holy $#!*, it's got Wi-Fi
Yes, you can stop rubbing your eyes, you read the chart correctly. After years of making users buy USB Wi-Fi adapters (seemingly overpriced ones, at that) to get wireless Internet access, TiVo has finally built in 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. Although the Wi-Fi can't be used for streaming between TiVo units because of bandwidth demands, it can be used for everything else -- from updating guide data to streaming Netflix to using TiVo's iOS or Android app to control the box.

The Plus and Pro models go a step further by also having TiVo Stream capabilities baked in. This allows you to stream recorded and live TV to iOS devices on the same network and, eventually, outside networks as well.

So, much like Dish's Hopper with Sling, the TiVo Roamio Plus and Pro will let you view your DVR's contents or live TV from anywhere. Well, eventually, anyway. I tested beta versions of the software for the Stream and iOS app and it works, but the functionality won't be pushed to consumers until around October or November this year for use with iOS devices. Android support is in development.

Getting hooked up

For streaming between TiVo Premiere or Roamio DVRs or to Mini boxes, all three Roamio DVRs have Ethernet and the Plus and Pro have built-in MoCA support (Multimedia over Coax Alliance), which uses the coaxial cable in your home for broadband networking. The MoCA setup is painless and works seamlessly, but you'll need to add a MoCA bridge (around $100) that connects to your router if your TiVo DVR is in a different room from your router.

The rest of what's on back is pretty much the same as you'd find on the Premiere 4/XL4: power input, multistream CableCard slot, HDMI, component video, composite video, and optical and analog audio jacks. There's also an eSATA port for a storage expander, and it has two USB ports for use with TiVo's Bluetooth remote or a tuning adapter if necessary. If you need to drive two displays, say a projector and a TV, you can do that with one connected by HDMI and the other to the component output.

TiVo's peanut-shaped remote hasn't changed much over the years and for good reason: it's an excellent remote. However, it's always used IR, which requires line of sight to work. With Roamio, TiVo switched to an RF remote, so you can stick the DVR behind closed doors or even in another room and still control it.

The remote is now smaller and chunkier than past models, more like TiVo's Bluetooth Slide remote, and TiVo also added a Back button, making it faster and easier to get out of whatever part of the interface you're in. The downside is that to make room, TiVo bumped the Zoom button (used for making 4:3 content fit 16:9 screens) to where the Guide button was, and popped the Guide button down below the navigation keys. For new users this won't be a problem, but anyone with TiVo-remote muscle memory will feel the frustration. It's also not backlit.

New look, better features
Along with Roamio's more-powerful hardware come some software improvements. The most noticeable on startup is that TiVo updated the HD interface with a new font. It looks good, but unfortunately it makes the fact that the settings menus are still in SD stand out that much more. At least the Wish List search screen made it into HD this time around.

Along with the previously mentioned What to Watch Now and filtered guide features, TiVo will be adding a three-column view of your My Shows recordings. Currently in the TiVo interface, all of the recordings are kept under My Shows, a single list that's sorted alphabetically or by date. You can group all recordings of one show into one folder, but that's where the organization ends.

The new three-column view will allow you to filter recordings by categories like Movies, Kids, and Sports, basically reproducing what is currently available in TiVo's mobile app. This feature won't be available immediately for Roamio, but is expected in about six months.

More apps, faster
One of TiVo's key advantages over cable-provider DVRs is that from within the TiVo interface you have access to several streaming services. Though TiVo's certainly been building out its service selection over the years, compared with something like a Roku, its selection looks pretty small.

On the Roamio you'll find Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, AOL On, MLB.TV, and Web Video Hotlist powered by Flingo for video; Rhapsody, Spotify, Live365, and Pandora for music; and Photobucket and Google Picasa for photos. And, if you're a Comcast Xfinity subscriber, you'll have access to Xfinity On Demand if it's been rolled out in your area.

That's a pretty healthy selection and it covers a lot. However, the Roamio was built on an HTML5 platform, which should make app development faster and easier. To that point, the YouTube app has been updated to the latest app version. While it still seemed a bit laggy, it's much faster and more usable than past versions.

The Netflix app has also been updated to the latest version. Combined with the new hardware, the app launches in about 7 seconds and navigation is much faster. Plus, when it opens, you have the option to go to the main Netflix interface or one designed for kids.

Those hoping to find new Amazon Instant or Prime video apps will be disappointed. The former is still stuck in the past, while the latter isn't available. That's the case for HBO Go, too. There is something good on the app front to look forward to, though.

TiVo VP of Product Marketing Jim Denney said because the app platform is based on the Opera browser, apps would be faster and easier to develop for TiVo Roamio. So much so that a full app store for the Roamio will be available some time in the next three to six months.

Oh, and one more thing, the Cast button on the Netflix and YouTube apps will also work with TiVo. Just as with Google's $35 Chromecast dongle, anyone with the latest YouTube or Netflix apps can throw video from a mobile device to a TV through the Roamio or an updated Mini.

TiVo Mini learns to let go
Pushing live with the launch of Roamio, TiVo's DVR extender, the Mini, will be updated with dynamic tuner allocation. Up until now, the Mini snagged one of the tuners from a host TiVo DVR for live TV, and kept the tuner locked up even if you weren't using the Mini at the time.

Dynamic tuner allocation enables the Mini to release the tuner if it's not currently being used. This will allow you to have up to eight Minis connected to your main TiVo DVR, and each Mini would only occupy a tuner when you want to watch live TV through it. Keep in mind, though, that each Mini carries its own service fee: $5.99 a month or $149.99 lifetime. Still, it's smaller and cheaper than adding a DVR. (Note: Dynamic tuner allocation is only supported by Roamio DVRs at this time. The feature is expected to come to Premiere 4/XL4 models later this year.)

Aside from live TV, the Mini can stream recorded content from your main TiVo and access on demand services that now includes Netflix, which wasn't available when the Mini launched.

Running the numbers
For those who've been using their cable providers' DVRs, where your monthly fees disappear into a bill that's on autopay, it's easy to look at the TiVo Roamio's pricing as ridiculously expensive. Buying a new Roamio Pro is $599 plus a service charge of $14.99 (with a one-year commitment) or $499.99 lifetime service.

However, the Roamio is a one-box solution offering a superior user experience and more features than any other cable DVR. Yes, you can build your own home-theater PC and do much of what the Roamio offers -- but not all of it.

If you just need something to record TV with, there's no doubt the Plus and Pro models are overkill. The Roamio Pro is much more than just something that records TV and that's why it's worth buying. Plus, you're not leasing it: once you buy it, it's yours to keep. Switch cable providers and it won't matter, you'll just need a new CableCard. TiVo DVRs retain their value very well and while I would never shell out for lifetime service, it pays off after two years and 10 months and having lifetime service increases its value if you go to sell it.

Conclusion
The TiVo Roamio Pro is a very impressive DVR and certainly the best TiVo to date. Yes, the upfront costs are hefty. But, if you're in the market for a whole-home solution for cable, it doesn't get any better than this.