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TiVo XL

Every time an American late night comedian name checks TiVo, a pang of unrequited techno-lust flashes through our system. Will the new TiVo XL fix all that?

Derek Fung
Derek loves nothing more than punching a remote location into a GPS, queuing up some music and heading out on a long drive, so it's a good thing he's in charge of CNET Australia's Car Tech channel.
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Derek Fung

In brief

When we saw an email from TiVo pop up in our inbox, our hearts went aflutter for a moment. What would the new box include? Foxtel recording? Better online services? A new design? Revised interface? More tuners? THX certification?

Sadly, none of the above. The new-for-Australia (and New Zealand, too) TiVo XL is identical to the TiVo 320 that we know and love, except that the XL features a 1TB hard disk instead of the 320's, uhhh, 320GB disk.

This means that you can store up to 350 hours of standard-definition television or 150 hours of high-definition TV. That's great and all, but we wish that there were a few more goodies to remind us that it's 2011, not 2009.

Outlook

The TiVo XL is, interestingly, a limited time only proposition. Retailing for AU$699, the unit goes on sale Saturday, 12 November at Harvey Norman, Domayne and Joyce Mayne. Correspondingly, the TiVo 320 is now AU$499.