When TiVo discontinued its high-end cable-ready high-def DVR, the TiVo Series3, it was really just making room for a new product in the line: the TiVo HD XL. The new TiVo is a near twin of the existing TiVo HD, but for three changes: it’s got a much larger 1 terabyte hard drive (enough capacity for 150 hours of HD programming); it’s THX-certified; and it includes the premium TiVo backlit remote. The package costs $600–about the price that the TiVo Series3 was going for, and twice that of the “standard” TiVo HD. As with any TiVo, of course, you’ll additionally

need to budget money for a subscription fee: $13 a month, $129 a year, or $399 for the lifetime of the box. True, you can do a DIY upgrade on the standard TiVo HD by adding the improved remote ($50) and a 500GB expansion hard drive ($150), but that will cost nearly as much and still leave you with less recording capacity–and a lot of additional wires. That said, the original TiVo HD is still going to be the better buy for most viewers, while the XL model is more appropriate for die-hard TiVo fans or those who like to load up their box with lots of HD TV shows, movies, and digital downloads.

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Original post by John P. Falcone