Only DirectTV units can record 2 shows at once this is why I have 3 TiVo's.

This site has a good list of different models http://www.tivo-buying-guide.com/


I have 3 "Philips HDR-112 - 14 Hour" units and all three of my TiVo's have been upgraded by myself. 2 have a 120 GB drive (40 hours at best quality) the other has 2 120 GB drives (80 hours at best quality). If you want a TiVo that is more hackable you need a series 1, but again if I was buying today I would be getting the combo TiVo + DVD-R units just to make it easier. I do extract shows from my TiVo and burn them to DVD but this requires quite a bit of manual work and you must have a hacked TiVo to do this.


This is a great thread containing *most* of the hack available for the TiVo. The extraction software can be found at this site

Oh, and to answer your size question, if you plan on doing no of the above hacks or user upgrade get whatever size TiVo you can afford.

Stuff I forgot to say: I have every Alias episode still on my largest TiVo and you should go check out the remotes for the different TiVo's because this makes a huge difference. The peanut remotes from Philips are the best.