John,
My son has one coming and is going to see how it works and if it works well we're going to send one to my daughter in korea so I don't have to record shows on DVD and mail them to her anymore.
Here a couple of other little facts about TIVO( which is the only way to go for me with TV these days. I have a DirecTV Tivo box -actually 2 of them both dual tuners.)
I almost never watch anything "live" anymore except for truly live events like football games, etc.
The companies have come up with a new thing that forces you to watch commercials- if you record a show and then zio through the commercials another commercial will pop up and fill your screen. It's only done by certain companies right now- GM and the WB network.
I also read recently that there is a way to program your Tivo box to not even rcord the commercials. I haven't gone looking for it yet but there are several owners sites that have all kinds of little tips for other like that one- in video games they are called Easter Eggs. I'm not sure what they're called with Tivo.
Dennis