I have been waiting to decide whether between TiVo and UTV, and it seems like TiVo has won (based on this forum).
Now, which unit should I get?
I prefer to get a Sony brand, even if it has the same internal organs, just since everything else I have is Sony and I would like to have compatibility amongst my remotes.
I must have 2 tuners and Dolby 5.1.
Which current unit would meet my needs, or is there a new unit coming out that is worth waiting for?

Not to start the battle again but why did TiVo win? I see that Ultimate TV is no longer going to be driven by Microsoft but who cares. I doubt they will let the installed base die, it will simply be supported by someone else, too good a product and idea to let it go. With Ultimate TV prices at rock bottom ($289 for the SAT-W60 with a $200 Sony rebate - effective price $89) who cares if it is obsolete in 2 years. I have purchased 3 receivers in the 3 years I have had DirecTV and though I use them all, the price on this newest receiver (SAT-W60) is almost so low I can justify the 40GB hard drive in it if the box is ever orphaned...

Just my 2 cents...

Jack Fetter

I cannot talk about TiVo. But MS likes getting into things it knows nothing about. And when They do drop something the users are the ones holding the bag, look at their venture into remotes

Here a good reason: Tivo=$199 one time fee. Ultimate TV =$9.99 a month. Do the math.

Still, is there a Sony with 2 tuners so I can record 2 programs at once?
Does it have optical input? Optical output?

The Sony Ultimate TV is the first box to have 2 tuners! Where do you think TiVo got the idea? The SAT-W60 has 2 tuners which gives you the ability to record 2 shows at the same time while simultaniously watching another pre-recorded show. It also has optical output (not "in", though I can't imagine what purpose this would have, record a DVD into a device that compresses the signal more than the original DVD to begin with?). It can record 35 hours of material and includes WebTV and the wireless keyboard, though it is optional if you want to use it or not. You pay $9.95 a month to DirecTV and if you want to utilize WebTV more than the included 3 hours a month, you can pay an additional $4.95 directly to Ultimate TV which will allow you to configure the dialup account to use your own ISP.

I agree that Ultimate TV needs to have a one-time charge like TiVo but get real, do you really think that "lifetime" price is going to be relevant in 5 years? With technology the way it is today, someone will have a new service (possibly TiVo but likely not) which will offer so much half of us here will end up buying it instead. Also, TiVo service doesn't include the equivalent of WebTV, which in the future I suspect will be quite useful as the connection between all your different appliances. I really think someone will come out with a box with an ethernet port, this will plug into your LAN and get all content from the web. TiVo may have it too but c'mon, when was the last time you purchased a subscription to anything you still use/have years later? Dial-up ISP (nope), Cable TV (nope), telephone (we all use mobile 90% of the time). I think the "lifetime" service while it sounds good, will be like having a service that replaces your 10MB RLL hard drive for life if it ever fails...

Jack Fetter

Someone was saying that the 'lifetime' price is for that box. If the box goes bad you buy a new 'lifetime' for the new box.

Actually, I was saying that and while that was true in the beginning (I paid for two lifetimes) that is no longer true for DirecTivos - one charge for the whole account is now the deal.

And ALL DirecTivos have dual tuners. They just weren't activated until last summer, when the software was finished and downloaded to all customers at no extra cost (that's part of the service you pay for).

BTW, Jack, me architect too :).

Cheers!