TiVo Upgrade Buggy, Customers Report

An upgrade to Series 2 TiVo DVRs that promised to deliver new features such as TiVoToGo, which allows users to take their TiVo recordings with them, has also delivered unwanted problems. Users have reported several bugs in the new software and a glitch that may prevent the use of TiVoToGo over a wireless network.

Subscribers across TiVo fan sites and the company's own support forums are complaining of slowness in TiVo menus and in changing channels. Another issue causes a loss of signal quality and pixelization when watching "live" TV.

"I have two Series 2 TiVos. Ever since they both received the "TiVoToGo" upgrade, they have been EXTREMELY sluggish," one user wrote. "For instance, if I press the TiVo button, I hear the 'ding' but the menu doesn't show up for several seconds. Or, if I'm fast forwarding through a commercial, it will take a second or two before it actually starts forwarding."

Another TiVo customer complained of loss of signal quality. "Ever since the last software upgrade, I get 5-10 seconds of pixelization every time I change the channel. I've had my TiVo for over a year, and I've never had this problem before. It's killing my recordings," the user said.

What could be a bigger problem for TiVo, however, are reports that the TiVoToGo feature fails when using a wireless network. To the TiVo Desktop software, the DVR then drops off the network and the adapter must be physically removed from the unit and reattached in order to get it to work again.

TiVo did not respond to BetaNews' requests for comment on the upgrade problems, however it did say publicly that it is only "small group that is being affected...These are typical bugs, which are part of any software upgrade."