I don’t know that I’ve ever talked to someone that didn’t like their TiVo. Most marvel about the ability to record their favorite programs, share media around the house and transfer recordings to their computers. The newest Tivos are out and the reviews are complete. Two of my favorite gadget sites were among the first to give their opinions of the TiVo Premiere.

It’s not fast and it’s completely devoid of eye candy. Corners were cut, and there’s no excuse for those moments when basic elements of a UI don’t match.But the Premiere is still the best turnkey set top DVR I’ve ever used—TiVo has me there. As a self-contained package that combines your cable subscription with goodies on the internet, it’s very intuitive, natural and, ultimately, successful. Indeed, it’s a peanut-wielded TiVo through and through.

TiVo Premiere Review: Where’s the Razzle Dazzle? [Gizmodo]

It’s been three years since the TiVo HD first arrived and just about a year and a half since TiVo first started beta testing this interface, and after using the Premiere for a day, here’s what we want to know: what the hell has TiVo been doing all this time? The new UI is excellent, but it’s only skin deep, lags like crazy, and accessing any deeper functionality requires a resolution switch and a fallback to the old interface. The major content partnerships have been in place for a year now, and the interfaces used to access them haven’t been updated in any significant way beyond integrating the search results.

TiVo Premiere review [Engadget]