LiquidTV Brings TiVo to Your PC

LiquidTV, the latest offering from TiVo and Nero, bypasses the set-top box and brings digital television recording straight to your PC. Starting October 15, $199 will buy you the LiquidTV software, a standard TiVo remote, a USB DTV tuner/antenna, and the essential one-year TiVo pass. Those already sporting a TV tuner on their PCs can buy the software alone for $99 and use a mouse for navigation. The interface is crafted to look exactly like the one you'd find on your regular TiVo, so if you're already familiar with the layout, you won't have a new aesthetic to warm up to.

LiquidTV breezes through the ordinarily cumbersome TiVo-to-PC transition, and streamlines media transformation to portable media devices such as the iPod and PlayStation Portable. You can also burn programs onto CDs or DVDs. Like the ordinary TiVo service, LiquidTV features WishList search, Season Pass recordings, and TiVo Suggestions. It records and pauses live TV, and even allows remote online program scheduling.

The pluses to LiquidTV are cost and storage. If you already have a TV tuner built into your machine, you save yourself the rather hefty cost of renting or outright purchasing a TiVo set top box. Storage is limited only by the bulkiness of your hard drive, and with prices of computer storage so low, upgrading your PC shouldn't be a costly problem.

The downsides are that it's tethered to your computer, making the transition back to your television more of a hassle. Expect to keep your PC on at all times, too, if you want to catch your shows. And if your PC isn't recent, these system requirements may take the fun out of planning a "House" marathon.

Pricing information is sparse at the moment, but CNET, speaking with a company rep, believes LiquidTV's monthly fee will be less than the $13 amount charged to most TiVo subscribers. Right now, LiquidTV will be available only on Windows PCs -- no word yet on whether Mac-users can get in on the party.

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