Captain Oblivious

...and there was much rejoicing. Well, ok, there was some rejoicing. There are a couple of caveats that come along with the good news. First, though, the cool part: TiVoToGo is *free* as part of your TiVo service. Have TiVo? You've got TiVoToGo (boy, those alternating capital letters are getting old ReAlLyFaStNoW...). What is TiVoToGo, you ask? Simple - software that allows you to transfer TiVo recordings to your computer. See the potential? Good, 'cause here comes the bad news:

1. TiVo apparently cut a deal with some of the content providers (HBO being one of them), and some of your recorded shows are not transferable. Copy protection, don't we love it? Not.
   
   
2. TiVo expects you to pay for the software used to burn DVDs on your PC (specifically, Sonic MyDVD). It is currently unclear whether this is a technical requirement or merely a supported software recommendation. Oh, and the appropriate version of that software is not available yet, which certainly implies that this specific app may be required.
   
   
3. The version of TiVo Desktop (the TiVo networking software for your PC) that allows you to use TiVoToGo is Wintel-specific. See, and you wondered why I kept using the term PC, when you know perfectly well I use both Macs and PCs. Well, not in this case. Or at least, not so far (TiVo Desktop has supported OSX in the past).

But enough whining. This really is good news, and I expected to have to pay for it to begin with, so paying for the DVD-burning aspect of it is not so terrible. The Mac support will get there eventually. FAQ here.

Oops, one more whine. Turns out the DVDs you burn will not be viewable in DVD players, only on other PCs with TiVo Desktop software installed. Viewing on DVD players is still in the 'investigating this feature' phase.